Monascus-fermented rice is a natural food and traditional Chinese medicine. Besides its wellknown effectiveness in lowering blood lipids, Monascus-fermented rice is also beneficial for decreasing blood pressure, preventing osteoporosis, and lowering blood sugar. This article reviews recent advances in its non-anti-hyperlipemic effects and their potential mechanisms.

Alpha-lipoic acid is a potent antioxidant.Its protective effects on oxidative stress induced by diabetes and othe factors are mainly achieved via its antioxidant property.Such effects have been observed in cardiovascular system,kidney,and liver.This article reviews the recent advances in the anti-oxidation mechanisms and protective effects of alpha-lipoic acid in peripheral organs.

S-1 is an upgraded product of tegafur and UFT. Compared with 5-FU, it has stronger anticancer activity, and relative rare gastrointestinal adverse reaction. Many clinical studies have demonstrated S-1 has very good efficacy and safety in patients with advanced gastric cancer. The efficacy of single S-1 has been approved better than other available anti-cancer drugs in the treatment of gastric cancer, and similar to combination regimens such as cisplatin plus fluorouracil.

Objective To observe the changes of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets in patients with postoperative colorectal cancer before and after chemotherapy, and to evaluate the changes of immune function status. Methods 74 patients with stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ colorectal cancer after radical resection admitted in Zhejiang Cancer Hospital from January to December 2016 were enrolled. 25 non-malignant patients in the same period in our hospital were selected as the control group. Flow cytometry was used to analyze the proportion of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets at one day before the first, sixth and eighth cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy. Results There were no differences in CD3+ (P =0.1532), CD3+CD4+ (P=0.1107), CD3+CD8+ (P=0.2576) T cells in the peripheral blood between patients with colorectal cancer after radical operation and control group (P>0.05). While CD3+CD56+NKT cells (P=0.0210) and CD3-CD56+NK cells (P=0.0045) in the patients with colorectal cancer after radical operation were significantly higher than those of the control group (P <0.05). There was no significant change in the proportion of NK and NKT cells before 6 cycles of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (P>0.05). There was no significant change in the proportion of NKT cells before 8 cycles (P>0.05), and the proportion of NK cells only decreased slightly (19.10±4.63 vs 20.31±4.66, P=0.046). Conclusion The proportion of NK and NKT cells in patients with colorectal cancer after radical resection was significantly higher than that in healthy people, and the expression rate remains stable after adjuvant chemotherapy.

[Abstract] Objective: To investigate the effect of HMGB1 gene on the growth of human epithelial ovarian cancer xenografts in nude mice, and to lay a foundation for finding new targets for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Methods: Human epithelial ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells in logarithmic growth phase were selected to establish a human epithelial ovarian cancer xenograft model in nude mice. Nude mice with successful model establishment were randomly divided into control group and HMGB1-siRNA group. On the 7th, 9th, 11th, 14th, and 16th days after cell inoculation, the same amount of saline and HMGB1-siRNA were respectively injected into two groups of mice under the armpit.After 3 weeks, the nude mice were sacrificed by cervical dislocation, the tumor tissues were separated, and the volume of the tumor was measured. The apoptosis of transplanted tumor cells was detected by Tunnel staining. The expressions of HMGB1, STAT3 and p-STAT3 were detected by Western blotting. The expression of vascular endothelial growth factorA(VEGF-A) and microvascularization were detected by immunohistochemistry. Results: Compared with the control group, the growth of tumor volume slowed down in HMGB1 siRNA group, and on the 21st day, the tumor volume of HMGB1-siRNA group was significantly smaller than that of the control group (P<0.05). HMGB1-siRNA successfully knocked down the expression of HMGB1 mRNA in transplanted tumor tissue. The apoptosis rate of tissue cells in HMGB1-siRNA group was significantly increased ([34±8]% vs [6±2]%, P=0.04), and the expressions of HMGB1 and p-STAT3 were significantly reduced (P<0.05). The expression of VEGF-Aand the number of microvessels were significantly lower than those of the control group (both P<0.05). Conclusion: Knockdown of HMGB1 gene reduces the expression of VEGF-A and microvessel formation possibly by inhibiting the HMGB1/STAT3 signaling pathway, thereby promoting the apoptosis of tumor tissues and slowing the growth of xenografts.