[Discussion about risk and management of Chinese patent medicine with double identity].

Chinese patent medicine with double identity was a special phenomenon, and many preparations not only were prescription drugs but also over the counter ( OTC) drugs, which brought a lot of trouble. Based on statistics of list of OTC medicines of CFDA, related varieties, route of administration and functions of these drugs were searched. The causes of insufficient were analyzed and the potential risk was investigated. To ensure the safety of drug usage for the patient, risk management system should be set up by improving the technical requirements for registration, improving the drug labels and manuals, playing the role of pharmacists in pharmacy services and raising awareness of doctor and patient for these drugs.

[Construction of a melon genetic map with fruit and seed QTLs].

A genetic map of melon was constructed using 143 F2 population developed from a cross between two distant lines Ano2 of Japan and Hami melon K413. The map contains 12 linkage groups and 142 markers, including 121 AFLPs, 16 SSRs, 3 STSs, 2 trait markers and covers 1 014.2 cM. Composite interval mapping (CIM) method was used to detect QTLs involved in melon fruit and seed traits: fruit length (FL), fruit width (FW), fruit shape (length/width, FS), centre sugar (CS), edge sugar (ES), flesh texture (FT), seed length (SL), seed width (SW), seed shape (SS), and seed weight (SW). The result showed that Flesh was located between AFLP markers NDAA and NCFA on C9. A total of 25 QTLs were detected for other traits and some QTLs were co-located with each other. The QTLs Sl5.1, Sw5.1, and Swt5.1 located on linkage C5 between NCA and N73C explained a significant portion of associated phenotypic variation (R2=17%, 19%, 23%). The allele from Ano2 obviously suppressed the length, width, and weight of melon seed; the QTLs between N73A and NFDA on C8 were involved in seed width, shape, and weight; the QTL Fs8.1 on C8 was detected using both F2 and F3 fruit data and explained a significant portion of phenotypic variation 25% and 19%. Fs8.1 showed partly dominant, and the allele from Ano2 sup-pressed elongation of fruit to form round melon. The QTLs related to centre sugar, edge sugar, and fruit texture were also detected in this research.

[Evaluation of jaws-only intensity-modulated radiation therapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility and efficiency of jaws-only intensity-modulated radiation therapy (JO-IMRT) in treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) using direct aperture optimization (DAO) technique and the independent jaws of linear accelerator. METHODS: Both JO-IMRT and MLC-IMRT were planed in 10 NPC cases. The differences in the target coverage and dose uniformity, as well as the total monitor units and delivery times of the two IMRT plans were compared. RESULTS: All the tested plans met the clinical requirement of the designed simplified IMRT (sIMRT). The conformal index (CI) of JO-IMRT and MLC-IMRT were 0.941±0.015 and 0.981±0.013, respectively (P<0.001), showing a minor superiority of MLC-IMRT. While controlling the total segment numbers to approach the limitation of sIMRT, the two therapies showed a total MU of 474.3 and 419.6 (P<0.05) with delivery times of 8.0 and 7.5 min (P<0.01), respectively. The efficiency of JO-IMRT was slightly lower than that of MLC-IMRT. CONCLUSION: JO-IMRT can meet the sIMRT requirement in NPC treatment, and is feasible as an alternative treatment modality for the centers not equipped with MLC in their accelerators.

[Inhibitory effects of recombinant adenovirus carrying human endostatin gene on the growth of human pancreatic carcinoma xenograft in nude mice].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the inhibitory effect of recombinant adenovirus carrying human endostatin gene (Ad-endo) on the growth of human pancreatic carcinoma xenograft in nude mice. METHODS: The expression of endostatin in human pancreatic carcinoma Capan-2 cells was examined by RT-PCR after infection with Ad-endo. The supernatants of Capan-2 cells were collected after 48 h of infection with Ad-endo as the conditioned medium for human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), whose proliferation in vitro was assayed. Capan-2 cell xenografts were established to determine the antitumoral effects of Ad-endo in vivo. The intratumoral microvessel density (MVD) was evaluated using CD31 staining. RESULTS: The expression of endostatin gene was detected by PT-PCR in infected Capan-2 cells. The conditioned medium from Ad-endo-infected cells significantly inhibited HUVEC proliferation (P<0.05). Ad-endo significantly suppressed the growth of Capan-2 tumor xenografts in nude mice (P<0.05), and the MVD decreased significantly in the treated tumor (P<0.05) as compared with that in the control group. CONCLUSION: Adenovirus carrying human endostatin gene produces inhibitory effects on the growth of human pancreatic carcinoma tumors in nude mice.

