Paridis Rhizoma possesses the functions of clearing heat and detoxifying， alleviating swelling and relieving pain， cooling the liver and calming the convulsion. Saponins are the main active components of Paridis Rhizoma. Studies have shown that total saponins in Paridis Rhizoma have obvious inhibitory effect on solid tumors such as breast cancer， lung cancer， gastric cancer， and liver cancer and non-solid tumors such as leukemia. The saponins may exert the anti-tumor effects by inhibiting the proliferation， migration， and invasion of tumor cells， regulating cell cycle， inducing apoptotic and non-apoptotic death pathways， and regulating metabolism and tumor microenvironment. Furthermore， total saponins in Paridis Rhizoma showed anti-inflammatory， antioxidant， antimicrobial， hemostatic， and uterus-contracting activities. At the same time， they may induce apoptosis of normal cells， inflammation and oxidative stress， and metabolic disorders. In recent years， the reports of liver injury， reproductive injury， gastrointestinal injury， hemolysis， and other adverse reactions caused by total saponins in Paridis Rhizoma have been increasing. Pharmacokinetic studies have shown that there are significant differences in the metabolism of total saponins in Paridis Rhizoma administrated in different ways. Injection has a fast clearance rate， while oral administration may have hepatoenteric circulation. Meanwhile， due to the low solubility and activation of P-glycoprotein （P-gp） molecular pump， the prototype absorption， intestinal permeability， and recovery rate of total saponins in Paridis Rhizoma are poor， which affects the bioavailability. The bioavailability can be improved to some extent by preparing new dosage forms or new drug delivery systems with advanced technology. This paper reviews the pharmacological effect， pharmacokinetics， and adverse reactions of Rhizoma Paridis total saponins by searching the China National Knowledge Infrastructure （CNKI）， VIP， and Web of Science with ''Rhizoma Paridis total saponins'' as the keywords， hoping to provide references for the research， development， and clinical application of such components.

Ferroptosis， a new form of programmed cell death different from apoptosis， necrosis， and autophagy， is closely associated with a variety of physiological and pathological processes. Iron-mediated accumulation of reactive oxygen species is the main inducement of ferroptosis， the mechanism of which is related to intracellular lipid metabolism， iron metabolism， and antioxidant defense pathways. Multiple signaling axes and regulators jointly regulate the occurrence and disruption of ferroptosis. Studies have demonstrated that ferroptosis regulates the growth and proliferation of tumor cells. Inducing ferroptosis in tumor cells can control the growth， metastasis， and multi-drug resistance of tumors. Therefore， the effect and mechanism of ferroptosis on tumor cells have become a hot topic in anti-cancer research. As the research advances， a variety of ferroptosis inducers has been used in the clinical chemotherapy for cancers and demonstrate significant efficacy. Accordingly， the development of ferroptosis-inducing anticancer drugs has become a new research direction for tumor treatment. Some active ingredients such as lycorine， oleanolic acid， dihydroartemisinin， pseudolaric acid B， and ophiopogonin B of Chinese medicines can induce ferroptosis in tumor cells via lipid metabolism， iron metabolism， system X_c^-， and GPX4/GSH to regulate the development of tumors， demonstrating a promising prospect in clinical treatment. Based on the theory of the mechanism of ferroptosis， this paper reviews the research progress in ferroptosis induced by active ingredients of Chinese medicines in tumor cells and describes the metabolic regulatory network of ferroptosis from signaling pathways and regulatory factors， providing new strategies for applying active ingredients of Chinese medicines in the treatment of tumors.

As a rare Chinese medicinal material， Paridis Rhizoma is mainly distributed in Yunnan， Guangxi， and Guizhou in southwestern China， with the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying， alleviating edema and relieving pain， cooling liver and tranquilizing mind. It is particularly effective for injuries from falls， fractures， contusions and strains， snake bites， cold wind-induced convulsion， and other diseases， which has been used for more than 2 000 years. According to modern research， polyphyllin Ⅱ， one of the main active components of Paridis Rhizoma， belongs to diosgenin in structure. It has the anti-tumor， anti-inflammatory， antiviral， antibacterial， immune-regulating， antioxidant， and multidrug resistance-reversing activities， showing good application prospect. Especially， the anti-tumor effect of polyphyllin Ⅱ has attracted wide attention， and the mechanism is inhibiting proliferation， migration， and invasion of tumor cells， inducing cell cycle arrest， apoptosis， and autophagy， suppressing angiogenesis， and modulating tumor microenvironment. However， the pharmacokinetic results show that polyphyllin Ⅱ has low bioavailability in vivo due to the low solubility， poor absorption， unsatisfactory distribution， and slow metabolism， which limit the clinical application. In recent years， there has been an explosion of research on the adverse reactions of polyphyllin Ⅱ， such as the strong hemolytic activity and obvious cytotoxicity to liver， kidney， myocardium and cardiovascular cells. Thus， papers were retrieved from "CNKI"， "VIP"， "Wanfang Data"， "PubMed"， "Web of Science"， and "Elsevier SD" with "Paris saponin Ⅱ"， "Polyphyllin Ⅱ" as the main keywords， and the pharmacological activities and mechanisms， pharmacokinetics， and adverse reactions were summarized. The findings are expected to serve as a reference for the in-depth research， development， and utilization of polyphyllin Ⅱ.

