Taxol is a kind of isoprenoid with strong anticancer activity. It is difficult to be obtained because of its low concentration in nature, which hinders its application in cancer treatment. Recently, biosynthesis methods for taxol production have attracted more attentions. Several systems including Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Physcomitrella patens, Arabidopsis, tomato and ginseng were explored. This review focuses on the advance in biosynthesis of taxol in different systems and features the bottleneck of scale fermentation for producing the intermediates. At the same time some advices for the further were given. At last, the future and character of Physcomitrella patens system used in taxol combinatorial biosynthesis were analyzed based on our lab's research.
Biotechnology ; trends ; Bryopsida ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Genetic Engineering ; Paclitaxel ; biosynthesis

Objective To investigate the effects of Bushen-Huoxue decoction on the plasma level of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and heart function in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) due to kidney deficiency and blood stasis. Methods A total of 96 patients with CHF due to kidney deficiency and blood stasis were randomized into a treatment group (50 cases) and a control group (46 cases). In the control group, the normal treatment of western medicine was given. In the treatment group, on the basis of the control group, Bushen-Huoxue decoction was added. Both groups were treated for 4 weeks. The plasma BNP level was detected with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The left ventricular ejecting function, New York Heart Association functional classes and score of traditional Chinese medicine syndromes were evaluated before and after the treatment. Results After the treatment, the plasma BNP level in the treatment group was significantly lower than that in the control group (897.3 ± 286.7 pg/ml vs. 1 423.5 ± 458.7 pg/ml;P<0.05);the left ventricular end systolic diameter (4.8 ± 0.8 cm vs. 5.4 ± 0.9 cm) and the left ventricular end systolic volume (57.23 ± 5.30 ml vs. 69.78 ± 5.86 ml) in the treatment group were significantly lower than those in the control group (all P<0.05);the stroke volume (72.56 ± 7.23 ml vs. 62.56 ± 5.86 ml) and the left ventricular ejection fraction (59.75%± 6.47%vs. 49.87%± 6.91%) in the treatment group were significantly higher than those in the control group (all P<0.05). The heart function (90.0%vs. 80.4%;χ2=4.369, P<0.05) and the traditional Chinese medicine syndromes (94.0%vs.82.6%;χ2=3.988, P<0.05) had shown significant improvement in the treatment than those in the control group. Conclusions Bushen-Huoxue decoction can reduced the plasma BNP level, improve the heart function in patients with CHF due to kidney deficiency and blood stasis.

AIM: Studies reveal that, cytokines play an important role in the process of various inflammatory reaction, wound repair and cell mutation, also, cytokines are expected to be a novel indicator of ratiocinating wound time. This study was designed to explore the changes in gene expression of interlukin-1? (IL-1?) and interlukin-1? (IL-1?) during the skin wound healing process in mice at different phases. METHODS: The experiment was carried out in the laboratory of Forensic Medicine Department of China Criminal Police University from March 2006 to December 2007. ①Thirty-five BALB/c inbred male white mice of cleaning grade, aged 25-27 g, were used in this study. ②Skin wound model was induced by injuries in the area of 1.0 cm away from two sides of spinal column, without affection on muscles. Three pairs of injuries were established in each mouse. Five animals were decapitated under anesthesia at 0, 3, 6, 12 hours and 1, 3, 6 days, respectively, whereas those at 0 hour were taken as controls. ③The white blood cells at different phases were observed under microscope after immunochemical staining. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction method was applied to detect gene expression of IL-1? and IL-1?. RESULTS: Thirty-five BALB-c inbred male white mice were all involved in the result analysis. ①Skin wound was weakly positive during 0-5 hours after injury; the positive reaction was attenuated during 6-24 hours, and positive cells increased, of which macrophages were dominant. Infiltration of massive leucocyte neutrophils and a small quantity of mononuclear cells were detectable at 1 day; mononuclear cells increased during 2-4 days, and reached a peak at 3 days. In control group, the epidermis, folliculus pili, glandulae sebaceae and coil gland were all weakly positive. ②IL-1? and IL-1? were expressed at early phase after injury, and two expressing peaks were found at 6 and 72 hours, then decreased to normalized levels at 6 days after injury. CONCLUSION: Genet expression of IL-1? and IL-1? in damaged tissues has a regularity with wound time, and can be used for reference to estimate early injury age in forensic cases.

