Detection of Haptoglobin by Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Based on the Shift of Characteristic Peak / 分析化学

Acute cerebral infarction(ACI)has the characteristics of onset nasty and high mortality,and thus the rapid determination of the occurrence and development of ACI plays a key role in the diagnosis,treatment and prognosis of ACI patients.It has shown that the serum level of human haptoglobin(Hp)is related to ACI.In this study,surface enhanced Raman scattering(SERS)combined with immune recognition was applied to establish a quantitative analysis method for serum Hp.Firstly,the SERS substrate of silver nanoparticles was prepared on silicon wafer,and 4-mercaptobenzoic Acid(MBA)was used as a Raman probe by forming Ag—S bond and connecting it on the surface of nanoparticles.The carboxyl group of MBA was linked to amino group of self-made high-affinity antibody through forming CO—NH structure thus forming a SERS self-assembled chip of Hp(Ag/MBA/anti-Hp).Hp in serum could be specifically captured by antibodies on SERS substrate,which caused the shift of SERS characteristic peak of MBA.The results showed that there was a good linear relationship between the logarithm of Hp concentration and the SERS characteristic peak shift of MBA.The detection range was 1-1000 ng/mL(R2=0.988).The Hp concentrations in serum of 90 ACI patients were determined by this method,and the results were consistent with those of ELISA method,which proved the practicability and accuracy of this method.This method was highly specific,simple and convenient,which could realize the specific recognition and quantitative analysis of serum Hp,so as to be an effective means for clinical detection of serum Hp,thus providing a reference for the treatment and prognosis of ACI.

Quality evaluation methods of Poria based on yield and content of alkali extracted polysaccharide / 中国中药杂志

To improve the quality control methods of Poria and develop and utilize its resources fully, alkaline extraction was used in this study to determine the yield and content of alkali-soluble polysaccharides of Poria. The alkali-soluble extracts of Poria were obtained according to the optimum extraction conditions on the basis of single-factor test, and 30 batches of samples were determined. The structure and chemical composition of the alkali-soluble extracts was characterized by high-performance gel permeation chromatography(HPGPC), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry(FT-IR), nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) spectroscopy and high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) with 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone(PMP-HPLC). The results showed that the content of the alkali-soluble extracts was in the range of 46.98%-73.86%. The main component was β-(1→3)-glucan, and its molecular mass was about 1.093×10~5. Further, the content of alkali-soluble polysaccharides of Poria was measured by UV-Vis spectrophotometry and HPLC coupled with the evaporative light scattering detector(HPLC-ELSD), and 30 batches of samples were measured. The results indicated that the content of alkali-soluble polysaccharides determined by UV-Vis spectrophotometry was in the range of 73.70%-92.57%, and the content of samples from Hubei province was slightly higher than that from Yunnan province, Anhui province and Hunan province. The content of alkali-soluble polysaccharides determined by HPLC-ELSD was in the range of 51.42%-76.69%, and the samples from Hunan province had slightly higher content than that from the other three provinces. The content determined by UV-Vis spectrophotometry was higher than that by HPLC-ELSD. However, the content determined by HPLC-ELSD was close to that of alkali-soluble extract, which could accurately characterize the content of alkali-soluble polysaccharides in Poria, and the method was simple and repeatable. Therefore, it is recommended that the quantitative analysis method for alkali-soluble extract and alkali-soluble polysaccharides by HPLC-ELSD be used in the quality standards of Poria in Chinese Pharmacopeia.

Evaluation of PET Mainstream Scattering Correction Methods / 中国医疗器械杂志

OBJECTIVE@#Current mainstream PET scattering correction methods are introduced and evaluated horizontally, and finally, the existing problems and development direction of scattering correction are discussed.@*METHODS@#Based on NeuWise Pro PET/CT products of Neusoft Medical System Co. Ltd. , the simulation experiment is carried out to evaluate the influence of radionuclide distribution out of FOV (field of view) on the scattering estimation accuracy of each method.@*RESULTS@#The scattering events produced by radionuclide out of FOV have an obvious impact on the spatial distribution of scattering, which should be considered in the model. The scattering estimation accuracy of Monte Carlo method is higher than single scatter simulation (SSS).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Clinically, if the activity of the adjacent parts out of the FOV is high, such as brain, liver, kidney and bladder, it is likely to lead to the deviation of scattering estimation. Considering the Monte Carlo scattering estimation of the distribution of radionuclide out of FOV, it's helpful to improve the accuracy of scattering distribution estimation.

