New drug discovery is under growing pressure to satisfy the demand from a wide range of domains, especially from the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare services. Assessment of drug efficacy and safety prior to human clinical trials is a crucial part of drug development, which deserves greater emphasis to reduce the cost and time in drug discovery. Recent advances in microfabrication and tissue engineering have given rise to organ-on-a-chip, an in vitro model capable of recapitulating human organ functions in vivo and providing insight into disease pathophysiology, which offers a potential alternative to animal models for more efficient pre-clinical screening of drug candidates. In this review, we first give a snapshot of general considerations for organ-on-a-chip device design. Then, we comprehensively review the recent advances in organ-on-a-chip for drug screening. Finally, we summarize some key challenges of the progress in this field and discuss future prospects of organ-on-a-chip development. Overall, this review highlights the new avenue that organ-on-a-chip opens for drug development, therapeutic innovation, and precision medicine.

Objective To study the analgesic efficacy and safety of the disposable postoperative local analgesia system and patient-controlled intravenous analgesia pump system following conventional thoracotomy.Methods Eighty patients who received con-ventional thoracotomy in our hospital from June, 2013 to June, 2014 were enrolled for the study.The patients were randomly divided in-to the experimental group ( the disposable postoperative local analgesia system group) and the control group ( the patient-controlled in-travenous analgesia pump system group) , each consisting of 40 patents.Postoperative analgesic efficacy ( visual analogue scores and Prince-Henry scores) , pethidine cumulative dosages and the incidence of adverse drug reactions were compared between the 2 groups. Results (1) Severity of pain:there was no difference in the VAS scores at h 12, 24 and 48 after surgery, when comparisons were made between the 2 groups.However, the Prince-Henry scores of the experimental group(3.82 ±0.64,2.66 ±0.45,1.89 ±0.24) were lower than those of the control group(3.71 ±0.77,2.74 ±0.55,1.94 ±0.51).(2) The cumulative dosages of pethidine:the cu-mulative dosage of the experimental group(2.39 ±0.34,1.48 ±0.18,0.92 ±0.11) was lower than that of the control group(3.14 ± 0.42,2.74 ±0.33,1.58 ±0.21), there were statistical difference ushen comparisons were made between them(P<0.05).(3) Rates of atelectasis and respiratory failure, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and drowsiness of the experimental group were lower than those of the control group.Conclusion As compared with the patient-controlled intravenous analgesia pump, the disposable postoperative local an-algesia system could achieve more ideal dynamic analgesic effects, reduce the dosage of opioid drugs and the rate of adverse drug reac-tions.More importantly, it was a safer and more effective analgesic method.

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Shenshuai Yingyang Capsule (SSYYJN) in ameliorating muscle atrophy in rats with chronic renal failure (CRF) and explore the role of Wnt7a-Akt/mTOR signal pathway in mediating this effect.

METHODSMale rats were randomly assigned to 5/6 nephrectomy group and sham-operated group, and the former group was further randomly divided into CRF model group, KA group, and SSYYJN group. The size of anterior tibia muscle was examined microscopically with HE staining. Protein synthesis in the soleus muscle was investigated by (14)C-phenylalanine experiment, and the expression of Wnt7a, frizzled-7, phospho-Akt, phospho-mTOR and GAPDH were detected with Western blotting.

RESULTSThe body weight, the wet and dry weight, cross-sectional area, and muscle protein synthesis of the anterior tibia muscles, and expressions of the proteins in the Wnt7a/Akt signaling pathway all increased significantly in SSYYJN and KA groups as compared with those in the model group.

CONCLUSIONSSYYJN can effectively improve muscle atrophy in the rat model of CRF possibly by reversing the reduction in the expressions of Wnt7a/Akt signaling pathway proteins in the skeletal muscles.

Animals ; Capsules ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; complications ; Male ; Muscle Proteins ; biosynthesis ; Muscle, Skeletal ; drug effects ; Muscular Atrophy ; drug therapy ; Nephrectomy ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; metabolism ; Rats ; Signal Transduction ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases ; metabolism ; Wnt Proteins ; metabolism