Brain Abscess ; diagnosis ; etiology ; therapy ; Cerebellar Diseases ; diagnosis ; etiology ; therapy ; Ear Diseases ; complications ; Humans ; Male ; Young Adult

Animals ; Humans ; Liver ; growth & development ; Liver Diseases ; Receptors, Notch ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction

Objective To systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy of relieving fever with sweet and warm drugs (Ganwen Chure Therapy) for noninfectious fever caused by vital-energy deficiency based on Meta-analysis. Methods Literature about RCTs of Ganwen Chure Therapy for noninfectious fever caused by vital-energy deficiency in CNKI, Wanfang Database, CBM, VIP, Pub Med, Cochrane Library, and Embase was retrieved by computers from establishment of database to April 2017. After two researchers independently conducted literature screening, cross-checking, data extraction, and literature quality evaluation, cumulative Meta-analysis was performed on the outcome indicators in order of publication time and sample size, and the trend of the results was tested. Then the quality of the literature based on GRADE was under an overall evaluation. Results Totally 27 articles were included in this study, involving 2599 patients. The results of cumulative Meta-analysis showed that the total effective rates of using Ganwen Chure Therapy only [OR=3.875, 95％CI (2.87, 5.24), Z=8.82, P=0.000 1]and Ganwen Chure Therapy combined with routine therapy [OR=5.791, 95％CI (3.55, 9.45), Z=7.03, P=0.000 1]were better than the routine therapy, with statistical significance. Trend test showed that there was variability in the timing of drug combination study, showing that the cumulative Meta-analysis results were not stable. Conclusion Ganwen Chure Therapy has certain efficacy for noninfectious fever caused by vital-energy deficiency. However, the overall quality of the included studies was low, with relatively high homogeneity. There are biases in publication, yet more high-quality clinical research is needed for further verification.

The pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a serious impact on global public health and the economy. SARS-CoV-2 infiltrates host cells via its surface spike protein, which binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 on the host cell membrane. As a result, small molecules targeting spike protein have emerged as a hotspot in anti-SARS-CoV-2 drug research. Activity screening is an important step in seeking small molecule drugs. Therefore, this article aims to review the biological activity evaluation methods of small molecule inhibitors targeting SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, with the goal of laying the foundation for the discovery of new anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs.

Outbreaks of hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) have occurred many times and caused serious health burden in China since 2008.Application of modem information technology to prediction and early response can be helpful for efficient HFMD prevention and control.A seasonal auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model for time series analysis was designed in this study.Eighty-four-month (from January 2009 to December 2015) retrospective data obtained from the Chinese Information System for Disease Prevention and Control were subjected to ARIMA modeling.The coefficient of determination (R2),normalized Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) and Q-test P value were used to evaluate the goodness-of-fit of constructed models.Subsequently,the best-fitted ARIMA model was applied to predict the expected incidence of HFMD from January 2016 to December 2016.The best-fitted seasonal ARIMA model was identified as (1,0,1)(0,1,1)12,with the largest coefficient of determination (R2=0.743) and lowest normalized BIC (BIC=3.645) value.The residuals of the model also showed non-significant autocorrelations (PBox-Ljung (Q)=0.299).The predictions by the optimum ARIMA model adequately captured the pattern in the data and exhibited two peaks of activity over the forecast interval,including a major peak during April to June,and again a light peak for September to November.The ARIMA model proposed in this study can forecast HFMD incidence trend effectively,which could provide useful support for future HFMD prevention and control in the study area.Besides,further observations should be added continually into the modeling data set,and parameters of the models should be adjusted accordingly.

Objective To evaluate the application of non-bioartificial liver support system (ALSS) combined with liver transplantation(LT) in treating mid-or end-stage chronic severe hepati- tis.Methods ALSS plus liver transplantation were employed in treating 28 patients with mid-or end- stage chronic severe hepatitis.Clinical data from the patients before and after treatment were collect- ed.The survive rate of ALSS plus LT group were compared with that of medication group 99 cases and medication plus ALSS group 30 cases.The data were analyzed with t test and X~2 test.Results After 57 times ALSS treatment,the serum total bilirubin(TBil),prothromin time(PT),bile acid, blood urea nitrogen(BUN),creatnine(Cr) and ammonia of all the 28 patients got improved(P 0.05).The clinical symptoms and signs of the patients were ameliorated at median 3 d(1～153 d). All patients were bridged to liver transplantation successfully after median 20 d(1～153 d).The 3 and 6 months post-operation survival rate of ALSS plus LT group(71.4%,71.4%) were significantly higher than those in medication group(18.2%,11.1%) and medication plus ALSS group(36.7%, 26.6%)(P

