[Clinicopathological characteristics of pulmonary artery intimal sarcoma].

Objective: To describe the clinicopathological features of pulmonary artery intimal sarcoma (PAIS), and to understand its molecular alterations. Methods: Sixty cases of pulmonary artery endarterectomy performed at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China from January 2017 to January 2020 were reviewed. Clinical data of 5 patients with pulmonary artery intimal sarcoma were collected. Hematoxylin-eosin staining, immunohistochemistry staining and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were performed to evaluate the pathological features. RNA sequencing was conducted to assess the fusion gene changes in PAIS. Results: The detection rate of PAIS was 8.3% (5/60), with the median age of 49 years and a female predominance. Their clinical manifestations were non-specific. Histopathological examination showed that the tumors were composed of malignant spindle or epithelioid cells, with various degrees of atypia. Focal heterologous osteosarcomatous or leiomyosarcomatous differentiation was noted. The tumor cells could express PDGFRA, CDK4 and MDM2 with co-amplification of MDM2, CDK4 and EGFR genes. RNA sequencing detected multiple in-frame fusions in the tumors. Conclusions: PAIS is a rare, highly heterogeneous, and poorly-or un-differentiated sarcoma accompanied by complex changes of multiple genes.It has no known effective treatments, and thus has a poor prognosis.

[CD7 expression and its prognostic significance in acute myeloid leukemia patients with wild-type or mutant CEBPA].

Objective: To analyze the prognostic value of CD7 expression in newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients, and to further explore the correlation between CD7 expression and CEBPA mutation, and to clarify the prognostic value of CD7(+) in AML patients with wild-type (WT) or mutant-type (MT) CEBPA. Methods: The clinical data of 298 newly diagnosed non-M(3) AML patients between January 2010 and December 2016 were analyzed retrospectively. The clinical characteristics and prognosis of CD7(+) and CD7(-) patients were respectively compared in all patients, and in patients with WT and MT CEBPA. The relationship between CD7 expression and CEBPA mutation was determined by chi-square, and the effects of CEBPA mutation on survival and prognosis in CD7(+) group by Kaplan-Meier method. Results: In CD7(+) group, the frequencies of CEBPA mutation were 10.1% (single site) and 33.9% (double site) , significantly higher than those of the CD7(-) group (5.3% and 4.2%) (P=0.000) . Subgroup prognostic analysis showed a lower CR rate (P=0.001) and a higher RR (P=0.023) in CD7(+) group comparing to those of CD7(-) group in AML patients with wild type CEBPA. There were no statistical difference between CD7(+) group and CD7(-) group in overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (P>0.05) , while in the CEBPA mutant group the CD7(+) group has higher OS (P=0.019) and DFS (P=0.010) . Based on the CD7 expression and CEBPA mutation, 298 cases were divided into 3 subgroups, named as CD7(+)-CEBPA MT group, CD7(-) and CD7(+)-CEBPA WT group. The 3-year OS of the 3 groups were 80.2%, 48.0% and 30.6%, respectively (P<0.001) , and the 3-year DFS were 74.1%, 37.4% and 22.2%, respectively (P<0.001) . Conclusion: The CEBPA mutation rate was higher in CD7(+) AML patients then that of CD7(-) patients. CD7 expression has opposite prognostic significance in AML patients carrying the wild-type or mutant-type CEBPA. Based on CD7 expression and CEBPA mutation, a new risk stratification model can be established, which is helpful to guide the clinical individualized treatment for AML patients.

[Analysis of screening strategy of group B streptococcus in the third trimester and its influence on pregnancy outcome].