Primary study on recognition of vascular stiffness based on wavelet scattering neural network / 生物医学工程学杂志

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 48.0% of all deaths in Europe and 34.3% in the United States. Studies have shown that arterial stiffness takes precedence over vascular structural changes and is therefore considered to be an independent predictor of many cardiovascular diseases. At the same time, the characteristics of Korotkoff signal is related to vascular compliance. The purpose of this study is to explore the feasibility of detecting vascular stiffness based on the characteristics of Korotkoff signal. First, the Korotkoff signals of normal and stiff vessels were collected and preprocessed. Then the scattering features of Korotkoff signal were extracted by wavelet scattering network. Next, the long short-term memory (LSTM) network was established as a classification model to classify the normal and stiff vessels according to the scattering features. Finally, the performance of the classification model was evaluated by some parameters, such as accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. In this study, 97 cases of Korotkoff signal were collected, including 47 cases from normal vessels and 50 cases from stiff vessels, which were divided into training set and test set according to the ratio of 8 : 2. The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of the final classification model was 86.4%, 92.3% and 77.8%, respectively. At present, non-invasive screening method for vascular stiffness is very limited. The results of this study show that the characteristics of Korotkoff signal are affected by vascular compliance, and it is feasible to use the characteristics of Korotkoff signal to detect vascular stiffness. This study might be providing a new idea for non-invasive detection of vascular stiffness.

Determination of eight active components in Buyang Huanwu Decoction by HPLC-DAD-ELSD / 国际中医中药杂志

Objective:To establish an HPLC-DAD-ELSD method for the simultaneous determination of eight main active components in Buyang Huanwu Decoction, including hydroxysafflor yellow A, paeoniflorin, calycosin glycoside, ferulic acid, ononin, calycosin, fermononetin and astragaloside.Methods:Agilent Eclipse XDB-C18 column (250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) was used with acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid as the mobile phase. The flow rate was 1.0 ml/min; the column temperature was 30 ℃; the detection wavelengths were 230 nm (paeoniflorin), 254 nm (calycosin glycoside, ononin, calycosin, fermononetin), 322 nm (ferulic acid) and 403 nm (hydroxysafflor yellow A); the drift tube temperature of the evaporative light scattering detector was 60 ℃; the carrier gas flow rate was 1.6 L/min.Results:Under these conditions, the separation of hydroxysafflor yellow A, paeoniflorin, calycosin glycoside, ferulic acid, ononin, calycosin, fermononetin and astragaloside was good, and the linear relationship was in line with the requirements ( r=0.994 0-0.999 9). The average recovery was 97.8% - 101.4% ( RSD was 1.28% - 3.70%). Conclusion:The method is simple, stable and reproducible, and can be used for the quality control of Buyang Huanwu Decoction.

Comparison of effects of absolute scatter correction and relative scatter correction on image quality in PET reconstruction / 中华核医学与分子影像杂志

