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

It is known that silibinin has antioxidant, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects, and which is widely used for liver damage caused by a variety of reasons. In recent years, it is found that silibinin has potential anti-allergic reactions. However, even larger doses of silibinin still show no significant side effects . The rare literature reports that silibinin can cause allergic reactions. The paper reports a middle-aged patient who orally took silibinin for the prevention of tuberculosis chemotherapy-induced liver damage, and he occurred symptoms of lip pain and anabrosis, foreign body sensation, and difficulty eating one day after treatment. The patient was misdiagnosed as"vesicular stomatitis"and was treated by anti-viral therapy. The patient was discharged from the hospital after treating allergic reactions. As a safe and effective drug for prevention of liver damages in clinic, silibinin should be alert to induce possible allergies when there are local skin manifestations such as lip pain and anabrosis.

Along with the increase of clinical application, the safety of traditional Chinese medicine gained more and more attentions. In particular, the safety evaluation of Chinese medical injections has become a mandatory task should be completed by pharmaceutical companies under the supervision of China Food and Drug Administration(CFDA). Due to the weak foundation of previous studies, the safety issues of Chinese medical injections have not been fully understood, and lack of scientific and rational risk management programs. Clinical safety centralized monitoring(CSCM) is an important method for post-market safety evaluation of Chinese medicine. Due to the lack of appropriate norms and procedures, the quality of similar research is uneven, and the results vary. Combined with practical experience with experts' suggestions, we developed this expert consensus on the design and implementation of CSCM from three stages (design, implementation and report) with 20 technical points, which will provide technical support for future CSCM studies.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the prevalence of irregular antibodies in children with severe β-thalassemia after long-term blood transfusion and its correlation with RH and anemia gene mutations site.

METHODSOne hundred twenty children with severe β-thalassemia and long-term blood transfusion were selected in our hospital, the genomic DNA was extracted and the genotype of RH factor were determined by PCR-SSP. The irregular antibodies and their types were screened and identified by the serological method, the gene types of the severe β-thalassemia were analyzed by reverse dot blot hybridization on DNA chip and PCR amplification.

RESULTSThe major of RH genotypes in 120 children were Ce/Ce (59.17%) and CE/ce (25%), among them 10 children possessed the positive irregular antibodies (8.33%), out of these 10 children, the genotypes of RH factor were Ce/Ce in 6 cases, cE/cE, CE/ce, cE/ce and Ce/ce in one case; among these 10 children with positive irregular antibodies, the anemia gene mutations were IVs-11654M in 2 cases, cD4142M in 6 cases, 28M in 1 case, and CD71-72M in 1 case.

CONCLUSIONIrregular antibodies produced by regular blood transfusion in children with severe β-thalassemia may be related with RH factor and anemia gene mutation sites.

Environmental exposure to heavy metals has been linked to a wide range of human health hazards. We detected the levels of 15 metals in urine samples from 500 representative sub-samples in an ongoing occupational cohort study (Jinchang Cohort) to directly evaluate metal exposure levels. Fifteen metals, namely As, Ba, Be, Cd, Cs, Cr, Co, Cu, Pb, Mn, Ni, Se, Tl, U, and Zn, were detected by inductively coupled plasma quadruple mass spectrometry. The results showed that median creatinine adjustment and geometric mean urinary metal levels were higher in the heavy metal-exposed group, except Se and Zn, than other reported general or occupational populations. Further studies should address the effects of heavy metals on human health.
China ; Cohort Studies ; Environmental Pollutants ; blood ; Humans ; Metals, Heavy ; blood ; Occupational Exposure

OBJECTIVETo study the association between metal exposure and risk of diabetes and prediabetes among Chinese workers exposed to metals.

METHODSWe used data obtained from the baseline survey of the Jinchang Cohort Study of workers in Jinchang Industry, the largest nickel production company in China. A total of 42,122 workers ⋝20 years of age were included in the study. A standardized, structured questionnaire was used to collect epidemiological information. Physical examinations and laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate the health status of the participants and to measure various biomarkers including blood sugar, lipids, and urinary metal concentrations. Logistic regression was used to study the association between occupational groups categorized according to the measured metal levels (office workers, low-level; mining/production workers, mid-level; and smelting/refining workers, high-level) and risk of diabetes and prediabetes.

