A new phenethanol, (2'R)-4-(2', 3'-dihydroxy-3'-methyl-butanoxy)-phenethanol (1), along with other eleven known benzene derivatives (2-12) were isolated from the roots, stems and leaves of Clausena excavata (Rutaceae). Compounds 3 and 4 are new natural products, and compounds 5-8, 10-12 were isolated from C. excavata for the first time. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of MS, 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic analyses including HSQC, COSY and HMBC experiments. 1 was tested for its cytotoxicities against A549, HeLa and BGC-823 cancer cell lines, and antimicrobial activities against Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus. The results showed that 1 did not exhibit cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities.
Benzene Derivatives ; chemistry ; Candida albicans ; drug effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Clausena ; chemistry ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Molecular Structure ; Plant Leaves ; chemistry ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plant Stems ; chemistry ; Staphylococcus aureus ; drug effects

Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are widespread in the environment. SRB are obligate anaerobes and capable of dissimilatory reduction of sulfate. SRB have application prospects in the control of environmental pollution due to that many pollutants can be removed by SRB. The biological characteristics and metabolic mechanisms of SRB are introduced, and the application of SRB in the treatment of environmental pollution is described in this paper. The research progress of Cr(Ⅵ ) reduction and Cr(Ⅵ ) removal from wastewater by SRB is reviewed, and future direction of research on the control of Cr(Ⅵ ) pollution by SRB is also analysed.

Objective To analyze the CT features of renal cell carcinoma,so as to improve the diagnostic accuracy of renal cell carcinoma.Methods Three hundred cases of renal cell carcinoma proved by pathology were examined by means of CT.There were 214 male and 86 female in this group.Their age ranged from 9 to 81 years,with a mean of 53.7 years.Their CT features were retrospectively reviewed. Results The masses were 1.5—16.0 cm(mean,4.8 cm)in greatest dimension,125 masses on left kidney and 175 masses on right kidney.According to WHO histological classification of tumours of the kidney in 2004,there were 238 cases of clear cell renal cell carcinoma,6 cases of multilocular clear cell renal cell carcinomas,23 cases of papillary renal cell carcinoma,14 cases of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma and 19 cases of renal cell carcinoma,unclassified.The above subtype of renal cell carcinoma demonstrated characteristic features.Clear cell renal cell carcinoma exhibited inhomogenous(due to hemorrhage,necrosis or cystic degeneration)and hypervaseular.Multilocular clear cell renal cell carcinoma presented as a multilocular cystic mass lacking an,expansile nodule,and with regular thin cyst wall and septa.Papillary renal cell carcinoma exhibited inhomogenous and hypovascular.Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma was relatively homogenous and hypovascular.Renal cell carcinoma,unclassified showed inhomogenous and hypervascular,and was more invading growth compared to clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Conclusion Common subtype of renal cell carcinoma demonstrated characteristic features in CT and it is helpful for differentiation.

Outbreaks of hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) have occurred many times and caused serious health burden in China since 2008.Application of modem information technology to prediction and early response can be helpful for efficient HFMD prevention and control.A seasonal auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model for time series analysis was designed in this study.Eighty-four-month (from January 2009 to December 2015) retrospective data obtained from the Chinese Information System for Disease Prevention and Control were subjected to ARIMA modeling.The coefficient of determination (R2),normalized Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) and Q-test P value were used to evaluate the goodness-of-fit of constructed models.Subsequently,the best-fitted ARIMA model was applied to predict the expected incidence of HFMD from January 2016 to December 2016.The best-fitted seasonal ARIMA model was identified as (1,0,1)(0,1,1)12,with the largest coefficient of determination (R2=0.743) and lowest normalized BIC (BIC=3.645) value.The residuals of the model also showed non-significant autocorrelations (PBox-Ljung (Q)=0.299).The predictions by the optimum ARIMA model adequately captured the pattern in the data and exhibited two peaks of activity over the forecast interval,including a major peak during April to June,and again a light peak for September to November.The ARIMA model proposed in this study can forecast HFMD incidence trend effectively,which could provide useful support for future HFMD prevention and control in the study area.Besides,further observations should be added continually into the modeling data set,and parameters of the models should be adjusted accordingly.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the efficiency of cervical lymph node metastasis dissection and postoperative morbidity after selective three-field lymph node dissection (3FLND) for thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and explore the proper selection conditions.

METHODSAccording to the conditions as follows: systemic evaluation, tumor T staging, tumor location, cervical CT and ultrasonography and the number of lymph nodes metastases, 85 patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were selected and received 3FLND.

