Objective:To establish an HPLC method to determine the entrapment efficiency (EE) and drug loading (DL) of curcumin (CUR)and quercetin (QUE)loaded self-microemulsifying drug delivery system.Methods:A centrifugation method was used to isolate the free drug.The content of drug was determined by HPLC.The analytical column was a Purospher STAR LP C18 column (250 mm×4.6 mm,5 μm) and the column temperature was 30 ℃.The mobile phase was acetonitrile-4% acetic acid (50∶50) and the flow rate was 1.0 ml·min-1.The UV detection wavelength was set at 370 nm and the injection volume was 10 μl.Results:CUR and QUE were linear within the range of 10.728-96.552 μg·ml-1 (r=0.999 8) and 1.08-9.72 μg·ml-1 (r=0.999 9),respectively.The average recovery was 99.98%(RSD=1.46%,n=9) and 100.34%(RSD=1.06%,n=9),respectively.In CUR-QUE-SMEDDS,the EE of curcumin and quercetin was (95.97±0.50)% and (95.91±2.52)%,and the DL was (25.82±0.15) mg·g-1 and (1.80±0.05)mg·g-1,respectively.Conclusion:The method is accurate,rapid and simple,and suitable for the determination of DL and EE in CUR-QUE-SMEDDS.

The aim of the study was to prepare and evaluate the quality of negatively charged selfmicroemulsifying drug delivery system of curcumin (NC-CUR-SMEDDS).Based on the CUR-SMEDDS,the optimum amount of excipients was confirmed by the single-factor design experiment taking mean particle size,Zeta potential,drug entrapment efficiency and the drug loadings of curcumin as the evaluation indices for the preparation of NC-CUR-SMEDDS.The quality of NC-CUR-SMEDDS was evaluated by observing its appearance status,transmission electron microscope micrographs and determining particle diameter,Zeta electric potential,drug entrapment efficiency and drug loading.As a result,it was found that the Zeta potential reached -43.43 ± 0.29 mV when 4％ docusate sodium was added.The appearance of NC-CUR-SMEDDS remained clarified and transparent,and the microemulsion droplets appeared spherical without aggregation with uniform particle size distribution.The mean particle size was 14.08 ± 0.082 nm,the drug loading of curcumin was 26.48 mg·g-t and the drug entrapment efficiency was 94.12％.It was concluded that NC-CUR-SMEDDS with high entrapment efficiency and uniform particle size distribution met the requirement of inflammatory target binding in the colon.

Objective To analyze the effect of quality of life (QOL) on the prognosis of long-term survivors with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods A total of 192 NPC patients treated between 1999 and 2000 and with tumor-free survival before July 2003 were enrolled in this study. All patients received QOL measurement between July and August in 2003. Measurement scales included Chinese SF-36 questionnaire and a checklist consisting of fourteen items about self-rating symptoms. The median follow-up time was 7.9S years (range 2.67-9.55 years). The effects of QOL, social demographic and clinical factors on prognosis were analyzed. Results Univariate analysis showed that QOL affected the tumor-free survival and overall survival. Multivariate analysis showed that hypomnesia was an independent prognostic factor of tumor-free survival, while trismus, headache and age were independent prognostic factors of overall survival. The younger and the better QOL had better prognosis. The other sociodemographic and clinical factors had no prognostic value. Conclusion QOL is an important factor affecting the prognosis of long-term survivors with NPC, and it should be routinely evaluated during the follow-up.

Objective To evaluate the reliability, validity and feasibility of the Chinese version of SF-36 health survey questionaire in long-term survivors of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods A total of 85 long-term NPC survivors completed the Chinese version of SF-36 by either telephone or mail survey. Correlation analysis, reliability analysis and factor analysis were performed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the scale. Results The Chinese version of SF-36 was easy to complete. The split-half reliability was 0. 92 and the Cronbach's α coefficient among domains were all above 0. 70, which showed good reliability and discrimination capacity among domains. All the correlation coefficients between each item and its domain achieved or approached 0. 5, which were greater than those between the item and other domains. These results demonstrated that the Chinese version of SF-36 had good content validity and discriminatory validity. Six principal components were extracted from the scale, which could basically represent eight domains. The cumulative variance was 71.4%. Two common factors were extracted from the eight domains, which accounted for 73.3% of the variance. The Chinese version of SF-36 was able to detect differences in the quality of life between NPC patients and healthy populations. Conclusions The Chinese version of SF-36 has good feasibility, reliability and validity in evaluating the quality of life in long-term NPC survivors.

Phenotypic transformation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) is a key factor in pulmonary vascular remodeling. Inhibiting or reversing phenotypic transformation can inhibit pulmonary vascular remodeling and control the progression of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. Recent studies have shown that hypoxia causes intracellular peroxide metabolism to induce oxidative stress, induces multi-pathway signal transduction, including those related to autophagy, endoplasmic reticulum stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, and also induces non-coding RNA regulation of cell marker protein expression, resulting in PASMCs phenotypic transformation. This article reviews recent research progress on mechanisms of hypoxia-induced phenotypic transformation of PASMCs, which may be helpful for finding targets to inhibit phenotypic transformation and to improve pulmonary vascular remodeling diseases such as hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension.
Humans ; Pulmonary Artery ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; Vascular Remodeling/genetics* ; Hypoxia/genetics* ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; Cell Proliferation/physiology* ; Cells, Cultured ; Cell Hypoxia/genetics*

