Research progress on role of cholesterol in liposomes and replacement with sterols and saponins / 中草药

With the development of process study of liposomes, the design of multifunctional liposomes has been a research hotspot. Cholesterol is one of the main components in liposome preparations, and plays an important role in the liposome's structure and stability. Sterols, saponins with the similar structure and certain pharmacological activities can be used to replace cholesterol in liposomes, which can also form good liposomes. Also, the pharmacological activities of sterols and saponins endow the liposomes with better application value. With the relevant literatures at home and abroad in recent years, this paper reviews the research progress of the role of cholesterol and the replacement design of cholesterol in liposomes with sterols and saponins.

Clinical study on auricular point sticking plus Western medicine for moderate gastric cancer pain / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

Objective: To explore the clinical efficacy and mechanism of auricular point sticking plus Western medicine for moderate gastric cancer pain. Methods: A total of 80 patients were selected and divided into an observation group and a control group according to the random number table method, with 40 cases in each group. Patients in the control group received Western medicine treatment, while patients in the observation group received additional auricular point sticking. Both groups were treated for 2 weeks. Numeric rating scale (NRS) and Karnofsky performance status (KPS) were adopted before and after treatment. The total time and times of flare-up pain in 24 h were recorded. The cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels were detected. The clinical efficacy of both groups was evaluated after treatment. Results: The total effective rate of the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05); after treatment, NRS scores of both groups were significantly lower than those before treatment (both P<0.05), and the score of the observation group was lower than that of the control group (P<0.05); KPS scores of both groups were significantly higher than those before treatment (both P<0.05), and the score of the observation group was higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the total time and flare-up times of pain during 24 h of both groups were significantly reduced (all P<0.05), and those of the observation group were significantly less than those of the control group (both P<0.05). After treatment, the COX-2 and TNF-α levels of both groups were significantly reduced (all P<0.05), and were lower in the observation group than in the control group (all P<0.05). Conclusion: The clinical efficacy of auricular point sticking plus Western medicine for moderate gastric cancer pain is valid. This combined treatment can alleviate cancer pain and improve patients' quality of life, which may be related to its ability to reduce COX-2 and TNF-α levels.

Nutritional assessment and clinical application of nutritional risk screening tools in critically ill children / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the nutritional status of critically ill hospitalized children and to explore the value of nutritional risk screening tools in the nutritional risk assessment.@*METHODS@#The clinical data of 211 critically ill children who were admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit from November 2017 to April 2018 were collected to evaluate their nutritional status on admission and at discharge. Two nutritional risk screening tools, STRONGkids and PYMS, were used for nutritional risk screening in the 211 children.@*RESULTS@#Among the 211 patients, 68 (32.2%) were found to have malnutrition on admission, with 34 cases each of moderate and severe malnutrition. Moderate or high nutritional risk was found in 154 cases (73.0%) with STRONGkids and 165 cases (78.2%) with PYMS. Using weight-for-age Z-score as the gold standard to evaluate the efficacy of the two nutritional risk screening tools, the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of STRONGkids and PYMS were 0.822 and 0.759 respectively. Both tools had a significant clinical value in screening for malnutrition (P0.05). With the optimal cut-off value of 3 points, the sensitivities of STRONGkids and PYMS for screening of malnutrition were 92.1% and 76.2% respectively. The children with moderate or high nutritional risk on admission had a significantly poorer prognosis than those with low nutritional risk (P=0.014 and 0.001 respectively). The children with severe malnutrition had a significantly poorer prognosis than those with normal nutrition (P=0.0009).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The detection rates of malnutrition and nutritional risk are high in critically ill children. Malnutrition/high nutritional risk is related to a poor prognosis. Both STRONGkids and PYMS have a clinical value for nutritional risk screening in critically ill children, and they have similar clinical efficacy; however, STRONGkids is more sensitive.

Preparation method for in vivo metabolites of chemical constituents from traditional Chinese medicines / 国际药学研究杂志

Traditional Chinese medicines(TCM) are taken orally in most cases, and their chemical constituents generally have low blood concentrations and poor oral bioavailabilities. The absorbed chemical constituents of TCM, especially the in vivo biotransformed products might play an important role in explaining the effectiveness, and even the toxicities and side effects of TCM. Up to now, most of the studies on the in vivo metabolites of TCM constituents are still limited to structural identification, and only a few researches on the bioactivities and toxicities of the metabolites have been carried out since they are not easy to obtain. Therefore, the preparation of in vivo metabolites is necessary for deeply investigating how and why TCM show the effectiveness or toxicity. Based on the studies of our group on the metabolism of TCM bioactive compounds in recent years, the preparation methods for in vivo metabolites are summarized, which might be helpful for the study of metabolism of TCM.

