Prognostic analysis of transarterial chemoembolization combined with a traditional Chinese herbal medicine formula for treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is the most widely used primary treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) due to its survival benefit, though its clinical effect is still far from satisfactory. Jiedufang (JDF) granule preparation is a commonly used Chinese herbal medicine formula for HCC. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of combined therapy with TACE and JDF granule preparation in treatment of unresectable HCC on survival.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A retrospective study of TACE was performed in 165 patients with unresectable HCC who were admitted between January 2002 and December 2007 in Changhai Hospital, Shanghai, China. Of the 165 patients, 80 patients (study group) received combined therapy consisting of TACE and a long-term maintenance treatment with oral JDF granule preparation, and the remaining 85 patients (control group) received TACE alone. The survival rates of both groups were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Factors possibly affecting survival were assessed by multivariate analysis in the Cox proportional hazard model, such as maximum tumor size, number of lesions, portal vein invasion, and etc.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The median overall survival was 9.2 months (95% CI: 6.94 - 11.46) in the study group versus 5.87 months (95% CI: 4.21 - 7.52) in the control group. In the study group,survival rates of the 1-, 2- and 3-year follow-up were 41.2%, 18.4%, and 9.6%, respectively. Significant independent prognostic factors identified by the Cox regression analysis were as follows: serum hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) (P = 0.014), maximum tumor size (P = 0.027), number of lesions (P < 0.001), portal vein invasion (P < 0.001), and the therapy model (P = 0.006).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Combination therapy of TACE and JDF granule preparation may significantly prolong survival of patients with unresectable HCC.</p>

Effect of compound Chinese sour taste herbs on advanced glycation end products content and gene expression of their receptors in aorta of rats with type 2 diabetes mellitus / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the possible mechanism of compound Chinese sour taste herbs (CS) in preventing and ameliorating diabetic macroangiopathy by analyzing the effects of CS on the deposition of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and gene expression of receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) in the aorta tissue of rats with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Rat model of T2DM was established by peritoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) and high caloric diet feeding. Experimental SD rats were divided into the normal group, the model group, the aminoguanidine (AG) group, and the CS group. At the end of the 8th and 12th week, the fasting blood glucose (FBG) was measured by glucose oxidase method; content of AGEs and collagen in aorta detected by fluorescent method and gene expression of RAGE in aorta determined by Real-time PCR method.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>FBG, AGEs and collagen contents and RAGE expression in aorta of model rats were all higher than those in the normal control group (P <0.05), while all these indices were lower in the CS group than in the model group (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>CS could realize the goal for preventing and ameliorating diabetic macroangiopathy by way of suppressing the production of AGEs and down-regulating the gene expression of RAGE in aorta of T2DM rats.</p>

Study on the quantitative evaluation on the degree of TCM basic syndromes often encountered in patients with primary liver cancer / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish a quantitative model for evaluating the degree of the TCM basic syndromes often encountered in patients with primary liver cancer (PLC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Medical literatures concerning the clinical investigation and TCM syndrome of PLC were collected and analyzed adopting expert-composed symposium method, and the 100 millimeter scaling was applied in combining with scoring on degree of symptoms to establish a quantitative criterion for symptoms and signs degree classification in patients with PLC. Two models, i.e. the additive model and the additive-multiplicative model, were established by using comprehensive analytic hierarchy process (AHP) as the mathematical tool to estimate the weight of the criterion for evaluating basic syndromes in various layers by specialists. Then the two models were verified in clinical practice and the outcomes were compared with that fuzzy evaluated by specialists.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Verification on 459 times/case of PLC showed that the coincidence rate between the outcomes derived from specialists with that from the additive model was 84.53 %, and with that from the additive-multificative model was 62.75 %, the difference between the two showed statistical significance (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>It could be decided that the additive model is the principle model suitable for quantitative evaluation on the degree of TCM basic syndromes in patients with PLC.</p>