AIM:One of the important characteristics of the occurrence and development of triple-negative breast cancer(TNBC)is dysregulated cell metabolism.The aim of this study is to investigate the mechanism of pyruvate dehydrogenase E1 subunit alpha 1(PDHA1),a key enzyme component in aerobic glycolysis,affecting the proliferation,metastasis and invasion of TNBC.METHODS:(1)The expression levels of PDHA1 in breast cancer tissues and adja-cent tissues were analyzed by UALCAN database,KM-plotter database,Gene MANIA database and TCGA database.The expression of PDHA1 was compared according to tumor pathological stage,subtype classification and breast cancer bio-markers.The function of PDHA1 in TNBC was explored by gene enrichment analysis.(2)Immunohistochemistry assays were used to detect the expression of PDHA1 in human TNBC tissue and adjacent tissue samples.(3)Stable PDHA1 knockout and PDHA1 rescue TNBC MDA-MB-231 cells were constructed.The proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells was de-tected by colony formation assay and cell counting assay.The regulatory effect of PDHA1 on the invasion and migration of MDA-MB-231 cells was detected by in vitro scratch assay and Transwell migration assay.RESULTS:Database analysis showed that the group with high PDHA1 expression in breast cancer had shorter survival and worse prognosis.In clinical specimens,the expression of PDHA1 in cancer tissues was higher than that in adjacent normal tissues.Knockout of PDHA1 inhibited the proliferation,metastasis,invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of MDA-MB-231 cells.CONCLUSION:PDHA1 is overexpressed in TNBC,and it promotes cell proliferation and facilitates TNBC metastasis through the epithelial-mesenchymal transition pathway.

BACKGROUND:Inflammation affects the osteogenic differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells,and the osteogenic ability and autophagy level of periodontal ligament stem cells are closely related.However,there are no relevant reports on whether inflammation affects the osteogenic ability and autophagy level of periodontal ligament stem cells at different stages of osteogenic differentiation. OBJECTIVE:To explore alkaline phosphatase expression and autophagy periodontal ligament stem cells levels in periodontitis and normal conditions. METHODS:Periodontal ligament stem cells from normal and periodontitis patients were isolated and cultured,and underwent Vimentin,pan-CK,and Stro-1 fluorescence staining.At 3,7,and 14 days of osteogenic differentiation,western blot assay was used to detect the protein expression levels of alkaline phosphatase,LC3B,Beclin1,and ATG5 in normal and inflammatory periodontal ligament stem cells.The mRNA expression levels of alkaline phosphatase,bone sialoprotein,osteocalcin,Runx2,LC3B,Beclin1,and ATG5 were detected by real-time PCR. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Stro-1 was positive,Vimentin was positive,and pan CK was negative in periodontal ligament stem cells.(2)At 3,7,and 14 days after osteogenic differentiation,compared with normal periodontal ligament stem cells,the mineralization nodules formed by periodontal ligament stem cells from inflammatory sources were significantly reduced(P<0.01);the expression of alkaline phosphatase protein and mRNA was significantly lower(P<0.05);the mRNA expression levels of bone sialoprotein,osteocalcin,and Runx2 were significantly decreased(P<0.05).(3)At 7 and 14 days after osteogenic differentiation,compared with normal periodontal ligament stem cells,the expression levels of ATG5,LC3B,and Beclin1 proteins and mRNA of periodontal ligament stem cells were downregulated(P<0.05).These findings suggest that inflammation reduces the activity of periodontal ligament stem cells in mineralizing nodule formation and the expression of alkaline phosphatase and weakens the autophagy potential of periodontal ligament stem cells at 7 and 14 days after osteogenic differentiation.

Objective: To compare the measurement accuracy of two⁃dimensional (2D) photography and three⁃di⁃mensional (3D) photography in the analysis of the asymmetric appearance of children with cleft lip and palate and the influence of the severity of asymmetric deformity on the accuracy of facial measurement to guide clinical measurement work Methods: Children with unilateral cleft lip were enrolled in this prospective study. Seven parameters⁃⁃the devia⁃tion of the pronasale, subnasale, and labrale superius, as well as the cleft/noncleft ratio of the width of nostrils, length and height of lateral lips and height of columella⁃were measured with Vernier calipers as the gold standard. Traditional 2D photography and 3D stereophotogrammetry photos were taken and measured. The extent of cleft malformation is indi⁃cated by the ratio of the cleft side to the noncleft side. The error size is represented by the ratio difference between two⁃dimensional photography or stereophotogrammetry with the ratio of the gold standard Results: Thirteen patients were eventually recruited. The measurement results of the ratio of lateral lip height by 2D photography tended to be larger (P＝0.019), and the measurement results of the ratio of columella height tended to be smaller (P＝0.008). The measure⁃ment results of the deviation of the subnasale by stereophotogrammetry tended to be smaller (P＝0.003). The pronasale deviation (P＝0.022) with two⁃dimensional photography, the deviation of the labrale superius (P＝0.025) and the ratio of lateral lip length (P＝0.036) with stereophotogrammetry had a significant negative correlation with the extent of cleft malformation Conclusion Both two⁃dimensional photography and stereophotogrammetry have errors and biases that underexaggerate or overexaggerate the extent of cleft malformation, and some errors may increase with the decrease in the extent of cleft malformation. When applying two⁃dimensional and three⁃dimensional photography to analyze cleft lip and palate deformities, these biases should be considered to evaluate the face more objectively