Objective To investigate the effects of mirtazapine in combination with gemcitabine on food intake,body weight and tumor growth of human pancreatic carcinoma xenografts in nude mice.Methods 24 subcutaneous pancreatic cancer xenograft nude mice were randomly divided into control group,gemcitabine group(receiving 100 mg/kg gemcitabine i.P.on days 1,4,7 and 10 after operation)and combination group (gemcitabine as above and mirtazapine,10 mg·kg~(-1)·d~(-1),orally feeding for 21 days),with 8 mice in each group. All mice were sacrificed at day 21.Food intake,body weight and tumor size were compared among three groups.Results Gemcitabine group showed significant anti-tumor effects,but adverse effects such as decreasing food intake and body weight Was also noted. On days 21,there Was no significant difference in tumor size between combination group and gemcitabine group.The tumor inhibition rates of the two groups were 69.13%and 71.60%respectively(P>0.05).The food intake of mice and body weight[(3.12±0.11)g and(14.68±0.42)g]in combination group were slightly greater than these of gemcitabine group[(2.96±0.14)g and(14.38±0.61)g,P>0.05],but these parameters were significantly lowerthan those of control group[(4.65±0.13)g and(17.46±0.52)g,P<0.05].Conclusions Gemcitabine chemotherapy showed significant anti-tumor effects. Mirtazapine cannot significantly enhance the anti.tumor effect of gemcitabine. However,mirtazapine could alleviate adverse events of gemcitabine to some extent.

Objective To investigate the effect of different antidepressants (mirtazapine and fluoxetine) on food intake, body weight, tumor growth in a mouse model of pancreatic cancer. Methods A subcutaneous xenograft mouse model of human pancreatic cancer SW1990 was established. The tumor-bearing mice were randomly divided into saline solution control group, mirtazapine group, fluoxetine group, with 7 mice in each group. All mice were treated once daily with saline solution, mirtazapine (10mg·kg-1·d-1), fluoxetine (10mg· kg-1·d-1), orally by using metal garage feeding needles for 42 days. Tumor size, body weight, food intake were investigated. Results There was no significant difference in tumor size in the three groups. From the 2nd week, the food intake of mice in the mirtazapine group significantly increased compared with other two groups; the body weight of mice in the mirtazapine group at the 4th week was (16.00±1.41) g, which was higher than those in other two groups (P<0.05); from the 3rd week, the food intake of mice in the fluoxetine group significantly decreased compared with control group, and the body weight also decreased significantly from the 6th week (P<0.05) ; at the 6th week, the food intake of mice in the control, mirtazapine and fluoxetine groups were (3.54±0.13)g, (4.19±0.16)g and (3.34±0.13)g, and the body weight were (13.71±1.11)g, (14.86±1.68)g and (12.57±1.51)g, respectively. Conclusions Mirtazapine was better than fluoxetine in increasing food intake and alleviating body decreasing on a pancreatic cancer mouse model. However, there was no significant effect on the pancreatic tumor growth.

Objective To investigate the prevalence and the clinical features of pancreatic cancer pain in a Chinese patient population.Methods The study was carried out in 415 cages of pancreatic cancer which were admitted to the First Municipal people's Hospital of Guangzhou Medical college and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from 1999 to 2007.The prevalence,clinical features of pancreatic cancer pain and its correlations with the cancer site and the clinical staging were analyzed.Results Of the 415 patients.the prevalence of pain wag 65.1%and 60.5%of all the patients presented pain as the initial symptom;the incidence of pain in pancreatic body/tail cancer patients was 80.7%.while it was 71.4%in total pancreatic cancer patients.and the incidence was 58.2%in pancreatic head cancer patients;the incidence between pancreatic body/tail cancer and pancreatic head cancer patients was statistically different (P＜0.05).The incidence of pain in patients with stage Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ,and Ⅳ was 28.6%,58.1%,66.2%and 78.6%.and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.01).The incidence of moderate to severe degree of pain in patients with stage Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ,and Ⅳ was 18.8%,44.4%,53.1%and 68.2%,and the differenee was statistically significant(P＜0.01).Conclusions Pain was very common in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.The incidence and severity of pain increased with the progression of pancreatic cancer.

