The tissue-specific and MeJA-induced transcriptional levels of BcUGT3 and BcUGT6 in Bupleurum chinense were analyzed in the present study. The transcriptional levels of BcUGT3 in root, leaf, flower and fruit were similar and they all were higher than those in stem. The transcriptional level of BcUGT6 was the highest in leaf and the lowest in flower among in all tested tissues. With non-treated adventitious roots as control, BcUGT6's transcriptional levels were elevated to nearly 2 folds for 2 h, 8 h, 24 h, 2 d and 4 d in MeJA-treated adventitious roots of B. chinense. It showed that the transcriptional level of BcUGT6 was slightly affected by MeJA. While, BcUGT3's transcriptional levels were gradually elevated, and till 4 d after MeJA treatment, the expression level was about 7 folds than that of non-treated control. Using pET-28a (+), the expressions of two genes was investigated. Induced by IPTG, the target proteins were expressed in E. coli and then purified. All the results obtained in the present study will be helpful for follow-up bio-function analysis of BcUGT3 and BcUGT6.
Acetates ; pharmacology ; Bupleurum ; cytology ; enzymology ; genetics ; Cell Membrane ; metabolism ; Cyclopentanes ; pharmacology ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; Gene Expression ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; drug effects ; Hexosyltransferases ; chemistry ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Intracellular Space ; metabolism ; Oxylipins ; pharmacology ; Protein Sorting Signals ; Protein Structure, Secondary ; Protein Transport ; Sequence Analysis ; Transcription, Genetic ; drug effects

ObjectiveTo explore the application of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWMRI) in precise radiotherapy of esophageal carcinoma.MethodsThirty-seven patients with biopsy proven esophageal cancer from March 2010 to January 2011 were included.To delineate the gross tumor volume (GTV) using CT and DWMRI images,each patient was examined by DWMRI and CT scan using the same position before radiotherapy.To compare the maximum diameters and volumes of tumor between CT and DWMRI. The tumor lengths measured by esophagogram,esophagoscope,CT and DWMRI were compared.ResultsTumor lengths under esophagogram,esophagoscope,CT and DWMRI were 5.70 cm,6.06 cm,7.97 cm and 5.79 cm respectively. The lengths between CT and esophagogram,CT and esophagoscope,CT and DWMRI had statistical significance respectively (F=4.88,P=0.003).The maximum diameters of tumor shown on CT and DWMRI were 3.79 cm and 3.81 cm respectively ( t =-0.32,P=0.751 ).The GTV were 45.75 cm3 and 38.05 cm3 in CT and DWMRI respectively (t=5.30,P =0.001 ).53 lymph nodes were assessed positive on both CT and DWMRI.DWMRI excluded 25 positive lymph nodes assesed by CT; also confirmed 15 negative lymph nodes excluded by CT,6 of which were paraesophageal lymph nodes.The addition of DWMRI information altered the clinical stage in 6 patients.ConclusionsTumor lengths measured on DWMRI and esophagogram had the optimal approximation.It was easy to find paraesophageal lymph nodes via DWMRI.With the addition of DWMRI information,the target range and clinical stage were alerted in some patients.

ObjectiveTo analyze the prognosis of 784 patients according with clinical staging of esophageal carcinoma treated with non-surgical methods,investigate the predictive value and deficiency of the clinical staging.MethodsFrom July 2003 to January 2009,784 patients with esophageal carcinoma received 3DCRT treatment.The prescribed doses ranged from 50 Gy-70 Gy with median dose of 60 Gy,1.8-2.0 Gy/fraction,1 fraction/day,5 fractions/week.65 patients received prescription dose of＜60 Gy and all the others'≥60 Gy.All the patients were divided into subgroups according to different T,N and TNM stages.Therapeutic effect was evaluated.ResultsThe follow up rate was 97.1％,503 patients were followed up for more than 3 years and 122 were followed up for more than 5 years.The 1-,3-,5-year local control rates and overall survival rates were 77.2％,54.2％,46.5％ and 69.5％,34.9％,23.9％,respectively,with median survival time of 21 months.There were significant differences of survival curves for different T stages,N stages and TNM stages.For the groups of stage Ⅰ,Ⅱ and Ⅲ,the 1-,3-,5-year survival rates were 86.4％,47.6％,45.1％ ;84.7％,46.3％,36.4％ and 64.0％,30.9％,19.1％,respectively ( x2 =29.34,P =0.000).There were 752 patients with squamous cell carcinoma ( 95.9％ )and 32 patients with non-squamous cell carcinoma (4.1％ ),the median survival time were 21 and 16 months,respectively ( x2 =4.44,P =0.035 ).There were significant difference of survival rates for the subgroups whose GTV volume ≤20 cm3,20 -40 cm3,40 -60 cm3 and ＞60 cm3 (54 months,29 months,21months and 14months,x2 =68.71,P =0.000).ConclusionsThe clinical staging of esophageal carcinoma treated with non-surgical methods could predict the prognosis accurately,for patients with different pathology and GTV volumes,there were variance in the prognosis,so we advised the complement of the two factors in the draft of clinical stages.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical effects of posterior spinal transpedicular wedge osteotomy for kyphosis due to delayed osteoporotic vertebral fracture in elderly.