Objective:To study the impact of different scattering correction algorithms in the reconstruction of PET/CT images on image artifacts and the precision of quantitative parameters.Methods:The phantom as described in the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) NU2 standard was filled with 18F. The background activity was fixed, and the activity of the solution in the spheres was adjusted to obtain several configurations, including the normal ratio group (4.08∶1) and the extreme ratio group (200∶1). The surface contamination group with the same ratio as the extreme ratio group contained a small radioactive source with different doses of 18F (74, 37, 3.7 and 0.37 MBq) placed at the surface of the phantom. PET/CT images of 30 patients (21 males, 9 females, age: (44.5±10.2) years) from Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute between July 2012 and December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed, including 10 with normal images ( 18F-FDG) and 20 with abnormal images (10 with dislocation during acquisition, 10 with surface contamination). The images were reconstructed with relative and absolute scattering correction. The phantom was evaluated using the target to background ratio (TBR) and the artifact classification. CV as well as the artifact classification were used to compare the clinical image quality. Mann-Whitney U test and χ2 test were used to analyze data. Results:In the normal ratio group and the extreme ratio group, the TBRs of phantom images reconstructed with relative correction were significantly higher than those with absolute correction (normal ratio group: 3.30(1.94, 4.53) vs 2.72(1.56, 3.56); z=-2.20, P=0.028; extreme ratio group: 105.47(45.62, 162.82) vs 101.36(43.96, 155.57); z=-1.99, P=0.046). In the surface contamination group, with the increase of the activity of the small source, the artifact became more obvious, and the artifact classification score of absolute correction was significantly better than that of relative correction (1.5(1.0, 2.0) vs 2.5(2.0, 3.0); z=-2.00, P=0.046). In the 10 normal 18F-FDG PET/CT patients, the CVliver of the relative correction (9.67%(8.00%, 11.00%)) was significantly lower than that of absolute correction (11.00%(9.00%, 12.00%); z=-2.57, P=0.010), indicating the higher image quality of images with relative correction. In abnormal images, the image quality of absolute correction was significantly higher than that of relative correction with fewer and less severe artifacts (dislocation cases: 9/10 vs 4/10; χ2=5.50, P=0.019; surface contamination cases: 9/10 vs 4/10; χ2=5.50, P=0.019). Conclusions:The relative scattering correction is suitable for normal situations in clinical PET acquisition. However, with dislocation or surface contamination, the absolute scattering correction helps to reduce the artifacts and improve the image quality.

Dosimetric effects of boundary range scattering dose planning mode on Cyberknife treatment of lung cancer brain metastases / 医疗卫生装备

Objective To explore the dosimetric effects of a self-developed planning mode of boundary range scattering dose(BRSD)on Cyberknife treatment of lung cancer brain metastases.Methods The positioning images of 15 patients with lung cancer brain metastases treated in the radiotherapy department of some institution from January 1,2021 to December 31,2021 were selected and introduced into Cyberknife Multiplan 4.0.3 treatment planning system.A fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy(FSRT)plan(as the FSRT planning group)and a BRSD plan(as the BRSD planning group)were developed for each patient.The FSRT planning group developed a plan for the planning target volume(PTV)in the conventional way,so that V100 covered more than 95％of the PTV;the BRSD planning group prepared a plan for the gross tumor volume(GTV)with the same parameter conditions as the FSRT planning group and the prescription dose was normalized to the PTV so that V100 covered more than 95％of the PTV.The dosimetric parameters of the target area and normal tissue of the 2 groups were compared by dose-volume histograms and isodose curves.Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 24.0 software.Results The D98,Dmax and Dmean in the target area of the BRSD planning group were significantly higher than those of the FSRT planning group,and the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05);the differences in the conformity index,dose gradient index,and Dmean,V30,V24 and D3cc in normal tissue of the 2 groups were not statistically significant(P>0.05);the BRSD planning group gained a denser dose distribution when compared with the FSRT planning group.Conclusion The BRSD planning mode gains significant dosimetric advantage by enhancing the absorbed dose to the target area without increasing or decreasing the dose to normal tissue.

Application of microfluidic technology based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering in cancer biomarker detection:A review / 药物分析学报

With the continuous discovery and research of predictive cancer-related biomarkers,liquid biopsy shows great potential in cancer diagnosis.Surface-enhanced Raman scattering(SERS)and microfluidic tech-nology have received much attention among the various cancer biomarker detection methods.The former has ultrahigh detection sensitivity and can provide a unique fingerprint.In contrast,the latter has the characteristics of miniaturization and integration,which can realize accurate control of the detection samples and high-throughput detection through design.Both have the potential for point-of-care testing(POCT),and their combination(lab-on-a-chip SERS(LoC-SERS))shows good compatibility.In this paper,the basic situation of circulating proteins,circulating tumor cells,exosomes,circulating tumor DNA(ctDNA),and microRNA(miRNA)in the diagnosis of various cancers is reviewed,and the detection research of these biomarkers by the LoC-SERS platform in recent years is described in detail.At the same time,the challenges and future development of the platform are discussed at the end of the review.Summarizing the current technology is expected to provide a reference for scholars engaged in related work and interested in this field.

