Spectrum-effect relationship between HPLC fingerprint and hypoglycemic of litchi leaves (Litchi chinensis Sonn) in vitro.

Litchi chinensis Sonn (Litchi) has been listed in the Chinese Pharmacopeia, and is an economically and medicinally valuable species within the family Sapindaceae. However, the material basis of its pharmacological action and the pharmacodynamic substances associated with its hypoglycemic effect are still unclear. The predominant objective of this study was to establish the fingerprint profile of litchi leaves and to evaluate the relationship between the components of the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprint of litchi leaves, assess its hypoglycemic effect by measuring α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibition, and find the spectrum-effect relationship of litchi leaves by bivariate correlation analysis, Grey relational analysis and partial least squares regression analysis. In this study, the fingerprint of litchi leaves was established by HPLC, and a total of 15 common peaks were identified that clearly calibrated eight components, with P1 being gallic acid, P2 being protocatechuic acid, P3 being catechin, P6 being epicatechin, P12 being rutin, P13 being astragalin, P14 being quercetin and P15 being kaempferol. The similarities between the fingerprints of 11 batches of litchi leaves were 0.766-0.979. Simultaneously, the results of the spectrum-effect relationship showed that the chemical constituents represented by peaks P8, P3, P12, P14, P2, P13, and P11 were relevant to the hypoglycemic effect.

Utility of Alpha-Fetoprotein and Ultrasound in the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Patients with Hepatocellular Liver Cancer.

Objective: To investigate the utility of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and ultrasound in the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with hepatocellular liver cancer (HCC). Methods: Using retrospective convenience sampling, 401 patients with HCC who underwent transarterial chemoembolisation at the Department of Oncology of The Affiliated Huaian No.1 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University between June 2015 and January 2020 were recruited and assigned to the case group. Simultaneously, patients matched to the case group in terms of gender and age but excluded for HCC were enrolled at a 1:1 ratio and classified as the control group. Relevant parameters were collected from both groups for comparison. Results: Both AFP levels and ultrasound results demonstrated diagnostic value for patients with HCC (P < 0.05). Their combined use exhibited the highest diagnostic accuracy for the cancer, with an area under the curve of 0.896 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.876, 0.923), a sensitivity of 67.65% and a specificity of 91.22%. In terms of overall survival (OS), statistically significant differences in the OS rates were observed between the low-AFP (L-AFP) group and high-AFP (H-AFP) group as well as between the low-tumour-diameter (LTD) group and high-tumour-diameter (HTD) group (81.31% vs 52.22% and 85.11% vs 63.41%, respectively; P < 0.05). Regarding the progression-free survival (PFS), significant differences in the PFS rates were also noted between the L-AFP and H-AFP groups and between the LTD and HTD groups (81.31% vs 52.22% and 85.11% vs 63.41%, respectively; P < 0.05). Conclusion: Ultrasound and AFP display notable distinctions when used in the diagnosis of HCC. The sensitivity of ultrasound as a standalone diagnostic tool surpasses that of AFP alone. However, their combined use results in much higher specificity than the use of either test individually. In addition, both techniques hold predictive value for patients' OS and PFS, enabling timely prognostic assessment.

Application of the Left Lateral Decubitus Position in Laparoscopic Right Posterior Lobectomy.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the value of the left lateral decubitus position in laparoscopic right posterior lobe tumor resection. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The clinical data of patients who underwent laparoscopic right posterior lobectomy from January 2020 to March 2023 were retrospectively collected and divided into group A (left lateral decubitus position group, n=30) and group B (conventional position group, n=35) according to different body positions. Intraoperative and postoperative data were collected and compared between the 2 groups. RESULTS: The operation time (210.43±57.56 vs. 281.97±65.89, t =5.887, P <0.05), hilar occlusion time (23.97±14.25 vs. 35.79±12.62, t =4.791, P <0.05), intraoperative blood loss (162.14±72.61 vs. 239.65±113.56, t =5.713, P <0.05), postoperative feeding time (1.13±0.36 vs. 1.57±0.67, t =3.681, P <0.05), postoperative visual analog scale score (5.16±0.89 vs. 7.42±1.31, t =3.721, P <0.05), postoperative abdominal drainage tube indwelling time (4.58±1.34 vs. 5.42±1.52, t =4.553, P <0.05), incidence rate of complications (43.33% vs. 82.86%, χ 2 =11.075, P <0.05) in group A were lower than those in group B ( P <0.05). Symptoms/side effects (32.42±3.42 vs. 27.44±3.31, t =4.331, P <0.05), and there were significant differences in social function (33.55±2.56 vs. 29.31±3.32, t =4.863, P <0.05). CONCLUSION: For right posterior lobe tumors of the liver, the left lateral decubitus position has many advantages in laparoscopic right posterior lobectomy, such as a wide field of view, simple steps, a short operation time, less bleeding, and a high postoperative quality of life. It is an effective treatment for right posterior lobe tumors of the liver and is worthy of being widely popularized.

