Drug resistance and relapse are two major causes for treatment failure of leukemia, but their mechanisms remain elusive. Recently, increasing evidence shows that there is a subset of leukemia stem cells apart from immature leukemia cells in leukemia patients. These malignant stem cells do not response to routine chemotherapeutic agents, and may be the source of drug resistance and relapse of leukemia. Permanent cure of leukemia need elimination of these leukemia stem cells. We describe molecular characteristics of leukemia stem cells and possible target therapeutic strategies in this review.

Objective To detect the ocular fundus hemodynamic changes in patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment before and after the scleral buckling procedure by Heidelberg retina flowmeter,and analyse the related influential factors. Methods Heidelberg retina flowmeter was employed to measure the volume,flow and velocity in retinal vessels of the impaired eyes in 47 patients with unilateral rhegmatogenous retinal detachments 1 day before and 1 week,1 month and 3 months after scleral buckling procedure.The contralateral eyes were served as controls. ResultsThere were significant differences in the volume,flow and velocity of retinal vessels between the impared eyes and controls preoperation and postoperation(P

The roots of Glycyrrhiza uralensis are widely used in Chinese medicine for their action of clearing heat, detoxicating, relieving cough, dispelling sputum and tonifying spleen and stomach. The reason why Glycyrrhiza uralensis has potent and significant actions is that it contains various active secondary metabolites, especially glycyrrhizic acid. In the present study, we cloned the cDNA coding 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutary CoA reductase (HMGR) involved in glycyrrhizic acid biosynthesis in Glycyrrhiza uralensis. The corresponding cDNA was expressed in Escherichia coli as fusion proteins. Recombinant HMGR exhibited catalysis activity in reduction of HMG-CoA to mevalonic acid (MVA) just as HMGR isolated from other species. Because HMGR gene is very important in the biosynthesis of glycyrrhizic acid in Glycyrrhiza uralensis, this work is significant for further studies concerned with strengthening the efficacy of Glycyrrhiza uralensis by means of increasing glycyrrhizic acid content and exploring the biosynthesis of glycyrrhizic acid in vitro.

Objective To understand the status of soil-transmitted nematode infections,as well as the awareness and healthy behavior on soil-transmitted nematodiasis in rural residents of Dezhou City. Methods Six villages were selected according to the stratified sampling method;the permanent resident population aged 3 years or above was determined as the investigation objects. The modified Kato-Katz technique was adopted to detect the eggs of Ascaris lumbricoides,hookworm and Trichuris trichiura in the feces of the residents,and the method of cellophane anal swab was used to detect the Enterobius vermicularis infection in children under 12 years old. More than 50 households in each investigated site were randomly selected to investigate the awareness status on nematodiasis prevention and treatment and the condition of healthy behavior formation. Results A total of 2 294 residents were detected by Kato-Katz methods,11 of them were positive,and the total infection rate of soil-transmitted nematodes was 0.48%. To-tally 260 children were detected and 40 were infected with E. vermicularis,and the infection rate was 15.38%. A total of 898 resi-dents were investigated in the household survey and the awareness rate of nematodiasis prevention and treatment was 44.99%,the proportion of residents with healthy behavior was above 70%. Conclusions The infection rate of soil-transmitted nematode is low in rural areas of Dezhou City,but the infection rate of E. vermicularis in children is higher. The condition of healthy behavior forma-tion is satisfying,but the awareness rate of nematodiasis prevention and treatment of the residents is low. Therefore,the control measures as well as healthy education still should be strengthened.

Child ; Community-Acquired Infections ; microbiology ; Humans ; Pneumonia, Bacterial ; microbiology

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and complications in the treatment of advance liver cancer under ultrasound guidance with percutaneous RFTI-1 TM-cold cycle RF tumor ablation apparatus produced by Nangjing TianMa high-tech Company limited. Methods 25 patients of advance liver cancer, including 8 cases of metastatic liver cancer, 17 of primary hepatic carcinoma, were treated with percutaneous RFA cool-tip electrode under Ultrasound guidance 1 to 2 times. Eight of the patients prior to RFA were treated with TACE of individually three times for each. The postoperative efficacy was evaluated by enhanced CT. Results 10 lesions were completely necrotized and the majority parts of another 15 lesions were also under necrosis. Follow-up of six months, all patients are still alive with marked improvement of life quality. Conclusion The short-term efficacy of percutaneous Ultrasound-guided RFA with cool-tip electrode for treating advance liver cancer is quite satisfied, worthy to be recommended.

Objective To compare the myocardial protection effects of cold blood cardioplegia and cold crystalloid cardioplegia in patients undergoing valve replacement surgery.Methods One hundred adult patients with cardiac function Ⅱ～Ⅲ class undergoing primary elective valve replacement surgery due to rheumatic heart disease were retrospectively analyzed.For patients with cardiac arrest,cold blood cardioplegia was applied to 50 cases(Group B),and cold crystalloid cardioplegia to the others(group C).The process of heart resuscitation,the postoperative need of dopamine,the blood pressure and heart rate,the postoperative level of serum myocardial enzyme,the intensive care unit(ICU) stay after operation were collected and statistically analyzed.All the cardioplegic solution was perfused in a similar manner and topical cooling was employed simultaneously.Results There were less cases in group B than in group C who needed isoprenaline for cardiac resuscitation after clamp removal(P0.05).Conclusion The cold blood cardioplegia and cold crystalloid cardioplegia have similar myocardial protection effects on rheumatic heart disease patients with cardiac function Ⅱ～Ⅲ class undergoing valve replacement surgery.

Lipoproteins are biological lipids carriers. The natural and reconstituted lipoprotein based drug delivery systems have been extensively developed in recent years. This article reviews the development of natural and reconstituted low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein based vehicles in the antitumor area.
Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Apolipoproteins B ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Drug Carriers ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Humans ; Lipoproteins ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Lipoproteins, HDL ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Lipoproteins, LDL ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Nanoparticles ; Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Peptides ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Pharmaceutical Vehicles ; chemistry

Bufalin is an active compound of the traditional Chinese medicine Chansu, which exhibits significant anti-tumor activities in many solid tumors and leukemia cell lines. Bufalin could introduce apoptosis, reverse drug-resistance, and prevent migration and invasion of tumor cells. This paper reviewed the latest research progress of the in vitro and in vivo anti-tumor effect and mechanism of bufalin on a series of cancers, such as hepatocellular carcinoma, lung cancer, colon cancer, gastric cancer, leukemia, bladder cancer, and its formulation study is also summarized for the reference of its further study and application.
Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Bufanolides ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; methods ; Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology

Affinity chromatography is a chromatographic method for separating molecules using the binding characteristics of the stationary phase with potential drug molecules. This method can be performed as a high throughput screening method and a chromatographic separation method to screen a variety of active drugs. This paper summarizes the history of affinity chromatography, screening technology of affinity chromatography, and application of affinity chromatography in screening bio-active compounds in herbal medicines, and then discusses its application prospects, in order to broaden applications of the affinity chromatography in drug screening.
Animals ; Chromatography, Affinity ; methods ; trends ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; methods ; trends ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry