Objective To explore the short- term efficacy of argon- helium knife cryotherapy followed by chemotherapy in treating advanced non- small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to investigate its effect on the long- term survival. Methods During the period from March 2005 to March 2008, a total of 61 patients withⅢb or Ⅳ stage NSCLC received argon- helium knife cryotherapy followed by chemotherapy (study group), and other 52 patients with Ⅲb or Ⅳ stage NSCLC were treated with chemotherapy only (control group). The clinical data were retrospectively analyzed. The pain was evaluated by numeric rating scale (NRS) and the quality of life (QOL) was assessed by functional assessment of cancer therapy- general (FACT- G) scale. The clinical effect was evaluated according to RECIST criteria for solid tumor, and the patient’s survival time was recorded. Results (1) Twenty- six patients had local pain before the treatment, and the pain was relieved in different degrees after cryotherapy. The QOL, including all respects of FACT - G, was significantly improved after cryotherapy in all 61 patients. (2) The remission rate of the study group and the control group was 34.4% and 15.4% respectively, the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P <0.05). (3) The median survival time of the study group and the control group was 12.9 months and 9.5 months respectively, and the one- year survival rate of the study group and the control group was 53.6% and 35.4% respectively. The differences between the two groups were statistically significant (P < 0.01). Conclusion Argon- helium knife cryotherapy is a safe and effective local treatment for advanced NSCLC, which can quickly reduce the tumor load, relieve the pain and improve patient’s quality of life. Cryotherapy with subsequent chemotherapy is superior to simple chemotherapy in improving the patient’s survival rate.

The effects of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on neural differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) in vitro and the possible mechanism were observed. The hESCs lines, TJMU1 and TJMU2, were established and stored by our laboratory. hESCs differentiated into neuronal cells through embryonic body formation. In this induction process, hESCs were divided into three groups: group A, routine induction; group B, routine induction+10 ng/mL VEGF; group C, routine induction+10 ng/mL VEGF+10 ng/mL VEGFR2/Fc. OCT4, Nestin and GFAP in each group were detected by RT-PCR, and the cells expressing Nestin and GFAP were counted by immunofluorescence. The percentage of Nestin positive cells in group B was significantly higher than in groups A and C, while the percentage of GFAP positive cells in group B was significantly lower than in groups A and C (P<0.01). There was no significant difference between groups A and C (P>0.05). It was concluded that VEGF, via VEGFR2, stimulated the neural differentiation of hESCs in vitro.

OBJECTIVETo seek effective drugs for anti-hepatitis C virus by screening 20 Chinese herbs often used for clearing heat and dissipating toxin with nude mice model of hepatitis C viral (HCV) infection.

METHODSAfter the model mice had been treated with selected drug for 3 months, transmission electron microscope was used to observe whether the HCV-like particles in human fetal hepatocytes (HFH) transplanted into mice spleen still existed, and quantitative RT-PRC technique was used to detect the serum content of HCV-RNA before and after treatment.

RESULTS(1)HCV-like particles existed in all the model mice after treatment. (2) Serum content of HCV-RNA decreased after treated with Radix Gentianae, Radix Scutellariae, Radix Sophorae tonkinensis, Fructus Gardeniae and Fructus Sophorae flavoscentis, but unchanged after treatment with other drugs.

CONCLUSIONAll the 20 herbs screened has not effect in directly eradicating HCV, but Radix Gentianae, Radix Scutellariae, Radix Sophorae tonkinensis, Fructus Gardeniae and Fructus Sophorae flavoscentis could significantly inhibit the replication of HCV-RNA.

Animals ; Antiviral Agents ; pharmacology ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Female ; Gentiana ; chemistry ; Hepacivirus ; drug effects ; Hepatitis C ; virology ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Phytotherapy ; Scutellaria baicalensis ; chemistry ; Sophora ; chemistry ; Virus Replication ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo examine the role of lactoferrin (LF) on Toll like receptor 4 (TLR4) stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in human periodontal ligament cells (hPDLCs).

METHODSPrimary hPDLCs were cultured by tissue block enzymolytic method. Cells obtained from four passages were identified and used in this experiment. Cells without stimulation served as the controls and cells treated with LPS (0.1 microg x mL(-1)) comprised the LPS group. The LPS + LF group was pretreated with LPS (0.1 microg x mL(-1)) for 2 h, and then treated with LF (10 microg x mL(-1)). Four hours after LF stimulation, the mRNA expression levels of TLR4 were examined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The protein expression of TLR4 was observed by cell immunofluorescence staining after LF stimulation of 24 hours.

RESULTSTLR4 mRNA expression in the LPS + LF group was significantly more decreased than that in the LPS group (P < 0.05), but exhibited no difference with that in the control group (P > 0.05). Cell immunofluorescence staining showed that the protein expression of TLR4 in the LPS + LF group was significantly more decreased than that in the LPS group (P < 0.05), but exhibited no difference with that in the control group (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONLF can decrease the expression of TLR4 stimulated by LPS in hPDLCs, thus presenting potential application for controlling the TLR4 immune pathway of periodontitis.

