Garcinia plants are one of the rich sources of natural xanthones and benzophenones which have attracted a great deal of attention from the scientists in the fields of chemistry and pharmacology. Recently, many structurally unique constituents with various bioactivities, especially anti-tumor activity, have been isolated from Garcinia plants. This concise review focused on the anti-cancer activity natural products isolated from Chinese Garcinia plants, and the research finding by authors and collaborators over the past several years were cited.

Aim To investigate the influence of Shen-mai injection ( SMI ) on the expression of cytochrome P450(CYP450) system in rat′s hearts. Methods Rat hearts were prepared after a fourteen-day continuous administration of SMI. The expression of several CYP genes, ANP, BNP and EPHX2 were measured by qPCR. Results SMI induced the increase in the ex-pression of other CYP genes except CYP2 B1、CYP4 A3 and CYP4 F6;HSI caused an induction of CYP2 E1 , CYP4A3,CYP4F1 and EHPX2 as compared with the control. In addition, there was a significant induction of ANP, BNP and EHPX2 and a significant inhibition of CYP2B1 and CYP2C11 after treated with MDI. Conclusion Although there is no significant change in the gene expression of CYP2 B1 after the treatment with SMI, but there is a general trend of induction, and MDI shows a significant inhibition of CYP2 B1 , therefore HSI has greater effect on CYP 2 B 1 than MDI . SMI causes a significant induction of CYP2 E1 , CYP4F1 and EHPX2 , similarly there is an induction of CYP2E1,CYP4F1 and EHPX2 by HSI and MDI, indi-cating that Hongshen and Maidong are both involved in the induction. MDI has a greater inductive effect than HSI on ANP and BNP. SMI is widely used for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases due to its regula-tion of CYP2J3、ANP and BNP mRNA expression.

OBJECTIVETo assess the value of G-banded karyotyping in combination with multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) as a tool for the detection of chromosomal abnormalities in fetuses with congenital heart defects.

METHODSThe combined method was used to analyze 104 fetuses with heart malformations identified by ultrasonography. Abnormal findings were confirmed with chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA).

RESULTSNineteen (18%) fetuses were found to harbor chromosomal aberrations by G-banded karyotyping and MLPA. For 93 cases, CMA has detected abnormalities in 14 cases including 10 pathogenic copy number variations (CNVs) and 4 CNVs of uncertain significance (VOUS). MLPA was able to detect all of the pathogenic CNVs and 1 VOUS CNV.

CONCLUSIONCombined use of G-banded karyotyping and MLPA is a rapid, low-cost and effective method to detect chromosomal abnormalities in fetuses with various heart malformations.

Chromosome Aberrations ; Chromosome Banding ; Chromosome Disorders ; diagnosis ; genetics ; DNA Copy Number Variations ; Female ; Fetal Diseases ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Genetic Testing ; methods ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Humans ; Karyotyping ; methods ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; methods ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity