The aim of this review is to evaluate the recent advances in chemotherapy for upper gastrointestinal tumors (esophagus,stomach,pancreas,liver).The role of both the neoadjuvant,adjuvant and palliative chemotherapy regimens, efficacy and side effects will be discussed,as well as its future development.

The complex level of constructing biopharmaceutics classification system of Chinese materia medica CMMBCS) was the study of traditional Chinese compound, on the premise of insisting that the multicomponent simultaneous determination, when carrying out the study of intestinal permeability, the primary task was to define the source of the components that was absorbed through the intestinal wall, namely, which medicinal material the components belonged to in traditional Chinese compound. The technology of chemical fingerprint and in vitro everted gut sac model were used in this research to make multicomponent an intuitive source attribution which permeated the intestine in the classic formula Gegen Qinlian decoction, and to lay the foundation for the further qualitative and quantitative research of intestinal permeability.
Animals ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Intestines ; metabolism ; Male ; Permeability ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

OBJECTIVETo explore the effects of cyclopamine on the proliferation and apoptosis of LNCaP cells and the expression of the PCA3 gene in human prostate cancer in vitro.

METHODSLNCaP cells were treated with cyclopamine at the concentrations of 1, 5, 10 and 15 micromol/L for 24, 48 and 72 hours. The inhibitory effects of cyclopamine on the proliferation and apoptosis of the LNCaP cells were detected by MTT and flow cytometry respectively, the morphological changes of the cells observed by Hoechst 33258 staining, and the expression of the PCA3 gene determined by real-time fluorescence quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (FQ-RT-PCR).

RESULTSCompared with the blank control group, cyclopamine significantly inhibited the proliferation of the LNCaP cells at 5, 10 and 15 micromol/L (P <0.01), reaching IC50 at 10 micro mol/L at 48 hours. The apoptosis rates of the LNCaP cells at 24, 48 and 72 hours were 37.21%, 57.38% and 57.98% in the 10 micromol/L group and 21. 16% , 71.31% and 72.90% in the 15 micro.mol/L group, significantly different from those in the control (P <0. 01). The cell apoptosis showed a rising trend with the increase of cyclopamine concentration and acting-time, while the expression of the PCA3 gene was decreasing with the increased concentration of cyclopamine, significantly lower than that of the blank control group (P <0.01) , and extremely low in the 10 micromo/L group

CONCLUSIONCyclopamine intervention at 10 and 15 micromol/L for 48 and 72 hours could significantly inhibit the at all time points. Proliferation and induce the apoptosis of LNCaP cells and reduce the expression level of PCA3.

Antigens, Neoplasm ; genetics ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Humans ; Male ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Veratrum Alkaloids ; pharmacology

Objective To observe the effect of robot-assisted upper limb training on the recovery of upper limb motor function after stroke.Methods One hundred patients within one month of suffering a stroke were randomly divided into a control group (50 cases) and a therapy group (50 cases).Both groups were given conventional drug therapy and rehabilitation training,while the therapy group also received robot-assisted training once a day,5 days per week for 12 weeks.The Fugl-Meyer assessment for the upper extremities (FMA-UE),the modified Ashworth scale (MAS) and the modified Barthel index (MBI) were used to evaluate the subjects before the experiment and after 4,8 and 12 weeks of treatment.Results During the treatment,the average FMA-UE scores and the average MBI of both groups increased gradually.The treatment group's averages were significantly better than those of the control group at each time point,except that there was no significant difference in elbow and wrist MAS scores.Conclusion Upper limb robots can be used with acute stroke patients in a clinical setting,and they may be beneficial for improving upper limb function and ability in the activities of daily living.

Objective To develop a new methodology of prenatal sonography scoring to assess and dignose clubfoot.Methods Thirty-one fetuses suspected clubfoot(50 foots) and 62 normal fetuses(124 foots) were scanned with both 2D and 3D sonography,and were divided into normal feet group and clubfeet group.Our scoring system was made according to the Pirani-scoring for children,while considering the morphology of mid-foot and hind-foot of infants.The doctors would give final diagnosis for all fetuses after delivery or induced labor,and analyse the correlations among the abnormal signs,sonographic score and the clinical outcomes.Results The curve lat border,the medial crease,the empty heel and the post crease can be observed in the 3D reconstruction images.These four abnormal signs had close correlations with the clinical results.Conclusions The new prenatal clubfeet scoring system by 3D sonography is a promising methodology with clinical values.

