Relationship Between the Fibrinogen-to-Albumin Ratio and SYNTAX Score in Patients with Non-St-Elevation Myocardial Infarction

ABSTRACT Background: Despite the association of fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio (FAR) with the extent, severity, and complexity of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and stable CAD, no studies to date have specifically addressed this issue in patients with non-STEMI (NSTEMI). Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate whether a relationship exists between FAR and the SYNergy between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention with TAXus (SYNTAX) score in patients with NSTEMI. Methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study, 330 patients with NSTEMI who had undergone coronary angiography in an academic medical center were divided into two groups: those with an intermediate/high (≥23) SYNTAX score (241 patients) and those with a low SYNTAX score <23 (89 patients). SYNTAX score was computed by two highly experienced cardiologists (who were blinded to the study data) using an online SYNTAX calculator. Fibrinogen and albumin levels were measured in all patients, and FAR was calculated. Results: Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that FAR (odds ratio [OR]: 1.478, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.089-2.133, p = 0.002), low-density lipoprotein (OR: 1.058, 95% CI: 1.008-1.134, p = 0.026), and troponin I (OR: 1.219, 95% CI: 1.015-1.486, p = 0.031) were independent predictors of the SYNTAX score. In a receiver operating characteristics analysis, a cutoff FAR value of 95.3 had an 83% sensitivity and an 86% specificity (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.84, p < 0.001) for the prediction of SYNTAX scores ≥23 in NSTEMI patients. Conclusion: These results indicate that FAR is a useful tool to predict intermediate-high SYNTAX scores in NSTEMI patients.

Intoxicação por Taxus baccata: sol após a tempestade elétrica / Taxus baccata intoxication: the sun after the electrical storm

RESUMO O teixo europeu (Taxus baccata) é uma árvore com pequenos ramos alternados, agulhas verdes e casca marrom-avermelhada. A ingestão de uma alta dose de Taxus baccata com intenção suicida geralmente resulta em morte. A toxicidade sistêmica é principalmente cardíaca. Os autores descrevem o caso de uma jovem paciente que ingeriu uma alta dose de agulhas de teixo e foi trazida ao pronto-socorro com intoxicação grave, manifestada por arritmias malignas caóticas, tratadas com sucesso após exaustivos cuidados de suporte.

ABSTRACT European yew (Taxus baccata) is a tree with alternate branchlets, green needles and reddish-brown bark. A high-dose ingestion of Taxus baccata for suicidal purposes usually results in death. The systemic toxicity is mainly cardiac. The authors describe the case of a young patient who ingested a high dose of yew needles and presented to the emergency department with a serious intoxication, which manifested as a chaotic malignant arrhythmia that was successfully treated after exhaustive supportive care.

Taxane diterpenoids from the leaves and stems of Taxus wallichiana var. mairei / 中国药科大学学报

@#The chemical constituents of the CHCl3 extracts from the leaves and stems of Taxus wallichiana var. mairei were investigated. Twelve taxane diterpenoids were isolated and identified by spectroscopic analysis as 2-deacetoxytaxinine E (1),2-deacetoxytaxinine J (2),7-deacetoxytaxinine J (3),taxinine J (4),7,2′-didesacetoxyaustrospicatine (5),N-methyltaxol C (6),2-deacetoxydecinnamoyl taxinine J (7),taxol (8),7-epi-taxol (9),7-epi-10- deacetoxytaxol (10),cephalomannine (11),7-epi-cephalomannine (12). Compounds 1 and 3 were isolated from the leaves and stems of Taxus wallichiana var. mairei for the first time.

Sub-cellular localization and overexpressing analysis of hydroxylase gene TcCYP725A22 of Taxus chinensis / 生物工程学报

The discovery of hydroxylases in the anticancer drug taxol biosynthesis pathway is a hotspot and difficulty in current research. In this study, a new hydroxylase gene TcCYP725A22 (GenBank accession number: MF448646.1) was used to construct a sub-cellular localization vector pCAMIBA1303-TcCYP725A22-EGFP to get the transient expression in onion epidermal cells. Laser confocal microscopy revealed that the protein encoded by this gene was localized in the cell membrane. Furthermore, the recombinant plant expression plasmid pBI121-TcCYP725A22 was constructed. After transient transformation to the Taxus chinensis mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404, qRT-PCR and LC-MS were utilized to analyze the effects of TcCYP725A22 overexpression on the synthesis of taxol. The results showed that, in the TcCYP725A22 overexpressed cell line, expression levels of most defined hydroxylase genes for taxol biosynthesis were increased, and the yield of taxanes were also increased. It was concluded that the hydroxylase gene TcCYP725A22 is likely involved in the biosynthetic pathway of taxol.

Taxus chinensis ameliorates diabetic nephropathy through down-regulating TGF-β1/Smad pathway / 中国天然药物

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the common microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus. Renal fibrosis is closely related to the deterioration of renal function. The present study aimed to investigate protective effect of Taxus chinensis on high-fat diet/streptozotocin-induced DN in rats and explore the underlying mechanism of action. The rat DN model was established via feeding high fat diet for 4 weeks and subsequently injecting streptozotocin (30 mg·kg body weight) intraperitoneally. The rats with blood glucose levels higher than 16.8 mmol·L were selected for experiments. The DN rats were treated with Taxus chinensis orally (0.32, 0.64, and 1.28 g·kg) once a day for 8 weeks. Taxus chinensis significantly improved the renal damage, which was indicated by the decreases in 24-h urinary albumin excretion rate, blood serum creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen. Histopathological examination confirmed the protective effect of Taxus chinensis. The thickness of glomerular basement membrane was reduced, and proliferation of mesangial cells and podocytes cells and increase in mesangial matrix were attenuated. Further experiments showed that Taxus chinensis treatment down-regulated the expression of TGF-β1 and α-SMA, inhibited phosphorylation of Smad2 and Smad3. These results demonstrated that Taxus chinensis alleviated renal injuries in DN rats, which may be associated with suppressing TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway.

Taxus chinensis ameliorates diabetic nephropathy through down-regulating TGF-β1/Smad pathway / 中国天然药物

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the common microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus. Renal fibrosis is closely related to the deterioration of renal function. The present study aimed to investigate protective effect of Taxus chinensis on high-fat diet/streptozotocin-induced DN in rats and explore the underlying mechanism of action. The rat DN model was established via feeding high fat diet for 4 weeks and subsequently injecting streptozotocin (30 mg·kg body weight) intraperitoneally. The rats with blood glucose levels higher than 16.8 mmol·L were selected for experiments. The DN rats were treated with Taxus chinensis orally (0.32, 0.64, and 1.28 g·kg) once a day for 8 weeks. Taxus chinensis significantly improved the renal damage, which was indicated by the decreases in 24-h urinary albumin excretion rate, blood serum creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen. Histopathological examination confirmed the protective effect of Taxus chinensis. The thickness of glomerular basement membrane was reduced, and proliferation of mesangial cells and podocytes cells and increase in mesangial matrix were attenuated. Further experiments showed that Taxus chinensis treatment down-regulated the expression of TGF-β1 and α-SMA, inhibited phosphorylation of Smad2 and Smad3. These results demonstrated that Taxus chinensis alleviated renal injuries in DN rats, which may be associated with suppressing TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway.

Chemical constituents from twig and leaves of Taxus media / 中草药

Objective: To study the chemical constituents from the petroleum ether and ethyl acetate extract of the twig and leaves of Taxus media. Methods: Several column chromatography including silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 gel, ODS and so on were applied in isolation and purification. The structures were elucidated on the basis of physicochemical properties and spectral data. Results: Eight taxane diterpenoids, five flavonoids, three phenolic acids, and two other compounds were isolated and determined as taxinine-11,12-oxide (1), 2-deacetoxytaxuspine C (2), 2-deacetoxytaxinine E (3), 7,9-deacetyltaxinine B (4), taxagifin (5), 9-deacetyltaxinine A (6), 9-deacetyltaxinine (7), 10-desacetylbaccatin III (8), kaempferol (9), aromadendrin (10), apigenin (11), sciadopitysin (12), ginkgetin (13), 4-hydroxy-benzaldehyde (14), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (15), pyrocatechol (16), β-sitosterol (17), and eicosan-10-ol (18), respectively. Conclusion: Compounds 1-4, 6, 7, 10, 14-16 are firstly isolated from the plant of T. media, and compound 18 is obtained from the Taxaceae for the first time.