Experimental study on high-frequency subharmonic scattering characteristics of ultrasound contrast agent microbubbles under low ambient pressure / 生物医学工程学杂志

Correlation between nonlinear subharmonic scattering of ultrasound contrast agent microbubbles and ambient pressure is expected to be used for local brain tissue pressure monitoring. Although high-frequency ultrasound has achieved high-resolution imaging of intracranial microvessels, the research on high-frequency subharmonic scattering characteristics of microbubbles is insufficient at present, which restricts the research progress of estimating local brain tissue pressure based on high-frequency subharmonic scattering of microbubbles. Therefore, under the excitation of 10 MHz high-frequency ultrasound, the effects of different acoustic pressures and ambient pressures on the high-frequency subharmonic scattering characteristics of three different ultrasound contrast agents including SonoVue, Sonazoid and Huashengxian were investigated in this in vitro study. Results showed that the subharmonic scattering amplitudes of the three microbubbles increased with the increase of ambient pressure at the peak negative acoustic pressures of 696, 766 and 817 kPa, and there was a favorable linear correlation between subharmonic amplitude and ambient pressure. Under the above three acoustic pressures, the highest correlation coefficient of SonoVue was 0.948 ( P = 0.03), the highest sensitivity of pressure measurement was 0.248 dB/mm Hg and the minimum root mean square error (RMSE) was 2.64 mm Hg. Sonazoid's highest correlation coefficient was 0.982 ( P < 0.01), the highest sensitivity of pressure measurement was 0.052 dB/mm Hg and the minimum RMSE was 1.51 mm Hg. The highest correlation coefficient of Huashengxian was 0.969 ( P = 0.02), the highest sensitivity of pressure measurement was 0.098 dB/mm Hg and the minimum RMSE was 2.00 mm Hg. The above in vitro experimental results indicate that by selecting ultrasound contrast agent microbubbles and optimizing acoustic pressure, the correlation between high-frequency subharmonic scattering of microbubbles and ambient pressure can be improved, the sensitivity of pressure measurement can be upgraded, and the measurement error can be reduced to meet the clinical demand for local brain tissue pressure measurement, which provided an important experimental basis for subsequent research in vivo.

Liposome-based multifunctional nanoplatform as effective therapeutics for the treatment of retinoblastoma

Photothermal therapy has the characteristics of minimal invasiveness, controllability, high efficiency, and strong specificity, which can effectively make up for the toxic side effects and tumor resistance caused by traditional drug treatment. However, due to the limited tissue penetration of infrared light, it is difficult to promote and apply in clinical practice. The eye is the only transparent tissue in human, and infrared light can easily penetrate the eye tissue, so it is expected that photothermal therapy can be used to treat fundus diseases. Here in, a new nano-platform assembled by liposome and indocyanine green (ICG) was used to treat retinoblastoma. ICG was assembled in liposomes to overcome some problems of ICG itself. For example, ICG is easily quenched, self-aggregating and instability. Moreover, liposomes can prevent free ICG from being cleared through the systemic circulation. The construction of the nano-platform not only ensured the stability of ICG in vivo, but also realized imaging-guide photothermal therapy, which created a new strategy for the treatment of retinoblastoma.

