To investigate the chemical constituents of A. barbadensis, aqueous extract of the plant was subjected to preparative medium pressure liquid chromatography (MPLC). The chemical structures were mainly determined by spectroscopic evidences (UV, IR, HR-MS, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, HSQC, 1H-1H COSY and HMBC) and chemical methods. A new O, O, O-triglucosylated naphthalene derivative, together with two known 6-phenyl-2-pyrone derivatives and four 5-methylchromones, were isolated and identified as 1-((3-((4- O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl)-beta-D-xylopyranosyloxymethyl)-1-hydroxy-8-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyloxy)naphthalene-2-y])-ethanone (1), 10-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl aloenin (2), aloenin B (3), aloesin (4), 8-C-glucosyl-(R)-aloesol (5), 8-C-glucosyl-7-O-methyl-(S)-aloesol (6), and isoaloeresin D (7). Compound 1 is a novel naphthalene derivative and named as aloveroside B, compounds 2-3 are isolated from this Aloe species for the first time.

This article was aimed to rapidly analyze chemical composition in A loe Barbadensis Mill, and to compare the chemical composition of commercial aloe vera medicinal materials with that of fresh aloe yellow exudate. An opti-mized liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-ion trap-time-of-flight (LCMS-IT-TOF) method was applied for the analysis of commercial aloe vera medicinal materials and fresh aloe yellow exudates. The Agilent TC-C18 column (4.6 í 250 mm, 5 m) was used. The gradient elution was a solvent system of water(A)-methanol(B). ESI source was operated in both positive and negative ion modes. The results showed that chromones, pyrones, naphthalene deriva-tive, anthrones and anthraquinones were separated successfully, 30 compounds were characterized by the comparison of characteristic MS/MS fragment ions data with the literature. The diagnostic fragmentation patterns of different chemical compositions were also discussed on the basis of EST-IT-TOF MS data. It was concluded that the chemical composition of commercial aloe vera medicinal materials were significantly different from that of fresh aloe yellow ex-udate in terms of types and contents: the former one mainly contains isoaloeresin D and aloin, and few aloesin; but the latter is mainly composed of aloesin and aloin, and the content of aloesin is the highest. The LCMS-IT-TOF analysis can be used to rapidly obtain rich structural information of different chemical compositions, which improves the efficiency of qualitative analysis of chemical composition, and is of great significance to the quality control, eval-uation and the utilization of A loe Barbadensis Mill.

Objective:To prepare three kinds of liposomes with different solvent medium named common liposomes, ethanol liposomes and propylene glycol liposomes,screen and optimize the preparation process,and investigate the stability preliminarily. Methods:Common liposomes were prepared by a thin film dispersion method, and ethanol liposomes and propylene glycol liposomes were prepared by an injection method. With the same formula compositions,the size distribution of common liposomes was studied with hydration time, water bath temperature and rotation speed. The size distribution of ethanol liposomes and propylene glycol liposomes was studied different volume ratio of alcohol to water, stirring speed and mode of membrane passmg. An orthogonal design was adopted to obtain the optimal preparation technology based on the influences. Preliminary stability of the three different solvent medium liposomes was evaluated respectively on 0,1st,15th and 30th day using the changes of morphology and the mean particle size as the indicators. Results:The results of orthogonal test showed that the best preparation method for common liposomes was as follows:the hydration time was 60 min,the water bath temperature was 50℃ and the rotation speed was 200 r·min-1. The best preparation method for ethanol liposomes and propylene glycol liposomes was as follows:the volume ratio of alcohol to water was 1:2,the stirring speed was 1 000 r·min-1and the mode of membrane passing was 0.45 μm at first and then changed to 0.22 μm. Under the optimum preparation conditions, the three liposomes were closed monolayer or multilayer cystic spherosomes. The average diameter of common liposomes, ethanol liposomes and propylene glycol liposome was (1 016.2 ± 135.6),(578.7 ± 89.2) and (351.4 ± 53.8) nm, respectively. All the three liposomes were unstable during the one-month observation period. After the 15-day storage, obvious delamination appeared.Conclusion:Three different solvent medium liposomes prepared with the best process are in micro-scale or nano-scale. They are in poor stability, which should be freshly prepared before use.

As one of the most important biological drugs, protein and peptide drugs have been increasingly used in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases in recent years. However, most of them need to be injected and lack of long-acting formulations, which brings many troubles to patients suffering from chronic diseases. In this review, we summarized the strategies for engineering long-acting formulations for proteins and peptides via preparation means, including extended-release injection, implant, oral preparations and transdermal drug delivery systems, and analyzed their release mechanisms, research advances, advantages and shortcomings, thereby providing potential approaches for promoting the formulation improvement of these drugs.

BACKGROUNDThe insulin-like growth factor signaling pathway plays an important role in the modulation of cell growth and proliferation. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of polymorphisms of the insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) and IGF-binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) genes, which encode key proteins of this pathway, as risk factors for gastric carcinoma (GC).

METHODSA case-control study including 404 histologically confirmed GC patients and 424 healthy controls of the same ethnicity was conducted to retrospectively investigate the genetic polymorphisms of two genes, IGF2+820A>G (rs680) and IGFBP3 A-202C (rs2854744). Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using Logistic regression.

RESULTSThe IGF2 genetic variants examined contributed to GC risk individually (OR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.08-1.46). The genotype frequencies of IGFBP3 A-202C were not significantly different between the cancer cases and controls (P > 0.05). Compared to the IGF2 AA genotype, carriers of one variant combined genotype were more pronounced among young subjects (<60 years), male subjects, never smokers, and those with a family history of cancer (OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.09-1.72, P < 0.05; OR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.28-2.08, P < 0.05; OR = 1.46, 95% CI = 1.11-1.98, P < 0.05; OR = 1.53, 95% CI = 0.91-2.6, P < 0.05; respectively). Moreover, when the combined effects of the risk genotypes were investigated, significant associations were detected between highrisk genotypes in IGF2 and IGFBP3 (OR, 2.47; 95% CI, 1.75-3.49).

CONCLUSIONSOur results suggest that polymorphic variants of the IGF2 genes modulate gastric carcinogenesis. Moreover, when the IGF2 and IGFBP3 variants are evaluated together, a greater effect on GC risk is observed.

Adult ; Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; China ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Genotype ; Humans ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 ; genetics ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor II ; genetics ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; genetics ; Stomach Neoplasms ; genetics