Molecular cloning and characterization of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase gene from Taxus chinensis / 中草药

Objective To obatin the key enzymes of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase (DXS) in taxol biosynthetic pathway from Taxus chinensis (TcDXS), and carry out the bioinformatics analysis, tissue profile, subcellular localization, and functional complementation assay. Methods RACE technologies were used to obtain the full length cDNA of TcDXS for the bioinformatics analysis. Semi-quantitative PCR was used to detect the gene expression levels in different parts of T. chinensis. The localization and function of TcDXS were carried out by subcellular localization and functional complementation assay. Results The full-length cDNA of TcDXS was 3 031 bp containing a coding sequence of 2 229 bp encoding a 742-amino-acid residues which was predicted to have a molecular weight of 79 400 and an isoelectric point of 7.99. The qRT-PCR results showed that the highest expression level of TcDXS was detected in petioles and followed by leaves and barks. However, the expression of TcDXS was very low in roots and stems. What’s more, functional complementation assay results showed that the E. coli, co-transformed with PAC-BETA and pTrcTcDXS, was changed to orange. Conclusion TcDXS was considered to play an essential role in the control of taxol biosynthesis and provided a target for the metabolic engineering of taxol production and plant molecular breeding in T. chinensis.

Research and analysis of globally ecological suitability for Taxus plants / 药学学报

At present, taxol is an internationally acknowledged drug with a unique anticancer activity in the world and mainly come from Taxus plants, these plants have 12 species, all of which have been listed as endangered tree species and protected by the countries concerned. But available wild Taxus plants resources are rather rare, so it is very urgent to strengthen introduction and cultivation of Taxus plants to meet people's demand for taxol. According to the ecological similarity of growth of Taxus plants predict suitable areas in the whole world, which could put forward rational suggestions for introduction and planning production layout of plants. A geographic information system for global medicinal plants(GMPGIS)was developed by Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences independently, and using GMPGIS analyzed in detail the potential ecological suitable areas of Taxus plants. Ecological range of Taxus wallichiana var. chinensis, Taxus wallichiana var. mairei, Taxus baccata, Taxus brevifolia and Taxus wallichiana covered a wide field, and had larger suitable area in the northern and southern hemispheres; Taxus cuspidate mainly distributed in the northern hemisphere, and only scattered in the southern hemisphere; Taxus canadensis, Taxus floridana and Taxus cuspidata var. nana only distributed in the northern hemisphere, and the latter two prediction areas are relatively less areas; Taxus fauna, Taxus globosa and Taxus sumatrana grew up in relatively strict environment, belong to the niche species, scattered distribution and the distribution of the areas are rare. This research would exert an important promoting effect on the cultivation of Taxus plants and the escalation of abundance to guarantee the sufficient supply of raw materials for taxol production. Finally, this paper summarized the research on the ecological quality and resource conservation of Taxus plants, to provide the reference for scientific introduction and cultivation of Taxus plants.

