ABSTRACT
Aims: A novel nanocarrier was formulated by remote loading of doxorubicin (Dox) into a dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) liposome that also contains various perfluorocarbon (PFC) droplets within its aqueous interior. It was shown that Dox can be loaded to a level of up to 67% into these large unilamellar vesicles composed of DPPC and cholesterol by employing a transmembrane pH gradient technique. Methods: The different encapsulation efficiencies for these eLipoDox constructs of differing PFC composition are 45.5% (PFC5), 31.5% (PFC6) and 66.7% (PFC5/PFC6 mixture, PFCm). At 30 seconds of insonation, the eLipoDox formulation with PFCm droplets appeared to release more Dox than did eLipoDox with pure PFC5 or PFC6 droplets. The thermal stability of these eLipoDox formulations were examined at 37°C at different times; then controlled delivery was demonstrated by applying low-frequency ultrasound (US) at 1 W/cm2. Results: The eLipoDox with PFC6 or PFCm showed the best combination of thermal stability and drug release. An immunoblotting analysis indicates that ultrasound-triggered Dox release from eLipoDox could provide a higher quantity of nanodrug into tumor cells and thus may have cytostatic effects in cancer cells. Conclusion: These eLipoDox constructs with low boiling point PFCs have the potential to provide more effective ultrasonically activated drug therapy to a desired location.
ABSTRACT
<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The increased incidence of pyogenic liver abscess caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae (K.pneumoniae) was reported in the recent literature. This study was conducted retrospectively to investigate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of these patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Microbiological and medical databases of a medical center were searched from January 2000 to June 2003. Eighty-four patients with liver abscess caused by K.pneumoniae were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In the 84 patients, 52 men and 32 women aged (58.2 +/- 13.3) years on average, 64.4% had concomitant diabetes mellitus and 23.8% had biliary disease. The most common clinical symptoms were fever (98.8%), chills (69.0%) and abdominal pain (58.3%). 85.7% of the 84 patients received catheter drainage for the abscess. The length of hospital stay was (17.4 +/- 8.7) days. The mortality rate was 7.1%. Older age and presence of biliary disease were associated with mortality.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The low mortality of our patients was probably related to the high proportion of patients who received catheter drainage. Older age and presence of biliary disease were associated with the mortality.</p>
Subject(s)
Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Klebsiella Infections , Klebsiella pneumoniae , Liver Abscess, Pyogenic , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the correlation between ACE gene polymorphisms and stroke of Han nationality people in Fangshan district of Beijing. Methods The Insertion/Deletion(ID) polymorphisms of ACE gene were detected in 63 patients with cerebral hemorrhage,and 713 patients with cerebral infarction and 235 health control by polymerase chain reaction(PCR). We observed the frequencies of genotype of deletion homozygote(DD),insertion homozygote(II) and insertion/deletion heterozygote (ID) and the alleles of D and I. Also we analyzed the association among I/D polymorphisms of ACE gene with serum glucose(GLU),triglyceride(TG),cholesterol(TC) levels. Results There was no significant difference in the frequencies of both genotypes of DD,ID,II and alleles of D and I in three groups. The serum GLU levels in patients carrying ID,II genotype were higher than those in healthy control(P