Cordycepin, a metabolite of Cordyceps militaris, inhibits xenograft tumor growth of tongue squamous cell carcinoma in nude mice / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate the inhibitory effect of cordycepin on oral cancer xenograft in nude mice and explore the underlying mechanisms.@*METHODS@#Sixteen BALB/c mice bearing subcutaneous human tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) TCA-8113 cell xenografts were randomized into model group and cordycepin treatment group for daily treatment with saline and cordycepin for 4 weeks. After the treatment, the tumor xenografts were dissected and weighed to assess the tumor inhibition rate. Histological changes in the heart, spleen, liver, kidney, and lung of the mice were evaluated with HE staining, and tumor cell apoptosis was examined using TUNEL staining; The expressions of Bax, Bcl-2, GRP78, CHOP, and caspase-12 in the xenografts were detected using RT-qPCR and Western blotting.@*RESULTS@#Cordycepin treatment resulted in a tumor inhibition rate of 56.09% in the nude mouse models, induced obvious changes in tumor cell morphology and significantly enhanced apoptotic death of the tumor cells without causing pathological changes in the vital organs. Cordycepin treatment also significantly reduced Bcl-2 expression (P < 0.05) and increased Bax, GRP78, CHOP, and caspase-12 expressions at both the RNA and protein levels in the tumor tissues.@*CONCLUSION@#Cordycepin treatment can induce apoptotic death of TCA-8113 cell xenografts in nude mice via the endogenous mitochondrial pathway and endoplasmic reticulum stress pathways.

A randomized controlled clinical trial:the treatment effects of tamoxifen on patients with thin endometrium undergoing frozen-thawed embryo transfer / 医学研究生学报

Objective Previous studies regarding the effects of tamoxifen ( TAM) on the thin endometrium are rare .The aim of this study was to explore the effects of TAM on patients with thin endometrium undergoing frozen thawed embryo transfer ( FET ) . Methods One hundred and thirty three patients with thin endometri-um undergoing FET treatment were recruited from January 2014 to June 2016, who canceled embryo transfer ( ET) or after FET due to thin endometrium in natural cycle or hormone replacement therapy cycle .Patients were randomly divided into letrozole ( LE,n=72) group or tamoxifen (TAM,n=61) group.All of the patients started to have oral pills of Estradiol Valerate 4 mg/d on the third day of menstruating cycles , then 6mg/d on the eighth day ,after 10~12 days then having ultrasonic monitoring of endometrial thickness and blood estradiol (E2), progesterone levels, It′s called endometrial preparation for hormone replacement cycle .To letrozole, tamoxifen group,the way of endometrial preparation were as follows:patients started to have oral pills of LE 2.5mg/d,TAM 40 mg/d on the third day of menstruating cycles for 5 days, then having ultrasonic monitoring and used drug of human chorionic gonadotropic hormone ,It′s called HCG day .After the dominant follicle ovulation then took progesterone intramuscular injection 40 mg/d, oral progesterone 20 mg/d to change endometrium ,then to transplant cleavage embryos or blastocysts after taking 3 or 5 days of progesterone , It′s called embryo transplanting day .The way of TAM endometrium preparation was called TAM cycle .The general data , hormone levels and clinical out-come between two groups were analyzed . Results The serum estradiol level of LE group both on HCG and transfer day [(1193.80± 629.64)ng/L vs (2776.30±157.34)ng/L;(1195.90±820.30)ng/L vs (2129.40±1208.71) ng/L,P=0.000] were statistically lower, serum luteinizing hormone level were statistically higher than TAM group [(20.48±15.50)IU/L vs (10.59±8.34)IU/L,P<0.05];im-plantation rate of LE group were statistically lower than TAM (39.32%vs 45.83%,P=0.001).The endometrial thickness and serum E 2 and P levels in TAM cycles were significantly higher compared with those in hormone replacement therapy cycle [(8.49±1.36)mm vs (6.43±0.96)mm,P=0.018]. Conclusion Tam compared LE with patients of thin endometrium undergoing FET can increased en -dometrial thickness and improve implantation rate ,thus Providing a new solution to thin endometrium .

