Objective To investigate the inhibitory effect of icariin(ICA) on the xenograft tumors growth of esophageal car‐cinoma and to preliminarily investigate its mechanism .Methods The MTT assay and Giemsa staining were applied to detect and observe the in vitro inhibitory effect of ICA on esophagus cancer cell lines Eca‐109 and TE‐13 .The xenograft tumor model of nude mouse esophagus cancer cell was constructed and divided into 3 groups ,6 cases in each group .Each mouse in the experimental group was intraperitoneally injected by ICA 50 mg/kg ;while the control group was injected by the same volume of normal saline and the positive control group was injected by cis‐platinum 2 mg/kg ,once every 2 days ,a total of 14 days .The tumor volume was measured once per 3 d .After experiment ,the tumor weight was measured;the TUNEL staining was used to observe the morphological chan‐ges and cell apoptosis of tumor tissue in each group .The changes of Fas and FasL protein expression in tumor tissues were analyzed by immunohistochemistry .The FasL and IFN‐γlevels in peripheral blood were tested by the ELISA assay .Results ICA exerted no obvious inhibitory effect on the proliferation of Eca‐109 and TE‐13 cell in vitro .The average volume and weight of xenografts tumor had statistical difference between the experimental group and the positive control group (P<0 .05) .The TUNEL staining results showed that the tumor tissues had obvious apoptosis ,the number of apoptosis cells was significantly increased compared with the control group(P<0 .05) .The immunohistochemistry experimental results showed that the expression of Fas and FasL was signifi‐cantly increased(P<0 .05) .The ELISA experimental results demonstrated that the FasL and IFN‐γlevels of peripheral blood in the experimental group were significantly increased(P<0 .05) .Conclusion ICA had no obvious inhibitory effect on esophageal cancer cell proliferation in vitro ,but could induce in vivo apoptosis through the Fas expression and secretion of FasL and IFN‐γ,thus plays the role of anti‐esophageal cancer .

Adenoidectomy ; statistics & numerical data ; Atlanto-Axial Joint ; Child ; Humans ; Joint Dislocations ; etiology ; Postoperative Complications

Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of ketogenic diet(KD) on refractory epilepsy in children.Methods KD treatment was designed to observe the effects for 12 weeks.Totally 22 children with 16 boys and 6 girls were enrolled in the study.The epileptic syndromes included infantile spasms(13 cases),Lennox-Gastaut syndrome(4 cases),Dravet syndrome(2 cases),and the unclassified(3 cases).The KD was prepared according to the modified Johns Hopkins regimen.Urinary ketones were measured every day to ensure that ketosis state and parents′ diaries were kept to find out when it started to work and the change of seizure frequency.Effects of KD was evaluated by Engel standard.Blood chemistry was done at baseline,4 weeks and 12 weeks to analyze the effects of KD on metabolism.Side effects were monitored and treated.Results All cases completed the KD regimen for at least 2 weeks,19 cases for at least 4 weeks,and 10 cases for at least 12 weeks.Sixteen out of 22 children experienced the seizure reduction within 3 weeks(1-15 d),especially in the first week,and seizure free appeared within 5 weeks(1-32 d) in 8 cases.Overall,the diet achieved the seizure-free in 36.4%(8/22 cases) and an over 90% of seizure frequency reduction in 22.7%(5/22 cases).The efficacy of KD seemed not correlated with the sex,age,etiopathogenisis,and syndromes and so on.Blood chemistry suggested a normal range of glucose level at 4 weeks,though higher than that at the baseline.The blood triglyceride and total cholesterol level at 12 weeks increased strikingly,even beyond the normal range compared with the baseline.The side effects mainly including transient gastrointestinal symptoms and metabolic disturbances were mostly tolerable.Conclusions KD is probably a feasible therapy on refractory epilepsy in children,with quick and high efficacy and few side effects.

