Alanine Transaminase ; metabolism ; Animals ; Liver ; drug effects ; Male ; Mice ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology

The regulation mechanism of arecoline on rat hepatic CYP2E1 was studied in vivo. After oral administration of arecoline hydrobromide (AH; 4, 20 and 100 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) to rats for one week, the hepatic CYP2E1 mRNA level remained unchanged, but the hepatic CYP2E1 protein content was dose-dependently increased. Additionally, although the hepatic CYP2E1 activity was induced by AH treatment, the induction was attenuated with the increase in dosage. The results indicate that the effect of arecoline on rat hepaticdoes not involve transcriptional activation of the gene, but largely involves the stabilization of CYP2E1 protein against degradation or increased efficiency of CYP2E1 mRNA translation, and additionally involve the post- ranslational modification of CYP2E1 protein. Furthermore, the CYP2E1 response is fairly equal among the different species, the induction of rat hepatic CYP2E1 by arecoline suggests that there is a risk of metabolic interaction among the substrate drugs of CYP2E1 in betel-quid use human.
Animals ; Arecoline ; pharmacology ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2E1 ; metabolism ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2E1 Inducers ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Liver ; drug effects ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; Rats

A 17-year-old young man with a history of swollen leg and intermittent jaundice was presented to Peking Union Medical College Hospital with acute fever and mental disturbance.He developed deep venous thrombosis,acute myocardial infarction and plantar skin necrosis during the past four years,and was presented with an acute episode of fever,thrombocytopenia,acute kidney injury,acute myocardial infarction,mental disturbance,and obstructive jaundice.Laboratory tests showed schistocytes on peripheral blood smear.High titer of antiphospholipid antibodies was detected.Strikingly,the activity of a disintegrin and metalloprotease with a thrombospondin type 1 motif,member 13 (ADAMTS13)was significantly decreased without the production of inhibitors.Images indicated stenosis of the common bile duct,common hepatic duct,and cystic duct,which caused dilation of bile ducts and the gall bladder.Corticosteroids and anticoagulation therapy were effective at first,but the disease relapsedonce the corticosteroids tapered down.Plasma exchange was administrated for 17 times,which was effective temporarily during this episode.Methylprednisolone pulse therapy,intravenous immunoglobulin,rituximab,anticoagulation therapy,and bile drainage,were all tried but still could not control the disease.The patient's family agreed to withdraw treatment after he developed septic shock.

Objective: To evaluate analytical performance and clinical application value of a one-step HBV DNA quantitative detecting system. Methods: Analytical performance of the one-step HBV DNA quantitative detecting reagents included precision, residual contamination, accuracy, functional sensitivity and analytical measurement range were verified by collecting high concentration samples and external quality control samples from Jiangsu provincial clinical test center. Results: The within-run coefficient of variation (CV) of both low and high concentration samples were below 5%, meanwhile the intra-assay CV was below 3/5 TEa and inter-assay CV was below 4/5 TEa. There was no residual contamination and the analytic accuracy met the requirement of external quality assessment (EQA). Functional sensitivity was able to attain 100 IU/ml, while the day to day CV was below 20%. It exhibited a benign linear relation from 7.58×10¹ to 7.58×10⁸ IU/ml. Conclusions The analytic performance of a new testing system must be evaluated particularly before detecting samples of patients by quantitative tests. This study proves that the one-step HBV DNA quantitative detecting reagents can meet requirement of hepatitis B screening and clinical therapy monitoring, which is economic and simple for clinical routine tests.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common types of liver cancer and is the second leading cause of cancer mortality with an estimated 745 500 deaths annually (Jemal et al., 2011). Although new therapeutic modalities including novel chemotherapeutic interventions and targeted therapy have been applied, the prognosis of HCC patients remains unsatisfactory due to the high incidence of intrahepatic and distal metastases (Siegel et al., 2018).
Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins/physiology* ; Biomarkers ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology* ; Female ; Genome ; Humans ; Hypoxia ; Liver Neoplasms/pathology* ; Male ; MicroRNAs/analysis* ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Repressor Proteins/physiology*

Wax apple (Syzygium samarangense) has received growing research interest for its high nutritional and medicinal value due to its constituents such as polysaccharide, organic acids, flavonoids, minerals, and other substances. In this study, wax apple polysaccharide (WAP) was isolated from this plant and its protective effect against ethyl carbamate (EC)‍-induced oxidative damage was evaluated in human hepatocytes (L02 cells). Firstly, a series of analyses such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), high-performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) were conducted to identify the structure of WAP. Thereafter, in vitro cell experiments were performed to verify the protective effects of WAP against EC-induced cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and oxidative damage in L02 cells. Our results revealed that WAP is composed of mannose, rhamnose, glucuronic acid, galacturonic acid, glucose, galactose, arabinose, and fucose in a molar ratio of 2.20:‍3.94:‍4.45:‍8.56:‍8.86:‍30.82:‍39.78:‍1.48. Using a combination of methylation and NMR spectroscopic analysis, the primary structure of WAP was identified as Araf-(1→, Glcp-(1→, →2)‍-Araf-(1→, →3)‍-Galp-(1→, →3)‍-Araf-‍(1→, and →6)‍-Galp-‍(1→. Cell experiments indicated that WAP exhibited significant protective effects on EC-treated L02 cells via suppressing cytotoxicity and genotoxicity, reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and O₂^•- formation, as well as improving mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and glutathione (GSH). In a nutshell, WAP has the potential as an important therapeutic agent or supplement for hepatic oxidative damage. Meanwhile, further studies are needed to prove the above effects in vivo at the biological and clinical levels.
Humans ; Syzygium/chemistry* ; Urethane/pharmacology* ; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared ; Oxidative Stress ; Glutathione/pharmacology* ; Hepatocytes ; Polysaccharides/pharmacology*

