Comparison of efficacy and safety of triple-drug treatment regimens for metastatic colorectal cancer / 中国肿瘤临床

Objective: To evaluate the preliminary efficacy and safety of the 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin (FOLF-OXIRI) and capecitabine, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin (CAPIRINOX) regimens as first-line therapy for unresectable advanced colorectal cancer. Methods: Between January 2013 and November 2018, 73 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) were analyzed. All patients received first-line chemotherapy. Of them, 45 patients were administered FOLFOXIRI, and the remaining 28 patients were ad-ministered CAPIRINOX. The clinical outcomes and safety profiles were evaluated according to the objective response rate (ORR), con-version resection rate, and adverse effects. Results: The ORR, median progression-free survival (mPFS), and R0 resection rate in the FOLFOXIRI group were not statistically different from those in the CAPIRINOX group (60% vs. 57.1%, 7.7 months vs. 9.6 months, 24.4% vs . 17.9% , respectively; P>0.05). No treatment-related deaths occurred. The major adverse events were leukopenia, neutropenia, fa-tigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, alopecia, aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase elevation, and neurotoxicity. The to-tal rate of grade 3/4 adverse events in the FOLFOXIRI group was 33.3% (15/45), while the total rate of grade 3/4 adverse events in the CAPIRINOX group was 46.4% (13/28). Toxicities between the two groups were not statistically significant (P=0.263). Conclusions: Both the FOLFOXIRI and CAPIRINOX regimens are effective as first-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer. The triple-agent chemo-therapy was associated with good efficacy and tolerable toxicity.

Specific changes of intestinal microflora in children with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease / 中华儿科杂志

Objective@#To analyze the composition and richness of intestinal microflora in children with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the role of which in pathogenesis of NAFLD.@*Methods@#This was a prospective case-control study. From November 2015 to June 2017, 19 children diagnosed with NAFLD according to the 2010 edition of diagnostic criteria were enrolled voluntarily in the Second and First Affiliated Hospitals of Zhejiang Chinese Medicine University. Twenty-two healthy children were enrolled in the control group. Among the patients, 10 were males and 9 were females, at the mean age of (11.0±1.0) years; 10 males and 12 females in the control group, at the mean age of (9.0±1.2) years. The body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference were recorded, and the fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein were detected. Feces were collected and the fecal microorganisms were extracted with magnetic beads methods; the composition and the richness of intestinal microflora in the two groups were detected with 16S rDNA high throughput sequencing technology. The KO differential gene expression and KEGG signal pathway enrichment were analyzed with PICRUST software. The intestinal flora characteristics between the two groups were compared with t test or Mann-Whitney U test and Willcoxon W test.@*Results@#The BMI, waist circumference and triglyceride were higher in NAFLD group than those in the control group (BMI (25.1±2.7) vs. (18.2±1.5)kg/m2, t=9.912, P=0.000; waist circumference (88.6±6.6) vs. (71.5±6.3) cm, t=8.520, P=0.000; triglyceride (0.9±0.4) vs.(0.7±0.3)mmol/L, t=2.060, P=0.046). The abundance and diversity index of intestinal microflora were lower in the NAFLD group (Shannon index 3.99 (3.13, 4.54) vs. 4.63 (4.21, 4.81), Z=-2.065, P=0.039; Simpson index 0.85 (0.70, 0.89) vs. 0.90 (0.88, 0.93), Z=-2.431, P=0.015; ACE index 235.76 (205.26, 361.94) vs. 326.96 (275.34, 368.65), Z=-2.092, P=0.036). At the level of phylum, the proportion of Actinomycetes was lower and the proportion of Thermus was higher in NAFLD group (Actinobacteri 29.807 (14.723, 62.080) ×10-3 vs. 63.212 (46.133, 172.071) ×10-3, Z=-2.667, P=0.008; Thermus 0.033 (0.000, 0.226) ×10-3 vs. 0.000 (0.000, 0.031) ×10-3, Z=-2.729, P=0.006) . At the level of genus, the proportion of Bacteroides and Bifidobacterium in the NAFLD group were significantly lower (Bacteroides 78.757 (11.430, 151.621) ×10-3 vs. 356.821 (161.049, 403.037) ×10-3, Z=-2.771, P=0.006; Bifidobacterium 19.680 (6.181, 53.944) ×10-3 vs. 54.721 (31.911, 146.410) ×10-3, Z=-2.458, P=0.014); the proportion of Prevotella in NAFLD group was significantly higher (3.089 (0.165, 63.502) ×10-3 vs. 0.432 (0.029, 2.257) ×10-3, Z=-2.112, P=0.035). Based on the KEGG database, 78 differentially expressed genes and 26 differential metabolic pathways were found, among which the function genes of K01470, K01961 and K07258 were concentrated in the pathways of arginine and proline metabolism, fatty acid synthesis, and polysaccharides biosynthesis and metabolism. Besides, these three function genes were related to Bacteroides, Prevotella, Bifidobacterium and Ruminococcus.@*Conclusion@#NAFLD children have intestinal flora disturbances in both diversity and abundance, which may alter lipid metabolic pathways through differential gene expressions, contributing to the pathogenesis of NAFLD.

