OBJECTIVEBio-active constituents were expected to abstain from Homalomena occuta.

METHODSExtracts from the plant with 95% alcohol were distributed by several solvents and isolated via column chromatography on silica and Saphadex 20-LH gel.

RESULTSThirteen compounds were isolated from this plant. Among them seven natural products were identified via spectral methods as beta-stigmastol(H1) beta-D-Glucopyranoside(3)- stigmast-5-en-3-yl(H2); oplodiol(1); oplopanone(2); homalomenol(3); bullatantriol(4); 1 beta, 4 beta, 7 alpha-trihydroxyeudesmane(5).

CONCLUSIONAll these compounds were isolated from this plant for the first time.

Araceae ; chemistry ; Naphthols ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Rhizome ; chemistry ; Sitosterols ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Stigmasterol ; chemistry ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo compare the efficacy and safety of PEG-IFNalpha-2b (Peg-Intron) with IFNalpha-2b (Intron A) in treating HBeAg positive chronic hepatitis B patients.

METHODSTwo hundred thirty chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients eligible to the following criteria were enrolled into this study: HBsAg and HBeAg(Abbott kit) positive for at least 6 months, serum HBV DNA > or =10(5) copies/ml (real time PCR, LLQ <10(3) copies/ml) and ALT > or =2 x ULN. After 1:1 randomization, the patients received PegIntron (group A: 1.0 microg/kg body weight, SC, once a week) or Intron A (group B: 3 MIU SC, three times a week) for 24 weeks, and followed up for 24 weeks.

RESULTS(1) In groups A and B, respectively, 80.87% and 83.48% were males; their median ages were 31.0 and 32.0 years old; their median body weights were 65.6 and 65.5 kg; mean serum HBV DNA loads were 8.06 log10 and 7.99 log10; their mean ALT values were 4.17 x ULN and 3.77 x ULN. All of the above parameters between the two groups had no statistically significance differences. (2) At the end of treatment and after follow-up, compared to the Intron A group, the PegIntron group showed better response (including complete and partial response rate, HBV DNA undetectable rate, HBeAg seroconversion rate), but the differences of all of them had no statistical significance. The rate of HBeAg loss was higher in patients receiving PegIntron after follow-up (P = 0.0424). (Table 2) (3) PegIntron and Intron A reduced serum HBV DAN persistently during the therapy. Mean reduction at the end of the treatment was much higher in the PegIntron group than in the Intron group (2.22 log10 copies/ml vs 1.66 log10 copies/ml, P = 0.0283). (4) The overall incidence of adverse events (AEs) in the PegIntron group was similar to that of the Intron A group (94.78% vs 95.65%). The AEs associated with PegIntron administration were similar in nature to those with Interon A, such as influenza-like symptoms, fever, fatigue, headache, nausea, etc and the differences of their incidences had no statistical significance.

CONCLUSIONSThe efficacy and safety of PEG-IFNalpha-2b treatment for CHB patients seems to be better than that of IFNalpha-2b; however, further studies are needed to confirm it.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Antiviral Agents ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; blood ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polyethylene Glycols ; Recombinant Proteins

Objective: Based on the Mendelian randomization analysis, to assess the causal relationship between DNA methylation levels of Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) and obesity. Methods: A case-control study was carried out, including 1 021 individuals [obesity (visceral fat index ≥10) vs. no obesity (visceral fat index <10) was 440 vs. 581] from the Henan Rural Cohort Study. MethylTarget^TM target region methylation sequencing technology was used for testing the DNA methylation level of JAK2. logistic regression models were used to assess the association between the DNA methylation level of JAK2 and obesity. With SNP as the instrumental variable, the association between the DNA methylation level of JAK2 and obesity was explored by using the Mendelian randomization analysis method. Results: There was a positive association between Chr9:4984943 (one DNA methylation site in the promoter of JAK2) and obesity, and the OR (95%CI) was 1.22(1.04-1.42). Methylation level of five sites in the exon of JAK2 (Chr9:4985378, Chr9:4985404, Chr9:4985407, Chr9:4985409 and Chr9:4985435) were negatively associated with obesity, the corresponding OR (95%CI) were 0.53 (0.29-0.95), 0.58(0.36-0.93), 0.69 (0.49-0.97), 0.72 (0.53-0.99) and 0.58 (0.35-0.98) , respectively. Mendelian randomization analysis showed that there was a causal relationship between the DNA methylation levels of JAK2 and obesity, and the corresponding β (95%CI) were -1.985 (-3.520 - -0.450),-3.547 (-6.301 - -0.792) and -3.900 (-6.328 - -1.472) for Mendelian randomization method of inverse variance weighted, Mendelian randomization method of median based and Maximum-likelihood method, respectively. Conclusion: This study supported there was a causal relationship between the DNA methylation level of JAK2 and obesity.
Case-Control Studies ; Cohort Studies ; DNA Methylation ; Genome-Wide Association Study ; Humans ; Janus Kinase 2/genetics* ; Mendelian Randomization Analysis/methods* ; Obesity/genetics* ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical features, accompanying gene mutation characteristics and prognostic factors of adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia with mutated NPM1 (NPM1AML). METHODS: Seventy-three patients with newly diagnosed adult NPM1AML were selected. The mutations of 22 genes were detected by second generation sequencing and 43 fusion genes of AML were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR. The Kaplan-Meier survival curve and Cox multivariate regression analysis were used to study the prognostic factors. RESULTS: A total of 74 NPM1 site mutations were detected in 73 patients with NPM1AML. The incidence rates were 92.0% L287fs, 2.7% Q289fs and W288fs, 1.4% L258fs and Q289H, among which 1 patient had 2 NPM1 mutations; the different mutation sites had no effect on the prognosis of NPM1AML. The median value of NPM1 variant allele frequency (VAF) was 35.4% (1.8%-56.6%). Based on the uppermost quartile of 38.4%, the patients were classified as NPM1 VAF>38.4% (NPM1AML) and NPM1 VAF≤38.4% (NPM1AML). Compared with NPM1AML, the early mortality rate was statistically significantly higher (33.3% vs 7.3%, P<0.05), and median EFS (148 d，95%CI 58-238 d vs 372 d，95%CI 264-480 d) (P<0.01) and median OS (179 d 95%CI 6-352 d vs 444 d) (P<0.01) were significantly shorter in NPM1 AML. A total of 126 accompanying gene mutation sites were detected in 87.7% of patients with NPM1AML. The patients with NRAS gene mutation displayed a higher rate of complete remission (100% vs 58%) (P<0.05) and longer median OS (not reached to 320 d, 95%CI 150-490 d) (P<0.05). The 43 fusion genes were examined in 65 out of 73 cases of NPM1AML, and in all the patients the fusion gene test was negative. Multivariate analysis showed that NPM1 VAF>38.4% was an independent prognostic factor for EFS (HR=3.1, 95% CI 1.6-6.4, P<0.01) and OS (HR=3.0, 95% CI 1.4-6.2, P<0.01). CONCLUSION The NPM1 gene mutation in AML patients often is accompanied by other gene mutations, while the coexistence of fusion genes is rare; high NPM1 mutant allele burden is an independent prognostic factor for adult AML patients with mutated NPM1.
Alleles ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; genetics ; Mutation ; Nuclear Proteins ; genetics ; Prognosis ; fms-Like Tyrosine Kinase 3

Adult ; Aged ; China/epidemiology* ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Metabolic Syndrome/etiology* ; Middle Aged ; Parks, Recreational/supply & distribution* ; Prevalence ; Residence Characteristics/statistics & numerical data* ; Rural Population/statistics & numerical data* ; Young Adult