Objective To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of anthracycline and taxane combination regimen in the treatment of advanced breast cancer in patients who were previously treated with anthracycline and taxane.Methods Twenty-six patients who previously failed to respond to anthracycline and taxane based chemotherapy received pemetrexed and tegafur combination regimen (pemetrexed:500 mg/m2,ivgtt on the first day; tegafur:80 mg/(m2 · d),twice daily during day 1-14).The regimen was repeated at least two cycles of three weeks each and the clinical response was recorded at two weeks after treatment.Results Of the 26 patients,he tumor control rate was 65.3％ (17/26),and the overall response rate was 46.2％ (12/26),including 3 patients with complete remission and 9 patients with partial remission.The symptoms were stable in 5 patients and improved in 9 patients.There was no severe complications or death observed.The most frequent treatment-related adverse events were myelosuppression,nausea,vomitting,rash and hepatic function impairment.Conclusion Pemetrexed combined with tegafur in the treatment of patients with advanced metastatic breast cancer who did not respond to anthracycline and taxane treatment is effective with minimal adverse reactions and can be tolerated by patients.

Objective To observe the effect of Oxycontin combined with Gabapentin for treatment of malignant neuropathic pain.Methods Sixty-three cases of malignant neuropathic pain in Jinshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University were randomly divided into group A, B and C.Patients of which were given Oxycontin, Gabapentin, Oxycontin combined with Gabapentin respectively for pain treatment.The analgesic effects, toxic reaction side effects, quality of life, and immune function were all compared in three groups.Results Compared with pretherapy, the cancer pain score (NRS), quality of life (QOL) and karnofsky performance status(KPS) scores in all groups were changed significantly after drugs therapy(F=375.852,154.612, 151.838,P＜0.05).The levels of CD3,CD4, CD4/CD8 and NK cells in all groups were higher than before therapy(F=158.935,108.145,366.973,92.090,P＜0.05).After treatment,the NRS, QOL and KPS scores in group C were 2.00± 0.86,44.80± 6.07, 84.50± 6.05, in group A were 3.35 ± 0.67,37.35 ± 5.71,74.50 ±10.99,and in group B were 4.05±0.94,35.85±5.90,72.00±8.34, and the different were significant (F =3.250,10.499,3.465,P＜0.05).The levels of CD3, CD4, CD4/CD8and NK cells in group C were (72.94 ±5.63)％,(41.52±4.19)％, 1.86±0.30, (27.57±6.86)％,in group A were (62.84±5.27)％, (33.84 ±5.40)％,1.35±0.37, (20.49±6.67) ％,and in group B were (62.22±8.10)％, (33.19±6.90)％, 1.32 ± ±0.41, (20.32±5.63) ％, and the different were significant (F =3.377,3.344,3.352,3.386, P＜ 0.05).The patient in group C had less adverse effects than those in group A and B.Conclusion Oxycontin and Gabapentin in treatment of malignant neuropathic pain is effective.

Objective: To evaluate the cold and hot characteristics of Curcumae longae Rhizoma, Curcumae Radix and Curumae Rhizoma, and study the relationship between the content of curcumin in the three herbs and the hot and cold characteristics.Methods: MTT assay was used to investigate the effect of the three herbs on the growth of SGC-7901 in vitro.Trypan-blue staining was used to analyze the cytotoxicity, and the content of curcumin was detected by HPLC.Results: Curcumae longae Rhizoma and Curumae Rhizoma could promote the proliferation of SGC-7901 at the dose of 5 μg·ml-1 and showed hot characteristics;Curcumae Radix could inhibit the growth and proliferation of SGC-7901 within the concentration range of 5-800 μg·ml-1.Trypan-blue staining showed the three herbs had no cytotoxicity on SGC-7901.The content of curcumin in Curcumae Longae Rhizoma, Curcumae Radix and Curumae Rhizoma was 4.88%, 0.15% and 0.042%, respectively.Conclusion: The content of curcumin in the three herbs affects the hot and cold characteristics, and curcumin may be the important material basis for the hot and cold characteristics.

BACKGROUNDTo observe the effects of MVP chemotherapy combined with concurrent radiotherapy for stage IIIB-IV non-small cell lung cancer.

METHODSSixty-two patients with stage IIIB-IV non-small cell lung cancer were randomized into two groups, concurrent radiochemotherapy group and MVP che-motherapy group. All patients in two groups were treated with MVP regimen (mitomycin C 6 mg/m² on day 1, vindesine 2 mg/m² on days 1, 8, and cisplatin 80-100 mg/m²). Patients in concurrent radiochemotherapy group received concurrent radiotherapy (46-56 Gy in 5-6 weeks).