As precious Chinese medicinal materials， Moschus and Bovis Calculus are often used in the treatment of acute and severe patients. However， due to their scarce sources and high prices， wild animal resources are in urgent need of protection， natural Moschus and Bovis Calculus can no longer meet the needs of preparation production. The use of substitutes such as Moschus Artifactus， Bovis Calculus Artifactus and Bovis Calculus Sativus has alleviated the shortage of original medicinal materials to some extent， and has been widely used in the production and use of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） preparations. According to statistics， the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia contains 75 TCM preparations containing Moschus and 95 preparations containing Bovis Calculus， but in the quality standards of these 134 TCM preparations， the difference between natural medicinal materials and their substitutes is not very obvious， and some quality control projects are relatively simple. Based on this， the author intends to sort out the quality standards of TCM preparations containing Moschus or Bovis Calculus in the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia （volume Ⅰ）， including the type， drug form， prescription dosage， maximum daily （time） dosage and the quality control items of Moschus and Bovis Calculus in the preparation， in order to explore the rationality of the quality standard of TCM preparations containing Moschus or Bovis Calculus， and to give some suggestions on standardizing the use types of Moschus and Bovis Calculus， improving the quality control items of Moschus and Bovis Calculus in TCM preparations combining modern research achievements and advanced technology.

Adult ; China ; Community-Acquired Infections ; Humans ; Physicians ; Pneumonia ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Objective: To investigte the efficacy of docetaxel combined with androgen deprivation therapy for the treatment of metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer based on Chinese population. Methods: A total of 497 patients were enrolled from January 2004 to July 2018 in the Changhai Hospital. 459 patients received androgen deprivation therapy alone and 38 patients received androgen deprivation therapy combined with docetaxel. The mean age was (72.1±8.7)years. The median PSA level was 100.0 ng/ml, ranging 42.3-999.0 ng/ml. Patients of clinical T₂, T₃, T₄ stage were 213(42.9%), 160(32.2%), 124(24.9%), respectively. Patients of clinical N₀, N₁, N_x stage were 319(64.2%), 144(29.0%), 34(6.8%), respectively. Patients of clinical M₀, M_1a, M_1b, M_1c, M_x stage were 100(20.1%), 51(10.3%), 332(66.8%), 9(1.8%), 5(1.0%), respectively. Gleason scores of biopsy showed that 146(29.4%) patients was ≤7, 103(20.7%) was 8 and 248(49.9%)was ≥9. Propensity score matching was used to match the baseline between groups. Caliper value was set at 0.02. SPSS 22 software was used to achieve a 1∶1 match between the two groups. There were no statistical difference in the age(P=0.102), PSA(P=0.713), T stage(P=0.113), N stage(P=0.226), M stage(P=0.514), Gleason score(P=0.612), tumor loading(P=0.812)between the two groups. The castration resistance-free rate and cancer specific survival rate of the two groups were compared by log-rank and breslow-wilcoxon test. Furthermore, forest plots were used to display the analysis results of different subgroups such as age, PSA, clinical stage, Gleason score, tumor load, whether patients had received palliative resection, and the differences in castration resistance-free rate were compared between the subgroups with high tumor load. Results: The median follow-up time was 22.6 months in the androgen deprivation therapy group and 13.7 months in the combined therapy group. The number of patients with castration resistance in the two groups was 23 and 17, respectively. There were 3 and 6 deaths, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the overall progression time to castration resistance between the two groups (10.3 m vs. 16.5 m, P>0.05), and no statistically significant difference in the prostate cancer specific survival rate (21.9 m vs.14.8 m, P>0.05). When subgroup analysis was performed, it was found that patients in the high-metastasis-volume subgroup who received the combination therapy had a significantly longer castration resistance free lifetime (10.6 m vs. 7.2 m, P=0.044), but there was no significant difference in the low- metastasis-volume subgroup(10.5 m vs.12.6 m, P>0.05). Conclusion Docetaxel combined with androgen deprivation therapy can improve the castration resistance free rate in patients with high metastasis volume, but not in low metastasis volume group.