OBJECTIVETo explore the feasibility and safety of type II binding pancreaticogastrostomy (BPG) in pancreaticoduodenectomy and mid-segmentectomy of pancreas.

METHODSFrom November 2008 to May 2009, 26 patients underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy and mid-segmentectomy of pancreas with type II BPG reconstruction, including 13 cases of pancreatic head cancer, 3 cases of duodenal adenocarcinoma, 2 cases of ampullary carcinoma, 4 cases of cholangiocarcinoma, 1 case of bile duct cell severe atypical hyperplasia, and 1 case of stomach cancer. The process of type II BPG was described as the following: after pancreas remnant was mobilized for 2-3 cm, a piece of sero-muscular layer at the posterior gastric wall was excised and then a sero-muscular depth purse-suturing with 3-0 prolene was pre-placed (outer purse-string). Incising anterior gastric wall or opening part of the closed distal gastric stump, the mucosa layer at the sero-muscular defect was incised and then purse-suture at the mucosal tube was pre-placed (inner purse-string). Through the two pre-placed purse-strings, the pancreas remnant was pulled into the gastric lumen and then posterior gastric wall was pushed backward to keep it closely in contact with the retro-peritoneal wall. Thereafter, the outer purse-string was tied (outer binding) and then the inner purse-string was tied (inner binding).

RESULTSAll cases underwent BPG of type II. The operative time ranged from 3 to 5.5 hours. The postoperative hospital stay ranged from 6 to 48 days. Postoperative complications included 1 case of ascites, 2 cases of delayed gastric emptying and 1 case of intra-abdominal bleeding. All cases with complications were cured after nonsurgical treatment. No mortality or pancreatic leakage occurred.

CONCLUSIONSPancreaticogastrostomy is good for accommodating a large pancreas stump. Binding technique is very helpful in minimizing the leak rate of pancreaticogastrostomy. While type I BPG is safe and easy to perform, type II is even safer and easier to be done.

Adult ; Aged ; Anastomosis, Surgical ; methods ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreas ; surgery ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy ; Stomach ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of clinical application of stand-alone MC+PEEK cage in anterior cervical fusion.

METHODSFrom January 2011 to January 2014,50 patients were treated with the MC+PEEK cage filled with autogenous cancellous illic-bone graft after anterior cervical discectomy. There were 22 patients with cervical spondylosis,26 patients with traumatic cervical disc herniation, 2 patients with cervical instability in these patients. There were 32 males and 18 females, aged from 30 to 79 years old with an average of 53.30 years old. There were 32 patients with single segment, 15 patients with double segments and 3 patients with three segments. Cervical AP and lateral and the flexion-extension X-rays were regularly taken in order to assess the cervical physiological curvature, the graft fusion and internal fixation related complications. Nerve function, clinical effect and bone fusion were respectively evaluated according to Japan Orthopedic Association (JOA), Otani grade and Suk method.

RESULTSAll patients were followed up from 6 to 36 months with an average of 20 months. No correlated surgical complications were found and all patients obtained bony fusion with an average time of 4.30 months. JOA score had significantly improvement after surgery (P < 0.05). The JOA score was 10.60 ± 3.00 before surgery and 16.10 ± 2.20, 16.40 ± 2.35 at one week and six months after surgery respectively. According to Otani grade,40 cases got excellent results, 9 good, 1 fair. No significant dysphagia and internal fixation related complications such as displacement of cages were found during the follow-up period.

CONCLUSIONUsing this cage in anterior cervical fusion can obtain satisfactory clinical effect with less operation injury and reduce the complications. It is a better fusion method in anterior cervical fusion.

Adult ; Aged ; Cervical Vertebrae ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Spinal Fusion ; adverse effects ; instrumentation ; methods

Chinese medicine (CM) is a discipline with its own distinct methodologies and philosophical principles. The main method of treatment in CM is to use herbal prescriptions. Typically, a number of herbs are combined to form a formula and different formulae are prescribed for different patients. Regularities in the mixture of herbs in the prescriptions are important for both clinical treatment and novel patent medicine development. In this study, we analyze CM formula data using latent tree (LT) models. Interesting regularities are discovered. Those regularities are of interest to students of CM as well as pharmaceutical companies that manufacture medicine using Chinese herbs.
Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; standards ; Drug Compounding ; standards ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Models, Biological ; Prescription Drugs ; therapeutic use

Adolescent ; Anti-Glomerular Basement Membrane Disease ; pathology ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis ; pathology ; Humans ; Kidney ; pathology ; Lung ; pathology ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; pathology ; Male