ABSTRACT
Background: This study aimed to compare the therapeutic efficacy and the side effects of different endostar administration methods in patients with advanced malignancy who underwent second-line chemotherapy. Methods: 98 patients with advanced malignancies were divided into 2 groups based on the delivery methods of endostar, including drip intravenous administration of endostar (DE) group and continuous intravenous administration of endostar (CE) group. Response rate (RR), disease control rate (DCR), and quality of life (QOL) of the patients were examined to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy, and toxicity reactions were analyzed to evaluate the adverse effects. Results: Compared with the DE group, the therapeutic efficacy of CE has been slightly improved, but the difference did not reach statistical significance (P > 0.05). Additionally, no different incidence rate was observed in toxic reactions, including leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, and hepatic function damage, between the DE and CE groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: In conclusion, no significant difference was observed between the traditional intravenous drip of endostar group and the intravenous drip followed by continuous pumping of endostar group in the patients with advanced malignancies.
ABSTRACT
Researches have shown that melatonin is neuroprotectant in ischemia/reperfusion-mediated injury.Although melatonin is known as an effective antioxidant,the mechanism of the protection cannot be explained merely by antioxidation.This study was devoted to explore other existing mechanisms by investigating whether melatonin protects ischemia/reperfusion-injured neurons through elevating autophagy,since autophagy has been frequently suggested to play a crucial role in neuron survival.To find it out,an ischemia/reperfusion model in N2a cells was established for examinations.The results showed that autophagy was significantly enhanced in N2a cells treated with melatonin at reper-fusion onset following ischemia and greatly promoted cell survival,while autophagy blockage by 3-MA led to the shortened N2a cell survival as assessed by MTT,transmission electron microscopy,and laser confocal scanning microscopy.Besides,the protein levels of LC311 and Beclinl were remarkably increased in ischemia/reperfusion-injured N2a in the presence of melatonin,whereas the expression of p-PKB,key kinase in PI3K/PKB signaling pathway,showed a decrease when compared with untreated subjects as accessed by immunoblotting.Taken together these data suggest that autophagy is possibly one of the mechanisms underlying neuroprotection of melatonin.