Effects of caffeine citrate on apnea and its effect on endothelin, nitric oxide and β-endorphin in premature infants / 中国生化药物杂志

Objective To analyze the clinical effect of caffeine citrate on apnea and its effect on endothelin, nitric oxide and β-endorphin in premature infants. Methods 118 children with apnea-hypoprenalia were selected and divided into experimental group and control group according to different treatment methods. The control group were treated with aminophylline, and the experimental group were treated with caffeine citrate. The clinical symptoms, endotheliolysin, nitric oxide and β-endorphin in two groups of patients were compared. Results The total effective rate of 84.75% (50/59) in the experimental group was higher than 69.49% (41/59) in the control group(P<0.05). The incidence of abdominal distension, heart rate, feeding intolerance, bronchopulmonary dysplasia and irritability were significantly lower in the experimental group than those in the control group (P <0.05) . After treatment, the levels of endotheliolysin, nitric oxide in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P <0.05), and the level of β endorphin in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P <0.05). Conclusion Caffeine citrate has a significant clinical effect on apnea in premature infants, and can reduce the incidence of adverse reactions.

Functional annotation from the genome sequence of the giant panda

The giant panda is one of the most critically endangered species due to the fragmentation and loss of its habitat. Studying the functions of proteins in this animal, especially specific trait-related proteins, is therefore necessary to protect the species. In this work, the functions of these proteins were investigated using the genome sequence of the giant panda. Data on 21,001 proteins and their functions were stored in the Giant Panda Protein Database, in which the proteins were divided into two groups: 20,179 proteins whose functions can be predicted by GeneScan formed the known-function group, whereas 822 proteins whose functions cannot be predicted by GeneScan comprised the unknown-function group. For the known-function group, we further classified the proteins by molecular function, biological process, cellular component, and tissue specificity. For the unknown-function group, we developed a strategy in which the proteins were filtered by cross-Blast to identify panda-specific proteins under the assumption that proteins related to the panda-specific traits in the unknown-function group exist. After this filtering procedure, we identified 32 proteins (2 of which are membrane proteins) specific to the giant panda genome as compared against the dog and horse genomes. Based on their amino acid sequences, these 32 proteins were further analyzed by functional classification using SVM-Prot, motif prediction using MyHits, and interacting protein prediction using the Database of Interacting Proteins. Nineteen proteins were predicted to be zinc-binding proteins, thus affecting the activities of nucleic acids. The 32 panda-specific proteins will be further investigated by structural and functional analysis.

New nsp8 isoform suggests mechanism for tuning viral RNA synthesis

During severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infection, the activity of the replication/transcription complexes (RTC) quickly peaks at 6 hours post infection (h.p.i) and then diminishes significantly in the late post-infection stages. This "down-up-down" regulation of RNA synthesis distinguishes different viral stages: primary translation, genome replication, and finally viron assembly. Regarding the nsp8 as the primase in RNA synthesis, we confirmed that the proteolysis product of the primase (nsp8) contains the globular domain (nsp8C), and indentified the resectioning site that is notably conserved in all the three groups of coronavirus. We subsequently crystallized the complex of SARS-CoV nsp8C and nsp7, and the 3-D structure of this domain revealed its capability to interfuse into the hexadecamer super-complex. This specific proteolysis may indicate one possible mechanism by which coronaviruses to switch from viral infection to genome replication and viral assembly stages.

Comparison of Behavior Problems of Children in Town and Countryside in East China / 中国心理卫生杂志

Objective:To compare behavior problems of children in town and countryside in east China Method:1983 children of 6 years old were collected from towns and countryside of Cangnan county of Zhejiang province They were assessed with Rutter's Children Behavioral Scale The rate of return was 94 3% Result:The prevalence of behavior problems in children of countryside was 12 8%, that of children of town was 7 7% In both children from town and countryside, negative rearing attitudes (i e scold and hit, indulgent), pressure of school exam were all risk factors for behavior problems In children from countryside, risk factors included mother's disadvantage factors In children from town, the risk factors included father's personal problems Conclusion:There were some difference in behavior problems and related factors of children of countryside and town