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BACKGROUND: Preliminary study has shown that the composite materials composed of magnesium-based materials and mineralized collagen have a good supporting effect on repairing the critical defects, which can improve the mechanical strength of mineralized collagen and premature collapse during bone healing to some extent. However, magnesium-based metals degrade fast in chloride-containing solutions (including human body fluids or plasma), and the effects of releasing magnesium ions on the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts are unknown. OBJECTIVVE: To investigate the effects of magnesium ion combined with mineralized collagen on osteogenic differentiation of mouse preosteoblasts in vitro. METHODS: Mineralized collagen extracts were prepared from complete medium with magnesium ion concentration of 0, 5, 10, and 20 mmol/L. Mouse preosteoblasts were cultured with four mineralized collagen extracts, respectively, which were divided into mineralized collagen group, and 5, 10 and 20 mmol/L Mg2++mineralized collagen groups. The mouse preosteoblasts cultured in complete medium were used as control group. The cell morphology, proliferation, apoptosis, intracellular microfilament actin, and the activity of alkaline phosphatase and expression level of the osteogenic gene Runx2 after osteogenic differentiation were detected. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) After 24 hours of culture, the cells in the mineralized collagen group, and 5 and 10 mmol/L Mg2++ mineralized collagen groups adhered well, which showed no significant difference from the blank control group, and the elongated spindle cells with many synapses linked to the adjacent cells were observed. The cells in the 20 mmol/L Mg2++mineralized collagen group showed obvious pyknosis. (2) After 1, 3 and 5 days of culture, the cell viability in the 10 mmol/L Mg2++mineralized collagen group was significantly higher than that in the other four groups (P 0.05). The cell viability in the 20 mmol/L Mg2++mineralized collagen group was significantly lower than that in the mineralized collagen group (P < 0.05). (3) After 3 days of culture, DAPI staining showed that 20 mmol/L Mg2++mineralized collagen group had obvious nuclear disintegration, the other four groups had no obvious nuclear disintegration. (4) After 24 hours of culture, phalloidin staining showed that except the blank control and 20 mmol/L Mg2++mineralized collagen groups, the other three groups showed completely extended cell structure, and clear actin microfilaments, especially the 10 mmol/L Mg2++mineralized collagen group. (5) After 7 days of osteogenic differentiation, except for 20 mmol/L Mg2++mineralized collagen group, the activity of alkaline phosphatase and the expression level of Runx2 gene in the other three groups were significantly higher than those in the blank control group (P < 0.05), and those in the 10 mmol/L Mg2++mineralized collagen group was significantly higher than those in the 5 mmol/L Mg2++mineralized collagen and mineralized collagen groups (P < 0.05). (6) These results suggest that the combination of magnesium ion with mineralized collagen should be applied with appropriate concentration range of magnesium ion (≤ 10 mmol/L).