Highly thermal conductive shape-stabilized composite phase change materials based on boron nitride and expanded graphite for solar thermal applications.

Phase change heat storage technology is a good way to solve the problem that the temperature of solar hot water outlet is affected by the time domain. A stearic acid (SA)-benzamide (BA) eutectic mixture is a potential phase change material (PCM), but it still has the disadvantages of low thermal conductivity and liquid leakage. In this work, a new high thermal conductive shape-stabilized composite PCM was prepared by adding boron nitride (BN) and expanded graphite (EG) to a melted SA-BA eutectic mixture using an ultrasonic and melt adsorption method, and its phase change temperature, latent heat, crystal structure, morphology, thermal conductivity, chemical stability, thermal stability, cycle stability and leakage characteristics were characterized. The results indicates that the addition of BN and EG significantly improved the thermal conductivity of the SA-BA eutectic mixture, and they efficiently adsorbed the melted SA-BA eutectic mixture. Besides, when the mass fractions of BN and EG are 15 wt% and 20 wt%, respectively, the 15BN20EG composite has almost no liquid phase leakage. When the melting enthalpy and temperature of 15BN20EG are 132.35 J g-1 and 65.21 °C, respectively, the thermal conductivity of the 15BN20EG is 6.990 W m-1 K-1, which is 20.601 times that of the SA-BA eutectic mixture. Moreover, 15BN20EG shows good thermal stability after 100 cycles and good chemical stability below 100 °C. Therefore, the 15BN20EG composite is considered as a potential candidate for solar thermal applications.

Effect of regulating the different proportions of Zr to Mn elements on the hydrogen storage properties of titanium-iron-manganese-hydrogen storage alloys.

The effect of regulating the different proportions (0, 1 : 3, 1 : 2 and 1 : 1) of Zr to Mn elements on the hydrogen storage properties of TiFe0.85-x Mn0.15Zr x (x = 0, 0.05, 0.075 and 0.15) alloys was systematically studied in this work. The results showed that all alloys mainly showed TiFe and MgZn2 type phases. The MgZn2 type phase went up with the proportion of Zr to Mn elements. At the same time, increasing the proportion of Zr to Mn elements enhanced the first hydrogenation properties. In addition, the x = 0.15 alloy showed the highest hydrogen storage capacity during the first hydrogenation process. This was because the MgZn2 type phase could improve the penetration of hydrogen atoms and enhance the diffusion of hydrogen atoms. During the test of prolonged air exposure, it was clear that the oxidation resistance also increased with the proportion of Zr to Mn elements. In addition to this, the effect of the starting particle size was also studied. When the length of the starting particle size was around 0.5 cm, the x = 0.05 alloy did not absorb any hydrogen within 1500 seconds. However, the x = 0.15 alloy could be activated in only around 100 seconds. Finally, the rate limiting step of the first hydrogenation and PCT properties were also investigated.

From non-targeted to targeted GC-MS metabolomics strategy for identification of TCM preparations containing natural and artificial musk.

BACKGROUND: Moschus is a rare and precious natural medicine. Due to the properties of resources scarcity and expensive price of natural musk, artificial musk has been developed as substitute materials in some prescriptions. Rapid and accurate identification of natural or artificial musk in complex traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) preparations is also a challenge. METHOD: A strategy from non-targeted to targeted gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) metabolomics was developed for discrimination of natural and artificial musk. Firstly, GC-MS-based non-targeted analysis combined with chemometrics was used to find the potential chemical markers to distinguish natural musk and artificial musk. Subsequently, targeted metabolomics was used to analyze musk in preparations with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode by use gas chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-QQQ MS). RESULTS: Two chemical markers named prasterone and androsterone have been selected and could be detected in all Compound Pien Tze Huang preparations (CPZHs) containing artificial musk, while the CPZHs containing natural musk did not detect two markers with S/N (signal to noise ratio) less than 3. CONCLUSION: Our work provides an applicable approach to select the practical chemical markers for the assessment of musk in preparations to realize the traceability of musk in TCM and improve the quality control of musk-containing preparations.

