Objective To develop a RP-HPLC method for the determination of piperine in the root of Piper nigrum L.Methods RP-HPLC was carried out on Luna C18 column(250 mm? 4.60 mm,5 ? m) with the column temperature of 35 ℃.The mobile phase consisted of a mixture of methanol-water(77 :23) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL? min-1.The determination wavelength was at 343 nm.Results The calibration curve was linear within the concentration range of 0.164 ? g～ 0.984 ? g,r=0.9996,and the average recovery was 98.09 %,RSD=2.67 %(n=9).The average content of piperine in three batches of pepper roots was in the range of 6.67～6.77mg?g-1.Conclusion Pepper root contains piperine,and this method is suitable for the quality control of the root of Piper nigrum L.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the rationality and feasibility of primary closure of the common bile duct after choledochotomy for common bile duct calculi.

METHODSFrom January 1990 to June 2001, 386 patients with the evidence of stones in the common bile duct underwent choledochotomy. Among them, 215 received primary closure of the common bile duct (group A) and 171 T-tube drainage (group B). The patients with emergency operations were excluded. Intraoperative choledochoscopy or cholangiography was routinely performed to rule out the possibility of retained stones. The duct was meticulously stitched using 0/3 to 0/5 absorbent sutures for primary closure. A T-tube was placed in the subhepatic space in the patients of both groups.

RESULTSPostoperative bile leakage was seen in 9 patients of group A and in 5 of group B, respectively (P > 0.05), and no reoperations were necessary. After surgery, the average time and volume of transfusion was 4.9 days and 9.1 liters in group A, versus 7.3 days and 12.8 liters in group B (P < 0.01). The patients in group B had a longer postoperative hospital stay than the those in group A (average 17.6:10.0 days, P < 0.01). T-tube removal resulted in bile peritonitis in 5 patients at day 16, 17, 19, 21 and 22 after surgery in group B, and 3 patients required repeated surgery.

CONCLUSIONSPrimary closure of the common bile duct after choledochotomy is safe, effective, and inexpensive in selected patients with common bile duct calculi, and should be regarded as an alternative procedure.

Adult ; Aged ; Biliary Tract Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Choledocholithiasis ; surgery ; Common Bile Duct ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

ObjectiveTo investigate the association of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) with the prognosis of patients with alcohol-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after radical treatment. MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 43 patients with alcohol-related HCC who were admitted to The Fifth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital and underwent radical treatment from January 2008 to July 2015, and according to HDL-C level, the patients were divided into normal group with 26 patients and abnormal group with 17 patients. The two groups were compared in terms of basic information, laboratory markers, imaging indices, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer tumor stage, and Child-Pugh class of liver function. The t-test test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to plot survival curves and the log-rank test was used for comparison between groups. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used to analyze independent risk factors for prognosis. ResultsThere was a significant difference in prealbumin between the two groups (162.38±60.86 mg/L vs 120.06±64.08 mg/L, t=2.184, P=0.035). Number of tumors (hazard ratio ［HR］=2.839, 95%confidence interval ［CI］: 1.120~7.200,P=0.028), tumor size (HR=2.634, 95%CI: 1.062~6.529,P=0037), and HDL-C level (HR=2.400, 95%CI: 1.040~5.537,P=0.040) were independent risk factors for the overall survival of patients with alcohol-related HCC. There were significant differences in 1-, 3-, and 5-year cumulative survival rates between the normal group and the abnormal group (88.5%/72.4%/55.7% vs 70.6%/43.7%/17.5%, χ2=5.881, P=0.015). ConclusionThe reduction in HDL-C level might indicate poor prognosis of patients with alcohol-related HCC.

ObjectiveTo study effect of brusatol （BR） on proliferation of human gastric cancer HGC-27 cells and its mechanism. MethodCell counting kit-8 （CCK-8） was used to detect the survival rate of HGC-27 cells at different concentrations of BR. HGC-27 cells were treated with BR （7.5， 15， 30 μmol·L^-1） for 24 h， and then the cell clone formation was analyzed. 2，7-Dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate （DCFH-DA） fluorescent probe and lipid peroxidation sensor （C11-BODIPY） were employed to detect the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species （ROS） and lipid peroxidation， respectively. Real-time polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） and Western blot were performed to detect the messenger ribonucleic acid （mRNA） and protein expressions of solute carrier family 7 member 11 （SLC7A11）， glutathione peroxidase 4 （GPX4）， solute carrier family 40 member 1 （SLC40A1）， transferrin， nuclear factor E₂-related factor 2 （Nrf2） and heme oxygenase-1 （HO-1）， respectively. ResultThe survival rate of HGC-27 cells was decreased with the increase of BR concentration， and the IC₅₀ was 15.34 μmol·L^-1. Compared with the conditions in blank group， the cell clone formation of BR （7.5， 15， 30 μmol·L^-1） groups was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner （P<0.05，P<0.01）， while the levels of intracellular ROS and lipid peroxidation， iron concentration， and lactic dehydrogenase （LDH） leakage were increased in a dose-dependent manner （P<0.05，P<0.01）. Compared with the blank group， the BR （15， 30 μmol·L^-1） groups lowered the mRNA and protein expressions of SLC7A11， GPX4， SLC40A1， Nrf2 and HO-1， while elevated the mRNA and protein expression of TRF in a dose-dependent manner （P<0.05，P<0.01）. ConclusionBR suppressed the proliferation of HGC-27 cells through inducing ferroptosis via inhibiting Nrf2/HO-1 pathway.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the value of next-generation sequencing-based copy number variation sequencing (CNV-seq) for the detection of copy number variations (CNVs) in prenatal diagnosis. METHODS: The results of single nucleotide polymorphism array (SNP-array) for prenatal diagnosis from May 2018 to December 2020 were reviewed. Selected cases of CNVs of clinical significance or low-percentage mosaic aneuploidies were included. Preserved DNA samples of amniotic fluid DNA were detected by CNV-seq. The results of CNV-seq and CMA were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 16 488 data of SNP-array were re-analyzed, and 343 DNA samples were selected for the CNV-seq assay. All samples were successfully analyzed. Compared with the SNP-array, the proportion of full concordance, partial concordance and missed detection was 91.5% (314/343), 1.2% (4/343) and 7.3% (25/343), respectively. The non-detection zones of CNV-seq were confirmed, which have encompassed the SHOX gene and AZFc region. CONCLUSION With a high accuracy and wide genome-wide coverage, CNV-seq is worthy for a wide application in prenatal diagnosis, though the limitation of testing should be taken into consideration, and the appropriate prenatal diagnosis method should be selected for different populations to reduce the occurrence of birth defects.
Aneuploidy ; DNA ; DNA Copy Number Variations ; Female ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis/methods*