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Objective To evaluate the role of spinal astrocytes in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-induced hyperalgesia in rats. Methods Forty pathogen-free healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 6-8 weeks,weighing 200-250 g, were divided into 4 groups(n=10 each)using a random number table:control group(group C), group PTSD, normal saline group(group NS)and fluorocitrate group (group FC).The rats were exposed to single prolonged stress for establishment of the PTSD model in PTSD, NS and FC groups. At 30 min before establishment of the model and 1-7 days after establishment of the model,normal saline 10 μl was intraperitoneally injected in group NS, and 1 nmol∕10 μl fluorocitrate 10 μl, an inhibitor of astrocyte activation, was intraperitoneally injected in group FC. The mechanical paw withdrawal threshold(MWT)was measured at 24 h before establishment of the model and on 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 days after establishment of the model. Four rats were sacrificed after measurement of pain threshold on 1 and 7 days after establishment of the model, and the lumbar segment(L3-5)of the spinal cord was re-moved for determination of the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP, an astrocyte marker)u-sing Western blot. Results Compared with group C, the MWT was significantly decreased at each time point after establishment of the model,and the expression of spinal GFAP was up-regulated on 1 and 7 days after establishment of the model in PTSD,NS and FC groups(P<005). Compared with group PTSD, no significant change was found in the MWT at each time point in group NS(P>005),and the MWT was sig-nificantly increased at each time point after establishment of the model,and the expression of spinal GFAP was down-regulated on 1 and 7 days after establishment of the model in group FC(P<005).Conclusion Activation of spinal astrocytes is involved in PTSD-induced hyperalgesia in rats.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effectiveness of Shenqi Fuzheng Injection (, SFI) combined with chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from 10 databases were searched for this meta-analysis till December 31, 2012 without language restriction. Grey literature and potential unpublished literature was also searched. The key search terms were "chemotherapy", "Shenqi Fuzheng Injection" and "advanced gastric cancer". Criteria were built to select these clinical trials, in which SFI combined with chemotherapy was compared with chemotherapy alone for advanced gastric cancer. The methodological quality of each RCT was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. RevMan 5.1 software was applied for data analyses.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Thirteen RCTs involving 860 patients met the selection criteria (all articles were from Chinese databases). The meta-analysis showed positive results for the use of SFI combined with chemotherapy according to quality of life in terms of the scores when compared with chemotherapy alone. Positive results were also obtained for the combination treatment, in terms of complete remission and partial remission efficacy rate, body weight and decreased adverse events including nausea and vomiting at grade 3-4, oral mucositis at grade 1-2, leucopenia at grade 3-4, and myelo-suppression at grade 1-2.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>This systematic review found encouraging albeit limited evidence for SFI combined with chemotherapy. However, to obtain stronger evidence without the drawbacks of trial design and the quality of studies, we recommend comparative effectiveness researches to test the effectiveness of combination treatment.</p>
Subject(s)
Humans , Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Therapeutic Uses , Injections , Neoplasm Staging , Publication Bias , Quality of Life , Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic , Risk Factors , Stomach Neoplasms , Drug Therapy , PathologyABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of β-elemene Injection as an adjunctive treatment for lung cancer by systematic review.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We retrieved randomized controlled clinical trials related to the use of β-elemene Injection as an adjunctive treatment for lung cancer from Chinese Biomedical (CBMweb), Chinese Medical Current Content (CMCC), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), ChinaInfo, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; MEDLINE, EMBASE, OVID and TCMLARS. We also referred to an unpublished conference proceeding titled Clinical Use and Basic: Elemene Injection. We then divided the studies into non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) subgroups by RevMan 5.1 software.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 21 source documents (1,467 patients) matched pre-specified criteria for determining the effectiveness and safety of β-elemene Injection as an adjunctive treatment for lung cancer. Five studies involving 285 NSCLC patients reported a higher 24-month survival rate (39.09%) with the adjunctive treatment than with chemotherapy alone (26.17%; RR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.03 to 2.21). Four studies involving 445 patients reported that the increased probability for improved performance status for patients treated with elemene-based combinations was higher than that of patients treated with chemotherapy alone (RR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.45 to 2.29). The results from a subgroup analysis on 12 studies involving 974 NSCLC patients and 9 studies involving 593 patients with both SCLC and NSCLC showed that the tumor control rate for NSCLC improved more in the elemene-based combinations treatment group (78.70%) than in the chemotherapy alone control group (71.31%; RR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.12). The tumor response rate for NSCLC also improved more among patients treated with elemenebased combinations (50.71%) than among patients treated with chemotherapy alone (38.04%; RR, 1.34; 95%CI, 1.17 to 1.54). In addition, the main adverse reaction to β-elemene Injection was phlebitis, but usually only to a mild degree. An Egger's test showed no publication bias in our study (P=0.7030).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The effectiveness of chemotherapy for the treatment of lung cancer may improve when combined with β-elemene injection as an adjunctive treatment. The combined treatment can result in an improved quality of life and prolonged survival. However, these results require confirmation by rigorously controlled trials.</p>