<i>In vitro</i> interactions between antifungals and Cyclosporin A against Fusarium solani / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

@#AIM:To investigate the<i> in vitro</i> interaction between antifungals and tacrolimus acting alone or in combination against Fusarium solani.<p>METHODS: According to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute(CLSI)M27-Ed4 and M38-A3, 22 strains of Fusarium solani were used to perform drug sensitivity tests with chessboard microdilution method by cyclosporin A combined with 4 kinds of antifungal drugs <i>in vitro</i>.<p>RESULTS: The MIC ranges of natamycin, voriconazole, amphotericin B and fluconazole against 22 strains of Fusarium solani were 2-8, 1-8, 1-8 and 8-512μg/mL respectively. When combined with tacrolimus <i>in vitro</i>, the synergistic effects of fluconazole and Amphotericin B were observed in 64% and 41% strains respectively. There were no antagonistic effects observed in all combined drug tests. With the combination, the sensitivity of Fusarium to amphotericin B was significantly increased from 4.5% to 68.2%(<i>P</i><0.001).<p>CONCLUSION: Fusarium solani is sensitive to natamycin <i>in vitro</i> and is partially sensitive to voriconazole. When combined with cyclosporine A, it can produce synergistic effects with fluconazole and amphotericin B, and significantly increase the sensitivity of Fusarium solani to amphotericin B drugs.

Clinical study of western medicine combined with Chinese medicine based on syndrome differentiation in the patients with polarized hypertension / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects and safety of Western medicine combined with Chinese medicine (CM) based on syndrome differentiation in the treatment of elderly polarized hypertension (PHPT), or isolated systolic hypertension with low diastolic blood pressure (DBP).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 125 elderly patients with PHPT were randomly assigned to two groups: 59 in the control group treated by Western medicine and 66 in the intervention group treated by Western medicine combined with CM treatment. Based on syndrome differentiation, the patients in the intervention group were further divided into subgroups of yang-qi deficiency and yin-qi deficiency. All subjects were treated with Western medicine of Amlodipine Besylate Tablets and Irbesartan Tablets (or Irbesartan and Hydrochlorothiazide Tablets), to decrease their systolic blood pressure (SBP) slowly to 125-135 mm Hg in 2-6 weeks. In the intervention group, Shiyiwei Shenqi Capsule was given additionally to the subgroup of yang-qi deficiency at the dosage of 3-5 capsules, thrice a day, while Dengzhan Shengmai Capsule was given additionally to the subgroup of yin-qi deficiency at the dosage of 2 capsules, 2-3 times per day. For all subjects, SBP, pulse pressure (PP), and DBP were measured before treatment and at the terminal of a 6-week treatment. For subjects in the intervention group, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was also recorded.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After a 6-week treatment, the SBP in the two groups and the PP in the intervention group decreased significantly compared to those before treatment (P<0.05), while the PP in the control group showed no significant difference between prior and post-treatment (P>0.05). After treatment, the DBP in the control group decreased (P>0.05), while the DBP and LVEF in the intervention group showed an increase tendency although it had no statistical significance (P>0.05). When subjects in the intervention group were classified further by the course of disease, the DBP and LVEF of subjects whose course of disease were less than 2 years, increased significantly after treatment (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Western medicine combined with CM treatment based on syndrome differentiation was safer and more effective than Western medicine alone in the treatment of elderly PHPT, because it not only reduced SBP but also improved DBP, which might lower the incidence of the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events.</p>

Expression of pax-6 in rhesus monkey of optical defocus induced myopia and form deprivation myopia / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Pax-6 gene plays an important role in the process of eye development. This study was to determine the role of pax-6 in the axial myopia produced by hyperopic optical defocus and form deprivation in infant monkeys.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Among seven normal infant rhesus monkeys (aged 1 to 1.5 months), five wore -3.00 D spectacle lenses over their right eyes and zero-powered lenses over their left eyes. Monocular form deprivation was produced by eyelid fusion in two monkeys. Ten weeks later, the monkeys were sacrificed by an overdose of barbiturates and their eyes were removed immediately. A 5 mm x 5 mm button of retina and sclera was taken from the posterior poles along with a 4-mm optic nerve. RNA was isolated separately from each of these three types of tissues. After that, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used for determining gene expression in the retina, sclera and optic nerve. Semi-quantitative analyses were performed on the PCR products.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>As expected, the optically induced hyperopic defocus and the form deprivation produced myopic growth. For the lens-treatment monkeys, pax-6 gene expression in the retinas of the defocused eyes was significantly higher than in the retinas of the left eyes (t = 5.703, P = 0.005). However, there were no analogous significant differences between pax-6 expression in the scleras or the optic nerves. For the two form-deprived monkeys, there were no obvious differences in pax-6 gene expression in the retinas or the optic nerves.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The result that the expression of pax-6 was enhanced by hyperopic defocus in the infant monkey retina suggests that pax-6 may be involved in vision-dependent eye growth and emmetropization.</p>