METHODSFrom July 2009 to February 2014,26 patients with kyphosis caused by delayed osteoporotic vertebral fracture were treated with transpedicular wedge osteotomy. There were 10 males and 16 females,aged from 55 to 75 years old with an average of 67 years. There were 1 osteotomy in thoracic vertebra,21 osteotomies in thoracolumbar vertebrae and 4 in lumbar vertebrae. Total 29 vertebrae were involved, 23 cases with single vertebral fracture and 3 cases with double vertebral fractures. Preoperative Cobb angles were 32°~51° with the mean of (42.00 ± 4.75) ° and VAS scores were 6 to 9 points with an average of (8.40 ± 0.75) points. According to the Frankel grade of spinal cord function, 4 cases were grade D and 22 cases were grade E. Intraoperative bleeding, operation time and perioperative complications were recorded, and improvements of Cobb angle were evaluated by X-rays. VAS score and Frankel grade were respectively used to evaluate the pain and nerve function.

RESULTSThe average operation time were 155 min (ranged, 120 to 175) and the mean intraoperative bleeding were 1 100 ml (ranged,800 to 1 500). Postoperative at 2 days, Cobb angle and VAS score were (9.60 ± 2.50) ° and (4.00 ± 1.00) points, respectively, ranged from 5° to 15° and 1 to 5 points. VAS score and Cobb angle improved obviously compared with preoperative (P < 0.05), and the improvement rate of Cobb angle was 76%. Frankel grade of 1 case changed from grade E to C, and the others did not become worse. The follow-up period ranged from 3 to 24 months with an average of 16.4 months. At the final follow-up, Cobb angles and VAS score were (11.00 ± 3.50)° and (4.40 ± 1.25) points, respectively, ranged from 5° to 19° and 1 to 6 points. The patient whose Frankel grade E changed to C at 2 days after surgery and changed to grade D at the latest follow-up. Vertebral body fracture below the fusion level happened in 1 case at 3 months after surgery, vertebral body fracture above the fusion level happened in 1 case at 5 months after surgery, and their chest pain symptoms were relieved after symptomatic treatment and anti osteoporosis treatment. All osteotomy levels obtained fusion which confirmed by X-ray and no internal fixation loosening and breakage were found.

CONCLUSIONThe clinical effect of posterior transpedicular wedge osteotomy for kyphosis due to delayed osteoporotic vertebral fracture was satisfactory, but manipulation during the operation should be cautious and prevent adjacent vertebral body fracture should be pay attention to prevent.

Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Kyphosis ; etiology ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Osteoporotic Fractures ; complications ; surgery ; Osteotomy ; methods ; Spinal Fractures ; complications ; surgery ; Visual Analog Scale

The study on the Rauvolfia verticillata (Lour.) Baill., which belongs to Apocynaceae, was carried out to look for its chemical constituents and pharmacological activity. The isolation and purification were performed by chromatography on silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 and ODS (octadecyl silane) open column. The structures of obtained compounds were elucidated on the basis of physicochemical properties and spectral analysis. Three indole alkaloids and one acridone alkaloid were isolated from chloroform layer extract and identified as ajmalicine B (1), sandwicine (2), raunescine (3) and 7-hydroxynoracronycine (4) separately. Ajmalicine B (1) is a new compound belonging to indole alkaloid. Compound 4 as an acridone alkaloid was a new type compound isolated from Rauvolfia genus for the first time. We also did some biological activity research on the new type compound (4) to explore other pharmacological activities in addition to antihypertensive activity.
Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; HL-60 Cells ; Humans ; Indole Alkaloids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Intestine, Small ; physiology ; MCF-7 Cells ; Molecular Structure ; Muscle Relaxation ; drug effects ; Muscle, Smooth ; physiology ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plant Stems ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Rabbits ; Rauwolfia ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical effects of 360 degree circular decompression and transpedicle screw fixation to treat the ossification of thoracic posterior longitudinal ligament by posterior approach.