RESULTSIn the same period 45.5% (85/187) of the patients received 3FLND selectively based on the conditions. The rate of the cervical lymph nodes metastasis was 40.0% (34/85). The rate of the cervical positive lymph nodes of the upper, middle and lower thoracic esophageal carcinomas with enlarged lymph nodes suggested by cervical CT and ultrasonography was 68.4% (13/19), 41.7% (20/48) and 16.7% (1/6), respectively. Twelve patients with upper thoracic esophageal carcinoma with enlarged lymph nodes unrevealed by cervical CT and ultrasonography showed no histopathological lymph node metastasis. In the same period 17.1% (32/187) of the patients were selectively not undergone three-field lymph node dissection. The cervical lymph node metastasis rates in patients with upper and middle mediastinal lymph node metastasis were 79.3% (23/29) and 58.6% (17/29), significantly higher than 8.9% (5/56) and 7.1% (4/56) in the patients without upper and middle mediastinal lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). There was no in-hospital mortality in the group. The incidence of pulmonary complications and over-all postoperative morbidity was 24.7% and 42.4%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSSelective 3FLND based on certain conditions can reduce the risk of postoperative morbidity and improve the efficiency of metastatic cervical lymph node dissection in thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The thoracic tracheoesophageal groove positve lymph node indicated by CT scans should be one of selective conditions for 3FLND. The upper thoracic esophageal carcinoma should selectively receive 3FLND. The selection standards should be more strict for the lower thoracic esophageal carcinoma.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; pathology ; surgery ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; methods ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUNDB7-H3 has been widely studied in the context of tumor progression in recent years, and behaves as a tumor cell marker in a variety of tumors including colorectal carcinoma. The mechanism of B7-H3 in tumor progression is complicated and not clear yet. Studies have revealed that B7 family molecules are expressed on infiltrated lymphocytes as well as tumor cells in tumor microenvironment, which indicates that different expression pattern may lead to different clinical outcomes.

METHODSThe expression of B7-H3 was detected in tissues of 98 colorectal carcinoma patients by using immunohistochemistry. Then the expression of B7-H3 on CD3(+) T lymphocytes isolated from fresh cancer tissues of 12 colorectal carcinoma patients was analyzed by flow cytometry assay. The relationship between the expression of B7-H3 on CD3(+) T lymphocytes and patients' clinical pathological parameters was demonstrated with statistical analysis.

RESULTSPatients with more CD3(+) T cell infiltration survived much longer than patients with less CD3(+) T cell infiltration (P < 0.05); B7-H3 was highly expressed by infiltrating CD3(+) T lymphocytes in colorectal carcinoma tissues. The expression of B7-H3 was found to be significantly related with lymph node metastasis status (P < 0.05), but not with the patient's gender, age, tumor size, differentiation degree, depth of tumor invasion, Dukes' stage, distant metastasis and whether or not mucinous adenocarcinoma was present (P > 0.05). Moreover, the survival time of patients with low expression of B7-H3 was obviously longer than those of high B7-H3 expression patients, but the seven-year survival rate showed no difference between the high and low B7-H3 expression patients (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe negative costimulatory molecule B7-H3 on infiltrating CD3(+) T lymphocytes in colorectal carcinoma bears importance in the clinical pathological progress and prognosis of colorectal carcinoma.

Adult ; Aged ; B7 Antigens ; analysis ; CD3 Complex ; analysis ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; immunology ; mortality ; pathology ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating ; immunology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Survival Rate ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology

Multiple epitopes from one or more viruses can be lined up and co-expressed in one vector to generate multi-epitopes DNA vaccines. In the study, four recombinant plasmids were constructed based on HA and NP gene of avian influenza virus (AIV) (H5N1): (1) pIRES/HA, carrying the complete HA gene; (2) pIRES/tHA, carrying a truncated HA gene fragment of major neutralizing antigenic epitopes; (3) pIRES/tHA-NPep, in which three CTL epitopes of NP gene of AIV were fused to the truncated HA from the C-terminal; and (4) pIRES/tHA-NPep-IFN-gamma, which was constructed by replacing neo gene in pIRES/ tHA-NPep with IFN-y of chicken. Fifty five SPF chickens were randomly divided into five groups and immunized with the above four constructs and control plasmid. Each chicken was intramuscally immunized with 200 microg plasmid DNA three times in a two-week interval. Two weeks after the third immunization, chickens were injected with H5N1 subtype avian influenza virus. Before the virus loading no detectable antibodies to HA were found in the chicken serum; but high levels of HI antibodies were detected in the serum of the survived chickens. The percentages of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocyte in peripheral blood of immunized chickens increased steadily after the vaccination. After virus loading all chickens in the control group died within three to eight days, and the survival rates of the four DNA vaccine groups were as follows: pIRES/HA, 54.5%; pIRES/tHA, 30%, pIRES/ tHA-NPep, 36.3%, pIRES/tHA-NPep-IFN-gamma, 50%. These results indicated that multi-epitopes DNA immunization can induce immune response and protect chickens from homologous virus loading.
Animals ; Chickens ; Epitopes ; immunology ; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype ; immunology ; pathogenicity ; Influenza in Birds ; immunology ; prevention & control ; virology ; Vaccines, DNA ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo analyze the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at 5 loci on chromosome 3p in soft tissue leiomyosarcoma (LMS).