A retrospective analysis was made on clinical data of 230 cases of metabolic syndrome (MS) and 239 cases of non-MS admitted to department of cardiology and endocrinology of Huashan Hospital from July 2005 to August 2009.Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to assess the association between levels of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and potential influencing factors.Covariance analysis was used for group comparison.Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that age,body mass index,systolic blood pressure,diastolic blood pressure,insulin resistance index,triglyceride,low density lipoprotein-cholesterol,creatine,left atrial diameter,left ventricular posterior wall dimensions,left ventricular ejection fraction were independent predictors for plasma levels of NT-proBNP in those subjects(P ＜ 0.05).Covariance analysis showed that plasma levels of NT-proBNP in MS group were significantly lower than those in non-MS group ( P ＜ 0.05).Further analysis found that plasma levels of NT-proBNP in MS patients with high triglyceride and body mass index,but normal systolic and diastolic blood pressure,normal fasting plasma glucose were significantly lower than those in non-MS group ( P ＜ 0.05 ).The results indicate that decreased plasma levels of NT-proBNP might be related to lipids disorder and obesity of MS patients.

Objective To investigate the incidence of pancreatic cancer-related depression in Guangzhou,China.Methods A multicenter,prospective survey was conducted,50 patients with pancreatic cancer,60 with liver cancer,50 with esophageal cancer,50 with gastric cancer,52 with colorectal cancer were enrolled from 4 hospitals in Guangzhou between June 2007 and June 2009.Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression-24 (HAMD-24) questionnaire was used to assess the degree of depression.Results The incidence of depression in pancreatic cancer patients was 78% (39/50),which was significantly higher than that among liver cancer patients (60% ,36/60),gastric cancer patients (36%,18/50),esophageal cancer patients(24%,12/50),and colorectal cancer patients(19.2%,10/52,P＜0.05 ).Twelve of 50 patients in pancreatic cancer were reported to have severe depression (24%),which was significantly more than that in liver cancer (10%,6/60),gastric cancer (4%,2/50),esophageal and colorectal cancer (0,P ＜0.05).In pancreatic cancer patients,the incidence of depression was significantly higher in patients with advanced stage (94.3%) than that in early stage (46.7%,P＜0.05).Patients who underwent chemotherapy had high incidence of depression(92.3%)than that of patients who underwent operation (62.5%,P＜0.05 ).Conclusions Compared with other cancers of digestive tract,the incidence of pancreatic cancer-related depression was higher,and its degree was more severe than that of other cancers.

ObjectiveTo explore the relationship between circulating tumor cells(CTCs) in the peripheral blood of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC) and the physiopathological characteristics of esophageal neoplasms.MethodsUsing negative selection system,we depleted red blood cells(RBCs) in red blood cell lysis buffer,depleted white blood cells (WBCs) with Miltenyi magnetic beads and enriched the rare cells from ESCC patients'peripheral blood.Immunofluorence staining (IF) was adopted to identify CTCs.ResultsCirculating tumor cells in the peripheral blood of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was closely related to cell differentiation grade,the invasion of primary cancer,lymph node status,P-TNM stages,and was rarely related to the sex,age or the location of tumor.ConclusionThe results suggest that circulating tumor cells in the peripheral blood of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma may express the development of esophageal cancer and may be served as a tumor marker to evaluate the biological behavior of esophageal cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression and clinical significance of OPN, CD44v6 and MMP-9 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas (LSCC). METHOD: The expression of OPN, CD44v6 and MMP-9 in the 47 cases of LSCC and 10 cases normal mucosa were detected by immunohistochemical method. The correlation between OPN, CD44v6 and MMP-9 proteins expressions and the correlation between them and clinicopathological feature were also studied. RESULT: (1) The positive expression rates of OPN, CD44v6 and MMP-9 were 63.8%, 76.6% and 68.1% in LSCC of 47 cases and, and 10%, 30% and 0 in the tumor adjacent issue. (2) The positive rate of OPN and CD44v6 was significantly correlated with the clinical staging, the pathological grading and the metastasis of cervical lymph node (P < 0.05). The positive rate of MMP-9 was correlated with the clinical staging and the metastasis of cervical lymph node (P < 0.05). The positive rates of OPN, CD44v6 and MMP-9 were not correlated with patient's age, sex and tumor location (P > 0.05). (3) The expression of OPN was well correlated with the positive rate of CD44v6 and MMP-9 in LSCC (r = 0.421, P < 0.01, r = 0.340, P < 0.05). The expression of positive rate of CD44v6 and MMP-9 was well related in LSCC as well (r = 0.376, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION There is a high level of expression of OPN, CD44v6 and MMP-9 in LSCC. OPN, CD44v6 and MMP-9 are positively related and involved in the invasion and metastasis of LSCC.
Aged ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Hyaluronan Receptors ; metabolism ; Laryngeal Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 ; metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Osteopontin ; metabolism ; Prognosis