Effect of Flower Removal on Content of Three Alkaloids in Different Parts of Fritillaria thunbergii from Different Regions and at Different Growth Stages / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo study the effect of flower removal on the content of three alkaloids in different parts of Fritillaria thunbergii from different regions and at different growth stages. MethodThe content of peiminine， peimine， and peimisine in the bulb， root， stem， and leaf of F. thunbergii after flower removal and with flower un-removed at different growth stages and in different regions were determined simultaneously by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-evaporative light scattering detection （UPLC-ELSD） method. The UPLC was conducted on ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column （2.1 mm × 150 mm， 1.7 μm） with the mobile phase of 0.02% triethylamine aqueous solution （A） and methanol （B）elution gradient（0-2 min， 45%A； 2-5 min， 45%-25%A； 5-7 min， 25%A； 7-17 min， 25%-10%A； 17-20 min， 10%A）， flow velocity of 0.20 mL·min-1， column temperature 35 °C， sample room temperature of 20 °C， and injection volume of 3 µL. The ELSD was carried out at drift tube temperature 45 °C and with the sprayer parameter of 40%. ResultThe flower removal significantly increased the yield of F. thunbergii. At the budding stage， the alkaloid content in the bulb of F. thunbergii from Ningbo in Zhejiang， Pan'an in Zhejiang， and Nantong in Jiangsu after flower removal were significantly higher than that of flowering un-removal treatment， while it showed no significant difference between the flower removal and un-removal treatments for the samples from Fengjie in Chongqing. At the flowering stage， the alkaloid content in the bulb of F. thunbergii from Nantong in Jiangsu after flower removal was significantly higher than that of flower un-removal treatment， while it showed an opposite trend for the samples from Pan'an in Zhejiang and Fengjie in Chongqing and had no significant difference between the two treatments for the samples from Ningbo in Zhejiang. At the bulb expansion stage， the alkaloid content in the bulb of F. thunbergii from Ningbo in Zhejiang and Pan’an in Zhejiang after flower removal were significantly higher than that of flower un-removal treatment， which was opposite for the samples from Nantong in Jiangsu and had no significant difference between the treatments for the samples from Fengjie in Chongqing. At the harvest stage， except for the samples from Pan'an in Zhejiang， the samples from the rest 3 regions showed decreased alkaloid content in the bulb after flower removal compared with that of flower un-removal treatment. The alkaloid content in the leaf was higher than that in the bulb of F. thunbergii at all growth stages and from different origins. ConclusionFlower removal can increase the yield of F. thunbergii. The alkaloid content in the bulb of F. thunbergii with flower removed was higher than that with flower un-removed at the budding stage， while this trend was reversed at the harvest stage. Both the yield and the alkaloid content of F. thunbergii from Pan'an in Zhejiang were increased by flower removal. The above-ground part of F. thunbergii has a potential development value.

Particle size and size distribution of mRNA vaccines under different testing conditions / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

Objective:To investigate the factors that could influence the particle size and size distribution of mRNA vaccines.Methods:The influences of several factors including the ionic strength and pH values of buffers, solutions, dilution folds and testing equipments on the particle size and size distribution of three batches of mRNA vaccines were analyzed by dynamic light scattering.Results:The particle size increased with increasing ionic strength, but no significant change in size distribution was observed. The particle size also increased with increasing pH values and the size distribution showed significant change when the buffer solution was weakly alkaline. Solution types could affect the particle size, but had no influence on size distribution. There was no significant change in the particle size or size distribution when the dilution was limited to 100 folds. Moreover, the particle size and size distribution detected by different equipments showed no significance difference.Conclusions:The particle size and size distribution of mRNA vaccines could be affected by solution, dilution fold and testing equipment, which should be concerned during the vaccine production and quality control.

Simultaneous determination of five components in Anemarrhenae Rhizoma by HPLC-ELSD / 药学实践杂志