Objective To compare the efficacy between the brucea javanica oil emulsion combined with the whole radiotherapy group (treatment group) and only radiotherapy group (control group) in non-small cell lung cancer patients with brain metastases.Methods The clinical data of 53 non-small cell lung cancer patients with brain metastasis were retrospectively reviewed,including 27 cases in treatment group and 26 cases in control group.Results The remission rates were 77.8 ％ (21/27) and 69.2 ％ (18/26) respectively in treatment group and control group.The improvement rates of Kamofsky in the treatment group and control group were 66.7 ％ (18/27) and 30.8 ％ (8/26),the stable rates were 22.2 ％ (6/27) and 30.8 ％ (8/26),the decrease rates were 11.1％ (3/27) and 38.5 ％ (10/26).The remission rates of clinical sympotoms were 92.6 ％ (25/27) and 69.2 ％ (18/26) respectively in treatment group and control group.The difference of remission rate between two groups has no statistic significance (P ＞ 0.05),while the difference of the quality of life and clinical sympotoms between two groups were significant respectively (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The brucea javanica oil emulsion combined with the whole radiotherapy can relieve clinical sympotoms and improve the quality of life of patients,and may play a role on improving the effect of radiotherapy.

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the utilization of microbioecologics in outpatient department of pediatrics of our hospital.METHODS:Prescriptions were randomly collected from outpatient department of pediatrics of our hospital in Dec.2009 to analyze the utilization of microbioecologics.RESULTS:Of total 8 858 prescriptions,microbioecologics were used in 486 cases,accounting for 5.48%;bifidobacterium combined with lactobacillus,enterococcus and bacillus cereus tablets(live) accounted for 59.26%.Microbioecologics combined with antibiotics accounted for 8.49% but the combination of tow kinds of microbioecologics hadn't been found.CONCLUSIONS:The utilization of microbioecologics is rational in outpatient department of pediatrics of our hospital on the whole.

Objective To evaluate the recent effects of IMRT plus gemcitabine for locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.Methods The data of forty-five patients were retrospectively reviewed.The treatment group consisted of 23 cases,treated with sequential same chemotherapy regimens and IMRT,the control group consisted of 22 cases,receiving same chemotherapy regimens after two cycles of gemcitabine and cisplatin induction chemotherapy.Resuls The remission rates were 65.2 ％ (15/23) and 31.8 ％ (7/22) respectively in treatment and control group.The 1 year survival rates were 66.4 ％ and 45.0 ％ respectively in treatment and control group.The remission rates and 1 year survival rates were significant different between two groups (both P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The short-term effect of sequential chemotherapy and IMRT is better than chemotherapy and the adverse events can be better tolerated.

Differences in theories, application forms and evaluation standards about curative effect between traditional Chinese medicine and modern medicine lead to not only question safty and effectiveness but also hinder development and internationalization of traditional Chinese medicine. Combination of common problems in traditional Chinese new drug registration with experiences in research on traditional Chinese new drugs of prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease elucidate application value about theory of disease-syndrome combination and multi-objective optimization in several ways such as the indications positioning, preparation process optimization, preclinical efficacy evaluating and clinical assessmenting of efficacy and analysis development prospect.
Animals ; Biomedical Research ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; prevention & control ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drug Discovery ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Humans

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Adjuvants, Immunologic ; therapeutic use ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; HIV-1 ; Humans ; Phytotherapy ; Toll-Like Receptors ; immunology ; physiology

Erythroblastosis, Fetal ; blood ; diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; MNSs Blood-Group System

Phlegm syndrome, as the main syndrome of coronary heart diseases, not only its clinical signs and symptoms are clear, but also related with gene polymorphism, plasma metabolomics, genomics protein metabolism and urine metabolomics indicators, especially the close connection between serum lipids and phlegm syndrome in coronary heart diseases. The further research on the connection can be used as the references for the syndrome diagnosis and clinical treatment guidance, and provide solid foundation for TCM syndromes toward internationalization. This article pointed out that the treatment of coronary heart diseases should retain Chinese characteristics, focus on the basis of the phlegm syndrome, and pay attention to control lipid levels, in order to improve the clinical efficacy, and look forward to making progress in in-depth study on efficacy evaluation system of phlegm syndrome in coronary heart diseases.