BACKGROUND:The development of minimaly invasive technology significantly reduces the occurrence of surgical complications due to spinal metastases. Currently, the minimaly invasive treatment basicaly has three broad categories: vertebral cement augmentation, radiofrequency ablation combined with vertebroplasty, intraoperative radiotherapy combined with vertebroplasty. OBJECTIVE:To summarize the research progress of three kinds of minimaly invasive treatments for spinal metastases. METHODS:PubMed and Wanfang databases were searched using the keywords of spinal metastases, vertebroplasty, radiofrequency ablation, radiotherapy in English and Chinese, respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Vertebral cement augmentation with good analgesic effect has been used widely, and the efficiency is up to 80%-90%. But its effect to kil tumors is very limited that is unable to control tumor growth. Radiofrequency ablation and radiation can kil the tumor, but cannot rebuild the vertebral stability. Therefore, the combination of different technologies can improve the therapeutic effect on spinal tumors. In recent years, intraoperative radiation and implantation of radioactive particles or radioactive bone cement have been developed as new technologies. However, there is no conclusion that these new technologies have better outcomes than the vertebral cement augmentation because of less reports and lack of long-term folow-up. Especialy in the metastatic patients with damaged vertebral posterior wal and tumors invaded into vertebral canal, the risk of nerve function damage caused by bone cement leakage is stil very high, even after many attempts. Above al, there is no a perfect minimaly invasive treatment for spinal metastases.

AIM: To study the effect of Lomerizine on the activity of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in the bloodbrain barrier(BBB) and search for novel effective P-gp inhibiting agent against multidrug resistance. METH-ODS: Rhodamine123 (Rh123) was used to examine the activity of P-gp and RT-PCR to study the mdr mRNA expression in cultured rat brain microvessel endothelial cells (RBMECs). RESULTS: Lomerizine could increase the cellular Rh123 in RBMECs in a concentration-dependent manner. RT-PCR indicated that lomerizine could not down-regulate the expression of mdr mRNA. CONCLU-SION: Lomerizine can reverse multidrug resistance in the blood-brain barrier by inhibiting the activity of P-gp.KEY WORDS lomerizine; P-glycoprotein; bloodbrain barrier; RT-PCR

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) protects the brain against unwanted substances, while, at the same time, limits the transport of many drugs into the brain. Aromatic refreshing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can induce resuscitation and modify the permeability of BBB, promoting other drugs entering into the brain with brain protection effect. This paper mainly reviews the research progress in regulation effects and mechanism of usual aromatic refreshing TCM, such as borneol, moschus, styrax, benzoinum and Tatarinow Sweetflag Rhizome, on BBB permeability. To broaden the application of these drugs in modern pharmaceutics in the future, the relatively research should emphasis on combining aromatic refreshing TCM with new formulations and technologies in pharmaceutics, providing novel promising strategies for brain diseases therapy.
Animals ; Blood-Brain Barrier ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Permeability ; drug effects

Animals ; Hyperbaric Oxygenation ; Lung ; enzymology ; Oxygen ; Protein Kinase C ; metabolism ; Rats

A novel oral delivery system that TPGS modified docetaxel proniosomes, DTX-TPGS-PN, was developed and the characterization after hydration was observed. Firstly, Doce-TPGS-PN was optimized by investing the factors, including the type of surfactant, methods of adding TPGS, content of TPGS and the molar ratio of span40/cholesterol, which may affecting the particle size, encapsulation efficiency and instantaneous release of drug in the formulation. Then, the morphology, particle size, Zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency and in vitro release of the formulation were evaluated. The result showed that hydrated nanoparticles of DTX-TPGS-PNs were (93 ± 6.5) nm in size,(-83.95 ± 3.69) mV in zeta potential, (97.31 ± 0.60)% in encapsulation efficiency, exhibiting spherical morphology and biphasic release process that a low burst effect within the first 0.5 hour and a relative-sustained release for the next several hours in PBS. These results indicate the oral delivery system of DTX-TPGS-PN was successfully built with good properties.
Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; methods ; Particle Size ; Polyethylene Glycols ; chemistry ; Taxoids ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Vitamin E ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry

Objective To develop a quick quantitative detecting method for point of care testing (POCT) of human serum procalcitonin (PCT) by fluorescence immunochromatographic technology.Methods Applying a double-antibody sandwich immunofluorescent assay (one antibody coated on the nitrocellulose membrane and the other antibody labeled with fluorescent micropaticles) to develop a PCT quantitative detecting kit by immunochromatography technology.The kit was used to test PCT in 472 serum samples from suspected bacterial infection patients of Guangzhou Red Cross Hospital,including 240 male and 232 female patients.The methodology and diagnostic performance were evaluated in the aspects of linearity,precision,accuracy,specificity,stability experiments and comparison with foreign PCT detecting kits.Results The report range of the PCT quantitative diagnostic kit was 0.1-125.0 μg/L The coefficient of variation (CV)values of repeat 20 tests for low,median,and high concentration control samples respectively were all less than 15％ and bias can be acceptable (P ＞ 0.05).Common interfering substances in human serum specimens such as bilirubin (2.0 g/L),triglyceride (30.0 g/L) and cholesterol (15.0 g/L) were found no significant affect on quantitative detection of PCT.The shelf time of the PCT diagnostic kit should be longer than 12 months as the relative deviation of detected concentrations of 0.5,1.0,22.0,65.0 μg/L PCTcontrol sample can be controlled less than 20％ within 14 months.Considering VIDAS BRAHMS PCT to be the standard quantitative test for PCT,472 serum samples were detected by both our kit and the control VIDAS BRAHMS PCT kit simultaneously,which showed high correlation (YVIDAS =0.180 + 1.006Xwondfo,R2 =0.988,P ＜ 0.01) and low deviation (Z =-1.6,P ＞ 0.05) without statistic significance between two methods.And the results of these two diagnostic kits showed good consistency as the area under curve of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) of Wondfo-PCT at the three cut-off values (0.5,2.0,10.0 μg/L)were 0.997,0.994,0.998 respectively,P ＜ 0.01,using diagnostic result of the control product as standard.Kappa values were 0.899,0.905,0.973 respectively.Conclusions The method of quantitative detection of PCT by fluorescence immunochromatography for POCT was established in this study.All the observed indicators reached the clinical diagnostic requirements and can be applied for the quick detection of clinical human serum PCT.

Brain Injuries ; etiology ; Child ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; complications ; Humans

Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; etiology ; Cerebral Infarction ; etiology ; Female ; Humans ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Plasma ; chemistry ; Polymorphism, Genetic

We reviewed medical data of 22 patients receiving intravenous thrombolysis therapy for acute isehemic stroke and evaluated our efforts of promoting intravenous thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke.The mean in-hospital delay was 107 minutes.The most common reason was waiting for the results of laboratory tests.Only 6 cases received a standard dose of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) at 0.9 mg/kg.Only one patient had asymptomatic intracranial hemorrhage.No symptomatic hemorrhage occurred.Intravenous thrombolysis for ischemic stroke had excellent safety profile.Intravenous thrombolysis for ischemic stroke should be promoted under the guidance of standardized protocol according to the national guideline.

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of postoperative spondylodiscitis after lumbar intervertebral disc herniation.Methods 9 cases with spondylodiscitis were reviewed,about their clinical symptoms,laboratory tests,bacteria culture,CT and MRI finging,etc.Results and Conclusion The clinical symptoms occurred 8~24 d after operation.Laboratory test and MRI were helpful for the early diagnosis.The outcome of both surgical and non-surgical treatment was satisfactory.