OBJECTIVETo evaluate the applicability of immune-related response criteria (irRC) in treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by Chinese medicine (CM).

METHODSTotally 97 stage III a-IV NSCLC patients were predominantly treated with comprehensive CM. Curative effects were evaluated by three methods such as Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST), Oncologic Curative Effect Evaluation Criteria of Chinese Medicine in Solid Tumor (draft, abbreviated as CM criteria), and irRC. The correspondency and consistency between irRC, RECIST and CM criteria were analyzed and compared. The objectivity of irRC in evaluating curative effect of Chinese medical treatment for NSCLC was assessed.

RESULTSThe correspondency rate of irRC to RECIST was 59. 79% with Kappa value of 0. 379 (U test, P <0. 01). The two criteria had certain correspondence, but with an unsatisfactory consistency. The correspondency rate of irRC to CM criteria rate was 83. 51% with Kappa value of 0.751 (U test, P <0. 01). The two criteria had good correspondence and consistency.

CONCLUSIONSCM criteria had good consistency with CM criteria in evaluating curative effect for Chinese medical treatment of advanced NSCLC. Its results could objectively reflect features and advantages of CM for treating advanced NSCLC.

Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; standards ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To study the enhancing effect of ultrasound plus microbubble on small interference RNA(siRNA)transfection in vitro and in vivo.Methods Human vascular epithelial growth factor(VEGF)siRNA with 2'deoxy modification(VEGF 2'-eoxy siRNA,VdsR)was used.The human CNE cells(fromnasopharyngeal carcinoma)line was used for in vitro cell-based experiments and in vivo mouse xenograft model.Two different microbubble agents.BR14 and Levovist.were used together with the RNA transfection reagent RNA-mate.ELISA and RT-PCR assays were used to assess VEGF gene expression.Immunohistochemical staining (IHC)was performed to assess CD31 expression in xenograft tumors.Results VdsR transfection in CNE cells abolished VEGF expression as determined by ELISA experiments.In the first mouse xenograft experiment,ultrasound exposure dramatically enhanced VdsR-mediated tumor inhibition.In the second mouse xenograft experiment,when VdsR was mixed with the microbubble reagents and then injected into xenografts,ultrasoundexposure significantly reduced tumor growth in BR14-mixed VdsR group but not in the Levovist-mixed VdsR group compared to the control.RT-PCR experiments demonstrated that VEGF expression in ultrasound-exposed tumors was significantly lower than that in the control.Meanwhile,VEGF expression in the tumor tissue treated by BRl4-mixed VdsR declined as compared with the controls.Tumor vascular density as measured by CD31 immunostaining was significantly decreased in ultrasound-exposed tumors compared to the control.Conclusions Ultrasound exposure and/or microbubble can significantly enhance delivery and the efficiency of VdsR-mediated anti-tumor effects,and should be a location-specific enhancement approach for siRNA-based anti-cancer therapy.