Objective To establish a method for the simultaneous determination of new mangiferin, mangiferin, artemisinin BⅡ, icariin and artemisinin A in Anemarrhenae Rhizoma by high performance liquid chromatography-evaporation light scattering detector (HPLC-ELSD). Methods The column was Agilent Poroshell 120 EC-C18. The mobile phase used acetonitrile-0.2% acetic acid water system with gradient elution. Column temperature was 30 ℃. Flow rate was 0.7 ml/min. Evaporative light scattering detector used nitrogen as atomizing gas. The atomizing gas temperature was 40 ℃ and the drift tube temperature was 90 ℃. The nitrogen volume flow rate was 2.00 L/min and the sample volume was 20 μl. Results The five components were able to achieve baseline separation. Neomangiferin, Mangiferin, Anemaponin BⅡ, Baohuoside I , Anemarrhena saponin AⅢwere determined as 24.1-386 μg/ml (r=0.999 3), 23.2-371 μg/ml (r=0.998 6), 54.2-867.2 μg/ml(r=0.995 6), 5.3-84.8 μg/ml (r=0.996 8), 10-160 μg/ml (r=0.998 9) respectively, which showed a good linear relationship within the concentration range. The average recovery rate of the five components was between 101.8% and 105.0%, and the repeatability RSD was less than 2.4%. The content of the above five components in Zhimu medicinal materials were 1.62%, 0.82%, 7.36%, 0.07%, 0.34%, respectively. Conclusion The method is simple, accurate, and highly sensitive, which could be used as the quantitative determination of multiple index components of Anemarrhenae Rhizoma.

Evaluation on the application of light scattering method to detect hemoglobin in lipoblood samples / 中华检验医学杂志

Objective:To evaluate the ability of light dispersive colorimetry to detect hemoglobin (Hb) in lipid blood samples and its feasibility as an alternative to plasmapheresis commonly used in the laboratory.Methods:Routine blood samples of 276 inpatients in Fujian Provincial Hospital from July 2020 to July 2021 were collected. Routine blood samples of 276 inpatients were collected. There were 169 males and 107 females, aged from 16 to 97 years. 183 non-lipid blood samples and 93 lipid blood samples were collected.(1) One case each of low, medium and high Hb value in non-lipid blood and lipid blood samples were collected, and the precision and the linearity of light scattering method was detected.(2)Non-lipid blood samples divided into Hb low-value group, median-value group and high-value group, which were measured by light scattering method and colorimetric method to compare Hb values. (3)Non-lipid blood samples were divided into Hb low-value group, median-value group and high-value group. Plasma exchange was carried out with different concentrations of fat emulsion. The bias and linearity of Hbc2 and Hbc1, Hbo2 and Hbc1 were analyzed by MedCalc19.1 software. The Hbc2 and Hbc1 bias ( CV%) and Hbo2 and Hbc1 bias ( CV%) were calculated. T test was used to analyze the influence of different concentrations of triglyceride on Hb bias.(4)Blood samples were divided into Hb low-value group, median-group and high-value group. The Hb of light scattering method was compared with the colorimetric method after plasma exchange. Results:(1)The intrabatch precision of light scattering method for non-lipid blood and lipid blood specimens was within the allowable range ( CV<1.5%), and the good linearity ( R2=1.000).(2)The bias of Hb measured by light scattering method and colorimetric method in the three groups was below 3.5%(-0.58±2.34,0.16±1.52,1.15±1.56), within the allowable total error range. The two methods have the equivalence and good linear relationship ( r=0.999).(3)The concentrations of Hbo2 in the low (except 4.1 mmol/L), medium and high Hbo2 groups were equivalent to those in the non-lipid blood colorimetry (Hbc1), and the two methods were well correlated. The results of light scattering method have nothing to do with the concentration of lipid blood.(4)There was no significant difference of the Hb between the light scattering method and plasma exchange method in three groups ( P>0.05), Both of them have equivalence and good correlation ( R2=0.968,0.948,0.870). Conclusion:Light scattering method can effectively reduce the effect of lipid blood on hemoglobin determination, and can replace the traditional plasma exchange method, which has high clinical application value.

Evaluation of ocular surface and visual quality of cataract by dual channel visual analysis system / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