Objective To explore the protective effect of Sijunzi decoction and Danggui Buxue decoction on the immunological function in tumor-bearing mice treated by cyclophosphamide.Methods Transplantable carcinomas animal model were constructed by inoculating tumor cell to mice for 24 hours,and randomly divided into five groups.Tumor-bearing control group were reveived normal saline 0.2 mL per mice one day by intraperitoneal injection,and normal saline 0.4 mL per mice each day by intragastric administration.Cyclophosphamide group were reveived CTX 20 mg per kg weight each day,and normal saline 0.4 mL per mice each day.Sijunzi decoction and Danggui Buxue Decoction low dose group were reveived CTX 20 mg per kg weight each day and traditional Chinese medicine 0.1 g per mice each day.Sijunzi decoction and Danggui Buxue Decoction mediate dose group were reveived CTX 20 mg per kg weight each day and traditional Chinese medicine 0.2 g per mice each day.Sijunzi decoction and Danggui Buxue Decoction high dose group were reveived CTX 20 mg per kg weight each day and traditional Chinese medicine 0.4 g per mice each day.The weight indices of thymus gland and spleen,NK-cell activity and the proliferation of T-lymphocyte in five groups were measured after ten 10 days treatment.Results The weight indices of thymus gland and spleen,NK-cell activity and the proliferation of T- lymphocyte were increased in all three Sijunzi decoction and Danggui Buxue decoction groups,especially in Sijunzi decoction and Danggui Buxue decoction mediate and high dose group,the differences between them and CTX group were statistically significan(P<0.05,P<0.01).Conclusion Sijunzi decoction and Danggui Buxue decoction can antagonize the decrease of immunological function in tumor-bearing mice treated by chemotherapy.

Objective To observe the changes of immunological parameters and the effects of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in children with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP),schonlein-Henoch purpura(HSP) and mucocutaneoas lymph node syn-drome(kawasaki disease, KD).Methods T cell subsets and serum immunoglobulins and complements were measured with the flow cytometry and enhanced trubidimetric immunoassay. Routine therapy combined with IVIG. Results CD3+ CD4+ T cells were de-creased in children with ITP accompanied by increased serum IgG;Serum IgA and CD3+ T cells were increased in children with HSP; CD3+ CD8+ T cells were decreased in children with KD. Clinical features were markedly improved after treatment with IVIG. It was noted that the incidence of damage to coronary artery decreased after the use of IVIG. Conclusions T cell subsets, serum immunoglobulins should undergo the clinical routine examinations in ITP,HSP and KD. Early administration of IVIG might be important to improve disease prognosis and shorten its course of treatment in children with three kinds of immunology related diseases.

Ginkgo is one of the most successful cases of botanical drugs developed by modern science and technology during the past fifty years all over the world. At present ginkgo has been applied to the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease widely, and has good clinical efficacy. Type 2 diabetes has been proved to be the risk equivalents of cardiovascular disease, therefore it has an important scientific significance for looking for more effective drugs of prevention and control of diabetes. To seek more efficient and safe drug from the plant medicine which has the function of regulate blood sugar and improve insulin resistance becomes a hotspot at home and abroad. Basic and clinical studies have shown the ginkgo preparations of Chinese medicine have certain regulation effect on blood sugar and insulin resistance. In this paper, we review the mechanisms and clinical applications of ginkgo preparations on diabetes and its applications during the past 10 years.
Animals ; Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; complications ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Ginkgo biloba ; chemistry ; Humans ; Hypoglycemic Agents ; administration & dosage

OBJECTIVETo investigate how network education can improve college students' knowledge on sexual and reproductive health in Ningbo city.

METHODSFrom December 2012 to June 2013, we conducted a questionnaire investigation among college students in Ningbo city about the effects of network education on their knowledge about sexual psychology, sexual physiology, sexual ethics, and reproductive health.

RESULTSA total of 7 362 college students accomplished the investigation, of whom 2 483 (42.1% males and 57.9% females) received network education, while the other 4 879 (24.1% males and 75.9% females) did not. Approximately 47.1% of the male and 28.0% of the female students acquired sexual and reproductive knowledge via network education. Reproductive health-related network education significantly enriched the students' knowledge about the reproductive system and sex, pubertal development, sexual physiology, conception and embryonic development, methods of contraception, sexual psychology, sexually transmitted diseases and their prevention, pregnancy care and eugenics, and environment- and occupation-related reproductive health (P < 0.01). It also remarkably improved their cognitive attitude towards reproductive health knowledge (P < 0.01). Those who received reproductive health-related network education showed a significantly higher rate of masturbation (P < 0.01) but markedly later time of the first masturbation (P < 0.01) than those who did not.

