ObjectiveTo investigate the expression levels of forkhead box A2 (FOXA2) and forkhead box J2 (FOXJ2) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissue and the association of FOXA2 and FOXJ2 with HCC. MethodsClinical data and pathological tissue samples were collected from 54 patients with pathologically confirmed HCC in The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from January 2014 to July 2019. The immunohistochemical SP method was used to measure the protein expression levels of FOXA2 and FOXJ2 in HCC tissue, and their association with HCC-related clinicopathological features and patient prognosis was analyzed. The chi-square test and the adjusted chi-square test were used for comparison of categorical data; a Spearman correlation analysis was performed to investigate the correlation between the expression of FOXA2 and FOXJ2; the Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis; Image-Pro Plus was used to perform the semi-quantitative analysis of the expression of FOXA2 and FOXJ2; the Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used for comparison between groups. ResultsThe positive rates of the protein expression of FOXA2 and FOXJ2 in HCC tissue were 70.37% (38/54) and 75.92% (41/54), respectively, and there was a significant positive correlation between the expression levels of FOXA2 and FOXJ2 (rs=0.648, P＜0.001). In both negative and positive groups, the expression level of FOXA2 was associated with tumor diameter, degree of tumor differentiation, number of tumors, and alpha-fetoprotein (χ2=5.440, 4.113, 4.352, and 3.865, P=0.020, 0.043, 0037, and 0.049), and the expression level of FOXJ2 was associated with the degree of tumor differentiation (χ2=9.267, P=0.002). The group with positive expression of FOXA2 and FOXJ2 had a significantly higher cumulative survival rate than the group with negative expression of FOXA2 and FOXJ2 (P＜0.01). ConclusionThe expression levels of FOXA2 and FOXJ2 are associated with the development, progression, and prognosis of HCC, and they have a synergistic effect in the development and progression of HCC.

Objective To analyze the quality of 22 batches of Fritillariae thunbergii bulbus Formula Granules from 12 different manufacturers by using water-extraction reference substance of Fritillariae thunbergii bulbus(ZBM ERS ST)and water-extraction reference substance of Fritillariae hupehensis bulbus(HBBM ERS ST)as references.Methods Ethyl acetate-methanol-triethylamine-water(17∶1∶1∶0.5)was used as the developing solvent for high-performance thin-layer chromatography(HPTLC)fingerprint analysis.The high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)fingerprint analysis was performed on a Agilent Eclipse XDB-C18 column(4.6 mm×250 mm,5 μm)with the gradient mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-0.03%diethylamine solution.The column temperature was set at 25℃and evaporative light-scattering detector was used.The determination was conducted according to standard test method for measurement of Fritillariae thunbergii bulbus Formula Granules(Guangdong PFKL00117).Results The results of HPTLC and HPLC analysis showed that there are significant differences among the 22 batches of Fritillariae thunbergii bulbus Formula Granules.There were 4 batches of Fritillariae thunbergii bulbus Formula Granules from 3 manufacturers among them showed fingerprint characteristics of Fritillariae hupehensis bulbus.The total amount of peimine and peiminine in the remaining 18 batches of Fritillariae thunbergii bulbus Formula Granules was 0.291-3.179 mg·g-1,which were quite different.Conclusion Currently,the quality of Fritillariae thunbergii bulbus Formula Granules on the market varies greatly.Standardized water-extract reference substance has better applicability for the analysis of the quality of Fritillariae thunbergii bulbus Formula Granules than the control medicinal materials.