OBJECTIVETo discuss the synergistic mechanism of compatible use of two medicinal herbs, Zingiber offiicinale and Aconitum cainichaeli, by determining single decoction of Z. offiicinale and four gingerols (6-gingerol, 8-gingerol, 6-shogaol, 10-gingerol) contained in compound decoction of Z. offiicinale and A. cainichaeli of different compatibility ratio using HPLC.

METHODKromasil-C18 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) was adopted. The mobile phase was acetonitrile (B) and 0.1% aqueous acetic acid (A) for gradient elution (0-30 min, 40%-90% B; 30-35 min, 90%-40% B). The flow rate was 1.0 mL x min(-1). The detection wavelength was set at 275 nm. The column temperature was 30 degrees C.

RESULTThe four gingerols were in baseline separation, with a good linearity (r > 0.999), an average recovery of 100.9% -103.5% and RSD < 3.0%. Compared with the single decoction of Z. offiicinale, the content of gingerols in the compound decoction of Z. offiicinale and A. cainichaeli was on the rise and in direct proportion with the increase in the volume of A. cainichaeli.

CONCLUSIONThe synergistic mechanism of the compatibility of Z. offiicinale and A. cainichaeli can be proved with the increased release of gingerols from Z. offiicinale.

Aconitum ; Catechols ; analysis ; Drug Compounding ; Drug Synergism ; Fatty Alcohols ; analysis ; Ginger ; chemistry

The aim of the study is to investigate rat intestinal absorption behavior of three main active components, schisandrol A, schisandrin A and schisandrin B in Schisandra chinensis Baill extracts in intestine of rats. With phenol red as the indicator, in situ single pass intestinal perfusion (SPIP) model was used and the concentrations of three main active components in perfusion solution of different intestinal segments (duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and colon) were determined by HPLC in combination with diode array detection. The results showed that the absorption rate constant (Ka) and effective permeability values (Peff) of three main active components in Schisandra chinensis Baill extracts had significant difference (P < 0.05) at different concentrations of perfusion solution, the Ka and Peff first increased and then decreased with the increase of drug concentration, the middle concentration was higher than those of the other two concentrations. The saturate absorption phenomena were observed, and it suggested that the transport mechanisms of three main active components in vivo were similar to active transport or facilitated diffusion. Three active components can be well absorbed in all of the intestinal segments, while duodenum is the best absorption region. The Ka and Peff of three active components in jejunum and ileum had no significant difference (P > 0.05). The absorption of the three active components displayed significant difference (P < 0.05) at different intestinal segments of rats. Schisandrin A had the best absorption in duodenum. The Ka and Peff among three active components were sequenced as follows: schisandrin A > schisandrin B > schisandrol A in other intestinal segments, and there is significant difference (P < 0.05) between them.

Objective To compare the setup errors between single-site and two-site image guidance in treating multiple metastases using Tomotherapy.Methods A total of 1 220 sets of megavoltage CT (MVCT) images from 50 multiple metastases patients were collected.The setup errors of two anatomic sites were determined by registration of MVCT images with planning images.Bland-Altman plot analysis was used to assess the coincidence of these two methods.Pearson correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the correlation of the setup errors determined by two sets of data and to analyze the deviation values of setup errors.Results The deviation values of setup errors more than 3 mm between two sites were 34％,46％ and 28％ in lateral (x),longitudinal (y),vertical (z) directions,respectively.The deviation values of setup errors more than 5 mm were 10％,16％ and 8％,respectively.The BlandAltman plot analysis showed that the 95％ agreement limits of agreement were (9.3,-10.6),(10.5,-11.7),(7.3,-6.9) mm in x,y,z directions,respectively,which were all out of 5 mm tolerance.The Pearson coefficient of correlation along all three directions was less than 0.05,and R2 was 0.074,0.475,and 0.178 in x,y,z directions,respectively.Conclusions To determine the setup errors for patients with multiple metastases,single-site image guidance method is not consistent,and the two site image guidance method would be recommended.

Strychons nuxvomica is widely used by clinic and individual owing to its officinal value. Since toxic dose and therapeutic dose are very close, the poisoning cases are reported frequently. In this review, based on the recent available papers published in the PubMed and CNKI about Strychons nuxvomica, a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, we present the major current approaches in the field of composition, toxicology, pharmacokinetics, decreasing toxicity and increasing efficacy, in order to guide the use of S. nuxvomica in the clinic.
Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacokinetics ; toxicity ; Humans ; Mice ; Strychnos nux-vomica ; chemistry

Objective To identify clinical and dosimetric parameters from dose-volume histogram(DVH) relating with incidence of severe acute radiation-induced esophagitis(RE)in patients with non-small cell lung can-cer(NSCLC)underwent tomotherapy with concurrent or sequential chemotherapy. Methods Records about clini-cal information and treatment plan parameters from DVH of 62 NSCLC patients treated with tomotherapy were pro-spectively collected to assess the correlation to severe acute RE from January 2012 to December 2016. Results There were 24.2％patients developed grade 3 RE,grade 4 or 5 in 0％patients. Multivariate analysis indicated that concurrent chemotherapy,esophagus median dose and esophagus V25 and V55 were the influencing factors of RE. The incidence of low frequencies RE was correlated with sequential chemotherapy ,esophagus median dose < 49 Gy,esophagus V25 < 64％ ,V55 < 33％ and V60 < 15％. Conclusions For NSCLC patients treated with tomo-therapy and chemotherapy,the occurrence of acute RE was similar to that of other techniques. It is recommended to balance such parameters for optimizing treatment planning.