Correlation Between Temperature,Sunshine Duration and Precipitation and Primary Metabolite of Taxus Mairei (Lemee et Levl.) S.Y. Hu ex Liu / 中国药师

Objective:To explore the correlation between the environmental factors and primary metabolite of Taxus mairei (Le-mee et Levl.) S.Y. Hu ex Liu. and to provide experimental basis for the further discussion on the biological characteristics,develop-ment and utilization of Taxus mairei (Lemee et Levl.) S.Y. Hu ex Liu.. Methods:Correlation analysis and path analysis were used to explore the correlation of temperature, sunshine duration and precipitation with the relative primary metabolite content by SPSS 19.0. Results:The environmental factor with the biggest direct contribution to the absolute value of relative primary metabolite content was average monthly temperature. The average monthly temperature by month cumulative sunshine time showed the largest influence on the relative primary metabolite content. Conclusion:The relationship between temperature and sunshine time is much close, and the most obvious factor on the primary metabolite accumulation is temperature changes. This research provides theoretical basis and certain guiding significance for the further development,utilization and studies on harvesting,processing, using and explaining the biological characteristics of Taxus mairei (Lemee et Levl.) S.Y. Hu ex Liu..

Genetic diversity of taxus chinensis var. mairei from fujian based on rapd markers / 中草药

Objective To reveal the genetic diversity of provenances and populations of Taxus chinensis var. mairei in Fujian province from 23 orgins, providing certain theoretical foundation for the preservation and protection. Methods RAPD molecular marker technology was used to study the genetic diversity of T. chinensis var. mairei in Fujian province. Results The number of observed allele was 1.974 4, the number of effective alleles was 1.603 8, the average value of the Nei’s genetic diversity was 0.351 3 and the Shannon’s information index was 0.522 8. And there existed more accurate information on genetic relationship, diversity among different geographical provenances. The genetic distance of those 23 species ranged from 0.104 to 0.620 7, the genetic coefficients of 23 varieties ranged from 0.401 7 to 0.786 3. The genetic distance of seven T. chinensis var. mairei of different populations ranged from 0.021 0 to 0.379 4, the genetic coefficients ranged from 0.684 3 to 0.979 2. According to Nei’s method calculation of T. chinensis var. mairei, those seven different populations’ genetic diversity was Dst = 0.108 8, differentiation index Gst = 0.369 0, and gene flow coefficient Nm = 0.855 0. 36.9% of the total genetic variation existed among populations, the variation within populations was only 63.1%, and analysis showed high differentiation existed in provenances. Conclusion There is a certain heritable variation among different provenances of T. chinensis var. mairei, but there still exists more accurate information and high similarity coefficients among different populations.

Comparative analysis on contents of 10-deacetyl-bacratin III, cephalomannine, taxol of Taxus madia from different habitats and growth years / 中草药

Objective To analysis and compare the content differences of three effective components of taxanes of Taxus madia Rehd. from five different habitats and growth years by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Methods The mixed liquor of CH3OH and CHCl3 was used for the ultrasonic extraction of 10-deacetyl-bacratin III (10-DAB III), cephalomannine and taxol before being dissolved by CH3OH to obtain sample solution. By HPLC, the contents of three effective components were performed and compared. Results There were extremely significantly differences (P SM3 > SM2, ZL3 > HK4 > ZL4, ZL3 > SM2 > HK4, HK4 > ZL3 > ZL6, respectively. Except for the contents of 10-DAB III and cephalomannine, there were significant positive correlations among the contents of other components (P < 0.01). The contents of taxol would rise or decline when the total contents of three kinds of taxanes rised or declined among different habitats and growth years. The clustering analysis results showed that the contents of taxol have certain peculiarity. In Fuzhou of Fujian, while the total contents of three kinds of taxanes were different from others in Kaifen of Henan. Conclusion Habitants and growth years have a significant impact on the contents change of three effective components of taxanes from Taxus madia Rehd.. Therefore, regulation and control of biosynthetic pathway by choosing habitat conditions and harvest years should be considered, in order to obtain more crude drug of taxol in T. madia.