@#AIM:To evaluate the visual quality of different types of cataracts by double-pass optical quality analysis system(OQAS).<p>METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. Totally 30 age-related cataract patients(30 eyes), which were aged group, with an average age of 71.69±3.79 years, thirty patients(30 eyes)with complicated cataract were in the complicated group with an average age of 61.00±4.56 years and 30 normal patients(30 eyes)were in the normal group, with an average age of 65.34±4.06 years old, both of which with naked eye vision(UCVA)≤0.5, and from June 2019 to June 2020 in the eye Center of Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University were collected. The ocular surface and optical quality examination on the patient's visual quality, including anterior chamber depth(ACD), ocular axis(AL), IOP, corneal curvature(K), objective scattering index(OSI), MTF cut off frequency(MTF cut off), Sterl ratio(SR), contrast sensitivity VA100%, VA20%, VA9% and other visual quality were operated by the same doctor. <p>RESULTS: Compared with glaucomatous cataract, the MTF cut off of uveitis cataract was lower(<i>P</i>=0.025), but higher than that of fundus cataract(<i>P</i>=0.013), and diabetic cataract(<i>P</i>=0.001). The MTF cutoff value of glaucomatous cataract was higher than that of fundus cataract(<i>P</i>=0.013), and diabetic cataract(<i>P</i>=0.007); the MTF cutoff of fundus cataract was higher than that of diabetic cataract and there was significant difference(<i>P</i>=0.010).<p>CONCLUSION: There are some differences in the ocular surface and visual quality parameters of each subtype of complicated cataract, especially MTF cut off, so we should paid attention to the cataract types before surgery.

Nanostructured lipid carriers as a novel tool to deliver sclareol: physicochemical characterisation and evaluation in human cancer cell lines

Sclareol (SC) is arousing great interest due to its cytostatic and cytotoxic activities in several cancer cell lines. However, its hydrophobicity is a limiting factor for its in vivo administration. One way to solve this problem is through nanoencapsulation. Therefore, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN-SC) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC-SC) loaded with SC were produced and compared regarding their physicochemical properties. NLC-SC showed better SC encapsulation than SLN-SC and was chosen to be compared with free SC in human cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and HCT-116). Free SC had slightly higher cytotoxicity than NLC-SC and produced subdiploid DNA content in both cell lines. On the other hand, NLC-SC led to subdiploid content in MDA-MB-231 cells and G2/M checkpoint arrest in HCT-116 cells. These findings suggest that SC encapsulation in NLC is a way to allow the in vivo administration of SC and might alter its biological properties

Development and validation method for simultaneous quantification of neomycin and polymyxin B by HPLC-ELSD and comparison with microbiological method

The aim of this study is to develop the first simultaneous method for quantification of neomycin and polymyxin B inthe presence of dexamethasone using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with an Evaporative LightScattering Detector (ELSD). The analysis was performed using a phenyl Waters X Bridge column, an evaporationtemperature of 50oC, and a nitrogen pressure of 320 kPa. The mobile phase consists of a combination of methanoland trichloroacetate acid (40 mM, pH 1.70–1.80) in gradient mode, flow rate at 1.0 ml/minute, detector gain of 6,and analysis time of 35 minutes. The linearity was achieved with a concentration of 100–500 µg/ml (r = 0.99955)for neomycin and concentration of 30–100 µg/ml (r = 0.99703) for polymyxin B. Recovery results were obtainedbetween 99.150% and 104.773% for neomycin and 96.538% and 105.139% for polymyxin B. The analysis samplefrom the market was found to be 102.27% for neomycin and 100.79% for polymyxin B. The result was compared tothe standard microbiological method. Based on the T-test results of two samples with a 95% confidence level (α =0.05), it was concluded that there was no significant difference between HPLC-ELSD and microbiological methodsfor determining neomycin and polymyxin B. The HPLC-ELSD method has a potential for routine analysis due toadvantages in terms of increasing precision, accuracy, and shorter testing time.

Neutrophil scattering data driven pre-microscopic flagging of acute leukemic cases

