Objective To evaluate the safety and efficacy of dosage-escalated sorafenib in pa-tients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Methods Twelve male patients and 4 female patients with median age of 53 (37-71 years) were included in this study. They were with refractory meta-static renal-clear-cell carcinoma and received sorafenib from 800 mg/d to 1200mg/d or 1800 mg/d gradually until intolerable or disease progression occurred. Overall response rate, toxicity and progres-sion free survival (PFS) were recorded and analyzed. Results The median follow-up was 11 months (9-16 months). The overall rate of objective response and disease control rate were 44%(7/16)and 81%(13/16), respectively. Serious adverse effects (≥Grade Ⅲ) included hand-foot skin reaction (25%, 4/16), mucositis (19%, 3/16), diarrhea (19%, 3/16), hypertension (12%, 2/16) and my-elosuppression (12%, 2/16). PFS for high risk patient was 9.2 months at the end of this study. Conclusions The dosage-escalated sorafenib could obtain a high response rate and prolong PFS of high-risk patients. The toxicities are tolerable for metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients treated with sorafenib.

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effieacy and safety of 18 α-Diammonium glycyrrhizinate phosphatidylcholine complex (DGPC) in patients with chronic hepatitis B and or C with elevated aminotransferase. Methods 55 patients with chronic hepatitis B and or C, with serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) of 2 to 10 times the upper limit of normal were randomly assigned to receive DGPC or Diammonium glyeyrrhizinate (DG) for 12 weeks. Then they were followed up for an additional 4 weeks. From week 1 to 10, DGPC or DG was given as 150 nag,three times a day (TID). At the 11th week,the drug was given as 100 mg,TID. Then 50 mg,TID for the 12th week. Results ALT was markedly decreased after receiving DGPC 4,8,12 weeks (P=0.00). ALT normalization rate at the end of therapy was similar (38.5% vs 34.5% ,P =0.76). Drug-related adverse events were similar. Conclusion DGPC can rapidly and safely decrease aminotransferase in patients with chronic viurs hepatitis.

To study the kinetics in vivo of a Hantaan virus DNA vaccine, we constructed a fusion DNA vaccine,pEGFP/S, by cloning the S segment of Hantavirus into the vector, pEGFP-C1, which encodes Green fluorescent protein EGFP. In this report, we provide evidence that pEGFP/S was distributed and persistently expressed for more than 60 days in several organs after inoculation. Our findings suggest that the persistent immune responses induced by a Hantaan virus DNA vaccine are likely due to the plasmid pEGFP/S deposited in vivo, which acts as a booster immunization.

Objective To investigate the relationship between ?3 adrenergic receptor(?3AR) gene Trp~(64)Arg mutation and insulin resistance(IR) in Chinese.Methods The 120 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(group DM) and 80 nondiabetic subjects as normal controls(group N)were involved in the study.Polymerase chain reaction(PCR) and the restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis(PCR-RFLP) were used to determine the ?3AR genotype.The indexes such as body weight,height,waist circumstance,hip circumstance,blood pressure,lipids,fast plasma glucose and insulin were detected in all subjects.The IR was estimated by homeostasis model assessment(HOMA-IR).The patients in the diabetes group were divided into relative insulin sensitive group and relative insulin resistant group by the 75th percentile HOMA-IR.Results The BMI of the patients with the ?3AR Trp~(64)Arg mutation was significantly higher than that of those without the mutation(P

Brain Stem/pathology* ; Death, Sudden/etiology* ; Fatal Outcome ; Humans ; Intracranial Hemorrhages/mortality* ; Leukemia/pathology*

Spontaneous cervical epidural hematoms (SCEH) complicated with mild cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is a rare but emerging condition.Early diagnosis and treatment are important for good outcomes.This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of this condition and to discuss the optimal treatment.The clinical data from 8 patients with SCEH plus CSM who were divided into two groups by treatment methods were retrospectively analyzed.The neurological function of the patients was assessed by Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score before and after the surgical operations.Other factors were reviewed with medical records.Among them,4 out of the 8 patients underwent emergency surgery,and the rest 3 patients experienced an initial conservative treatment and ultimately received a laminectomy.We found that the Frankel Scale scores in most of the surgical patients were increased after surgery (6/7,85.7％).However,the JOA scores at the 6th month after onset were even lower than those before onset in 3 of the operative cases,and those in the patients who were given conservative treatment showed no significant change.It was concluded that some patients with SCEH and CSM treated with a timely operation may obtain relief from their previous CSM symptoms.However,the final neurological deficits of these patients were closely related to the progressive interval which refers to the hours between the initial onset and the occurrence of new neurological deficits or mild CSM deterioration,no matter whether they accept the operation.We found the crucial progressive interval may be in 9 h.Early MRIand prompt neurosurgical intervention are also important to improve the neurological deficits.