Objective: To investigate the screening strategy of group B streptococcus (GBS) in the reproductive tract of women in the third trimester and analyze its impact on pregnancy outcome. Methods: A total of 85 461 pregnant women in 35-37 weeks of gestation from Bao'an Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Jinan University from January 2011 to June 2018 were enrolled. They were divided into 3 periods according to different GBS screening strategies, the unscreened period included 31 384 cases (36.72%), 33 267 cases (38.93%) were included in partial screening period, 20 810 cases (24.35%) were included in screening period. All GBS screening positive pregnant women were given intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP). The impact on pregnancy outcomes, and the impact of different GBS collection transport and culture methods on the positive rate of GBS screening were analyzed. Results: (1) The incidence of neonatal early onset GBS disease (EOGBSD) in unscreened period was 0.03% (11/31 773), in partial screening period was 0.02%(6/33 887), and in screening period, the incidence of neonatal EOGBSD decreased to 0, the difference was statistically significant (χ(2)=7.86, P=0.02).(2) The incidence of hematogenous infection of GBS in pregnant women was 0.02%(6/33 887) in partial screening period, and there was none in screening period, there was no significant difference (adjusted χ(2)=3.75, P=0.05). (3) In the screening period, the positive rate of GBS was 14.08%(2 719/19 306), which was significantly higher than the positive rate of GBS in the partial screening period (11.48%, 2 058/17 920; χ(2)=56.12, P=0.00). (4) Antibiotic sensitivity tests of 4 777 GBS strains showed that the antibiotics with higher resistance rate were tetracycline (81.52%, 3 896/4 777), erythromycin (66.59%, 3 181/4 777), and clindamycin (64.31%, 3 072/4 777). The combination of erythromycin, clindamycin and tetracycline was the most common resistant pattern, accounting for 48.80% (2 331/4 777). No penicillin, ceftriaxone or vancomycin resistant strains was found. Conclusions: GBS screening strategy in different regions could combine the local neonatal EOGBSD incidence rate, maternal GBS colonization rate, and the socioeconomic factors to determine whether universal GBS screening or screening for high-risk maternal women. GBS screening positive rate is related to the population, scope of the investigation, the sample collection, delivery and culture methods. The multi-drug resistance rate of GBS is high.

[Prevalence of allergy in children with acute rhinosinusitis].

Objective:To explore the prevalence of allergy in patients with acute rhinosinusitis (ARS) and evaluate the severity of symptoms in ARS children with or without allergy.Method:Two hundred and seven children (4-12 years of age) with ARS and 85 children of control group were included in our research from June, 2016 to January, 2018. We use questionaire to collect the basic information of pediatric patients. The results of skin prick test (SPT) were recorded. Mothers were required to complete the Sinus and Nasal Quality-of-Life Survey (SN-5).All ARS childern were divided into allergic group and non-allergic group according to the result of SPT. We use binomial distribution to evaluate the population rate. t-test, Chi-square test and Wilcoxon rank-sum test were appropriately used to compare the parameters between two groups.Result:Among the 207 ARS participants in this study, 44.4% participants were shown to response to at least one Inhalation allergen and 40.6% participants were shown to response to at least one perennial allergen. Both ratios were significantly higher than those of the control group. Perennial allergy seems to be much more common than seasonal allergy in pediatric patients with ARS. The most troublesome symptoms among the participants with acute rhinosinusitis combined with allergic rhinitis were nasal obstruction (5.28±1.34), nasal discharge (5.07±1.04), post-nasal drip (4.63±1.31) and itchy eyes/nose (4.28±1.51). Four subscale scores of the SN-5 including nasal obstruction, allergy symptoms, emotional distress and activity limitation in the allergic group were obviously higher than those of the non-allergic group.Conclusion:Allergic factors play an important role in the pathogenesis of pediatric acute rhinosinusitis.

[Impact of intensified maintenance therapy on the prognosis of children and adolescents with advanced lymphoblastic lymphoma].