ABSTRACT Background: The hematology analyzer, Sysmex XN-1000, generates white blood cell count with varying scattering intensities during a complete blood count (CBC) analysis. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to study the predictive role of median and coefficient of variation of neutrophil scattering items in blood samples for differentiation of leukemic subjects. Methods: We evaluated six neutrophil scattering parameters: neutrophil side scatter mean intensity, neutrophil side fluorescence light (SFL) mean intensity, neutrophil forward scatter mean intensity, neutrophil side scatter area distribution width (NE-WX), neutrophil SFL area distribution width (NE-WY), and neutrophil forward scatter area distribution width (NE-WZ), measured in white blood cell differential scattergram generated by the hematology analyzer (Sysmex XN-1000) at an academic medical center. Results: We collected 433 blood samples from acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) cases and normal controls. AML group showed highly significant differences in the mean values compared with the control group. Out of six neutrophil scattering items, NE-WX, NE-WY, and NE-WZ showed high efficiency, with area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.764, 0.748, and 0.757, respectively, to differentiate AML from ALL cases and control groups. When comparing combined acute leukemia cases (AML plus ALL) with the control group, NE-WX, NE-WY, and NE-WZ generated highly significant AUC values (0.840, 0.884, and 0.801, respectively). Conclusion: The neutrophil scattering parameters generated during CBC analysis provide a new tool for the prediction of acute leukemia and its lineage.

Analysis on Quality Evaluation Methods of Asparagi Radix Decoction Pieces and Its Standard Decoction / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To establish the quality evaluation methods of Asparagi Radix decoction pieces and its standard decoction. Method:Ten batches of Asparagi Radix standard decoction were prepared. High performance liquid chromatography-evaporative light scattering detection method (HPLC-ELSD) was established for the determination of protodioscin and protoneodioscin in Asparagi Radix decoction pieces and its standard decoction, and the fingerprint detection of Asparagi Radix decoction pieces with acetonitrile-water as mobile phase for gradient elution. UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS/MS was used to identify ten main common peaks in the fingerprint with acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid solution as mobile phase for gradient elution, electrospray ionization (ESI) and positive and negative ion mode scanning were employed, the detection range was m/z 100-1 400. Result:The total content of protodioscin and protoneodioscin in Asparagi Radix decoction pieces was 0.41%-0.72%, and their total content in Asparagi Radix standard decoction was 0.33%-0.59%, the transfer rate of these two components was 73.6%-98.3%. The dry extract yield of the standard decoction was 59.0%-73.0%, and its pH was 4.9-5.6. There were 10 common peaks in the fingerprint, and all of them were saponins, including protoneodioscin, protodioscin, aspacochioside A and its isomer, methyl protodioscin, asparagoside F, (25R)-26-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-furostan-5, 20-diene-3β, 26-diol-3-O-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1→2)]-[β-D-glucopyranosyl (1→4)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1→4)]-β-D-glucopyranoside, 26-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-furostan-20 (22)-ene-3β, 26-diol-3-O-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1→2)]-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1→4)]-β-D-glucopyranoside, pseudodiosgenin, aspacochioside C. Conclusion:In this paper, the quality evaluation methods of Asparagi Radix decoction pieces and its standard decoction are established, and these methods are stable and feasible, which can provide reference for the quality control of pharmaceutical preparations containing Asparagi Radix.

Interfacial properties and micellization of triblock poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(-caprolactone)-polyethyleneimine copolymers

This study aimed to explore the link between block copolymers' interfacial properties and nanoscale carrier formation and found out the influence of length ratio on these characters to optimize drug delivery system. A library of diblock copolymers of PEG-PCL and triblock copolymers with additional PEI (PEG-PCL-PEI) were synthesized. Subsequently, a systematic isothermal investigation was performed to explore molecular arrangements of copolymers at air/water interface. Then, structural properties and drug encapsulation in self-assembly were investigated with DLS, SLS and TEM. We found the additional hydrogen bond in the PEG-PCL-PEI contributes to film stability upon the hydrophobic interaction compared with PEG-PCL. PEG-PCL-PEI assemble into smaller micelle-like (such as PEG-PCL4006-PEI) or particle-like structure (such as PEG-PCL8636-PEI) determined by their hydrophilic and hydrophobic block ratio. The distinct structural architectures of copolymer are consistent between interface and self-assembly. Despite the disparity of constituent ratio, we discovered the arrangement of both chains guarantees balanced hydrophilic-hydrophobic ratio in self-assembly to form stable construction. Meanwhile, the structural differences were found to have significant influence on model drugs incorporation including docetaxel and siRNA. Taken together, these findings indicate the correlation between molecular arrangement and self-assembly and inspire us to tune block compositions to achieve desired nanostructure and drug loading.