OBJECTIVETo assess the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant 3-weekly paclitaxel plus trastuzumab (TH) in Chinese women with Her-2 overexpressing operable breast cancer.

METHODSThis is a single center open-label phase II clinical trial. The included patients underwent 4 cycles of neoadjuvant 3-weekly TH before surgery. The primary endpoint was pathologic complete response rate (pCR rate) and the secondary endpoint was overall response rate (OR rate). Patients were also stratified according to hormone receptor status, and pCR rate and OR rate were compared between subgroups. Adverse events were graded according to CTCAE v3.0.

RESULTSThere were 40 eligible patients entering this study with median age of 49 years. All patients completed 4 cycles of neoadjuvant treatment. pCR rate was 52.5% and OR rate was 87.5%. The differences of pCR and OR rates between subgroups were of no statistical significance. No cardiac toxicity event severer than grade 2 was recorded.

CONCLUSION3-weekly TH regimen has satisfactory pCR rate and OR rate in Chinese patients with Her-2 overexpressing operable breast cancer and reliable safety.

Adult ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; administration & dosage ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Breast Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Middle Aged ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Neutropenia ; chemically induced ; Paclitaxel ; administration & dosage ; Receptor, ErbB-2 ; metabolism ; Remission Induction ; Trastuzumab

Critical Illness ; Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Male

OBJECTIVETo develop a quantitative method for determination of the total organic acids and salicyclic acid in the extract of Radix Isatidis.

METHODThe total organic acids were determined by acid-base titration and the salicylic acid was determined by HPLC.

RESULTIt was shown that contents of total organic acids and salicylic acid in the extract of Radix Isatidis were 13.0% and 0.22%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe method can control the quality of this extract effectively and accurately.

Carboxylic Acids ; analysis ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Isatis ; chemistry ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Quality Control ; Salicylic Acid ; analysis ; Technology, Pharmaceutical

OBJECTIVES: To study the clinical value of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in the treatment of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN). METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on the medical data of 11 neonates with PPHN who were treated with ECMO in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Zhongshan People's Hospital from January 2015 to December 2021, involving the neonates' general information, clinical diagnosis, laboratory results, duration of ECMO treatment, complications during ECMO treatment, length of hospital stay, and outcome. RESULTS: Of the 11 neonates, 10 (91%) had successful weaning from ECMO, and 8 (73%) survived. For the 11 neonates, the mean duration of ECMO treatment was (81±50) hours (range: 26 to 185 hours), the mean duration of ventilator use was (198±105) hours (range: 57 to 392 hours), and the mean length of hospital stay was (22±15) days (range: 2 to 49 days). The oxygenation index and blood lactate level were significantly improved after 24 hours of ECMO treatment among the 11 neonates (P<0.05). Ten neonates had significantly reduced pulmonary artery pressure after 24 hours of ECMO treatment (P<0.05). One neonate had a progressive increase in the pulmonary artery pressure during EMCO treatment, succumbing to death. This neonate was diagnosed with alveolar capillary dysplasia based on the histopathological findings of the lung tissue and whole-exome sequencing results. Among the 11 children, 5 had intracranial hemorrhage, 1 had disseminated intravascular coagulation, 1 had gastric hemorrhage, 2 had pulmonary hemorrhage, 1 had renal insufficiency, and 3 had bleeding at the puncture site during ECMO treatment. CONCLUSIONS ECMO is effective for the treatment of PPHN, however, the high incidence of complications of ECMO treatment suggests that it is important to carefully assess the indications and timing of ECMO treatment and improve the management of ECMO, which can improve the weaning rate and survival rate.
Child ; Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary/therapy* ; Infant, Newborn ; Lung Diseases ; Persistent Fetal Circulation Syndrome/therapy* ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVEIn mid-July 2005, five patients presented with septic shock to a hospital in Ziyang city in Sichuan, China, to identify the etiology of the unknown reason disease, an epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory study were conducted.

METHODSAn enhanced surveillance program were established in Sichuan, the following activities were introduced: active case finding in Sichuan of (a) laboratory diagnosed Streptococcus suis infection and (b) clinically diagnosed probable cases with exposure history; supplemented by (c) monitoring reports on meningococcal meningitis. Streptococcus suis serotype 2 infection was confirmed by culture and biochemical reactions, followed by sequencing for specific genes for serotype and virulence factors.

RESULTSFrom June 10 to August 21, 2005, 68 laboratory confirmed cases of human Streptococcus suis infections were reported. All were villagers who gave a history of direct exposure to deceased or sick pigs in their backyards where slaughtering was performed. Twenty six (38%) presented with toxic shock syndrome of which 15 (58%) died. Other presentations were septicaemia or meningitis. All isolates were tested positive for genes for tuf, species-specific 16S rRNA, cps2J, mrp, ef and sly. There were 136 clinically diagnosed probable cases with similar exposure history but incomplete laboratory investigations.

CONCLUSIONAn outbreak of human Streptococcus suis serotype 2 infections occurred in villagers after direct exposure to deceased or sick pigs in Sichuan. Prohibition of slaughtering in backyards brought the outbreak to a halt. A virulent strain of the bacteria is speculated to be in circulation, and is responsible for the unusual presentation of toxic shock syndrome with high case fatality.

Animals ; Bacteremia ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; China ; epidemiology ; Disease Outbreaks ; Humans ; Meningitis, Bacterial ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Shock, Septic ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Streptococcal Infections ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; veterinary ; Streptococcus suis ; isolation & purification ; Swine ; Swine Diseases ; microbiology

Antrodia camphorata, a well-known and highly valued edible medicinal mushroom with intriguing activities like liver protection, has been traditionally used for the treatment of alcoholic liver disease. A. camphorata shows highly medicinal and commercial values with the demand far exceeds the available supply. Thus, the petri-dish cultured A. camphorata (PDCA) is expected to develope as a substitute. In this paper, nineteen triterpenes were isolated from PDCA, and thirteen of them were the unique anthroic acids in A. camphorata, including the main content antcin K, which suggested that PDCA produced a large array of the same anthroic acids as the wild one. Furthermore, no obvious acute toxicity was found suggesting the edible safety of PDCA. In mice alcohol-induced liver injury model, triglyceride (TG), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and malondialdehyde (MDA) had been reduced by the PDCA powder as well as the main content antcin K, which indicated that the PDCA could protect alcoholic liver injury in mice model and antcin K could be the effective component responsible for the hepatoprotective activities of PDCA against alcoholic liver diseases.
Alanine Transaminase ; blood ; Aldehyde Dehydrogenase ; blood ; Animals ; Antrodia ; chemistry ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; blood ; Biological Products ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Cholestenes ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Cholesterol, VLDL ; blood ; Disease Models, Animal ; Ethanol ; toxicity ; Female ; Fruiting Bodies, Fungal ; chemistry ; Liver ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic ; prevention & control ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; blood ; Mice ; Molecular Structure ; Triglycerides ; blood ; Triterpenes ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use