Objective: To investigate the impact of intensified maintenance therapy on the prognosis of children and adolescents with advanced lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL) . Methods: Retrospective analysis on the treatment results of children and adolescents with stage Ⅲ and stage Ⅳ LBL who underwent BFM-NHL-90/-95 regimen without prophylactic radiotherapy. The intensified therapy group included the patients admitted from 1998 to 2005, while others were classified as the non-intensified therapy group. Patients in the intensified therapy group were intravenously treated with "etoposide phosphate plus cytrarabine" and high-dose methotrexate alternately per 2.5-3 months in addition to the oral chemotherapy with 6-mercaptopurine and methotrexate during the maintenance phase. Results: A total of 187 LBL patients were enrolled. The rates of 5-year event free survival were (76.9 ± 5.8) % and (77.9 ± 4.3) % (χ(2)=0.249, P=0.617) respectively, in the intensified therapy (n=52) and the non-intensified therapy groups (n=135) , while the rates of 5-year overall survival of them were (78.8 ± 5.7) % and (79.8±4.1) % (χ(2)=0.353, P=0.552) , respectively. Stratified by stage, immunological type as well as risk stratification, the rates of long-term survival were similar between the two groups. During the maintenance phase, the rates of grade Ⅲ and Ⅳ myelosuppression in the intensified therapy and the non-intensified maintenance groups were 55.8% and 18.5%, respectively (χ(2)=25.363, P<0.05) . Conclusion: Intensified maintenance therapy failed to improve the prognosis of patients with advanced LBL.

Stimulatory effect of components of rose flowers on catalytic activity and mRNA expression of superoxide dismutase and catalase in erythrocytes.

In the present study, two antioxidant components (polysaccharopeptide complex P(1-a) and condensed tannin P(1-b)) from rose (Rosa rugosa) flowers were each incubated with mouse erythrocytes to investigate their effect on erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) activities. It was found that the activities of Cu, Zn-SOD and CAT were markedly increased after incubation for 3h with rose flower fractions at the concentration of 500µg/ml. Similar changes were also observed in the erythrocyte gene expression of SOD and CAT. These results show that P(1-a) and P(1-b) are effective antioxidants that increase the activity and the gene expression of SOD and CAT in mouse erythrocytes.

Production of an extremly low dose procaterol HCl preparation by fluidized-bed coating method: in vitro and in vivo evaluation.

A convenient and reliable method to prepare procaterol HCl oral dosage form at an extremely low dosage (25 microg/cap) is presented in this paper. Procaterol HCl was mixed with the film-forming agent hydroxypropyl methylcellulose in an aqueous solution, which was then spray-coated on sugar spheres (Nu-pareil PG 20/25) to produce procaterol HCl pellets. The IR spectra of coated and noncoated pellets indicated that procaterol HCl was coated on the sugar spheres successfully with a weight increment less than 1%. Most of the coated pellets were able to pass through an 18-mesh screen with no agglomeration. The average weights of coated pellets filled inside of capsules were monitored during the filling process. A simple liquid chromatographic method was developed and validated for the assay and uniformity test of procaterol HCl in different dosage forms. The results of assay and content uniformity test for both in-house product and a commercial product, i.e., Meptin-mini tablet, were satisfied. The data of f(2) function and ANOVA analysis for the dissolution profiles of both procaterol HCl products suggested that they are pharmaceutical equivalent. In an in vivo study (n = 24), a single dose of 75 microg procaterol HCl was administrated to each volunteer and the plasma concentration of procaterol was determined by a LC/MS/MS method, developed by the same authors. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in the data of AUC(0-->16 h), AUC(0-->infinity), C(max), and MRT for both preparations. It is confirmed that the pellets capsule produced in this study is bioequivalent with Meptin-mini tablet.

A polysaccharopeptide complex and a condensed tannin with antioxidant activity from dried rose (Rosa rugosa) flowers.

In this study, the fraction (P) from an aqueous extract of dried rose (Rosa rugosa) flowers was obtained by ethanol precipitation. P was chromatographed on DEAE-cellulose. The components retained on DEAE-cellulose were eluted with a linear gradient of 0-2 M NaCl solution. Two fractions, eluted at concentrations of 0.5 M NaCl and 1 M NaCl, respectively, were obtained. These two components were designated as P1 and P2, respectively. P1 was further purified using gel filtration on Sephadex G-200. P(1) yielded two peaks, and the two components were designated as P(1-a) and P(1-b), respectively. P(1-a) was a polysaccharide-peptide complex, and P(1-b) exhibited chemical properties of a condensed tannin as revealed by FTIR and NMR assay of carbohydrate and protein contents and HPLC-ESI-MS. The molecular masses of P(1-a) and P(1-b) were 150 kDa and 8 kDa, respectively. Both P(1-a) and P(1-b) possessed antioxidant activity, with the activity of P(1-b) higher than that of P(1-a). This study demonstrated that different components from rose flowers exhibited antioxidant activity.