Objective To assess the effectiveness of prevention program on iodine deficiency disorders and iodine nutritional status of residents in Guangdong Province.Methods Probability proportionate to size sampling(PPS) was employed in surveillance of iodine deficiency disorders.Thirty counties(cities,districts) were selected in Guangdong Province.In each county(city,district) one township(street) was selected; in each township (street) one primary school was selected and in each primary school 40 children aged 8-10 were chosen to examine their thyroid and to collect salt samples at their home for determination of salt iodine.Out of the 40 children,12 children were chosen to collect urine samples for determination of urinary iodine.From the primary schools chosen,40 grade 5 students were selected for intelligence quotient(IQ) test.In the nearby of the primary schools,3 townships(towns,street) were selected and in each township(town,street) 5 pregnant and 5 lactating women were selected to collect their urine samples for determination of urinary iodine.Type-B ultrasonic was used in measuring the thyroid volume.The iodine content of urine samples was measured by the method of arsenic and cerium catalysis spectrophotometry.The iodine content of salt was determined quantitatively with the titration method.IQ was tested by Chinese combined Raven's test.According to geographical location and the implementation of iodized salt,the effects of iodized salt on iodine deficiency disorders were analyzed in the plains and the Pearl River Delta Coastal region with mild iodine deficiency(iodized salt implementation region,referred to as the plains and the PRD),historical iodine deficiency areas (iodized implementation region) and the eastern and the western coastal areas of Guangdong(areas with non-iodized salt problem,referred to as the eastern and the western Guangdong).Results A total of 1200 children aged 8 to 10 were examined by type-B ultrasonic test,and goiter rate was 3.5％ (42/1200).The differences of goiter rate between the plains and the PRD,the historical iodine deficiency areas and the eastern and the western Guangdong were statistically significant (x2 =6.6,P ＜ 0.05).The goiter rate (6.1％) in the eastern and the western Guangdong was significantly higher than that of the plains and the PRD and the historical iodine deficiency areas (3.3％,2.0％,x2 =5.6,7.1,all P ＜ 0.05).A total of 1200 salt samples were examined.The median and coefficient of variation of iodine in the salt were 31.0 mg/kg and 23.2％,respectively.Coverage of iodized salt was 97.5％(1170/1200) while 96.1％(1153/1200) of consumed iodized salt was qualified.The median urinary iodine of 1200 children aged 8-10 was 186.5 μg/L,and the differences of median urinary iodine between the plains and the PRD,the historical iodine deficiency areas and the eastern and the western Guangdong were statistically significant(x2 =5.9,P ＜ 0.05).The median urinary iodine of the eastern and the western Guangdong(162.4 μg/L) was significantly lower than that of the plains and the PRD(207.5 μg/L,x2 =8.7,P ＜ 0.01).The difference of median urinary iodine between the plains and the PRD,the historical iodine deficiency areas and the eastern and the western Guangdong was statistically significant(x2 =58.9,P＜ 0.01).The median urinary iodine of the eastern and the western Guangdong(109.6 μg/L) was significantly lower than that of the historical iodine deficiency areas and the plains and the PRD(152.9,155.2 μg/L,x2 =18.3,20.6,all P ＜ 0.05).The mean IQ of the 1208 grade 5 students was 102.8 ± 14.3.The IQ of the plains and the PRD(104.3 ± 13.9) and the historical iodine deficiency areas(102.7 ± 14.3) was significantly higher than that of the eastern and the western Guangdong(100.3 ± 14.7,t =3.8,2.1,P＜ 0.01 orP＜ 0.05).Conclusions The goal of iodine deficiency disorders elimination is achieved as scheduled in Guangdong Province.The health level of general population has been improved significantly.Iodine nutrition is in the appropriate range (100-199 μg/L) in general population but low in pregnant women.The selling of non-iodized salt in the eastern and the western Guangdong Province should be followed closely.

OBJECTIVETo explore the protective effect of baicalin against rotenone-induced injury on PC12 cells, and the po-tential mechanism of action action was also explored.

METHODPC12 cells were injured by rotenone and were treated with different concentrations (0.1, 1, 10 μmol x L(-1)) of baicalin at the same time. Cell viability was analyzed by MTT, and morphology was observed by phase-contrast microscopy. The cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry by Annexin V-FITC/PI staining. The intracellular ROS level was determined by fluorescence microscope with DCF-DA staining. The expression of Bcl-2, Bax and Caspase-3 was analyzed by Western blot.

RESULTThe viability of PC12 cells exposure to rotenone for 24 hour was gradually decreased with dose escalating and 1.5 μmol x L was adopted to do the following experiment. Baicalin increased cell viability, improved cell morphology and decreased intracellular ROS level. Moreover, FACS indicated baicalin attenuated the apoptosis induced by rotenone significantly. Western blot showed that Bcl-2, Bax and Caspase-3 expression in rotenone-induced PC12 cells was reversed by baicalin.

CONCLUSIONThis study has demonstrated that baicalin protects PC12 cells against rotenone-induced apoptosis, at least in part, by scavenging excessive ROS and inhibiting the mitochondrion-dependent apoptotic pathway.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Cytoprotection ; drug effects ; Flavonoids ; pharmacology ; Gene Expression Regulation ; drug effects ; Intracellular Space ; drug effects ; metabolism ; PC12 Cells ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; Rats ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Rotenone ; pharmacology ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo observe the effects of Mongolian pharmaceutical Betel shisanwei ingredients pill on AC-cAMP-PKA signal transduction pathways in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of depressive rats.