Oral mucosal drug delivery has the advantages of rapid drug absorption, no first-pass effect and good patient compliance. However, factors such as low drug dissolution, saliva carrying the drug into the gastrointestinal tract and the existence of physiological barriers in the mucosa may affect the mucosal permeation and bioavailability of the drug. Nanotechnology applied to drug oral mucosa delivery can overcome the above disadvantages and obtain efficient absorption effect. This paper describes the physiological structure of oral mucosa and the factors affecting the absorption of drugs in oral mucosa, reviews the application of nanotechnology such as liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carriers, nanoemulsions, polymer nanoparticles, polymer micelles and nanohybrid suspensions in oral mucosal drug delivery and the mechanism of promoting drug absorption, summarizes the main problems of current research, and gives an outlook on the application of nano oral mucosal drug delivery system. The main problems of current research are summarized, and the prospects for the application of nano oral mucosal drug delivery systems are discussed.

AIMTo prepare the sustained-release nitrendipine microspheres with a solid dispersed structure in liquid system.

METHODSThe sustained-release nitrendipine microspheres with a solid dispersed structure was prepared in liquid system by combining spherical crystallization technique and solvent deposition method in one step. The resultant microspheres were evaluated for the recovery, micromeritc properties, incorporation efficiency. The factors of effect on the formation and the release rate of microspheres were also investigated.

RESULTSThe recovery of microspheres (280-900 microns) was more than 70% and the bulk density was around 0.7 kg.L-1. The incorporation efficiency always exceeded 95%. The formation of microspheres was mainly affected by the amount of bridging liquid and the emulsifying agents in poor solvent. The release rate of nitrendipine from the microspheres could be controlled as desired by adjusting the ratio of talc to Eudragit RS PO in the formulation.

CONCLUSIONThe presented method was suitable for preparing sustained-release microspheres of a water insoluble drug.

Delayed-Action Preparations ; Drug Carriers ; Microspheres ; Nitrendipine ; administration & dosage ; Particle Size ; Technology, Pharmaceutical ; methods

BACKGROUNDNowadays it is now a focus topic in schistosomiasis research to find ideal vaccine candidates and new drug targets for developing anti-schistosomiasis vaccine. We cloned a new gene, casein kinase II beta subunit, of Schistosoma japonicum (S. japonicum) and express it in Escherichia coli (E. coli).

METHODSThe ESTs obtained in our laboratory were analyzed by homologous searching, and a new gene was recognized. The full-length cDNA of the new gene was obtained by joining the 3'RACE PCR fragment and the EST clone. To express the new gene, the cDNA was cloned into pGEX-4T-1 vector and then transformed into E. coli JM109. The recombinant protein was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Western-blot.

RESULTSA 908 bp cDNA was isolated from S. japonicum and identified to be casein kinase II beta subunit gene by sequence analysis. The open reading frame of the gene encodes a protein of 217 amino acids exhibiting 75.8%, 75.8%, 73.9%, 68.2%, 51.6% identity to the amino acids sequence of the corresponding genes of Homo sapiens (H. sapiens), Xenopus laevi (X. laevi), Drosophila melanogaster (D. melanogaster), Caenorhabditis elegan (C. elegan), and Schizosaccharomyces pombe (S. promber) respectively. The predicted molecular weight of the protein was 24.921 kDa. The new cDNA sequence had been submitted to GenBank, and its accession number is AY241391. This cDNA was subcloned into the pGEX-4T-1 vector and expressed in E. coli JM109. The recombinant protein could be recognized by the S. japonicum infected rabbit serum.

CONCLUSIONThe full-length cDNA sequences encoding S. japonicum casein kinase II beta subunit were firstly sequenced, cloned, and expressed in E. coli.

Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Base Sequence ; Blotting, Western ; Casein Kinase II ; chemistry ; genetics ; Cloning, Molecular ; DNA, Complementary ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Rabbits ; Schistosoma japonicum ; enzymology ; genetics