Analysis on patents of Chinese materia medica extract and their innovation trends / 中草药

By analyzing the patent data of Chinese materia medica (CMM) extracts, the development situation and the trend of the industry were revealed and the suggestion for the industrial development in China was provided. Based on the Innography platform, the global patents of CMM extracts were retrieved and analyzed. The applicant and region distribution, technical hot topic, patent strength, and patent infringement risk were studied. Moreover, taking Taxus baccata as an example, the patent text clustering was carried out. The global herbal extract technique presented a rising trend. Patents were mainly applied in China, Japan, South Korea, and America. America had the most powerful comprehensive company and the largest amount of the high value patents, being in the advantage position in the technology of T. baccata extraction. The patent litigation number had declined recently and the most of plaintiffs of the litigations were technological medium and small-sized enterprises. Text clustering results showed that the extraction of T. baccata involved synthetic techniques. In recent years, the patent quantities of CMM herb extracts in China have increased rapidly, but the distribution of applicants was scattered. Additionally, the number of high-quality patents in China was significantly weaker than that in America and Japan. Therefore, domestic enterprises should make full use of modern technique to find new effective CMM ingredient and investigate new extraction procedures, in order to fundamentally strength the industrial competitiveness of CMM extracts in our country.

Identification and characterization of a taxol-producing endophytic fungus from Taxus media / 生物工程学报

To enrich the resource pool of endophytic fungi from plants which produce taxol, a taxol-producing endophytic fungus TMS-26 was isolated from the stem of Taxus Media. The result of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) showed that TMS-26 extract exhibited similar chromatographic peaks and retention time (4.545 min) with authentic taxol. Then mass spectrometry (MS) analysis further confirmed that TMS-26 extracts contained the same mass peaks with authentic taxol ((M+Na)+=876). These indicated that the isolated endophytic fungus TMS-26 can produce taxol. According to the morphological characteristics, the molecular analysis of 18S rDNA and internal transcribed spacer nuclear rDNA gene sequence, the fungus was identified as Aspergillus fumigatus TMS-26.

Study on inhibitory action of proliferation of human lung carcinoma A549 cells with aqueous extract of Taxus chinensis.var combining Cisplatin and the effects on resistance genes / 中国医师杂志

Objective To investigate the inhibitory effect of aqueous extract of Taxus chinensis.vat (AETC) combining Cisplatin (DDP) on vitro cultured human lung carcinoma A549 cells,and the effects on resistance genes.Methods The A549 cells were divided into different concentrations of DDP groups,different concentrations of AETC groups,and blank group,and drug effect of 48 h with the method of cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and the effect on cell survival were detected.Based on the above results,then A549 cells were divided into DDP combining different concentrations of AETC groups,DDP group,blank control group,and drug effect of 48 h with the method of CCK-8 and the effect on cells survival were detected.The gene expressions of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette subfamily B member 1 trans-porter (ABCB1),ABCG2,and ABCC1 were examined by polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).Results Cisplatin 12 μg/ml (DDP),DDP + ATEC 400 μg/ml,DDP + ATEC 800 μg/ml,DDP + ATEC 1 200 μg/ml,DDP + ATEC 1 600 μg/ml,A549 cell inhibition rate of each group was 44.36％,69.61％,74.73％,80.10％,and 74.73％,respectively;Different concentrations of AETC combining DDP could decrease the resistance related gene ABCC1,ABCB1 expressions,and correlated to the dose.AETC combining DDP showed no effects on ABCG2 gene expression.Conclusions AETC combining DDP could inhibit the growth of A549 cells,and decrease the resistance-related gene ABCC1,ABCB1 expressions.

A new biflavone from needles of Taxus canadensis / 中国中药杂志

The presentstudy is to investigate the chemical constituents of needles of Taxus canadensis. The constituent was isolated by various chromatographic methods, and the chemical structure was elucidated on the basis of spectral analysis. A new biflavone was isolated and identified as 3"'-hydroxy-4"', 7-dimethylamentoflavone.

