The clinical value of China Savin pollen extract used for skin prick test / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of China Savin pollen extract which was used for skin prick test (SPT) in the diagnosis of China Savin pollen allergy. Patients with diagnosis of allergic diseases were collected from Allergy Department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital. All patients were given SPT with China Savin pollen extract, and the mean wheal diameter (MWD) was measured after 15 minutes. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was performed based on the results of serum specific immunoglobulin E (sIgE). The effectiveness of SPT in the diagnosis of China Savin pollen allergy was evaluated under different diagnostic cutoff values. Adverse events were also recorded to evaluate the safety. A total of 1 029 patients were enrolled in this study without drop out case. There were 1 007 patients in full analysis set (FAS) and 765 patients in per protocol analysis set (PPS). The elimination rate was 25.66%. The area under the ROC curve of FAS is 0.814 (95%: 0.788-0.839); which of PPS is 0.829 (95%: 0.801-0.857). Based on the ROC curve of PPS, the optimal and the 95% specificity diagnostic cutoff values of MWD were 3.25 mm and 4.75 mm respectively. Based on different diagnostic cutoff value (3.00, 3.25 and 4.75 mm), the sensitivities of SPT with China Savin pollen extract were 0.740 0 (95%: 0.701 6-0.778 4), 0.700 (95%: 0.659 8-0.740 2) and 0.532 (95%: 0.488 3-0.575 7) respectively, whereas the specificity was gradually increased in sequence, which was 0.769 8 (95%: 0.719 1-0.820 5), 0.826 4 (95%: 0.780 8-0.872 0) and 0.950 9 (95%: 0.924 9-0.976 9) respectively. There were 7 adverse events observed among 6 patients (rate: 0.583%, 6/1 029). The manifestation was mild. There was no severe adverse event. SPT with China Savin pollen extract is an effective and safe tool for the diagnosis of China Savin pollen allergy. The effectiveness of diagnosis could be improved based on integration of medical history and different diagnostic threshold values of SPT.

Radio-protective effect of hydrogen rich water combined with amifostine in mice

Background: Hydrogen has been demonstrated can selectively reduce the hydroxyl, which is the main cause of ionizing radiation-induced damage. Amifostine [AM] is the only radioprotective drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in radiotherapy. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the combined radio-protective effect of hydrogen rich water [HRW] and AM. Materials and Methods: Male ICR mice were treated intragastrically with HRW or/and intraperitoneally with AM 30 minutes prior to 9.0 Gy whole body irradiation from a [60]Co source [dose rate 0.96Gy/min]. Then the survival rate for 30 days, the hematological parameters, the Clinical chemistry parameters and the bone marrow nucleated cells were examined. Results: We found that the mice treated with HRW and AM before irradiation could increase the 30-day survival rate and improve the body weight better than the HRW or AM treatment alone group and irradiation alone group. Hematological test and Clinical chemistry assays also showed the same results that HRW combined AM could better improve the recovery of hemopoietic system and alleviate the detrimental effects of radiation. Conclusion: The results indicate that the combined application of HRW and AM may be a better method for radiation therapy