METHODSLOH was detected in 22 cases of LMS using PCR-silver staining targeting 5 microsatellite sites on 3p14.2-pter. Relation between LOH and LMS clinical pathological features was also analyzed.

RESULTSTen of 22 LMS samples showed LOH at more than one locus (45.4%). Among the 5 loci, LOH occurred more frequently at D3s1295 (36.8%) and D3s1289 (10.5%), but absent at D3s1293. No significant difference was found on LOH incidence between different grade, size and location of LMS.

CONCLUSIONSLOH on chromosome 3p14.2-23 region is relatively frequent in LMS. Region around D3s1295 and D3s1289 may harbor tumor suppressor gene relating to LMS.

Abdominal Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 3 ; Extremities ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Humans ; Leiomyosarcoma ; genetics ; pathology ; Loss of Heterozygosity ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Retroperitoneal Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Soft Tissue Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo systematically assess the efficacy and safety of Rhodiola in treating chronic stable angina pectoris.

METHODSOur group searched the Cochrane library, PubMed, Embase, Chinese biomedical literature database (CBM), VIP database (VIP), Chinese Journal Full-text Database (CNKI) for the literature published in English and Chinese till April 2013. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included on the therapeutic effect of Rhodiola or Rhodiola plus conventional Western medicine in comparison with the conventional Western medicine treatment on stable angina. Data were extracted according the data extraction form. The literature methodological quality was assessed by using the Cochrane handbook, and data analyzed by Rev-Man 5.2 Software for Meta-analysis. The effect indicators of outcomes was expressed by odds ratio (OR) and 95% CI.

RESULTSA total of 7 randomized controlled trials, 662 cases of stable angina pectoris patients met the inclusion criteria and all published in Chinese, without one scientific design and high quality literature. Compared with the conventional Western medicine treatment, combined with oral administration of Rhodiola could improve the efficiency of anti-angina (OR = 2.49, 95% CI: 1.02 - 6.09). Combined with intravenous infusion of Rhodiola could also improve the efficacy of angina pectoris (OR = 4.86, 95% CI: 2.4 - 9.82). Oral administration of Rhodiola couldn't improve ECG efficacy (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 0.67 - 2.34). Intravenous infusion of Rhodiola could improve the clinical efficacy (OR = 2.94, 95% CI: 1.61 - 5.35). Combined with the conventional treatment, intravenous infusion of Rhodiola could improve the whole blood viscosity (low and high shear rates) and inverse variance (IV) (-1.36 and -0.99, 95% CI: -1.65 - 1.07 and -1.26 - 0.71), but could not reduce serum fibrinogen and D-dimer level. The incidence rate of adverse reactions was higher than that of the conventional treatment combined with Rhodiola (OR = 0.1, 95% CI: 0.02 - 0.51).

CONCLUSIONSOn the basis of routine treatment, Rhodiola could further improve patients' symptoms. Combined with intravenous medication, Rhodiola could increase the ECG improvement rate, and reduce adverse reactions. But the methodological quality of included studies was poor, the number of samples was small, and influence factors such as the intervention period was short. This conclusion needs scientific and rational design in a larger sample, multicenter clinical trial to verify.

Angina, Stable ; drug therapy ; Chronic Disease ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Rhodiola ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUNDEpstein-Barr virus (EBV) associated malignancies with a Type II latency gene expression pattern, such as Hodgkin's disease, and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), frequently express the EBV antigen latent membrane protein 2A (LMP2A). We expected to establish a highly expressing LMP2A yeast cell strain and get the high quality LMP2A protein, which was used for detection, analysis and characterization of its antibodies in various patients' sera of EBV associated malignancies.

METHODSThe plasmid pPICZalphaA-LMP2A containing the full length of LMP2A cDNA was constructed and transformed to Pichia pastoris GS115 to express LMP2A protein. After fermentation and purification, the LMP2A protein was used as an antigen to detect anti-LMP2A antibodies (Abs) in the sera of patients with EBV-associated malignancies in enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or Western-blot.

RESULTSLMP2A was expressed successfully with an expected molecular weight of approximately 54 kD and Abs to LMP2A were strikingly specific to NPC. Two-thirds or more sera from NPC patients were positive for anti-LMP2A immunoglobulin G (IgG) Abs. The antibodies were absent from the sera of other EBV-associated diseases except a small fraction of the gastric carcinoma. Comparing anti-viral capsid Ags (VCA) IgA and LMP2A IgA titers in the sera from 76 NPC patients, only 55% were positive for anti-LMP2A IgA Abs while 70% were positive for anti-VCA IgA. However, we found that 3 sera negative for VCA IgA were positive for LMP2A IgA.

CONCLUSIONThe results suggested the potential significance of LMP2A specific Abs for the diagnosis of EBV-associated malignancies, especially NPC.

Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; Capsid Proteins ; immunology ; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections ; complications ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A ; blood ; Immunoglobulin G ; blood ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; immunology ; virology ; Viral Matrix Proteins ; immunology ; isolation & purification