METHODSixty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into six groups according to the sugar consumption test (10 rats in each group), normal control group,model group,fluoxetine group (3.3 mg x kg(-1)) and low dose, medium dose and high dose group (0.25, 0.5, 1 g x kg(-1)) of Betel shisanwei ingredients pill. Except the normal control,the other groups were treated with the chronic unpredictable mild stress stimulation combined with lonely raising for 28 days. 10 mL x kg(-1) of drugs were given to each rat once daily,continuously for 28 days. The AC activity of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex were determined by radiation immunity analysis (RIA), while cAMP and PKA quantity were determinated by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA).

RESULTThe AC activity, cAMP and PKA quantity of hippocampus and prefrontal of mouse model of Chronic stress depression decreased significantly than those of control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). However, the AC activity, cAMP and PKA quantity of rat hippocampus and prefrontal cortex in the fluoxetine group and the Mongolian pharmaceutical Betel shisanwei ingredients pill group indecreased significantly than those of model group (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). Especially for the high dose group of Mongolian pharmaceutical Betel shisanwei ingredients pill.

CONCLUSIONThe AC-cAMP-PKA signal transduction pathways in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of depression model of rats is down-regulated, whereas Mongolian pharmaceutical Betel shisanwei ingredients pill could up-regulated it to resist depression.

Adenylyl Cyclases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Animals ; Cyclic AMP ; metabolism ; Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Depression ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Hippocampus ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Mice ; Prefrontal Cortex ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo optimize the prescription dose of Mahuang decoction in a multi-target manner, in order to provide reference for the quantitative optimization of the prescription dose of the traditional Chinese medicine compound.

METHODThe number of diaphoretic spots in rats, the tracheal antispasmodic rate in guinea pigs and the writhing times by acetic acid in mice were taken as the indexes for evaluating the diaphoretic, antispasmodic and analgesic effects. According to the experimental results of the 16 orthogonal combination prescriptions, a mathematical dose-effect model was built by support vector regression (SVR) and quadratic response surface regression (RSR) respectively. The multi-target optimization was achieved by elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) and entropy weight TOPSIS method.

RESULTThe optimal dose of Mahuang decoction after being optimized by SVR modeling contained 17.71 g of Ephedrae Herba, 9.57 g of Cinnamomi Ramulus, 11.75 g of Armeniacae Semen Amarum and 4.39 g of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma Praeparata Cum Melle. The optimized result by RSR modeling contained 13.37 g of Ephedrae Herba, 11.61 g of Cinnamomi Ramulus, 11.98 g of Armeniacae Semen Amarum and 5.67 g of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma Praeparate Cum Melle. SVR was superior to RSR in both of the forecast capacity and optimization results.

CONCLUSIONSVR-NSGA-II-TOPSIS method could be adopted for the multi-target optimization for the dose of Mahuang decoction and other traditional Chinese medicine compounds. It is proved to be the optimal prescription with the best efficacy, and could provide scientific quantitative basis for determining the dose of traditional Chinese medicine compound prescriptions and developing new traditional Chinese medicines.

Animals ; Cinnamomum ; chemistry ; Drug Compounding ; methods ; Drug Dosage Calculations ; Drug Prescriptions ; Ephedra ; chemistry ; Ephedra sinica ; chemistry ; Glycyrrhiza ; chemistry ; Guinea Pigs ; Mice ; Rats

Although epigenetic regulation of histone modification has attracted more and more attention, the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. The present review introduces the role of acetylated H3 lysine 23 (H3K23ac) in glioma tumorigenesis, and demonstrates a new mechanism by which H3K23ac regulates gliomagenesis, which may provide novel approaches to glioma treatment.

OBJECTIVESTo evaluate the effect of shade guide training box and shade guide training software on shade matching ability of observers when used separately. To find out the difference between two training plans when the two training methods were used in combination, and to provide information on shade matching training system.

METHODSSixty-two postgraduate dental students who specialized in prosthodontics with 1 to 5 year clinical experience were enrolled in this study. At base line, each participant were asked to match 7 standard shade tabs which have been randomly chosen from Vita 3D-Master shade guide and 7 intermediate shade tabs from Vita bleached guide 3D-Master. Then the subjects were allocated to 2 groups [Toothguide Training Box (TTB) group and Toothguide Training (TT) group] according to the baseline data. Participants in group TTB received training session once a week for 3 weeks, while those in group TT received TT training session once a week for 3 weeks. All participants took a middle term shade-matching test. Then the two groups exchange the training methods and repeat the whole process, a final test was given to each participant. The elapsed time and number of accurate shade matching were recorded for each training session. Wilcoxon signed ranks test and ANOVA were used in data analysis.