OBJECTIVETo observe effects of on hepatocarcinoma (HCC) cell vasculogenic mimicry (VM) and explore the molecular mechanism by which inhibits HCC metastasis and invasion.

METHODSForty male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups for gastric lavage of normal saline or high, moderate or low doses of (twice daily) for 4 consecutive days. The sera were collected from the rats for treatment of cultured human HCC HepG2 cells. VM formation in the cells was detected using an image acquisition and analysis system 24 h after incubation of the cells with the sera and with the RhoA/ROCK inhibitor Y-27632(P). The expression levels of RhoA and ROCK1 in the cells were detected using Western blotting, and the contents of VE-cadherin and PI3K in the culture supernatant were determined using ELISA.

RESULTSTreatment with the sera from -treated rats significantly inhibited formation of VM in HepG2 cells, and the diameters of VM formed were significantly greater than those in the positive control group ( < 0.01). Y-27632 completely inhibited the formation of VM in HepG2 cells ( < 0.01). Treatments with and Y-27632 both inhibited the expression of RhoA and ROCK1 ( < 0.05) and significantly lowered the contents of VE-cadherin and PI3K in the culture supernatant ( < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS can inhibit the formation of VM in HCC cells possibly by inhibiting the RhoA/ROCK pathways and the expressions of VE-cadherin and PI3K.

Objective: Due to the complicated compounds and the synergistic effect of multi-compounds, the quality control and assessment of Chinese materia medica (CMM) encounters a great challenge about how to identify the key compounds, which are directly correlated with its efficacy and safety. On the guidance of study on quality marker (Q-Marker), identification of Q-Markers was performed from Hedan Tablet (HDT) by the aid of the “spider-web” mode and hepatotoxicity evaluation derived from our previous researches and literatures. Methods: By the established ultra performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detector (UPLC-PDA) method, online UPLC-DPPH· and offline antioxidant assay, 21 candidate compounds of HDT were systematically investigated and comprehensively evaluated by the “spider-web” mode for them properties of Q-Marker based on “content-stability-activity”. In addition, the Q-Markers related with hepatotoxicity based on our previous researches and literatures were identified. Results: Salvianolic acid B (SaB), quercetin-3-O-glucuronide (Qug), isoquercitrin (IQ) and hyperoside (Hyp) were adopted as the preferable Q-Markers of HDT according to the shaded area (A) of tested compounds in “spider-web” mode. Psoralen (Ps), isopsoralen (IP), psoralenoside (PO) and isopsoralenoside (IPO) were also strongly recommended as Q-Markers closely related with safety by considering hepatotoxicity of the accumulated Ps and IP and conversion between glycoside (PO and IPO) and aglycone (Ps and IP). Conclusion: This study provided scientific evidence for quality control and assessment of HDT, and also provided a meaningful reference for application of Q-Markers in CMM.

【Objective】 To analyze the disease burden of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in China, Japan and South Korea from 1990 to 2019, so as to provide scientific basis for rational allocation of health resources. 【Methods】 Data were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The incidence, prevalence and years lived with disability(YLD)were used to analyze the burden, and the average annual percent change and annual percent change were calculated. 【Results】 The incidence, prevalence and YLD rate in China were much higher than those in Japan and South Korea. The crude incidence in China, Japan and South Korea increased by 2.56%, 1.49% and 3.59% per year from 1990 to 2019, the crude prevalence rate increased by 2.70%, 2.34% and 4.03%, and the crude YLD rate increased by 2.68%, 2.33% and 4.04%. After age standardization, the disease burden in China decreased with time, but the trend was not significant, and the standardized rate in Japan and Korea increased significantly with time. The disease burden of BPH increased with age, and those aged 60 to 84 years had the highest burden. In addition, the disease burden increased with the increase of socio-demographic index (SDI) in all three countries. 【Conclusion】 The disease burden of BPH was very heavy in China, Japan and South Korea, especially in China. Males aged 60 to 84 years were the high-risk group. Targeted intervention should be adopted for these population.