METHODSFrom December 2009 to November 2013, 18 patients with ossification of thoracic posterior longitudinal ligament ossification were treated with 360 degree circle decompression and transpedicle screw fixation by posterior approach. There were 8 males and 10 females,ranging in age from 32 to 67 years old, with an average of 51 years old. Four patients were accompanied with ligamentum flavum ossification. Longitudinal ossifications in 5 cases were located in the upper thoracic vertebra and 13 cases in the middle and lower thoracic vertebra. Five cases were typical type, 4 cases were segmental type, 6 cases were continuous type and 3 cases were mixed type. All the patients had the posterior spinal canal decompression combined with longitudinal ligament resection, interbody fusion with bone graft and internal fixation surgeries. The operation time,blood loss and complications were recorded. JOA score were applied to evaluate the neurological function recovery pre-surgery, 2 days post-surgery and the latest follow-up. The surgery effects were evaluated by Epstein-Schwall method.

RESULTSThe operation time ranged from 3 to 6 hours (mean, 4.2 hours). The blood loss ranged from 800 to 4 000 ml (mean, 1 800 ml). All the patients were followed up, and the duration ranged from 6 months to 3 years, with a mean of 1.8 years. The JOA score increased from preoperative 4.30 ± 2.60 to 7.60 ± 2.40 2 days after surgery, and 7.80 ± 1.90 at the latest follow-up (t = 4.61, P < 0.001). The JOA scores between 2 days after surgery and the latest follow-up had no significant differences (t = 0.28,P = 0.78). The neurological recovery rate was 74% 2 days after surgery and 71% at the latest follow-up. There were 4 cases got an excellent result,10 good,3 fair and 1 poor according to Epstein-Schwall evaluation method. Four patients had cerebrospinal fluid leakage, 3 patients had intercostal nerve paralysis or pain, and 1 patient had superficial incision infection. The neurological function in 3 patients became worse in the second day posteratively , and among them, 2 patients were recovered at the latest follow-up and 1 patient had no changes. All the patients got fusion of bone graft and no internal fixation loosening and fractures occurred.

CONCLUSION360 degree circular decompression and transpedicle screw fixation can resect different types of thoracic longitudinal ligament ossification, and can achieve a good clinical effect.

Adult ; Aged ; Decompression, Surgical ; methods ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Ossification of Posterior Longitudinal Ligament ; surgery ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; surgery

Objective To observe the relationship between computed tomography-gross tumor volume (GTV) and non-surgical T stage in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and the survival rates of patients with different GTVs,and to investigate the impact of GTV on the prognosis of ESCC after three-dimensional radiotherapy.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on 223 ESCC patients without lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis who were hospitalized from July 2003 to January 2009.The prescribed doses of three-dimensional radiotherapy ranged from 50-70 Gy.These patients were divided into 3 or 4 groups according to different percentile intervals of GTVs.The Spearman rank correlation analysis was used for investigating the relationship between non-surgical T stage and GTV.The Kaplan-Meier method was used for calculating survival rates,and the log-rank test was used for survival difference analysis.Results The follow-up rate was 98.2％.A total of 163 patients were followed up for at least 3 years.The median GTVs of patients with T1 +2 ESCC,T3 ESCC,and T4 ESCC were 19.31 cm3,33.69 cm3,and 41.25 cm3,respectively,exhibiting a positive correlation between non-surgical T stage and GTV (P =0.000).The 5-year survival rates were 59％,43％,and 24％ (P =0.000) in 3 GTV-based groups and were 55％,51％,31％,and 24％ (P =0.004) in 4 GTV-based groups.The primary cause of death for the patients with GTVs of ≤35 cm3 and ＞35 cm3 was failure of local control (57.9％ vs 52.1％) ; 21.9％ and 13.8％ of the patients with a GTV of ＞ 35 cm3 died of uncontrol and excessive bleeding,versus 9.4％ and 3.1％ of the patients with a GTV of ≤ 35 cm3 (P =0.046 ; P =0.029) ;2 of the patients with a GTV of ＞ 35 cm3 died of grade 5 radiation pneumonitis.Conclusions GTV is positively correlated with nonsurgical T stage in esophageal cancer patients who receive radiotherapy.The 3-level and 4-level grading of GTV can be used for prognostic evaluation,and the 3-level grading of GTV is more closely related to prognosis.The patients with a larger GTV have higher incidence of uncontrol and bleeding and risk of treatment-related death than those with a smaller GTV after radiotherapy.

Objective To compare the efficacy between three-dimensional radiotherapy (3DRT) combined with chemotherapy and radiotherapy alone for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for 1257 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who were admitted to our hospital from July 2003 to June 2012 and met the inclusion criteria;362 patients were treated with 3DRT combined with chemotherapy (chemoradiotherapy group) and 895 patients were treated with radiotherapy alone (radiotherapy group).The short-term outcome, overall survival (OS) rate, and causes of death were analyzed.The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rates, and the log-rank test was used for survival difference analysis and univariate prognostic analysis.Results The response rate was 99.1%(346/349) in the chemoradiotherapy group and 99.0%(813/821) in the radiotherapy group (P=0.397).The 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates were 74.0%,42.0%,and 32.9% in the chemoradiotherapy group and 65.9%,33.0%,and 23.3% in the radiotherapy group (P=0.000), and were 75.6%,43.5%,and 33.2% in the concurrent chemoradiotherapy group and 65.9%,33.0%,and 23.3% in the radiotherapy group (P=0.000).There were no significant differences in 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates between the concurrent chemoradiotherapy group and the sequential chemoradiotherapy group (P=0.583).The sequential chemoradiotherapy group had an insignificant increase in 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates compared with the radiotherapy group (P=0.065).Tumor recurrence and local control failure were the main causes of death, followed by distant metastasis.The chemoradiotherapy group had a significantly lower proportion of patients who died of local control failure than the radiotherapy group (7.4% vs.14.7%, P=0.003).Conclusions For patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, chemoradiotherapy leads to significantly improved overall survival compared with radiotherapy alone;compared with radiotherapy alone, sequential chemoradiotherapy results in an increasing trend in OS rates, while concurrent chemoradiotherapy results in significantly increased OS rates.Chemoradiotherapy can reduce the deaths due to local control failure compared with radiotherapy alone.

ObjectiveTo investigate the long term clinical result of three-dimensional radiotherapy for esophageal carcinoma,discuss the effect of correlative factors to survival and local control.Methods From July 2003 to December 2008,792 patients with esophageal cancer were eligible.Patients were treated with three-dimensional radiotherapy (672 patients) or intensity-modulated (120 patients) radiotherapy.The radiotherapy was delivered in 1.8-2.0 Gy per fraction,5 fractions per week,total dose of 50-70 Gy,(median,60 Gy).142 patients were treated by concurrent radiochemotherapy,and the other 650 patients radiotherapy alone.The local control rate and survival rate were calculated by Kaplan-Meier method.Logrank method was used for univariate analyses.Cox regression model was used for multivariate analyses.ResultsThe follow-up rate was 95.8％.The number of patients with 5 years time followed-up was 133.The 1-year,3-year and 5-year local control rates were 76.6％,53.2％,48.6％,and the 1-year,3-year and 5-year overall survival rates were 70.1％,36.7％ and 28.0％,respectively.There were significant influence on the prognosis of T stage,N stage,TNM stage,tumor volume ( x2 =20.58-55.60,all P =0.000).The Cox multivariate model showed that N stage and tumor volume were independent prognostic factors (x2 =6.35,29.23,P =0.012,0.000).For the two groups of concurrent chemo-radiotherapy and radiotherapy alone,5-year local control rates were 57.0％ and 46.8％ ( x2 =7.34,P =0.007 ),the 5-year overall survival rate 32.8％ and 27.6％ ( x2 =3.42,P =0.064.ConclusionsThree-dimensional radiotherapy is effective for esophageal carcinoma.It might improve the local control rate and overall survival rate to some extent.T staging,N staging,TNM staging and tumor volume were important prognostic factors for long-term survival.The addition of concurrent radiochemotherapy could improve local control rates.

In order to construct an integrated DNA barcoding database for identifying Chinese animal medicine, the authors and their cooperators have completed a lot of researches for identifying Chinese animal medicines using DNA barcoding technology. Sequences from GenBank have been analyzed simultaneously. Three different methods, BLAST, barcoding gap and Tree building, have been used to confirm the reliabilities of barcode records in the database. The integrated DNA barcoding database for identifying Chinese animal medicine has been constructed using three different parts: specimen, sequence and literature information. This database contained about 800 animal medicines and the adulterants and closely related species. Unknown specimens can be identified by pasting their sequence record into the window on the ID page of species identification system for traditional Chinese medicine (www. tcmbarcode. cn). The integrated DNA barcoding database for identifying Chinese animal medicine is significantly important for animal species identification, rare and endangered species conservation and sustainable utilization of animal resources.
Animals ; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; methods ; Databases, Nucleic Acid ; Eukaryota ; classification ; genetics ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional