The present study counted the frequency of detection technologies and monitoring frequency of pesticide species by frequency analysis based on the 28 258 pieces of data on pesticide content of Chinese medicinal materials in CNKI, calculated the detection rate and exceeding rate of different types of pesticides, and systematically analyzed the pesticide residue pollution of Chinese medicinal materials. The results showed that there were 40 types of pesticides with detection rates higher than 10%, where new pesticides such as organochlorines and nicotine accounted for 55%, and organic phosphorus, pyrethroids, and carbamates accounted for 17.5%, 15.0%, and 12.5%, respectively. Seventeen types of pesticides exceeded the standard to varying degrees, including 12 types(70.59%) with exceeding rates not higher than 5%, four types(23.53%) with exceeding rates in the range of 5%-10%, and one type(5.88%) with an exceeding rate higher than 10%. As revealed by the analysis results of the past five years, the pesticide residue pollution of Chinese medicinal materials showed a downward trend. Compared with the conditions at worst, organochlorines decreased by about 2/3 in detection rate and 47.23% in exceeding rate, carbamates by about 1/2 in detection rate and 10.78% in exceeding rate, organic phosphorus by 3/4 in detection rate and 7.22% in exceeding rate, pyrethroids by 1/2 in detection rate and 11.05% in exceeding rate, and other types by about 1/2 in detection rate but not exceeded the standard. In general, pesticide residues in Chinese medicinal materials and safety have been significantly improved. However, pesticide residues are still important factors affecting the quality and safety of Chinese medicinal materials. It is suggested to further improve the control standards of pesticide residues in Chinese medicinal materials, strengthen the monitoring of pesticides used in practical production, and promote the ecological planting mode to facilitate the high-quality development of the Chinese medicinal material industry.
China ; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated/analysis* ; Pesticide Residues/analysis* ; Pesticides/analysis* ; Pyrethrins/analysis*

Cancer remains the leading cause of death worldwide despite intense efforts in developing innovative treatments. Current approaches in cancer therapy are mainly directed to a selective targeting of cancer cells to avoid potential side effects associated with conventional therapy. In this respect, Natural killer (NK) cells have gained growing attention and are now being considered as promising therapeutic tools for cancer therapy owing to their intrinsic ability to rapidly recognize and kill cancer cells, while sparing normal healthy cells. NK cells play a key role in the first line of defense against transformed and virus-infected cells. NK cells sense their target through a whole array of receptors, both activating and inhibitory. Functional outcome of NK cell against target cells is determined by the balance of signals transmitted from diverse activating and inhibiting receptors. Despite significant progress made in the role of NK cells attack as a pivotal sentinel in tumor surveillance, the molecular has been that regulate NK cell responses remain unclear, which restricts the use of NK cells as a therapeutic measure. Accordingly, current efforts for NK cell-based cancer therapy have largely relied on the strategies that are based on the manipulation of inhibitory receptor function. However, if we better understand the mechanisms governing NK cell activation, including those mediated by diverse activating receptors, this knowledge can be applied to the development of optimal design for cancer immunotherapy by targeting NK cells.
Activation Analysis ; Cause of Death ; Immunotherapy ; Killer Cells, Natural ; Nitriles ; Pyrethrins ; Receptors, Immunologic

BACKGROUND: Pyrethroid (PYR) insecticides are widely used for controlling various pests. There are two types that differ in terms of usage: agricultural-purpose PYR (agriculture-PYR) and hygiene purpose PYR (hygiene-PYRs). Few studies exist on the exposure to these chemicals in small children. In this study, we conducted biomonitoring of urinary pyrethroid metabolites in 1.5-year-old children throughout the year. METHODS: Study subjects were 1075 children participating in an Aichi regional sub-cohort of the Japan Environment and Children's Study as of 18-month health check-up. The concentrations of four specific hygiene-PYR metabolites including 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-1,4-benzenedimethanol (HOCH₂-FB-Al), and five common metabolites of hygiene- and agriculture-PYRs including 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (3PBA) and cis- and trans-3-(2,2-dichlorovinyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (DCCA), were measured in urine samples extracted from soiled diapers using a triple quadrupole gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer. RESULTS: The highest detection frequencies were for 3PBA, followed by DCCA, 1R-trans-chrysanthemum dicarboxylic acid, and HOCH₂-FB-Al. Among the six metabolites, urinary concentrations were seasonally varied. However, this variation was not observed in the most studied PYR metabolite, 3PBA. Spearman's correlation analysis demonstrated a significant positive correlation between FB-Al and DCCA (r = 0.56) and HOCH₂-FB-Al and 4-methoxymethyl-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzyl alcohol (r = 0.60). CONCLUSIONS This biomonitoring survey found widespread and seasonally specific exposure to multiple hygiene- and agriculture-PYRs in 1.5-year-old Japanese children.
Agriculture ; Child, Preschool ; Environmental Exposure/analysis* ; Humans ; Infant ; Insecticides ; Japan ; Mass Spectrometry ; Pyrethrins/urine*

This retrospective observational case series study was conducted to describe the clinical feature of acute type II pyrethroid poisoning, and to investigate whether hyperglycemia at presentation can predict the outcome in patients with type II pyrethroid poisoning. This study included 104 type II pyrethroid poisoned patients. The complication rate and mortality rate was 26.9% and 2.9% in type II pyrethroid poisoned patients. The most common complication was respiratory failure followed by acidosis and hypotension. In non-diabetic type II pyrethroid poisoned patients, patients with complications showed a higher frequency of hyperglycemia, abnormalities on the initial X ray, depressed mentality, lower PaCO2 and HCO3- levels, and a higher WBC and AST levels at the time of admission compared to patients without complication. Hyperglycemia was an independent factor for predicting complications in non-diabetic patients. Diabetic patients had a significantly higher incidence of complications than non-diabetic patients. However, there was no significant predictive factor for complications in patients with diabetes mellitus probably because of small number of diabetes mellitus. In contrast to the relatively low toxicity of pyrethroids in mammals, type II pyrethroid poisoning is not a mild disease. Hyperglycemia at presentation may be useful to predict the critical complications in non-diabetic patients.
Acute Disease ; Aged ; Blood Glucose/analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperglycemia/*chemically induced ; Insecticides/*poisoning ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pyrethrins/*poisoning

The paper is to report the establishment of a method for the determination of multi-residue organochlorine and pyrethroid pesticides in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). Fifty-six pesticides were extracted by high-speed homogenization, and then purified through gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridges. The residues were simultaneously identified and quantified by GC-ECD equipped with dual tower, dual column and two micro-ECD detectors. The analytical performance was demonstrated by the analysis of 3 TCMs samples' extracts, spiked at three concentration levels for each pesticide. In general, the recoveries ranging from 70% to 110%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) better than 15%, were obtained. The limit of detection (LOD) for most of the targeted pesticides tested was below 0.01 mg kg(-1). The method had good extraction efficiency, purification effect and good reproducibility, which could be applied to the determination of organochlorine and pyrethroid pesticide residues in the routine analysis of TCMs.
Chromatography, Gas ; methods ; Chromatography, Gel ; Drug Contamination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated ; analysis ; Limit of Detection ; Pesticide Residues ; analysis ; Pyrethrins ; analysis ; Reproducibility of Results ; Solid Phase Extraction

A method for residual determination of 5 pyrethroid pesticides in Anoectochilus roxburghii by cloud point extraction-back extraction-GC-MS was established. PEG 6000 was used as extraction agent and isooctane was used for back-extractant. The con- tent was calculated by external standard method. The linear range was from 15 to 2 000 μg x kg(-1) with the good correlation coefficients (0.955-0.999). The recoveries at spiked concentrations of 50-500 μg x kg(-1) ranged from 85.12% to 101.6%. The limit of detection and quantification of 5 pyrethroid pesticides were in the range of 0.63-3.10 μg x kg(-1) and 2.10-10.31 μg x kg(-1), respectively. The proposed method can be applied to the determination of pyrethroid pesticides residues in A. roxburghii.
Chemical Fractionation ; methods ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; methods ; Orchidaceae ; chemistry ; Pesticide Residues ; analysis ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Pyrethrins ; analysis ; chemistry ; isolation & purification

BACKGROUND: According to US-EPA report, the use of pyrethrins and pyrethroids has increased during the past decade, and their area of use included not only in agricultural settings, but in commerce, and individual household. It is known that urinary 3-PBA, major metabolite of pyrethroid, have some associations with health effect in nervous and endocrine system, however, there’s no known evidence that urinary 3-PBA have associations with obesity. METHOD: We used data of 3671 participants aged above 19 from the Korean National Environmental Health Survey in 2009–2011. In our analysis, multivariate piece-wise regression and logistic regression analysis were used to investigate the association between urinary 3-PBA (3-Phenoxybenzoic Acid) and BMI. RESULT: Log-transformed level of urinary 3-PBA had significantly positive association with BMI at the low-level range of exposure (p < 0.0001), and opposite associations were observed at the high level exposure (p = 0.04) after adjusting covariates. In piece-wise regression analysis, the flexion point that changes direction of the associations was at around 4 ug/g creatinine of urinary 3-PBA. As quintiles based on concentration of urinary 3-PBA increased to Q4, the ORs for prevalence of overweight (BMI ≥ 23 kg/m2) were increased, and the OR of Q5 was lower than that of Q4 (OR = 1.810 for Q4; OR = 1.483 for Q5). In the analysis using obesity (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) as outcome variable, significant associations were observed between obesity and quintiles of 3-PBA, however, there were no differences between the OR of Q5 and that of Q4 (OR = 1.659 for Q4; OR = 1.666 for Q5). CONCLUSION: Our analysis suggested that low-level of pyrethroid exposure has positive association with BMI, however, there is an inverse relationship above the urinary 3-PBA level at 4 ug/g creatinine. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40557-015-0079-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Adult* ; Body Mass Index* ; Commerce ; Creatinine ; Endocrine System ; Environmental Health* ; Family Characteristics ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Methods ; Multivariate Analysis ; Obesity ; Overweight ; Prevalence ; Pyrethrins

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the predictors of nonsentinel lymph node (NSLN) metastasis in breast cancer and to evaluate the usefulness of the scoring systems and nomograms. METHODS: In this analysis, we reviewed the clinicopathologic features of 70 patients who had undergone sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy and axillary lymph node dissection. The clinical features of patients, histologic parameters and hormonal receptor status of primary tumor and histopathologic features of SLN metastasis were noted retrospectively. Furthermore, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated to assess the discriminative power of the scoring systems and nomograms. RESULTS: The metastatic tumor size in SLN (P<0.001), extracapsular invasion (P=0.002), percentage of positive SLNs among the removed SLNs (P=0.011), primary tumor size (P=0.038) were associated significantly with NSLN metastasis, statistically, in univariate analysis. Based on multivariate logistic regression, the metastatic tumor size was the only prognostic factor of NSLN metastasis (P=0.012). The AUC of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center scoring system was greater than other systems, significantly (P=0.004). CONCLUSION: We have shown in this study that it would be possible to predict NSLN status based on the metastatic tumor size in SLN. Although the significance was not achieved in multivariate analysis, the size of primary tumor, extracapsular invasion of metastasis in SLN, percentage of positive SLNs among the removed SLNs had the potential to be a predictive factor of NSLN metastasis. MSKCC scoring system appears to be more effective and accurate than other scoring systems for selecting patients for whom axillary lymph node dissection can be avoided.
Area Under Curve ; Biopsy ; Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Nitriles ; Nomograms ; Pyrethrins ; Retrospective Studies ; ROC Curve

PURPOSE: The diagnostic methods for examining suspicious lesions in the breast are becoming less invasive, like core-needle biopsy. Yet, the risk of invasion has been reported to be up to 47% for patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) initially diagnosed by core-needle biopsy. The value of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) for DCIS has not been clearly proved. We searched for the factors associated with invasiveness of preoperatively diagnosed DCIS, and we determined the indications for performing SLNB for patients with preoperatively diagnosed DCIS. METHODS: Between October 1997 and December 2008, we retrospectively reviewed 135 patients with DCIS that was initially diagnosed by core-needle biopsy or other biopsy methods. We compared the invasive breast cancer group, which was finally diagnosed with the pure DCIS group in regards to clinical, radiological, and pathological factors. RESULTS: 21.5% of the patients with initial diagnosis of DCIS were finally diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. On univariate analysis, the statistically meaningful factors for invasiveness were palpable lesion (P<0.0001), core-needle diagnosis (P=0.007), large tumor size (P=0.028), high nuclear grade (P=0.002), and negative estrogen receptor (P=0.005). On multivariate analysis, a palpable lesion was the only independent risk factor (odds ratio 3.9 (1.1 to 13.8); P=0.035). Axillar lymph node metastases were found in three patients in the invasive cancer group. There was no lymph node metastasis in the DCIS group. CONCLUSION: We recommend that SLNB be considered in initially diagnosed DCIS with palpable lesion or high nuclear grade due to the high risk of invasiveness.
Biopsy ; Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Carcinoma, Ductal ; Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating ; Estrogens ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Nitriles ; Pyrethrins ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy

OBJECTIVETo investigate the characteristic and influential factors of the degradation of residual pesticides and alkaloids in Radix Sophorae Flavescentis by H2O2.

METHODThe spiked samples were treated in H2O2 in different reaction time, concentration and pH value. The pesticide residuals were determined by GC-MS, and the contents of alkaloids were determined by HPLC.

RESULTH2O2 had highly activity in degrading organophosphorus and pyrethroid, but had less activity to organochlorines. The degradation processes of organophosphorus and pyrethroid followed first-order kinetics equations, and were influenced by the pH value, the concentration of H2O2 and reaction time. The contents of alkaloids in Radix Sophorae Flavescentis changed not obviously after treatment with 3 mL x L(-1) H2O2 less than 6 hours under neutral condition.

CONCLUSIONH2O2 is a useful reagent for the degradation of organophosphorus and pyrethroid in crude drug.

Alkaloids ; analysis ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; pharmacology ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; drug effects ; Organothiophosphorus Compounds ; chemistry ; Oxidation-Reduction ; drug effects ; Pesticide Residues ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Pyrethrins ; chemistry ; Quinolizines ; analysis ; Sophora ; chemistry