Down-Regulation ; Humans ; Lactoferrin ; Lipopolysaccharides ; Periodontal Ligament ; Periodontitis ; Toll-Like Receptor 4

Humans ; Metabolic Syndrome

Neurological paroxysmal disease is a large group of clinical syndrome with a characteristic of sudden, recurrent, self-limiting. Clinically, routine biochemical or imaging examinations are usually with no significant abnormalities in the interictal period. However, magnetoencephalography (MEG), as an important electrophysiological tool in studying brain magnetic signals and monitoring brain electric activity, has highly temporal and spatial resolution for its noninvasive measurement of human brain with superconducting quantum interference. Therefore, it has been gradually used in researching for functional activities and mechanisms of the neuropsychiatric disorders and the advanced brain activity. There mainly reviewed the application and studies of MEG in epilepsy, paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesias and migraine.

Pancreatic cancer is a highly lethal disease in gastrointestinal malignant tumors.The mortality of pancreatic cancer closely parallels its incidence.Most patients with pancreatic cancer remain asymptomatic until the disease reaches an advanced stage.There is no program for screening patients at high risk of pancreatic cancer.Although CT,MRI,positron emission tomography,endoscopic ultrasonography,and endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine-needle aspiration offer high diagnostic ability for pancreatic cancer,it cannot be found at the early stage easily.Surgical resection is regarded as the only potentially curative treatment and adjuvant chemotherapy is given after surgery.This article reviews epidemiology,risk factors,diagnosis and treatment for pancreatic cancer by summarizing relevant literature.

Aim To explore the effects of salvianolic acid B(SAB) and tanshinone ⅡA(TA) alone or the compatibility of these two effective components on the proliferation of rat vascular adventitial fibroblasts, and to observe the effects of the compatibility of the two on cell proliferation with the stimuation of angiotensin Ⅱ(Ang Ⅱ).Methods The effects of SAB and TA alone or the compatibility of the two on cell proliferation were detected by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium(MTT) method, and flow cytometry was adopted to detect cell cycle with or without the induction of Ang Ⅱ.Results It was shown that SAB and TA alone could inhibit fibroblast proliferation in different degree.Through a series of concentration screening, three effective concentrations were obtained respectively and then the inhibition of cell growth was detected by Pairwise compatibilities.The results showed that the compatibility of TA(10-8 mol·L-1) and SAB(10-5 mol·L-1) had the most significant inhibitory effect(P<0.01), and they could inhibit cell proliferation, further flow cytometry was adopted to detect drug effects on cell cycle, the results indicated that the compatibility of SAB and TA mainly blocked the cells in G0/G1 phase.Induced by Ang Ⅱ, the compatibility of SAB and TA group, compared with Ang Ⅱ group, blocked thee cells in G0/G1 phase;and compared with combination of SAB and TA group, it mainly blocked cell cycle in S phase.Conclusion SAB and TA have certain inhibitory effect on fibroblast proliferation, also they could inhibit the proliferation induced by Ang Ⅱ, mainly by blocking the cells in G0/G1 phase.

Lesch-Nyhan syndrome(LNS) is a congenital X-linked recessive inherited disorder caused by mutations in the hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HPRT) gene.A deficiency of the HPRT enzyme is responsible for the disease.The main clinical manifestation includes hyperuricemia, juvenile-onset gouty arthritis and neurological developmental disorders.Studies have reported there are more than 400 HPRT gene mutation sites, but the incidence of LNS in the Chinese population is extremely low.Here we report a 16-year-old male patient who suffered neurological dysfunction at an early age and gouty arthritis in his youth.DNA of patient and his family members were extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes.The coding region and the intron-exon boundaries of HPRT gene were sequenced by standard methods.We found a mutation in exon 3 of the HPRT gene of the patient and his mother (Exon3:c.143G>A), which resulted in an arginine to histidine (p.R48H) substitution in the encoded protein.No activity of the enzyme HPRT was detected in the erythrocytes.The same mutation was reported in several European families, but was found in Chinese family for the first time.Clinicians in China have poor experience in diagnosing LNS case, due to the low incidence in China.Therefore LNS screening for infants or adolescents with hyperuricemia, gouty arthritis and neurological dysfunction should be performed.

AIM:To explore the molecular mechanism through which curcumin reverses hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-induced resistance to gefitinib in lung cancer cells.METHODS:The methods of MTT assay, wound healing assay and Western blot were used to observe the effects of HGF, curcumin and gefitinib on the migration, drug susceptibility, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and related signaling pathways in the PC9 lung cancer cells.RESULTS:HGF reduced susceptibility of the PC9 cells to gefitinib, and curcumin significantly reversed HGF-induced resistance to gefitinib.HGF induced migration and epihelial-mesenchymal transition, and promoted c-Met/AKT/mTOR pathway activation in the PC9 cells.Gefitinib alone did not prevent the above activities.However, combined with curcumin, gefitinib prevented the above activities.CONCLUSION:Curcumin reverses HGF-induced resistance of the PC9 cells to gefitinib by preventing epithelial-mesenchymal transition and inhibiting c-Met/AKT/mTOR activation.