Antioxidant activity of gallic acid from rose flowers in senescence accelerated mice.

The activities of the antioxidant enzymes catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in the blood and liver of the aging model induced by injection of different doses of D-gal into normal mice, and in senescence accelerated mice (SAM) of different ages, were determined. The results showed that the enzyme activities in the D-gal treated mice did not alter appreciably but the enzyme activities in blood of the SAM declined significantly with the increase in age, especially in the 9-month-old SAM. When gallic acid purified from rose flowers was used to treat the 9-month-old male SAM, it not only reinstated the activities of CAT and GPx but also significantly reduced the amount of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the liver, brain and kidney. The results demonstrated that 9-month-old male SAM represent an appropriate animal model to evaluate the antioxidant activities of natural products.

Changes of soil microbiological properties caused by land use changing from rice-wheat rotation to vegetable cultivation.

A survey was done recently in Jiaxing city of Zhejiang Province in the Yangtze River Delta to compare the differences of soil microbiological properties among paddy soils with different land use including continuous open-field vegetable cultivation (OFVC), plastic-greenhouse vegetable cultivation (PGVC) and traditional rice-wheat rotation (RWR). The soil types included are percolating, permeable and waterlogged paddy soils. The results indicate that the microbial flora was markedly changed as the land use changed for all the three soil types. In continuous vegetable cultivation soils, especially in PGVC soils, the bacteria amounts decreased dramatically, but the fungal and actinomyce amounts increased as compared with RWR soils. The dehydrogenase activities decreased significantly in vegetable soils, especially in PGVC soils as compared with RWR soils. The microbial biomass C and the total phospholipid contents (TPL) in vegetable cultivation soil greatly decreased as compared with RWR soils. Biolog analysis indicated that the kinds of carbon sources that could be metabolized by native microbes in PGVC soils greatly decreased as compared with OFVC soils and RWR soils, revealing that microbial diversity had decreased since land use change. The activities of some soil enzymes including urease, invertase and phosphase were all lower in OFVC soils than those in RWR soils, and those in PGVC soils were the lowest. The degradation of microbiological activities in continuous vegetable cultivation soils, especially in PGVC soils, as compared with RWR soils might have been caused by soil acidification and accumulation of salts due to overuse of both organic and inorganic fertilizers in vegetable cultivation.

Comparison of ofloxacin and norfloxacin concentration in prostatic tissues in patients undergoing transurethral resection of the prostate.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To compare the concentrations of two fluoroquinolones, ofloxacin (OFLX) and norfloxacin (NFLX), in the prostate glands of patients who underwent transurethral resection of the prostate (TUR-P) after oral ingestion of both drugs for surgical prophylaxis. METHODS: Ten patients with clinical symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia undergoing TUR-P received 200 mg of both drugs per os simultaneously 2 hours before surgery. The concentrations of the drugs in the serum and prostate at the time of surgery were measured by high performance liquid chromatography. Patients' clinical characteristics were evaluated, including findings from transrectal ultrasonography of the prostate, prostate specific antigen concentration, renal function tests, and post-operative status. RESULTS: Two hours after administration, the mean serum concentration of OFLX was 4.14 +/- 0.64 mg/L (range 0.27-6.37) and of NFLX was 1.10 +/- 0.22 mg/L (range 0.02-2.1). The concentration of ORLX in prostatic tissue was 4.10 +/- 0.79 micrograms/g (range 1.70-6.37) and of NFLX was 2.22 +/- 0.57 micrograms/g (range 0.63-4.35). The ratio of the prostatic tissue concentration (P) to the serum concentration (S) was 2.11 for OFLX and 5.71 for NFLX. The concentrations of both drugs exceeded the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for most gram-negative organisms, but NFLX may be unable to exceed the MIC90 of Enterobacter cloacae in some individuals. Leukocytosis and spiking fever developed after TUR-P in two of the 10 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Concentrations of OFLX were higher in both serum and prostatic adenoma tissues than those of NFLX (p < 0.001), while NFLX had better penetration into the prostate (P/S ratio) (p < 0.001). The results of this study indicated that the concentrations of both of these drugs exceeded the MIC for most gram-negative organisms.