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effects of non-ionic polyacrylamide(model:NPAM 1400)alone or combined with nanoscale silica gel (nSiO2) on the stability of Glycyrrhetinic acid lipo-emulsion. METHODS:UV-spectrophotometer was used to determine absorbance of diluent at 500 nm before and after lipo-emulsion centrifugation. Using the preparation without stable excipient as blank,stability coefficient (KE) and it ratio (KE/KE blank) were calculated. Effects of different concentrations (200-600 mg/L) of non-ionic polyacrylamide on the stability of Glycyrrhetinic acid lipo-emulsion were evaluated. The optimal concentration of non-ionic polyacrylamide alone was determined primarily,and then the effects of it combined with different concentrations of hydrophilic nSiO2 (0.2％, 0.3％, 0.4％) or hydrophobic (0.2％, 0.3％, 0.5％) on the stability of Glycyrrhetinic acid lipo-emulsion were investigated. RESULTS:When adding non-ionic polyacrylamide alone,KE of Glycyrrhetinic acid lipo-emulsion mixed with 300 mg/L non-ionic polyacrylamide was the lowest,KE/KE blank was 0.22;when combined,KE of Glycyrrhetinic acid lipo-emulsion mixed with 300 mg/L non-ionic polyacrylamide and 0.2％ hydrophobic nSiO2 was the lowest,KE/KE blank was 0.27. CONCLUSIONS:Non-ionic polyacrylamide alone or combined with nSiO2 all can promote the stability of Glycyrrhetinic acid lipo-emulsion,among which 300 mg/L non-ionic polyacrylamide alone is the best.

Asthma ; Bibliometrics ; Humans ; Periodicals as Topic ; Research ; trends

BACKGROUNDTransforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) and gene variants have been extensively studied in various human diseases. For example, TGF-β1 polymorphisms were associated with fibrosis and pneumoconiosis, but the data remained controversial. The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess the association between TGF-β1 -509 C>T [rs1800469], +869 T>C [rs1800470], and +915 G>C [rs1800471] polymorphisms and pneumoconiosis.

METHODSA comprehensive literature search was conducted through searching in PubMed, Embase, the Chinese Biomedical Database, and the Wei Pu (Chinese) Database by the end of April 2016. Eleven publications with 21 studies were included in this meta-analysis, covering a total of 4333 patients with pneumoconiosis and 3478 controls. Study quality was assessed, and heterogeneity and publication bias were measured. All statistical analyses were performed using STATA version 12.0 (StataCorp, College Station, TX, USA) software.

RESULTSThe data showed significant associations between TGF-β1 -509 C>T polymorphism and the risk of pneumoconiosis development (T vs. C, odds ratio [OR] = 1.35, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.00-1.81, P = 0.046); between TGF-β1 +915 G>C polymorphism and the pneumoconiosis risk (C vs. G, OR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.19-2.40, P = 0.004; CG vs. GG, OR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.23-2.60, P = 0.002; CC+CG vs. GG, OR = 1.80, 95% CI: 1.24-2.61, P = 0.002). In addition, the subgroup analysis of ethnicity versus pneumoconiosis types indicated a significant association of silicosis among Asian populations but not that of coal workers' pneumoconiosis in Caucasian populations. In contrast, no significant association was exhibited between TGF-β1 +869 T>C polymorphism and risk of pneumoconiosis.

CONCLUSIONThe polymorphisms of both TGF-β1 -509 C>T and +915 G>C are associated with increased risk of pneumoconiosis.

Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; European Continental Ancestry Group ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Genotype ; Humans ; Pneumoconiosis ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; genetics ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; genetics

Prostate cancer is one of the major problems of men's health. It has more obvious cancer heterogeneity, affecting the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis monitoring when comparing with other cancer. Thus, cancer related biomarkers are urgently needed to guide biopsy, treatment selection and follow-up. In the aspect of diagnosis, though the emerging of prostate specific antigen can raise the rate of diagnosis to some extent, it brings more unnecessary biopsies because of its low specificity. Cancer related long non-coding RNAs, single nucleotide polymorphism and fusion genes are proved to increase the diagnostic efficiency through high-throughput sequencing techniques. In the aspect of molecular classification, traditional Gleason score can discriminate different risk level of the cancer, but it is limited by the technicians. It is reported that copy number variations from DNA level and small RNAs, long non-coding RNAs from RNA level are related with the progress of cancer, indicating the potential role in cancer molecular classification. Although we are still on the way of the initial stage in exploring prostate cancer biomarkers, more useful and promising biomarkers will be found by high-throughput sequencing and molecular biotechniques.
Biomarkers, Tumor ; analysis ; Biopsy ; DNA Copy Number Variations ; Humans ; Male ; Prognosis ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Sensitivity and Specificity