RESULTSAll patients received 2-4 cycles of MVP chemotherapy. The response rate was 48.4% and 19.4% in concurrent radiochemotherapy group and MVP group respectively (P < 0.05), the 1-year survival rate was 54.8% and 22.6% respectively (P < 0.05), median time to progression was 8 months and 4 months respectively (P < 0.05), and median survival duration was 10 months and 6 months respectively (P < 0.05). Incidence of grade II-III leukopenia in concurrent radiochemotherapy group was remarkably higher than those in MVP group..

CONCLUSIONSThe results show that efficacy of MVP chemotherapy combined with concurrent radiotherapy is significantly higher than that of MVP chemotherapy alone for advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Objective To detect the serum microRNA-148b-3p level in patients with diabetes mellitus and diabetic nephropathy,and to analyze its correlation with clinical and pathological indexes.Methods The research crowd was divided into three groups (1) diabetic nephropathy group:biopsy with diabetic nephropathy (n=25,14 males,11 females);(2) type 2 diabetes mellitus group:type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with normal urinary microalbumin/urinary creatinine value (n=10,4 males,6 females);(3) normal control group:healthy subjects (n=9,3 males and 6 females).Clinical indicators included gender,age,24-hour urine protein,systolic blood pressure (SBP),diastolic blood pressure (DBP),serum creatinine (Scr),urea (Urea),cystatin-C (Cys-C),blood albumin (ALB),urine microalbumin (UMA),triacylglycerol (TG),total cholesterol (TC),high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C),low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C),serum uric acid (UA),fasting blood glucose (FBG),glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c),urine microalbuminuria / urinary creatinine (UACR),and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) calculated by CKD-EPI formula.Real-time quantitative PCR was applied to verify the expression of microRNA-148b-3p in serum samples of the research crowds.The relationships between microRNA-148b-3p level and clinical features was also analyzed.Results The levels of serum microRNA-148b-3p in diabetic nephropathy group and in type 2 diabetes mellitus group were 1.82 times and 1.73 times of that in normal control group (P ＜ 0.05,respectively).The level of serum microRNA-148b-3p was significantly correlated with HDL-C (r=-0.374,P=0.013),UMA (r=0.426,P=0.004),FBG (r=0.330,P=0.046) and TG (r=0.423,P=0.005).Multiple linear regression analysis showed that UMA level was independently associated with serum microRNA-148b-3p level (β=0.338,P=0.044).The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) of serum microRNA-148b-3p in diagnosing type 2 diabetes mellitus and diabetic nephropathy was 0.835 and 0.665,respectively.Conclusions The level of serum microRNA-148b-3p of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus or diabetic nephropathy significantly increases.The level of UMA is independently associated with serum microRNA-148b-3p level.Serum microRNA-148b-3p is expected to be a potential biomarker for the diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy.

In recent years, with the development of metabolic reprogramming research, people have changed their understanding of the biological effects of immune cells. Under the stimulation of inflammatory response, immune cells re-regulate their metabolism and bioenergetics, provide energy and substrates for cell survival, and initiate immune effect functions. Nod-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, as an important component of the innate immune system, has been shown to sense metabolites such as uric acid and cholesterol crystals, and can be inhibited by metabolites such as ketones. It is also regulated by mitochondrial reactive oxygen species and glycolytic components (such as hexokinase). Recent studies have shown that a variety of metabolic pathways converge as effective regulators of NLRP3 inflammasome. The paper reviews the metabolic regulatory pathways and specificity of NLRP3 inflammasome activation, and its role in renal diseases.

OBJECTIVESThe purposes of this paper were to evaluate the serum leptin levels in healthy adolescents and to establish standard age variation curves.

METHODSNine hundred six (414 boys and 492 girls) healthy adolescents were investigated. The maximum increment age in height (MIA) was identified in 124 boys and 130 girls. The menarcheal age (MA) was obtained for 130 girls. Fasting leptin levels were measured by enzyme immunoassay. The MIA was calculated by proportional allotment of yearly height increments.

RESULTSSerum leptin levels did not change in boys and girls from the ages of 9 to 11. They decreased after the age of 11 in boys, while they increased in girls. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that serum leptin levels were closely related to pubertal stage. The levels decreased remarkably after MIA in boys and increased remarkably after MA in girls. We drew standard age variation curves of serum leptin levels by calculating the 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles for each age in both boys and girls. The percentile curves for boys were divided into pre-MIA and post-MIA curves. Those for girls were divided into pre-MA and post-MA curves.

CONCLUSIONWe have devised a potentially useful method for evaluating serum leptin levels in adolescents considering the effects of gender and growth.