Acinetobacter Infections ; etiology ; Acinetobacter baumannii ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Child, Preschool ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Intensive Care Units, Pediatric ; Male ; Risk Factors

Cinobufacino injection is a significant anti-tumor medicine for the treatment of various tumors in clinic, which was made from water extraction of the skin of Bufo bufo gargarizans. In present paper, HPLC-DAD-FT-ICR-MS method was used to identify the major bufadienolides in cinobufacino for the first time. Solid-phase extraction with dichloromethane and silica was used to enrich the total bufadienolides in cinobufacino. Based on the UV and high resolution MS/MS data, 33 bufadienolides were analyzed and characterized. Among them, eight compounds were identified by comparing with standard references unambiguously. This study elucidated the major bufadienolides in cinobufacino, which provided material foundation of cinobufacino and will be benefit for the further pharmacological research.
Amphibian Venoms ; chemistry ; Animals ; Bufanolides ; analysis ; chemistry ; Bufo bufo ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Molecular Structure ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Objective To establish the orthotopic human pancreatic cancer model in mice and study the method to detect the tumor growth. Methods Human pancreatic cancer cell lines SW1990 in logarithmic phase was made into cell suspension and in situ injected into the envelope of pancreatic tail of BALB/c nude mice. High-frequency endoscopy ultrasound was used to observe the growth of tumor mass and its imaging characteristics were studied. Results 20 nude mice were successfully implanted, and 1 died 25 h after implantation. 14 days after implantation, the tumor of pancreatic cancer on EUS was (8.09 ± 2.61) mm3, the tumor appeared as homogeneous hypoechoic mass with clear boundary, and envelope as well as sound halo was present, and the shape was regular; there was low speed circular vasculature signal in around 30% of tumor.The tumor size increased to (12.40 ± 3.51)mm3, and the shape of 70% tumor was irregular, and some appeared as lobulated, and the tumor appeared as heterogeneous hypoechoic mass, no necrosis or liquefaction was found 28 days after implantation. There was low speed circular vasculature signal in around 70% tumors.Conclusions The orthotopic pancreatic cancer model in nude mouse can be established by in situ injection and this method is relatively ideal because it is simple and effective. The high frequency probe of endoscopic ultrasonograph is a reliable method for monitoring implanted pancreatic cancer.

Objective To investigate the action mechanism of Qingjin Huatan Decoction on regulating COPD rats with mucus hypersecretion in airway. Methods Fifty 6-8 week old Wistar male rats were randomly divided into healthy group, model group, Qingjin Huatan Decoction group, clarithromycin group, 10 rats in each group. Except for healthy group, all the other groups were used the combination method of injecting LPS and smudging to establish COPD models. The last three groups were fed with normal saline, Qingjin Huatan Decoction, clarithromycin respectively for 30 days. On the 31st day of the experiment, the rats were put to death to take lung tissue. 6 rats from each group were chosen randomly, and the protein expressions of NE, EGFR and MUC5AC mRNA in lung tissue were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR. Results The expressions of NE, MUC5AC mRNA in lung tissue of COPD rats were higher than the healthy group. Compared with model group, the expressions of NE mRNA and MUC5AC mRNA in Qingjin Huatan Decoction group and clarithromycin group were markedly lower, while the expressions of NE, MUC5AC mRNA in Qingjin Huatan Decoction group were significantly lower than those in clarithromycin group. The expression of EGFR mRNA in Qingjin Huatan Decoction group was lower than that in model group. Conclusion Qingjin Huatan Decoction can inhibit mucus hypersecretion in airway through NE/EGFR/MUC5AC signal transduction pathway.