Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; administration & dosage ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy

OBJECTIVETo observe clinical effect of integrated Chinese medical (CM) treatment (as maintenance therapy) on the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after first-line chemotherapy.

METHODSThe study was a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial. Totally 69 non-progressive advanced NSCLC patients treated with first-line chemotherapy were randomly assigned to the test group (34 cases) and the control group (35 cases). Patients in the control group were treated with one Western drug chemotherapy (Gemcitabine or Alimta or docetaxel). Those in the test group were treated with integrated CM treatment (CM decoction, CM Intravenous preparation, and point application). Each cycle consisted of 21 days. Treatment lasted till the disease progressed, or intolerable toxic/adverse reactions occurred, or patients refused to continue the treatment. Patients' life spans were regularly followed-up.

RESULTS(1) The median cycle of maintenance therapy was 2 cycles for two groups with no statistical difference (P =0.274). The median PFS was 12.43 weeks in the test group and 10.00 weeks in the control group, showing statistical difference (P =0.025). The middle survival time (MST) was 18.8 months in the test group and 16.73 months in the control group, showing no statistical difference (P =0.437).

CONCLUSIONCM treatment (as maintenance therapy) showed quail effect to one Western drug chemotherapy in prolonging patients' life span.

Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; drug therapy ; Deoxycytidine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Disease-Free Survival ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Pemetrexed ; therapeutic use ; Prospective Studies ; Taxoids ; therapeutic use

This study aims to detect early changes of kidney in patients with primary hypertension by 3.0 T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). 26 patients with primary hypertension (hypertension group) and 33 healthy volunteers (control group) underwent conventional and functional magnetic resonance scans, which included blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) MRI, diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). We measured renal cortical thickness (CT), parenchymal thickness (PT), and functional values of renal cortex and medulla including R2* value, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value and fractional anisotropy (FA) value in each group, and then calculated the cortical/parenchymal thickness ratio (CPR). Compared with those in the control group, CT and CPR in hypertension group were larger (P < 0.01), cortical and medullar R2* values increased (P < 0.01) whereas medullar FA values decreased (P < 0.05). It could be well concluded that noninvasive 3.0 T functional MRI would have important clinical significance in identifying early abnormalities of kidney in hypertension patients.
Anisotropy ; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Diffusion Tensor Imaging ; Essential Hypertension ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Kidney ; pathology ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Objective:To detect immunological effects of procyanidin ,gastrodin,baicalein and apigenin on antigen presenting cells of RAW264.7 and DC2.4 and search for new tumor vaccine adjuvant.Methods: After different concentrations of four kinds of Chinese herbal monomer and LPS were used to stimulate RAW 264.7 or DC2.4 cells for 48 hours,cells were obtained and stained with CD80,CD86,MHCⅠand MHCⅡ antibody.Then protein expression levels of CD80,CD86,MHCⅠ and MHCⅡ on RAW264.7 and DC2.4 cells were analyzed by flow cytometry.Results: Results showed that after 48 hours stimulated with different concentrations of four kinds of Chinese herbal monomer on RAW 264.7 or DC2.4 cells,the expression levels of CD80,CD86,MHCⅠ,MHCⅡ were all up-regulated in comparison with control , procyanidin and baicalein exhibited stronger immunological stimulating activity on a cellular level.Conclusion:Procyanidin and baicalein were found having potential application value in clinical treatment as tumor vaccine adju -vants.

When senescence induction is based on DNA damage, senescent cells display a unique phenotype, which has been termed “senescence-associated secretory phenotype”( SASP ) . SASP, including proinflammatory cytokines, growth factors, chemokines, matrix remodeling enzymes and other cytokines, may be an important driver of chronic inflammation and therefore may be part of a vicious cycle of inflammation, DNA damage and senescence. Senescence-associated secretory products released by such cells can affect the neighboring cells and further exacer-bate their regenerative capacity. SASP is associated with many chronic age-related diseases.

Objective To investigate the MR features of pituitary abscess.Methods The MR features of 14 cases of pituitary abscess proved by surgical pathology and clinical treatments were analyzed retrospectively.Results Pre-contrast MR showed hypointense heterogeneous intensity on T_1 WI in 12 cases and iso-hyperintense on T_1 WI in 2 cases,hyperintense on T_2 WI in all cases.Post-gadolinium MR showed the ring-like enhancement around the uneven edge of abscess and the surrounding enhanced meninges connecting to the focus.The normal pituitary could not be identified in all 14 cases.The MR specific findings include the fluid-fluid level,nodule on the edge and the enhanced patchy shadow.Conclusions The pituitary abscess has specific findings on MR examination,which can be used to combine with clinical symptoms to achieve the diagnosis before operation,so that the cases could be treated with antibiotic without operation.

Objective To investigate the dose response of S100A4 gene expression in the irradiated lymphoblastoid cells AHH-1 at different time points post irradiation.Methods AHH-1 cells was exposed to different doses(0,1,3,5,8,10,15 and 18 Gy)of 60Co γ-rays,and its mRNA levels of S100A4 was detected by reverse transcription PCR and real-time PCR at 4,8,12,24,48 and 72 h after irradiation.Results Within the range of applied doses,the level of S100A4 gene expression was upregulated with a good dose-response (R2 =0.79-0.93,P ＜ 0.05) and had obvious difference at different time points (F =8.91,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion S100A4 gene expression at transcriptional level could be detected easily and had optimum dose-responses at certain time points after irradiation,and hence is applicable as a dosimeter.

