[Correlation of traditional Chinese medicine to reduced re-admission risk in ankylosing spondylitis patients with dampness-heat syndrome: a retrospective cohort study].

This study aimed to analyze the impact of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) on the risk of re-admission for ankylosing spondylitis(AS) patients with dampness-heat syndrome. In this study, a telephone follow-up was conducted on 1 295 AS inpatients, and after screening and exclusions, 1 044 successfully followed-up patients were included. A retrospective cohort study was conducted using propensity score matching(PSM), and a Cox proportional risk model was employed to assess the effect of various factors on the risk of re-admission for AS patients with dampness-heat syndrome. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to analyze the effect of TCM intervention time on re-admission. The incidence rate of dampness-heat syndrome in AS patients was found to be 51.3% in this study. After 1∶1 PSM, 385 AS patients with dampness-heat syndrome and 385 AS patients without dampness-heat syndrome were included for analysis. The results indicated that the re-admission rate was higher for patients with dampness-heat syndrome compared with those without dampness-heat syndrome(P<0.05). AS patients with dampness-heat syndrome in the TCM group had a lower admission rate than those in the non-TCM group(P=0.01). The cox proportional risk model demonstrated that TCM was an independent protective factor, as it reduced the risk of re-admission by 35%(HR=0.35, 95%CI[0.26, 0.95], P<0.05). Moreover, the subgroup with high exposure(time to use Chinese medicine >12 months) had a significantly lower risk of re-admission than that with low TCM exposure(time to use Chinese medicine ≤12 months). The re-admission rate for AS patients with dampness-heat syndrome was higher than that without dampness-heat syndrome, and TCM was identified as a protective factor in reducing the risk of re-admission. Furthermore, a longer duration of TCM intervention was associated with a lower risk of re-admission.

[Effect of human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene antisense oligonucleotide on sensitivity of gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer cell].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether antisense oligonucleotides (ASODN) targeting hTERT mRNA could sensitize human pancreatic cancer cell to gemcitabine in vitro. METHODS: hTERT mRNA expression was measured by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Telomerase activity was examined by TRAP, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and silver staining. The proliferation capacity and the apoptosis of cancer cells were evaluated by MTT assay and double staining with both Annexin V-FITC and PI. RESULTS: Transient transfection in human pancreatic cancer cell with hTERT ASODN diminished the abundance of hTERT mRNA in a concentration-dependent fashion. And 0.2 micromol/L ASODN decreased the telomerase activity by 0.47-fold in cancer cell. The IC(50) value of gemcitabine in ASODN-transfected cell was (0.8 +/- 0.2) micromol/L while that in oligofectamine-transfected control cell (7.3 +/- 0.9) micromol/L with a statistically significant difference. hTERT ASODN significantlly increased the gemcitabine-induced apoptosis rate in pancreatic cancer cell. The gemcitabine-induced apoptosis rate in ASODN-transfected cell was 60.28% while that in oligofectamine-transfected control cell 17.34%. CONCLUSION: hTERT antisense oligodeoxynucleotide can increase the sensitivity of pancreatic cancer cell to gemcitabine. The mechanism may be due to the down-regulated expression of hTERT mRNA and telomerase activity.