Protective effects of psoralen polymer lipid nanoparticles on doxorubicin - induced myocardial toxicity

Abstract Doxorubicin (DOX) induced myocardial toxicity may limit its therapeutic use in clinic. Psoralen (PSO), a major active tricyclic furocoumarin extracted from Psoralea corylifolia, is widely used as an antineoplastic agent in treatment of leukemia and other cancers. This study is aim to find the protective effect of psoralen polymer lipid nanoparticles (PSO-PLN) on doxorubicin-induced myocardial toxicity in mice. The model of myocardial toxicity induced by DOX was established. The experiment was divided into 6 groups: normal saline group, DOX + Sulfotanshinone Sodium, DOX + PSO-PLN (3 mg/kg), DOX + PSO-PLN (6 mg/kg), DOX + PSO-PLN (9 mg/ kg), DOX group. DOX alone treated mice lead to a significant decrease in the body weight, heart weight, and increase in the serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK) and malondialdehyde (MDA) markers of cardiotoxicity. However, DOX reduced glutathione (GSH) content and activities of antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX), were recovered by PSO-PLN. And PSO-PLN also decreased markers of cardiotoxicity in the serum. Western blotting data showed that the protective effects of PSO-PLN might be mediated via regulation of protein kinase A (PKA) and p38. Our study suggest that PSO-PLN possesses antioxidant activities, inactivating PKA and p38 effect, which in turn protect the heart from the DOX-induced cardiotoxicity.

Prevention and control of infectious diseases among primary schools in Xi’an / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To understand prevention and control of infectious disease among primary schools in Xi’an. @*Methods@#A total of 93 primary schools were selected through multi-stage stratified sampling method from 14 counties in Xi’an, then these schools are surveyed to meaure the classroom ventilation.@*Results@#About 28.0% (26/93) of these schools met the national standard for health staffs, with 7.4%(4/54) in urban primary schools and 56.4% in rural primary schools (22/39), the difference between urban and rural areas is statistically significant(P<0.01). Urban primary schools were better than rural primary schools in morning inspection, registration and tracking for illness, verification of vaccination certificates, surveillance and reporting of epidemic outbreaks, verification of school recovery(P<0.05). The average per capita area among the 92 primary schools was (1.22±0.34) m2, with (1.08±0.26) m2 in urban primary schools and (1.42±0.33) m2 in rural primary schools, the difference between urban and rural areas was statistically significant (P<0.01). The average per capita ventilation area of 92 primary schools was (0.15±0.07) m2 with (0.13±0.04) m2 in urban primary schools and (0.19±0.08) m2 in rural primary schools, the difference between urban and rural areas was statistically significant (P<0.01).@*Conclusion@#School-based infectious diseases prevention and control needs to be improved in Xi’an, especially in health personnel. Urban schools appear superior in the prevention and control of infectious diseases and sanitary conditions, while rural schools appear superior in student density and classroom ventilation.