Objective To investigate the expression of transcription factor forkhead box protein O(FOXO)genes in gastric cancer tissues and their correlation and clinical significance with Helicobacter pylori(Hp)infection.Methods The expression levels of FOXOs genes(including FOXO1,FOXO3,FOXO4,and FOXO6)were detected by immunohistochemistry in cancer tissues and paracancerous tissues from 41 gastric cancer patients with Hp(-)and 29 gastric cancer patients with Hp(+),as well as in gastric tissues from 30 healthy individuals.The correlation between FOXOs expression and Hp infection,clinical pathological features was analyzed.The relationship between FOXOs expression and survival prognosis of gastric cancer patients was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier plotter.Results Compared with those in the Hp(-)gastric cancer tissues,the expression levels of FOXO1,FOXO4,and FOXO6 were higher in the Hp(+)gastric cancer tissues(P<0.05).Meanwhile,the expression levels of FOXO1,FOXO3,and FOXO4 in the Hp(+)gastric cancer tissues were lower than that in the paracancerous tissues(P<0.05)and normal tissues(P<0.0001).The expression of FOXOs in gastric cancer tissues was closely correlated with the degree of differentiation,depth of infiltration,lymph node metastasis,and TNM stage of gastric cancer(P<0.05).Meanwhile,FOXO1/3 was associated with the survival prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.Conclusion Hp infection promotes the expression of FOXO1/4/6 in gastric cancer tissues.The high expression of tumor suppressor genes FOXO1/4 may be one of the reasons for better prognosis in Hp(+)gastric cancer patients.FOXOs genes are widely involved in regulating the disease progression of gastric cancer,which has certain value for disease treatment.

ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate the mechanism in which Celastrus orbiculatus extract （COE） affects the proliferation and differentiation of gastric organoids and the expression of Lgr5 and thus reverses the precancerous lesions of gastric cancer （PLGC） by regulating the leucine-rich repeat containing G protein-coupled receptor 5 （Lgr5）/Wingless （Wnt）/β-catenin signaling pathway based on a gastric organoid injury model. MethodGastric organoids were established based on stem cells of the mouse gastric gland. Gastric organoid injury models were constructed by treating gastric organoids with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine （MNNG， 0.02 mg·L^-1）. Gastric organoid injury models were randomly divided into normal group， model group （0.02 mg·L^-1 MNNG）， low， medium， and high dose （5， 10， 20 mg·L^-1） groups of COE， and Wnt inhibitor Dickkopf-related protein 1 （DKK1） （0.5 mg·L^-1） group， and they were treated with respective agents for 24 h. The number and volume of gastric organoids under different drug concentrations were observed under a microscope. The viability of the gastric organoid injury models was detected by Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium （MTT） assay. The morphology and pathology of gastric organoids were observed using Hematoxylin and Eosin （HE） staining. The expression levels of Lgr5， Mucin2 （MUC2）， Mucin5AC （MUC5AC）， Mucin6 （MUC6）， Wnt， and β-catenin in gastric organoids under different drug concentrations were detected by Western blot （WB）. ResultCompared with the normal group， the number， volume， and activity of gastric organoids in the model group were decreased （P<0.01）， while the expressions of Lgr5， MUC2， Wnt， and β-catenin were significantly increased （P<0.01）. The expressions of MUC5AC and MUC6 were significantly decreased （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the number and volume of gastric organoids in the low， medium， and high dose groups of COE were all improved （P<0.01）， and the vitality of gastric organoids was significantly enhanced （P<0.01）. The effect was the most significant at a COE concentration of 20 mg·L^-1 （P<0.01）. The expressions of Lgr5 and MUC2 in the medium and high dose groups of COE were significantly reduced （P<0.01）， while the expression of MUC5AC and MUC6 were significantly increased in the low， medium， and high dose groups of COE （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， Wnt inhibitors could promote the expression of MUC5AC and MUC6 in gastric organoids （P<0.05， P<0.01） and reduce the expression of MUC2， Wnt， and β-catenin. In addition， the combined use of COE at high concentrations and Wnt inhibitors could further promote this trend （P<0.01）. ConclusionCOE inhibits the Wnt/β-catenin pathway by inhibiting the expression of Lgr5， MUC2， Wnt， and β-catenin and promoting the expression of MUC5AC and MUC6， thus promoting the proliferation and differentiation of gastric organoids and reversing the PLGC process.