Based on previous report that the Chinese herb Ligustrum lucidum (LL) extract directly inhibited hepatitis C virus (HCV) replicase (NS5B) activity, the active components of LL extract to inhibit HCV NS5B activity and their inhibition mode were investigated in this study. LL extract was separated using ethyl acetate and thin layer chromatography (TLC). The inhibitory activity of separated fractions on HCV NS5B was analyzed by the inhibitory assay of NS5B activity. The results showed that only fractions 1 and 2 inhibited NS5B activity, and fraction 2 possessed higher inhibitory activity than fraction 1. HPLC analysis combined with inhibitory assays indicated that ursolic acid and oleanolic acid are the active components within fractions 1 and 2 to inhibit NS5B activity, separately. Moreover, oleanolic acid possessed higher inhibitory activity than ursolic acid. Further inhibition mode analysis found that both oleanolic acid and ursolic acid suppressed NS5B activity as noncompetitive inhibitors. The Ki values of ursolic acid and oleanolic acid were about 4.7 microg x mL(-1) (10 micromol x kg(-1)) and 2.5 microg x mL(-1) (5.5 micromol x kg(-1)), respectively. Taken together, these results demonstrated that oleanolic acid and ursolic acid suppressed NS5B activity as noncompetitive inhibitors, implying that the two natural products have potential value for HCV therapy.

BACKGROUND: There are many kinds of dressings for external use in treating pressure ulcer. Selecting a kind of dressing which is convenient, safe and effective can effectively increase the healing rate of pressure ulcer. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of five common dressings on the treatment of pressure ulcer. METHODS: A systematic search of Embase, PubMed, VIP, Elsevier, WanFang and CNKI were carried out with an end-point of July 2018. Randomized controlled trials about the therapeutic effects of different dressings on pressure ulcer were collected. All data were screened, extracted and assessed by two researchers independently. The ADDIS 1.16.8 software was adopted for data analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A total of 24 randomized control trials (1201 patients) which involved 5 kinds of dressings were included. The results of network Meta-analysis showed that the effect of hydrocolloid dressing and foam dressing were superior to aseptic gauze and vaseline gauze in treating pressure ulcer (P < 0.05). There was no difference in the therapeutic effect between the resting dressings (P > 0.05). Based on the probability ranking table, the therapeutic effects of five kinds of dressl ngs in pressure ulcer were ranked as follows: hydrocolloid dressing > foam dressing > hydrogel dressing > sterile gauze > vaseline gauze. Hydrocolloid dressing and foam dressing were superior to the other dressings in the treatment of pressure ulcer.

BACKGROUNDThe purpose of this study was to conduct thyroid ultrasound examinations on a large sample of subjects and explore the occurrence, distribution, and characteristics of thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer to provide some information on the epidemic trend of thyroid nodules and cancer.

METHODSThe thyroid ultrasonic examination results of 19 895 healthy physical examinees who visited the Department of Health Management, Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2009 to December 2011 were analyzed retrospectively to determine the detection rate and characteristics of thyroid nodules. Fine needle aspiration or surgical resection was suggested to subjects suspected of having thyroid cancer.

RESULTSThe detection rate of thyroid nodules was 42.6% (8 480/19 895), 40.0% (4 661/11 678) in men and 46.5% (3 819/8 217) in women. The detection rate noticeably increased with increasing age. The detection rate of thyroid nodules by palpation was obviously lower than by ultrasonic examination in various age groups. Among those with thyroid nodules, 61.3% were multiple and 38.7% were solitary; multiple nodule was the major type both in men and women. Twenty-nine cases of malignant nodules were solitary, and 30 cases of malignant nodules were multiple. There was no significant difference. The detection rate of thyroid cancer was 0.30% for the entire group of examinees, and 0.15% in men and 0.50% in women. Among all sex and age groups, 30- to 40-year-old women had the highest detection rate (0.76%). The detection rate of thyroid nodules correlated with age, systolic blood pressure, height, and weight. Increasing age and/or higher systolic blood pressure correlated with a higher detection rate, while smaller height and weight also correlated with a higher detection rate with significant differences. However, there were no significant correlations between the detection rate and diastolic blood pressure or body mass index.

CONCLUSIONSThe detection of thyroid cancer increased significantly, especially in women. Thus, precautions needed to be taken. Regular physical examination and timely intervention after detection of malignant nodules are critical to improve the prognosis in thyroid cancer patients.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; Thyroid Nodule ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; Young Adult