RESULTSThere were no significant differences in the number of accurate shade matching (standard shade tab and the sum) between group TTB (4.4 +/- 1.3 and 5.3 +/- 1.6) and TT (4.0 +/- 1.4 and 4.9 +/- 1.5) in the middle term test with higher value found in group TTB. In the final test, the number of accurate shade matching (standard shade tab and the sum) in group TT (4.9 +/- 0.8 and 6.4 +/- 0.8) was higher than that in group TTB (4.7 +/- 1.1 and 5.8 +/- 0.9), but significant difference was found only when the sum number of accurate shade matching was compared between the two groups (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between data from middle term test and from final test in group TTB; while in group TT, the number of accurate shade matching in the final test was significantly increased compared with that in the middle term test (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSWhen used in combination, TT training followed by TTB training is recommended.

Analysis of Variance ; Humans ; Observer Variation ; Prosthesis Coloring ; methods ; Prosthodontics ; education ; Software ; Students, Dental

OBJECTIVETo compare the shade matching accuracy between tabs of shade guide and tabs out of shade guide by prosthodontists.

METHODSSixty-two graduate students who had 1 to 5 years clinical experience without color blindness were included in this study. Twenty-nine tabs from Vita 3D-Master shadeguide and 7 tabs out of Vita 3D-Master shade guide but from Vita Bleachedguide 3D-Master were taken as the targets of shade matching and observed under the standard light. Subjects' shade matching accuracy on tabs of shadeguide and tabs out of shadeguide was recorded. Frequency of right match was analyzed using Monte Carlo exact probability-test. Wilcoxin test was used to analyze the difference between each group on ranked data of value, chroma and hue.

RESULTSThe shade matching accuracy of tabs of shade guide [45.9% (199/434)] was significantly higher than that of tabs out of shade guide [9.0% (39/434)]. There was significant difference between the two kinds of tabs of ranked data of value [0.2 (0.1 - 0.3), 0.4 (0.4 - 0.5)] and chroma [0.2 (0.1 - 0.4), 0.5 (0.4 - 0.6), P < 0.01, but there was no significant difference in hue data [0.3 (0.1 - 0.4), 0.3 (0.1 - 0.4)].

CONCLUSIONSThe shade matching ability of prosthodontists on tabs out of shade guide is lower than that on tabs of shadeguide. To fulfill clinical need, more training is necessary.

Dentists ; psychology ; Esthetics, Dental ; Humans ; Observer Variation ; Pattern Recognition, Visual ; Prosthesis Coloring ; methods ; Reproducibility of Results

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of interleukin-2(IL-2)on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis(EAE)mice.Methods After establishment of the EAE(experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis) mouse models with MOG35-55 polypeptides,the mice were grouped according to the neurological function score and divided into control group,EAE group and low dose IL-2 treatment group.A double blind method was used to evaluate the neuro-logical impairment in mice.On the 29th day,pathological experiments were carried out in the mice's brain and spinal cord, hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to evaluate the scoring of inflammatory cell infiltration and luxol fast blue staining was used to evaluate the scoring of demyelinating.The proportion of regulatory T cells(Treg)and NK cells(natural killer cell, NK)was detected by flow cytometry,and the immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expressions of glial fibril -lary acidic protein(GFAP)and myelin basic protein(MBP)in the spinal cord.Results Compared with the EAE group, the neurological function score, the inflammatory cell infiltration score and the demyelinating score of the low dose IL-2 treatment group were reduced.The proportion of Treg cells in the low dose IL-2 treatment group was significantly higher than that in the EAE group,and the proportion of NK cells in the low dose IL-2 treatment group was slightly higher than that in the EAE group The expression of GFAP and MBP was detected by immunohistochemistry.The expression level of GFAP in low dose IL-2 treatment group was significantly lower than that in the EAE group,while the expression level of MBP was higher than that in the EAE group.Conclusion Low dose IL-2 has significant therapeutic effect on EAE mice.