AIM: To investigate the expression of adhes i on molecules in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and analyze the correlatio n between the expression of adhesion molecules and chemosensitivity. METHODS: The surgical and needle specimens from 64 patients were tested by the ATP-TCA. The expression of adhesion molecules and multi-drug resi stance genes (MDR) of tumor tis sues of 64 cases and adjacent tissues of 12 cases of HCC were detected with RT-P CR. RESULTS: The expression level of E-cadherin, ICAM-1, CD 44, CD 44V, ? 5, ? 1 in liver cancer tissues was 1.24?0.54, 0.96?0.3 7, 0.62?0 .73, 0.86?0.33, 0.97?0.49, 1.41?0.24, respectively. There was a signif icant difference between CD 44 and E-cadherin, ? 1. The expression levels of MD R 1, MRP, GST-?, LRP, TOPO II mRNA in liver cancer tissues were 1.17?0.47, 1 .59?0.33, 1.18?0.48, 1.03?0.48, 1.00?0.31, respectively. The express ion level of adhesion molecule mRNA had positive Spearman correlation with the expression level of MDR mRNA. ICAM-1, ? 5 had positive Spearman correlation w ith MDR 1. E-cadherin and CD 44 had negative Spearman correlation with MDR 1. E-cadherin had negative Spearman correlation with MRP. ICAM-1 had positive Spearman correlation with LRP. E-cadherin and CD 44 had negative Spearman c orrelation with LRP. CONCLUSION: The expression levels of adhesion molecule mRNA ha ve correlation with the effect of chemotherapy and the expression of MDR genes .

Objective To explore the differences of TCM constitutions and lifestyles among the subjects with positive tumor marker screening and those with normal tumor marker screening. Methods Totally 245 subjects with positive tumor marker screening from September 2014 to December 2017 in Weihai area were selected as the observation group and 300 subjects with normal tumor marker screening were selected as the control group. Field questionnaire was used to investigate TCM constitutions and lifestyles. Results In the observation group, the ratio of constitution of yin-yang harmony was significantly lower than the control group, with statistical significance (χ2=207.483, P＜0.001). The ratios of constitution of phlegm-dampness, constitution of blood stasis, constitution of qi deficiency and constitution of qi stagnation were significantly higher than the control group, with statistical significance (P＜0.05). There was statistical significance between the 2 groups in irregular rest, heavy drinking, regular smoking, lack of exercise, irregular diet and partial eclipse (P＜0.05). CEA, a positive indicator of tumor markers in the observation group, was commonly found in constitution of phlegm-dampness (40.43％) and constitution of qi deficiency (22.70％); CA199 was commonly found in constitution of qi stagnation (38.71％) and constitution of qi deficiency (24.19％); AFP was commonly found in constitution of blood stasis (38.46％) and constitution of qi deficiency (23.08％); CA125 was commonly found in constitution of blood stasis (33.33％) and constitution of qi stagnation (19.05％); CYFRA21-1 was commonly found in constitution of phlegm-dampness (54.55％) and constitution of qi deficiency (22.73％); PSA was commonly found in constitution of phlegm-dampness (61.52％) and constitution of damp-heat (23.08％). Conclusion Effectively controling the distribution of TCM constitutions of subjects with positive tumor marker screening in Weihai area and understanding the influence of lifestyles on tumor markers can provide guidance for clinical improvement of patients' biased constitutions and reduction of positive indicators of tumor markers.

By using a yeast two-hybrid system, a yeast two-hybrid bait vector was constructed and identified for screening of the HPV18 E6-interacting proteins, and its effects on the growth of yeast cells and the activation of reporter genes were investigated. Total mRNA extracted from Hela cells was reversely transcribed into cDNA. Fragment of HPV18 E6 cDNA was amplified using RT-PCR and directly ligated to the pGBKT7 vector. The recombinant plasmid was confirmed by restriction endonuclease analysis and DNA sequencing. The recombinant pGBKT7-HPV18 E6 plasmid and empty pGBKT7 vector were transformed into the yeast cell AH109, respectively. After they were cultured respectively in YPDA liquid medium and nutrition-deficient culture medium, their toxicity and transcriptional activation were tested by both the phenotype assay and the color assay. The bait plasmid HPV18 E6 was successfully obtained. After being cultured in YPDA liquid medium for 16h, the A (600 nm) values of two yeast fluids were 0.98+/-0.03 and 0.99+/-0.02, respectively. The recombinant pGBKT7-HPV18 E6 plasmid and empty pGBKT7 vector could grow to white colonies on SD/-Trp/X-alpha-gal plates, while no colony could survive on SD/-His/-Trp/X-alpha-gal, SD/-Ade/-Trp/X-alpha-gal plates, indicating that the bait plasmid pGBKT7-HPV18 E6 was constructed successfully and expressed correctly, and could not activate the transcription of reporter gene alone. The yeast two-hybrid GAL4 system 3 can be utilized to find HPV18 E6 interacting proteins.