Objective To study the genotypes of representative Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tuberculosis) strains from China with spacer oligonucleotide typing (spoligotyping),and to investigate the prevalence of different genotypes TB in China,and analyse the relationship between genotype and drug resistance.Methods 4017 clinical isolates were collected by Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention from 2007 to 2008 in 31 provinces in China according to sampling principle of epidemiology.Drug susceptibility testing was performed using proportion method,and spoligotyping was chosen to carry out genotyping of these M.tuberculosis.In addition,chi-square test was used to compare the differences among the detection rate of different genotypes.Results Among the 4017 M.tuberculosis isolates,2500 ( 62.2％ ) isolates belonged to Beijing genotype.The percentage of Beijing genotypes in the northern of China was higher than that in the southern of China ( 76.5％ vs.53.2％,x2 =219.69,P ＜ 0.05 ),while T1 genotypes were more common in the southern China,compared with that in northern China ( 13.3％ vs.4.3％,x2 =219.69,P ＜ 0.05 ).The differences were statistically significant.The proportions of Rifampinresistant (21.7％ vs.21.7％ ),Ofloxacin-resistant (4.9％ vs.2.4％ ) and Multidrug-resistant ( 11.3％vs.7.4％ ) isolates among Beijing genotype strains were significantly higher than those among non-Beijing strains (x2 =22.10,14.42 and 14.83,respectively,P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusions Beijing genotype was still predominant epidemic genotypes.The percentage of Beijing genotype showed difference between distinct areas,and the percentage of Beijing genotypes in northern China was higher than that in southern China.Beijing genotype strains reveal correlation with Rifampin-resistance,Ofloxacin-resistance and Multidrug-resistance.

Objective To explore the true experience of patients living with end-stage heart failure Methods The phenomenological methodology was used in the study.Eleven inpatients with end-stage heart failure were treated with semi-structured interviews and recorded live. Colaizzi method was used for data analysis with Nvivo11.0. Results Four themes were extracted:perceivestressful heart failuresymptoms; complex psychological experience, both negative and positive response coexist;perceive insufficient medical system support;ambivalent attitude toward death. Conclusion Health care providers should pay attention to the physical and psychological feelings of patients with end-stage heart failure, take targeted interventions to alleviate their suffering, provide palliative care while providing heart failure management to patients, and attach importance to communication with patients to help them recognize death correctly. At the same time, we should promote the development of grass-roots health institutions and provide patients with more convenient and adequate medical resources.

Objective To investigate the status quo of hope level as well as the relationship between the hope level and social support in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Method A total of 120 CHF patients were surveyed by Herth hope index (HHI) and social support rating scale (SSRS). Results The overall HHI score and SSRS were (30.2±4.2) and (38.4±6.2), respectively. Both were at a medium level. The general score of HHI was positively related to general SSRS (r=0.527, P＜0.01). Conclusions Both of HHI and SSRS of patients with CHF are at moderate level. The patients with higher level of social support have better hope level. Nurses should take pertinent interventions to improve the social support of CHF, helping them to improve their hope and respond to diseases effectively.