In vitro modified release of acyclovir from ethyl cellulose microspheres.

The aim of this study was to demonstrate a sustained-release microparticulate dosage form for acyclovir via an in vitro study. Ethyl cellulose was selected as a model encapsulation material. All of the microspheres were prepared by an oil-in-water solvent evaporation technique. A 2(3) full factorial experiment was applied to study the effects of the viscosity of polymer, polymer/drug ratio, and polymer concentration on the drug encapsulation efficiency and the dissolution characteristics. The encapsulation efficiency of acyclovir in microspheres was in the range of 20.0-56.6%. Increase in the viscosity of ethyl cellulose and the ratio of CH2Cl2/ethyl cellulose increased drug encapsulation efficiency. The drug continuously released from microspheres for at least 12 h, and the release rate depended on the pH of the release medium. The sustained release characteristic was more prominent in the simulated intestine fluid than in the simulated gastric fluid. A faster release of drug was observed when a high viscosity polymer was used. The decomposition of acyclovir significantly decreased when encapsulated by ethyl cellulose, especially when stored at 37 and 50 degrees C.

Enhancement of dissolution and bioavailability of piroxicam in solid dispersion systems.

Solid dispersion systems of water-insoluble piroxicam in polyethylene glycol (PEG) 4000 and in urea were prepared by fusion and solvent methods and were characterized in this study. The in vitro dissolution studies showed that the dispersion systems containing piroxicam and PEG4000 or urea gave faster dissolution than the corresponding simple mixtures. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) study indicated that the piroxicam-PEG system prepared by the fusion method is a solid dispersion, while the piroxicam-urea system prepared by the solvent method is likely to be a solid solution of piroxicam in urea. The storage testings showed that all dispersions were stable, except that uptake of water during storage may occur in the PEG system. A single-dose study with rabbits showed that the dispersion systems provided statistically significant to a higher extent and rate of bioavailability than the corresponding physical mixture (p < 0.05).

Two linear acetogenins from Goniothalamus gardneri.

Two new acetogenins, gardnerilins A and B, have been isolated from the roots of Goniothalamus gardneri. Both are C35 acetogenins containing non-tetrahydrofuran rings. Their structures have been established on the basis of spectral evidence.

Determination of medrogestone in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography.

Interference with the UV absorbance of medrogestone by endogenous steroids in plasma was prevented by reacting plasma with oxalyl chloride. The reduction of interference was effective when oxalyl chloride was in the range 10-50 microl/ml plasma. Reaction of oxalyl chloride with plasma for 10 min could reduce interference approximately 5.5-fold, and there was no significant reduction after 30 min. The limit of quantitative concentration for medrogestone in HPLC was 1 ng/ml. The standard curves were linear with the correlation coefficient greater than 0.999 in the range of 1-30 ng/ml. The coefficients of variation of both intra- and inter-day mean values were <12% and <10% of the actual values, respectively. The developed method for plasma sample preparation and the evaluated HPLC condition were further applied to an in vivo pharmacokinetic study.

A new epimeric pair of mono-THF annonaceous acetogenins from Goniothalamus gardneri.

From the roots of Goniothalamus gardneri Hook f. et. Thoms (Annonaceae), we have isolated a novel epimeric pair, gardnerinin ( 1) and 34- EPI-gardnerinin ( 1'), characterized by the presence of a gamma-hydroxymethyl-gamma-lactone moiety. These compounds represent an unusual type of mono-THF Annonaceous acetogenins, bearing one flanking hydroxy group on the hydrocarbon side, and another hydroxy group on the lactone side, that is only one carbon away from the THF ring.