Isolation and Identification of Chemical Constituents from Zhideke Granules by Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Mass Spectrometry.

Chemical constituents from Zhideke granules were rapidly isolated and identified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled with hybrid quadrupole-orbitrap mass spectrometry (MS) in positive and negative ion modes using both full scan and two-stage threshold-triggered mass modes. The secondary fragment ion information of the target compound was selected and compared with the compound reported in databases and related literatures to further confirm the possible compounds. A total of 47 chemical constituents were identified from the ethyl acetate extract of Zhideke granules, including 21 flavonoids and glycosides, 9 organic acids, 4 volatile components, 3 nitrogen-containing compounds, and 10 other compounds according to the fragmentation patterns, relevant literature, and MS data. The result provides a new method for the analysis of chemical constituents of Zhideke granules which laid the foundation for quality control and the study of pharmacodynamic materials of Zhideke granules.

Alterations in mRNA profiles of trastuzumab­resistant Her­2­positive breast cancer.

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women. Neoadjuvant trastuzumab therapy improves the prognosis of certain Her­2­positive breast cancer patients, however around two­thirds of patients with Her­2­positive breast cancer do not benefit from Her­2­targeted therapy. To investigate the key mechanisms in trastuzumab resistance, potential biomarkers for neoadjuvant trastuzumab sensitivity were investigated using the gene expression omnibus (GEO) database for mRNA microarray data of Her­2­positive breast cancer patients who received neoadjuvant trastuzumab therapy. GEO profiles of 22 patients with a complete response and 48 patients with a partial response were identified in the GSE22358, GSE62327 and GSE66305 datasets. A total of 2,376, 1,000 and 1,152 differentially expressed genes in GSE22358, GSE62327 and GSE66305 datasets were demonstrated, respectively, utilizing GEO2R software. Furthermore, enriched gene ontology terms and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways were analyzed using the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery software. Subsequently, a protein­protein interaction network was established using STRING software. The results demonstrated that low sex­determining region Y­box 11 and high Bcl­2 expression may be employed as markers for neoadjuvant trastuzumab therapy for Her­2­positive breast cancer. More importantly, phosphoinositide 3­kinase/Akt and angiogenesis pathways, which are known to be the key targets of trastuzumab, were activated at a lower level in the partial response patients, while the Wnt and estrogen receptor signaling pathways were activated in these patients. Therefore, combination therapy of trastuzumab and anti­Wnt or hormone therapy may be a promising treatment modality and should be tested in further studies.

PKMYT1 promoted the growth and motility of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by activating beta-catenin/TCF signaling.

Over-activation of beta-catenin/TCF signaling has been frequently observed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Better understanding the molecular mechanism for the aberrant activation of beta-catenin/TCF signaling would provide novel insights into the treatment of this malignancy. In this study, we have shown that the expression of PKMYT1 was up-regulated in HCC. PKMYT1 positively regulated the growth, migration, colony formation, metastasis and epithelia mesenchymal transition (EMT) of HCC cells. Mechanically, PKMTY1 activated the beta-catenin/TCF signaling by binding and inactivating GSK3beta. Taken together, our study demonstrated the oncogenic activity of PKMYT1 in the progression of HCC and suggested that PKMYT1 might be a therapeutic target.

[Left cystic mature adrenal teratoma: a case report].

OBJECTIVE: Adrenal teratoma is a rare germline tumor with a malignant potential. We present a case of left adrenal teratoma complicated by diabetes. The 64-year-old female patient showed multiple cystic space-occupying masses in the left kidney in B-mode ultrasound examination, and plain and enhanced CT reported a 9.0 cm heterogeneous mass in the left adrenal gland. After effective control of blood glucose, the mass was surgically removed and sent for pathological examination. The mass consisted of multiple cysts containing lipid-like substance with a cyst wall thickness of 0.2-0.4 cm; bony structures were found on the sections of the mass with fat tissues on the mass surface. A final diagnosis of left cystic mature adrenal teratoma was made based on the clinical and pathological findings and literature review. The patient was followed up for 6 months and no local recurrence or metastasis was found. Mature adrenal teratoma can be easily diagnosed by ultrasound and CT examinations and should be distinguished from other tumors of an adrenal source. Early diagnosis and early surgical resection is key to the treatment, and a definite diagnosis can be made pathologically. Chemotherapy is necessary in inoperable cases or for such tumors with a malignant potential. The patients should be followed up for life time after the treatment.