OBJECTIVE To study whether immunosuppressant(IS,cyclophosphamide,CPA) have the function of prevention and treatment of congenitalautoimmune sensorineural hearing loss or not.METHODS The female guinea pigs were immunized by crude conspecific inner ear antigens(CIEAgs),and took orally IS or not at the same time during gestation.Then the pregnant guinea pig's and their offspring's hearing function were measured and inner ear histopathologic changes were observed.Some of offspring borne by the female guinea pigs which immunized with CIEAgs and not treated with IS showed hearing loss and were treated by IS,and their hearing functions were measured and inner ear histopathologic changes were observed with same techniques.RESULTS After immunizing with CIEAgs,some of female guinea pigs which immunized with CIEAgs and not treated with IS showed different degrees of hearing loss(the thresholds of acoustic nerve compound active potential and cochlear microphonic potentials elevated) and immune inflammations in inner ear tissues.All females guinea pigs in experimental group which immunized with CIEAgs and treated with IS at same time,and their offspring have no any hearing loss and inner ear histopathologic changes.After IS therapy,the hearing function improved(mainly at the low-frequency region) in some offspring guinea pigs,which borne by the female guinea pigs which immunized with CIEAgs and not treated with IS.CONCLUSION IS could effectively prevent offspring's congenital sensorineural hearing loss induced by their mother's special antibodies against inner ear tissues antigens.IS showed effective result for treatment of congenitalautoimmune sensorineural hearing loss,but the curative effect was limited.

The evaluation of permeability in biopharmaceutics classification system of Chinese materia medica (CMMBCS) requires multicomponent as a whole in order to conduct research, even in the study of a specific component, should also be put in the multicomponent environment. Based on this principle, the high content components in Gegen Qinlian decoction were used as multicomponent environmental impact factors in the experiment, and the relevant parameters of intestinal permeability about puerarin were measured with using in situ single-pass intestinal perfusion model, to investigate and evaluate the intestinal permeability of puerarin with other high content components. The experimental results showed that different proportions of baicalin, glycyrrhizic acid and berberine had certain influence on intestinal permeability of puerarin, and glycyrrhizic acid could significantly inhibit the intestinal absorption of puerarin, moreover, high concentration of berberine could promote the absorption of puerarin. The research results indicated that the important research ideas of permeability evaluation in biopharmaceutics classification system of Chinese materia medica with fully considering the effects of other ingredients in multicomponent environment.
Animals ; Berberine ; pharmacokinetics ; Biopharmaceutics ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacokinetics ; Flavonoids ; pharmacokinetics ; Glycyrrhizic Acid ; pharmacokinetics ; Intestines ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Isoflavones ; pharmacokinetics ; Kinetics ; Male ; Materia Medica ; pharmacokinetics ; Permeability ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

AIM:Targeting of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) gene,we aim to construct FAK shRNA lentiviral vector and to identify its function on the growth of leukemic cells.METHODS:FAK shRNA was chemically synthesized,and inserted into a GFP-lentiviral plasmid through molecular biology methods.After packaged and concentrated,the lentiviral-FAK-shRNA-vector was transduced into a human leukemic cell line.FAK gene expression was detected by reverse transcriptional PCR and Western blotting.Cell apoptosis was measured by Annexin V labeling.RESULTS:The results showed that FAK shRNA was successfully inserted into the lentival vector,and the infection efficiency varied from 10% to 25%.Compared to the control vector (lentival vector without FAK shRNA),FAK shRNA inhibited the expression of FAK mRNA and protein by 40% and 70%,respectively.Moreover,the results of apoptosis experiment showed that the percentages of Annexin V+ cells in control vector group and FAK shRNA group were (4.19 ? 0.36) % and (8.48 ? 0.58) % respectively,the difference was statistically significant (P