Clinical characteristics and rehabilitation treatment of iliopsoas hemorrage in 41 patients with hemophilia / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the clinical characteristics and effects of rehabilitation treatment on hemophiliacs with iliopsoas hemorrage.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The hemophilia patients with iliopsoas bleeding treated in Peking Union Medical College Hospital between January 2006 to December 2010 were enrolled. The clinical characteristics including symptoms, signs, complications, and rehabilitation treatment were analyzed retrospectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All of the forty-one hemophiliacs with iliopsoas bleeding were male, 20 cases wee the left bleeding, 18 the right, and 3 the bilateral. The median median age was 18 (6 - 61) years old(y). The median age of the iliopsoas bleeding for the first time was 17 (6 - 20) y. 34 patients accompanied with femoral nerve injury, 19 of them had secondary knee bleeding on the same side. 20 patents had quadriceps atrophy. Pelvic pseudotumor developed in 2 patients and permanent abnormal posture in 2 patients. The main finding of the ultrasound image was low-echo mass in iliopsoas muscles or inguinal region. 34 patients received rehabilitation therapy for 8 - 12 weeks under the support of factor replacement, complete hematomas absorption in 33 of them, with hip range of motion recovering back to baseline. 27 of 32 (84.4%) cases with femoral nerve injury got quadriceps strength above 4/5 grade, 20 cases of femoral nerve injury (62.5%) still had numbness on front of their thigh after treatment.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>In this cohort of iliopsoas bleeding, most of the patients are adolescent. High prevalence of the femoral nerve injury and the secondary knee bleeding are found. Rehabilitation treatment under the support of factor replacement is safe and effective on hematoma absorption and neurological function recovery.</p>

GRP78 upregulation-induced increase in cisplatin sensitivity of SPCA1 lung cancer cells / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Glucose regulated protein 78 (GRP78), an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone, plays a critical role in chemotherapy resistance in a variety of cancers. In this study, we investigated the up-regulation of GRP78 induced by A23187 and its association with the chemotherapeutical sensibility to cisplatin in human lung cancer cell line SPCA1.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>SPCA1 cells were pretreated with A23187 at different concentrations. The expression of GRP78 at the mRNA level was analyzed by RT-PCR; the expression of GRP78 at the protein level was determined by Western blotting and immunofluorescence assay. Cell survival was determined by MTT assay. Cell apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The expression of GRP78 at both the mRNA and protein levels was obviously induced by A23187 in SPCA1 cells, with an elevation of GRP78 by 2.1-fold at the mRNA level and by 3.8-fold at the protein level compared to the control. There was a dose-dependent response. Survival curve analysis demonstrated that A23187 induction caused a significant reduction of survival for the cells subjected to cisplatin treatment (P < 0.05). After treatment by cisplatin, the percentage of apoptotic cells in the A23187 pretreated group increased about three fold compared with the control group ((27.53 ± 4.32)% vs. (9.25 ± 3.64)%, P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>A23187 treatment was fairly effective for the induction of GRP78 in SPCA1 cells at both the mRNA and protein levels. To a certain extent, GRP78 up-regulation by A23187 was associated with the enhancement of drug sensitivity to cisplatin in human lung cancer cell line SPCA1.</p>

Studies on isolation and identification of flavonoids in herbs of Agrimonia pilosa / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the chemical constituents in Agrimonia pilosa.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The compounds were isolated and purified by various column chromatographic methods and elucidated on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic evidences.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Nine flavonoids were obtained and identified as tiliroside (1), kaempferol 3-O-alpha-L-rhampyranoside (2), quercetin 3-O-alpha-L-rhampyranoside (3), quercetin 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (4), kaempferol 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (5), kaempferol (6), apigenin (7), luteolin (8), quercetin (9).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Compounds 1-3, 5, 6 and 8 were isolated from this plant for the first time.</p>

Studies on flavonoids of Andrographis paniculata / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the flavonoids of the aerial parts of Andrographis paniculata.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Twelve flavonoids from the 85% EtOH extract were isolated by the silica gel column, Sephadex LH-20 column, ODS column chromatography and HPLC, and their structures were identified by the spectal analyses and chemical evidences.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The 12 compounds were obtained and identified as 7-O-methylwogonin (1), 7-O-methyldihydrowogonin (2), 5-hydroxy-7, 8, 2', 5'-tetramethoxy-flavone (3), skullcapflavone-2'-methoxylether (4), 5-hydroxy-7, 8, 2', 3'-tetramethoxyflavone (5), 5, 4'-dihydroxy-7, 8, 2', 3'-tetramethoxyflavone (6), dihydroskullcapflavone (7), 5, 7, 8-trimethoxydihydroflavone (8), 5, 2'-dihydroxy-7, 8-dimethoxyflvone (9), andrographidine C (10), 5, 7, 4'-trihydroxyflavone (11), 5, 7, 3', 4'-tetrahydroxyflavone (12).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Compound 6 is a new naturally occurring product isolated from A. paniculata, and compound 8, 11 and 12 are obtained for the first time from the Andrographis species.</p>

Studies on diterpenoids from Andrographis paniculata / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the diterpenoids in the 85% ethanol extract of the aerial parts of Andrographis paniculata.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Fourteen diterpenoids from the 85% EtOH extract were isolated by the silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, ODS column chromatography and HPLC, and their structures were identified by the spectal analyses and chemical evidences.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The 14 compounds were obtained and identified as neoandrographolide (1), 3, 14-di-deoxyandrographolide (2), andrographolide (3), 14-deoxy-11, 12-didehydroandrographolide (4), 19-hydroxy-8 (17), 13-labdadien-15, 16-olide (5), 14-deoxy-andrographolide (6), 3-oxo-14-deoxy-andrographolide (7), isoandrographolide, (8), bisandrographolide (9, 10, 11), deoxyandrographiside (12), 14-deoxy-11, 12-didehydroandrographiside (13), andrographiside (14), respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Compound 7 was a new natural product, and compound 5 was obtained for the first time from the Andrographis species.</p>