Dose-response efficacy of a proprietary probiotic formula of Lactobacillus acidophilus CL1285 and Lactobacillus casei LBC80R for antibiotic-associated diarrhea and Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea prophylaxis in adult patients.

OBJECTIVES: Standard therapies for antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) and Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) have limited efficacy. Probiotic prophylaxis is a promising alternative for reduction of AAD and CDAD incidence. METHODS: In this single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled dose-ranging study, we randomized 255 adult inpatients to one of three groups: two probiotic capsules per day (Pro-2, n=86), one probiotic capsule and one placebo capsule per day (Pro-1, n=85), or two placebo capsules per day (n=84). Each probiotic capsule contained 50 billion c.f.u. of live organisms (Lactobacillus acidophilus CL1285 +Lactobacillus casei LBC80R Bio-K+ CL1285). Probiotic prophylaxis began within 36 h of initial antibiotic administration, continued for 5 days after the last antibiotic dose, and patients were followed for an additional 21 days. RESULTS: Pro-2 (15.5%) had a lower AAD incidence vs. Pro-1 (28.2%). Each probiotic group had a lower AAD incidence vs. placebo (44.1%). In patients who acquired AAD, Pro-2 (2.8 days) and Pro-1 (4.1 days) had shorter symptom duration vs. placebo (6.4 days). Similarly, Pro-2 (1.2%) had a lower CDAD incidence vs. Pro-1 (9.4%). Each treatment group had a lower CDAD incidence vs. placebo (23.8%). Gastrointestinal symptoms were less common in the treatment groups vs. placebo and in Pro-2 vs. Pro-1. CONCLUSIONS: The proprietary probiotic blend used in this study was well tolerated and effective for reducing risk of AAD and, in particular, CDAD in hospitalized patients on antibiotics. A dose-ranging effect was shown with 100 billion c.f.u., yielding superior outcomes and fewer gastrointestinal events compared to 50 billion c.f.u. (ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT00958308).

[Measurements and comparisons for data of small beams of linear accelerators].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Accurate data acquisition is very important to establish a reliable dose calculation model of the treatment planning system for small radiation fields in intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT). This study was to analyze and compare small-field measurements using different methods and ionization chambers. METHODS: Three types of farmer chambers were used, with active volumes of 0.65 cc, and 0.13 cc, 0.01 cc, respectively. The beam data, including the total scatter factor (Scp), collimator scatter factor (Sc), tissue-maximum ratio (TMR), were acquired in a 30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm3 water phantom under two linear accelerators. Measurements were performed at accelerating potentials of 4, 6, and 8 MV with the beam size ranging from 1 cm x 1 cm to 10 cm x 10 cm. The measurements were analyzed and compared. RESULTS: For the beam size of >or=3 cm x 3 cm, the differences in Scp and Sc measurements of the 0.65 cc, 0.13 cc and 0.01 cc ion chambers were within 0.8%, while the differences were much greater for the beam size of less than 3 cm x 3 cm (the maximum difference reached 64%). Using 4, 6 and 8 MV X-rays, Sc measured by the 0.13 cc chamber with an elongated source-to-surface distance (SSD) (>150 cm) were 25.4%, 6.9%, 24.6%, and 1.4%, 1.4%, 2.2% greater than those measured by a standard SSD (100 cm) for 1 cm x 1 cm and 2 cm x 2 cm beams respectively; although there was no significant difference in Sc measurements for the beams of >or=2 cm x 2 cm using the elongated SSD of the 0.13 cc and the 0.01 cc ion chambers, Sc measured by the 0.13 cc ion chamber were 0.2%, 8.5%, 3.4% less than those measured by the 0.01 cc ion chamber for the 1 cm x 1 cm beam. For the 1 cm x 1 cm beam, the TMR of the depth deeper than 15 cm measured with the 0.01 cc ion chamber was about 4% different compared with that measured with the 0.13 cc ion chamber; for radiation fields of >or=2 cm x 2 cm, the differences of TMR between the 0.01 cc and 0.13 cc chambers were within 1%. For the radiation fields of >or=3 cm x 3 cm, the measured TMR values had a good consistency with the calculated values obtained from the percentage depth doses (PDDs) at the depth of 0 to 15 cm; but the two values were obviously different at the depths of deeper than 15 cm (>2%). CONCLUSIONS: For the measurement of small fields, the choice of a suitable detector is important due to the lack of lateral electron equilibrium. Misuse of the detector may affect the accuracy of the measurements for small radiation fields. When the lateral electron equilibrium is not established, the size of the detector used to measure the absorbed dose on the central axis should be considerably smaller than the field size.