Objective To explore the clinical significance of prenatal diagnosis for absence of fetal cavum septum pellucidum (CSP) by ultrasonography. Methods The ultrasonographic characteristics were retrospectively analyzed in 63 fetuses, whose CSPs were not detected in prenatal two and three dimensional ultrasonography in Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Suzhou Hospital. Results In 63 fetuses with absent CSP, the related malformations included:(1) Five cases were diagnosed as agenesis of corpus callosum (ACC, including four complete ACC and one partial ACC);(2) Twenty-seven cases were diagnosed as holoprosencephaly (HPE, including 18 alobar HPE, ifve semilobar HPE and four lobar HPE);(3) One case was diagnosed as schizencephaly;(4) Two cases were diagnosed as porencephaly;(5) Five cases were diagnosed as hydranencephaly;(6) Twenty-three cases were diagnosed as severe hydrocephalus, among which ifve cases were caused by aqueductal stenosis and the other 18 cases were caused by open spina biifda (Chiari Ⅱ malformation). These absent CSP fetuses had other abnormalities including one case of Dandy-Walker Malformation, one case of Dandy-Walker Variation, 14 cases of median cleft lip, ifve cases of single naris, two cases of proboscis nose, three cases of talipes foot and four cases of single umbilical artery, etc. These 63 cases were all followed up after prenatal ultrasonography but 4 cases were missed and one case of septo-optic dysplasia was misdiagnosed as lobar HPE. The diagnoses of other 58 fetuses by ultrasonography were conifrmed by follow up. Conclusions CSP is considered as an essential part in prenatal evaluations of the fetal central nervous system during second-and third-trimester. Absence of CSP is always accompanied with an extremely wide spectrum of fetal neuroanatomic malformations, including prosencephalon diseases, intracranial midline anomalies, etc. Prenatal ultrasonography is the best choice for the observation of CSP.

Objective: Cell cycle has recently become more appealing as a new target of anti-carcinogen-ic agent. Diallyl disulfide (DADS) inhibits growth and induces call cycle G_2/M arrest in human gastric cancer BGC823 cells. Cell division cycle protein 25C (Cdc25C) and CyclinB1 expression are involved in G_2/M arrest.However, mechanisms of G_2/M arrest are not yet fully understood. The aim of this study was to elucidate the mechanism of cell cycle G_2/M arrest in human gastric cancer BGC823 cells induced by DADS. Methods: The expression of chk1 and Chk2 mRNA associated with cell cycle arrest of BGC823 cells after the induction with DADS for 1 or 2 days was detected by RT-PCR. The protein expression of cycle-related proteins ATM-RAD3-related gene (ATR), checkpoint kinase1 (Chk1), checkpoint kinase 2 (Chk2), P-ATR, P-Chk1 and P-Chk2 was measured by Western blot. Interaction between Chk1/2 and Cdc25C was analyzed by immuno-precipitation. Results: After the cells were treated with 15 mg/L DADS for 1 or 2 days, the expression of Chk1 and Chk2 mRNA was not significantly different from that in untreated cells (P>0.05). Western blot analysis showed that the expression of total Chk1 and Chk2 treated with 15 mg/L DADS was not significantly different from that in untreated cells. But phospho-chk1 showed a significant increase after stimulation with 15 mg/L DADS for 2h to 12h and continued to increase gradually as time went on (P<0.05). Phospho-Chk2 showed a eak expression and a weaker expression after stimulation with DADS, but the changes were not statistically significant (P>0.05). Addition of 15 mg/L DADS to BGC823 cells for 15 rain to 120 min resulted in an increase in phospho-ATR expression, whereas no changes were found in ATR expression (P<0.05). The Chk1 Ab in-creasingly precipitated Cdc25C in BGC823 cells treated with DADS (P<0.05). In contrast, Chk2 Ab failed to change precipitation with Cdc25C by DADS (P>0.05). Conclusion: Activation of chk1 was involved in cell cy-cle G_2/M arrest in BGC823 cells treated with DADS. Cell cycle G_2/M arrest by DADS is associated with phos-phorylation of several cell cycle regulatory proteins including ATR and Chk1 which regulate expression of Cdc25C.