Effect of apigenin on protein expressions of PPARs in liver tissues of rats with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of apigenin on the protein expression levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) in liver tissues of rats with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The NASH rat model was established by feeding of a high-fat diet. Unmodeled rats served as the normal controls. The modeled rats were divided into a model control group, Essentiale treatment grouP(300 mg/kg/day),and three apigenin treatment groups for low-dose (15 mg/kg/day), moderate-dose (30 mg/kg/day) and high-dose (60 mg/kg/day). After 13 weeks of treatment,changes in insulin sensitivity from pre-treatment baseline were assessed by measuring the alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST),total cholesterol (TC),triglycerides (TG),low-density and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C and HDL-C),fasting blood glucose (FBG) and fasting insulin (FINS).The liver index and HOMA-IR were also calculated.Protein and gene expression of PPARα and PPARgamma in liver tissue were assessed by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR.Statistical analysis was performed by the LSD test and Games-Howell test.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The apigenin-treated groups showed a significantly greater change in insulin sensitivity than the untreated model group,with the most significant change occurring in the high-dose grouP(P less than 0.05).Compared with the untreated model group,the apigenin-treated groups showed lower levels of ALT (95.4+/-7.3),AST (183.7+/-14.3),TC (1.61+/-0.25),TG (1.23+/-0.21),LDL-C (1.86+/-0.14),FBG (5.29+/-1.45) and FINS (0.76+/-0.86),but a higher level of HDL-C (1.04+/-0.17); again,the high-dose group showed the greatest change (all P less than 0.05).Compared to the untreated model group,the apigenin-treated groups showed significantly lower liver index (3.75+/-0.25 vs.2.90+/-0.17) and HOMA-IR (1.34+/-0.06 vs.0.18+/-0.04),with the high-dose group showing the greatest change (both P less than 0.05). Compared to the untreated model group,the apigenin-treated groups showed higher levels of protein and mRNA of PPARα (18.27+/-4.05 and 0.63+/-0.02,respectively) and PPARgamma(8.48+/-5.05 and 0.39+/-0.02),with the high-dose group showing the greatest change (all P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Apigenin can improve glucose tolerance,lipid metabolism and insulin resistance while decreasing blood levels of TC,TG,LDL-C,FBG,FINS and HOMA-IR,and increasing HDL-C in NASH,as shown in a high-fat diet induced rat model, and may have therapeutic potential.</p>

Comparison of virological response between Peg IFNα-2a and Peg IFNα-2b in treatment of chronic hepatitis C / 中华临床感染病杂志

Objective To compare the virological responses between Peg IFNαt-2a and Peg IFNα-2b in treatment of chronic hepatitis C.Methods Clinical data of 46 chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients were retrospectively reviewed.Patients were divided into two groups:Peg IFNα-2a group ( n =24) was given Peg IFNoα-2a 180 μg/week and ribavirin; Peg IFNα-2b group (n =22 ) was given Peg IFNα-2b1.5 μg · kg-1 · week-1 and ribavirin.Serum HCV RNA load at 4th,12th and 24th week of the treatment were detected to evaluate the virological responses.Softwares SPSS 13.0 and PEMS 3.1 were used for statistical analysis.Results There was no significant difference in rapid response rate,early response rate,complete response rate and non-response rate between the two groups (x2 =0.689,0.105,0.105 and 0.105,P ＞ 0.05 ).However for patients with high viral load ( HCV RNA ＞ 6 logl0 copies/mL) at baseline,the rapid response rate in Peg IFNα-2a group ( 86.67％ ) was higher than that in Peg IFNα-2bgroup (42.86％ ) (x2 =4.365,P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusion Peg IFNα-2a combined with ribavirin may have higher rapid response rate than that of Peg IFNα-2b combined with ribavirin in CHC patients with high viral