Cloning and expression analysis of TcAPLs in Taxus chinensis / 中草药

Objective: To clone altered phloem development (APL) genes from Taxus chinensis and reveal their potential regulatory role in tissues regeneration after bark girdling by investigating the expression profiles of these APLs. Methods: The full-length three APL genes were isolated using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and were named as TcAPL1, TcAPL2, and TcAPL3, respectively. The expression profiles of these genes in different tissues and at different regeneration stages after bark girdling were analyzed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), respectively. Results: Phylogenetic tree analysis suggested that TcAPL1 and TcAPL2 could be clustered together with APL protein of Morus notabilis, which are closest in genetic relationship; TcAPL3 could be clustered with APL proteins of another big independent branch. The analysis of gene expression patterns in different tissues showed that the transcript abundances of TcAPL1 and TcAPL2 were mainly expressed in the roots, stems, leaves, and phloem with cambium; While TcAPL3 was higher in the leaves than that in the roots and xylem with cambium. Through analysis of the expression patterns in regeneration tissues after bark girdling, the mRNA expressions of TcAPL1 and TcAPL2 showed a up-down trend in the following periods and were found to decrease notably at 36 d after bark girdling, while the expression of TcAPL3 was repressed at all stages after bark girdling. Conclusion: In this study, three TcAPLs genes are cloned from T. chinensis, and their expressions are regulated in the regeneration processes after bark girdling. Our results demonstrate that APL might play a regulatory role in tissue regeneration after bark girdling in T. chinensis.

Content Comparison of Taxol in Different Parts of Taxus Madia and Taxus Chinensis var. Mairei / 中国药师

Objective:To compare the taxol content in different parts of Taxus madia and Taxus chinensis var. mairei to provide reference for the future researches. Methods:The active ingredients were extracted by a mixed solvent (50% acetone and 50% ethyl acetate) , the target compound taxol was separated by a neutral Al2 O3 solid phase column, and then the taxol content was analyzed and compared among the different parts of Taxus madia and Taxus chinensis var. mairei by HPLC. Results:Taxol in velamen of Taxus ma-dia had the highest content among all the samples, which was 0. 0439% and 88 times as high as that in the bark of Taxus chinensis var. mairei. Conclusion:Among all the samples of Taxus madia and Taxus chinensis var. mairei, velamen of Taxus madia has the highest taxol content.

Study on Enhancing Efifcacy and Reducing Toxicity of Total Flavonoids, Total Polysaccharides inTaxus mairei Compatibility with Taxol / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

This article was aimed to study enhancing efficacy and reducing toxicity on anti-tumor from total flavonoids and total polysaccharides in Taxus mairei compatibility with taxol. MTT assay was performed to analyze the cell proliferation and apoptosis of 4T1, A549, MCF-7 tumor cells after treatment of total flavonoids and total polysaccharides in T. mairei combined with taxol at different concentrations. Isobolograms was used to investigate the behavior of combination therapy. Therapy experiments were conducted on ICR mice bearing S180 sarcoma. The tumor weight was measured to calculate inhibition rate according to uniform design. Blood cells indicators were detected by blood cell analyzer. The results showed that total polysaccharides and total flavonoids can enhance the inhibition effect on 4T1, A549 cells by taxol. Total polysaccharides can enhance the inhibition effect of taxol to MCF-7 in vitro, and S180 sarcoma-bearing mice in vivo. It reduced the toxic effects of anti-tumor effect of taxol in vivo. It was concluded that taxol can achieve the effect of enhancing efficacy and reducing toxicity through combining with total flavonoids and total polysaccharides in T. mairei.

Isolation of endophytic fungi from Taxus chinensis var. mairei Cheng et L. K and its antimicrobial activity / 中国药学杂志

OBJECTIVE: To isolate the endophytic fungi from medicinal plant Taxus chinensis var. mairei Cheng et L. K in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, and investigate its antimicrobial activity. METHODS: Endophytic fungi were isolated by the tissue separation method. Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans were used as the indicators for human pathogenic microbes. Antimicrobial tests of the isolated endophytic fungi were carried out by agar block and disc diffusion. RESULTS: Among 34 strains of endophytic fungi isolated from roots, stems, and leaves of T. chinensis var. mairei, eight strains (23.53% of the total isolated strains) showed antimicrobial activity against one or more of three human pathogenic microbes. CONCLUSION: Diverse antimicrobial natural products exist in endophytic fungi from T. chinensis var. mairei, which can be the resources for new antimicrobial products.