Piperazine derivate ofβ-elemene(DX2) induces human hepatoma HepG2 cell apoptosis through mitochondrial pathway / 国际药学研究杂志

Objective To study the antiproliferative effect of DX2, a piperazine derivate of β-elemene, on human hepatoma HepG2 cells. Methods Cell viability was measured by MTT method. Morphological changes were observed by phase contrast microscopy and acridine orange staining. Apoptotic cell ratio was measured by flow cytometric analysis. Protein level was detected by Western blot analysis. Results DX2 Induced apoptotic morphological changes in HepG2 cells and increased the ratio of apoptotic cells. Treatment of HepG2 cells with DX2 increased the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, induced the activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3 and caused the degradation of ICAD which was the substrate of capase-3. Conclusion DX2 Induces HepG2 cell death via activation of intrinsic mitochondrial pathway.

ETME, a novel β-elemene derivative, synergizes with arsenic trioxide in inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in hepatocarcinoma cells via a p53-dependent pathway

Arsenic trioxide (ATO) has been identified as an effective treatment for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) but is much less effective against solid tumors such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In the search for ways to enhance its therapeutic efficacy against solid tumors, we have examined its use in combination with a novel derivative of β-elemene, N-(β-elemene-13-yl)tryptophan methyl ester (ETME). Here we report the effects of the combination on cell viability, apoptosis, the cell cycle and mitochondria membrane potential (MMP) in HCC SMMC-7721 cells. We found that the two compounds acted synergistically to enhance antiproliferative activity and apoptosis. The combination also decreased the MMP, down-regulated Bcl-2 and pro-proteins of the caspase family, and up-regulated Bax and BID, all of which were reversed by the p53 inhibitor, pifithrin-α. In addition, the combination induced cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase and reduced tumor volume and weight in an xenograft model of nude mice. Overall, the results suggest that ETME in combination with ATO may be useful in the treatment of HCC patients particularly those unresponsive to ATO alone.

Comparative study of five analytical methods for screening of antibodies against treponema pallidum / 中华检验医学杂志

Objectives To evaluate the value of Treponema pallidum (TP) antibody analytical methods for syphilis screening.Methods A total of 4870 samples of Peking University First Hospital from May to October 2010 were detected of antibodies against TP by chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA),ELISA,rapid plasma reagin test (RPR),Treponema pallidum particle agglutination assay (TPPA) and dot-immunoblotting test (dot-IBT).The positive rates were compared by McNemar test for paired data;Using dot-IBT as gold standard,the sensitivity,specificity and total accordance rate of the other four methods were analyzed.Results In 4870 screening samples,the positive rate of dot-IBT was 2.5％(122/4870).The positive rate of CMIA and RPR was 3.1％(149/4870) and 1.2％(58/4870),respectively.According to McNemar test for paired data,there was significant difference when compared with dot-IBT (P ＜0.01).The positive rate of ELISA and TPPA was 2.4％ (119/4870) and 2.4％ (116/4870),respectively.There was no significant difference when compared with dot-IBT (P ＞ 0.05).When the dot-IBT results for the standard,CMIA has highest sensitivity,96.7％ (118/122),the specificity was 99.6％(4705/4724).The sensitivity and specificity of ELISA was 93.4％ (114/122) and 99.9％ (4720/4724),respectively,TPPA was 91.0％ (111/122) and 99.9％ (4721/4724),respectively,and RPR was 46.7％(57/122) and 100.0％ (4724/4724),respectively.The accordance rate of CMIA,ELISA,TPPA and RPR with the dot-IBT was 99.5％ (4823/4846),99.8％ (4834/4846),99.7％ (4832/4846) and 98.7％(4781/4846).When the TPPA results for the standard,sensitivity of CMIA was 96.6％ (112/116),the specificity was 99.2％ (4717/4754).The sensitivity and specificity of ELISA was 98.3 ％ (114/116) and 99.9％ (4749/4754),respectively,and RPR was 47.4％ (55/116) and 99.9％ (4751/4754),respectively.The accordance rate of CMIA,ELISA and RPR with the dot-IBT was 99.2％ (4829/4870),99.9％ (4863/4870) and 98.7％ (4806/4870).Conclusions Because of the low sensitivity of RPR,it is not fit for screening test.There are high sensitivity and specificity for detection of TP antibody using CMIA and ELISA,so they could be used as a screening test for TP.Due to the complexity of the operating steps,TPPA can be used to further confirm the test.