A retrospective clinical study of bevacizumab combined with gemcibabine or paclitaxel in the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer.

BACKGROUND: Bevacizumab, a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody that blocks angiogenesis by inhibiting vascular endothelial growth factor A, was described to be effective in the treatment of recurrent or platinum‑resistance ovarian cancer. The present retrospective study was performed to further evaluate the clinical efficacy and toxicity of bevacizumab in the treatment of Chinese recurrent ovarian cancer patients who had been previously treated by platinum‑based chemotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed the hospital database and finally included 26 recurrent ovarian cancer patients who were treated with bevacizumab combined with gemcibabine or paclitaxel or single agent. All included patients received >3 cycle of bevacizumab treatment. The tumor response, overall survival, and toxicities were documented. RESULTS: Under the treatment of bevacizumab combined with gemcibabine or paclitaxel, 2 complete response (7.7%), 8 partial response (30.8%), 7 stable disease (26.9%) and 9 progression disease (34.6%) was documented with the objective response rate of 38.5% and disease control rate of 65.4%. The median overall survival from the first application of bevacizumab was 15.3 months [Figure 1] for all of the 26 patients. The median overall survival time was 16.2 and 14.0 months for bevacizumab + gemcitabine and bevacizumab + paclitaxel treatment schedule respectively. The overall survival was not different between bevacizumab + gemcitabine and bevacizumab + paclitaxel treatment regimen hazard ratio = 0.80 (95% confidence interval: 0.32–2, P = 0.64). The hypertension and proteinuria were the major bevacizumab related toxicities. CONCLUSIONS: Bevacizumab combined with gemcibabine or paclitaxel was a promising treatment schedule for platinum‑resistance recurrent ovarian cancer.

Survival and infectivity of Brugia malayi microfilariae after cryopreservation.

Methods were studied for the cryopreservation of microfilariae of periodic Brugia malayi. RPMI-1640 tissue culture medium containing 6% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and 15% newborn calf serum was used as cryoprotectant. Samples were frozen slowly in the vapor phase of liquid nitrogen prior to emersion in liquid nitrogen (-196 degrees C). The freezing rate was -0.5 to -1.0 degrees C per minute, microfilariae remained viable for as long as, 212 and 375 days, survival rates were 94 to 98% and they were infective to Aedes togoi mosquitos. The infective larvae (L3) were obtained for 10-11 days after feeding at 28 degrees C room-temperature and the infection rate of L3 in test mosquitos was 22.4-30.6%. All DMSO should be removed from the freezing medium to restore microfilariae activity after freezing.

Evaluación del valor nutricional de leches de soya preparadas a partir de granos de soya tratados con microondas / Evaluation of the nutritive value of soybean milk prepared with microwave-treated soybeans

Se prepararon extractos acuosos de soya a partir de granos previamente sometidos a microondas, para la inactivación casi completa de la lipoxigenasa. Las leches de soya así obtenidas se evaluaron nutricionalmente. Todas las leches sometidas a estudio presentaron menor contenido de proteína, lípidos, ceniza y sólidos totales, en comparación con el alimento control, preparado a partir de granos no tratados por microondas. La leche obtenida de granos de soya con 8.7% de humedad inicial, irradiados con microondas durante 240 segundos, acusó el mejor puntaje químico de aminoácidos esenciales y la mayor disponibilidad aparente de metionina y PER. La inactivación completa de la actividad inhibidora de la tripsina se obtuvo en la leche preparada a partir de granos de soya con 56.8% de humedad, tratados por microondas durante 180 segundos. Por otro lado, la leche obtenida de granos de soya con 38.8% de humedad, irradiados con microondas durante 180 segundos, resultó ser la de mayor digestibilidad de la proteína in vitro

Blood meals of mosquito vectors of filariasis in Guizhou Province, China.

The blood meals of mosquito vectors of W. bancrofti and B. malayi were determined by performing CIEP of the eluant of crushed mosquitoes in filter paper against rabbit anti-human, cow and pig sera. The mosquitoes were collected from houses, cowsheds and pigpens in two counties in Guizhou Province. It was shown that all three species fed on blood from humans, cows and pigs with different preference. While An sinensis fed more on cows, Cx. fatigans and An. lesteri fed on the hosts that were nearby, i.e., Cx. fatigans caught from households fed more on humans, and those collected from cowsheds or pigpens fed more on cows and pigs, respectively.

Cryopreservation of infective-stage larvae of Brugia malayi.

Third-stage larvae of Brugia malayi (Guizhou, China strain), in RPMI-1640, 6% DMSO and 15% calf serum, frozen slowly in the vapor phase of liquid nitrogen prior to emersion in liquid nitrogen, remained viable for as long as as 321 days and were infective to Mongolian jirds. All DMSO should be removed from the freezing medium to restore larval activity after freezing.