CONCLUSIONNetwork education can enhance the effect of reproductive health education among college students and improve their sexual experience and health.

China ; Contraception ; Female ; Health Education ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Male ; Masturbation ; Pregnancy ; Reproduction ; Reproductive Health ; Sexual Behavior ; physiology ; psychology ; Sexually Transmitted Diseases ; Students ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Universities

Global Health ; History, 20th Century ; Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H2N2 Subtype ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Influenza, Human ; epidemiology ; history ; mortality ; virology

The emerging nano-black phosphorus materials have created a new platform for biomedical research. Nano-black phosphorus has the following advantages: black phosphorus can produce singlet oxygen under near-infrared light irradiation, so it can be used as a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy;black phosphorus has extensive light absorption in the long wavelength region, and this near-infrared photothermal property can be used in photothermal therapy. The high specific surface area and unique fold structure of the black phosphorus nanosheet make it have very high drug loading.This paper mainly reviews the applications of black phosphorus in biological imaging, photothermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, and as a drug carrier in recent years. Based on the photoelectric properties of black phosphorus nanomaterials combined with intelligent drug delivery platform, the synergistic effects of light/heat/chemistry, light/chemistry/gene, and light/chemistry/immunity can be produced, which has a broad application prospect.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the frequency of thyroid dysfunction and determine its influencing factors in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients treated with pegylated-interferon alpha (peg-IFNa)-2a and ribavirin (RBV) combination therapy.

METHODSA total of 194 CHC patients were treated with peg-IFNa-2a and RBV for 48 weeks. Development of thyroid dysfunction was recorded. Clinical and biological factors from pre-treatment (baseline) to post-treatment were statistically analyzed to determine correlation with thyroid dysfunction in this patient population.

RESULTSFifty-two (26.80%) of 194 peg-IFNa-2a/RBV-treated patients developed thyroid dysfunction. Dysfunction severity ranged from hyperthyroidism (n = 1, 0.52%) and hypothyroidism (n = 10, 5.15%) to subclinical hyperthyroidism (n = 4, 2.06%) and subclinical hypothyroidism (n = 37, 19.07%). The dysfunction rate was significantly higher after peg-IFNa-2a/RBV treatment (26.80% vs. 12.37% at baseline, x2 = 12.829, P less than 0.05, odds ratio (OR) = 0.386, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.226-0.657), in females (33.00% vs. 20.21% in males, P less than 0.05, 95% CI: 1.016-3.040), and in thyroid auto-antibody positive patients (64.29% vs. 23.89% in negative patients, P less than 0.05, 95% CI: 1.681-36.183). Early virological response did not have any significant effect on dysfunction rate (23.00% vs. 30.85% no early virological response, x2 = 1.522, P more than 0.05) nor did end of treatment response (27.19% vs. 26.25% no response at end of treatment, x2 = 0.021, P more than 0.05). Patients who developed thyroid dysfunction had higher interleukin (IL)-6 at baseline (i.e. before peg-IFNa-2a/RBV treatment) (27.08+/-14.90 vs. 11.65+/-5.46 in patients who maintained normal thyroid function, t = 3.127, P less than 0.05, 95% CI: 5.28-25.58). IL-6 levels were not significantly different between the two groups at 24 weeks (6.30+/-2.47 vs. 6.81+/-2.80, t = 0.352, P more than 0.05). IL-6 levels before and after 48 weeks of treatment in normal thyroid function patients were 27.08+/-14.90 and 6.30+/-2.47, t = 3.632, P less than 0.05, and in thyroid dysfunction patients were 11.65+/-5.46 and 6.81+/-2.80, t = 1.997, P more than 0.05.

CONCLUSIONPeg-IFNa-2a/RBV combination therapy may cause thyroid dysfunction, especially hypothyroidism, in CHC patients. Female sex and thyroid auto-antibody positivity may put CHC patients at higher risk of developing thyroid dysfunction during peg-IFNa-2a/RBV therapy. Elevated IL-6 may be a predictive marker of peg-IFNa-2a/RBV-induced thyroid dysfunction.

Adult ; Antiviral Agents ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polyethylene Glycols ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Recombinant Proteins ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Retrospective Studies ; Ribavirin ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Thyroid Diseases ; chemically induced ; physiopathology ; Thyroid Gland ; drug effects ; physiopathology ; Treatment Outcome