Stresses in portal venous system of pre-hepatic portal hypertension (PHT) rabbits / 生物医学工程学杂志

Portal hypertension is a common physiopathological change in liver cirrhosis. In this study, rabbits were used and the model of pre-hepatic portal hypertension (PHT) was induced by partial ligation of portal vein in two steps. We measured the diameters of portal vein and small mesenteric vein at different time-points. Then we detected the stress forces induced by blood flow in varicose veins and in portal vein; such forces included hydrostatic pressure, shear stress and circumferential stress. With the increase of the diameter of varicose small mesenteric vein, the hydrostatic pressure and circumferential stress gradually elevated and shear stress descended markedly in both the portal vein and the small mesenteric vein of PHT rabbits, between which there was a positive linear correlation. The findings in our study indicate that the complications of PHT are partially attributable to the environment of lower shear stress and higher circumferential stress in which the blood vessels of portal venous system live.

A randomized, prospective, multi-centre clinical trial of NP regimen (vinorelbine+cisplatin) plus Gensing Rg3 in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients / 中国肺癌杂志

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Gensing Rg3 is an active component from ginseng. The aim of this study is to observe the clinical anticancer effect of Rg3 in combination with chemotherapy regimen NP (vinorelbine+cisplatin) in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Stage III-IV NSCLC patients confirmed by pathology or cytology all received vinorelbine plus cisplatin for at least two cycles, and were randomized into two groups: patients in arm A also received placebo twice a day, while patients in arm B received two tablets of Rg3 twice a day for at least two months. The endpoints of the study were the efficacy, survival and tolerance of patients.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>From July 2000 to May 2002, 115 patients were enrolled into the trial. The patients' characteristics were well balanced in the two groups. Sex of patients: male, 79; female 36. Types of pathology: adenocarcinoma, 71; squamous cell carcinoma, 29; adenosquamous carcinoma, 8; others, 7. TNM stage: stage III, 45; stage IV, 70. Prior chemotherapy: with, 17; without, 98. Prior radiotherapy: with, 15; without, 100. Prior surgical treatment: with, 23; without, 92. Nine patients discontinued from the trial due to severe adverse effects (5) and other reasons (4), so there were 106 patients evaluable for clinical efficacy. The response rate was 14.5% (8/55) in arm A, and 33.3% (17/51) in arm B (P=0.011). The survival time in arm A was 9.7 months (mean) and 8.0 months (median), and 15.3 months (mean) and 10.0 months (median) in arm B (P=0.0088).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Preliminary results show improvements in response rate and survival time (median and mean) in Rg3 arm compared with placebo arm. It is worthy to confirm the results in further clinical trials.</p>