RESULTSThe overall prevalence of diabetes and prediabetes was 7.5% and 16.8%, respectively. The adjusted odds ratios for diabetes among mining/production workers and smelting/refining workers compared to office workers were 1.5 (95% CI: 1.3, 1.7) and 3.8 (95% CI: 3.4, 4.3), respectively. No association was observed between these occupational groups and prediabetes in this study.

CONCLUSIONOccupations associated with higher levels of metal exposure were associated with an increased risk of diabetes in this cohort. More studies are needed to confirm this observed association.

Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Metals, Heavy ; toxicity ; urine ; Middle Aged ; Occupational Exposure ; adverse effects ; Prediabetic State ; chemically induced ; epidemiology

To study the anti-tumor metastatic constituents in Rhodiola wallichiana (HK) S H Fu var Cholaensis (Praeg) S H Fu, chemical constituents were isolated and purified by repeated column chromatography (silica gel, Toyopearl HW-40C and preparative HPLC). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectral data analysis. The anti-tumor metastasis assay was applied to evaluate the activities of the isolated compounds. Ten compounds (1-10) were isolated and their structures were identified by comparison of their spectral data with literature as follows: syringic acid (1), salidroside (2), tyrosol (3), scaphopetalone (4), berchemol (5), 2,6-dimethoxyacetophenone (6), rhobupcyanoside A (7), miyaginin (8), chavicol-4-O-β-D-apiofuranosyl-(1 --> 6)-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (9), eugenyol-O-β-D-apiofuranosyl-(1 --> 6)-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (10). Compounds 4-6 and 8-10, were isolated from this genus for the first time, while compound 7 was isolated from this plant for the first time. Compounds 2, 6-8 showed positive anti-tumor metastatic activities, and compounds 2 and 8 showed significant anti-tumor metastatic activities.
Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; prevention & control ; Rhodiola ; chemistry

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) was investigated in Chinese nickel-exposed workers. A total of 35 104 subjects were enrolled in this study. The age-adjusted prevalence of MS, BMI⋝25, diabetes, hypertension, and abnormal lipid was 13.9%, 29.5%, 12.8%, 27.5%, and 47.1%, respectively. The prevalence of BMI⋝25, hyperglycemia, and hypertension increased with the age of males and females, and was higher in males than in females (37.1% vs 21.5%, 15.9% vs 12.1%, 35.0% vs 24.3%, 54.3% vs 40.4%).
Adult ; Aged ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Metabolic Syndrome ; epidemiology ; Middle Aged ; Nickel ; Occupational Exposure ; Prevalence ; Young Adult

Adult ; Aged ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mining ; Occupational Exposure ; Pneumoconiosis ; complications ; mortality ; Survival Analysis ; Tuberculosis ; complications ; mortality

OBJECTIVETo assess the protein expression of astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) in tissue specimens of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), and to correlate its expression with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis in patients with LSCC.

METHODSRT-PCR was used to assay the expression of AEG-1 mRNA in 13 pairs of LSCC tissues and their corresponding noncarcinoma epithelia. Immunohistochemistry was performed on paraffin-embedded tissue specimens to investigate the protein expression of AEG-1 in 88 cases of LSCC specimens and 15 cases of adjacent epithelial samples.

RESULTSThe expression of AEG-1 mRNA was significantly increased in LSCC tissues compared to adjacent noncarcinoma epithelial tissues (0.81 ± 0.17 vs. 0.23 ± 0.10;t = 10.337, P < 0.001). Meantime, the positive rate of AEG-1 protein in 88 cases of LSCC was 87.5% (77/88). However, 15 cases of adjacent noncarcinoma epithelial merely demonstrated negative or mild expression of AEG-1 protein. AEG-1 overexpression was closely correlated with T stage (χ(2) = 6.289, P = 0.018), clinical stage (χ(2) = 11.049, P < 0.01), metastasis (χ(2) = 20.859, P < 0.01) and recurrence(χ(2) = 13.459, P < 0.01). The overall survival rates of patients with AEG-1 overexpression and low expression were 35.9% and 86.4%, respectively (χ(2) = 23.409, P < 0.01). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that AEG-1 expression was an independent prognostic factor (P = 0.016).

CONCLUSIONAEG-1 protein may play a critical role in the initiation and progression of LSCC, implicating its predictive value in prognosis.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Cell Adhesion Molecules ; genetics ; metabolism ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Laryngeal Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Neoplasm Staging ; Proportional Hazards Models ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Survival Rate