[Discussion on methods for locating Xuehai (SP10) acupoint].

The position of Xuehai (SP10) is clear, but its locating method is vague, resulting in the disunity of clinical application and even possibly affecting the curative effect. Also, when learning the meridians and acupoints, the beginners are often confused by this issue possibly due to: ① when the bone-length proportional measurement combined with anatomic symbol (combination method) was adopted, it is not clear that the patient should take a posture of knee extension or knee flexion; ② when the combination method used, it is difficult to find the highest point of muscle eminence in the case of patient with thin vastus medialis muscle and fuzzy body surface projection; ③the simple method for locating SP10 is widely used at present, can it replace the combination method to locate this acupoint accurately？Guided by these questions, we, in the present paper, reviewed the rela-ted textbooks, works and other literature to explore the standard position of SP10, and the standard and simple methods for locating this acupoint. Comprehending various opinions, we hold that SP10 should be positioned under the extended knee posture, then, the acupoint's horizontal ordinate "2 cun superior to the medial end of the base of the patella" is determined by using bone-length proportional measurement to measure 2 cun from the bottom to the tip of the patella. Then, the body surface anatomic symbol method is used, when, the patient is asked to stretch the leg and contract the vastus medialis muscle, the highest spot of muscular eminence is the SP10. If the patient's muscular protuberance is not obvious, the middle line between the medial and lateral margins of the vastus medialis muscle is used as the vertical ordinate, and its intersection with the abscissa is SP10. The simple method is easy in operation and has a reference value, but may frequently produce errors, hence, it is not a substitution for the combination method.

Antiproliferative Activity of 8-methoxy Ciprofloxacin-Hydrozone/Acylhydrazone Scaffolds.

AIMS: A series of 8-methoxy ciprofloxacin- hydrazone/acylhydrazone hybrids were evaluated for their activity against a panel of cancer cell lines including HepG2 liver cancer cells, MCF-7, doxorubicin- resistant MCF-7 (MCF-7/DOX) breast cancer cells, DU-145 and multidrug-resistant DU145 (MDR DU-145) prostate cancer cells to seek for novel anticancer agents. BACKGROUND: Ciprofloxacin with excellent pharmacokinetic properties as well as few side effects, is one of the most common used antibacterial agents. Notably, Ciprofloxacin could induce cancer cells apoptosis, and cell cycle arrest at the S/G2 stage. The structure-activity relationship reveals that the introduction of the methoxy group into the C-8 position of the fluoroquinolone moiety has resulted in a greater binding affinity to the binding site, and 8-methoxy ciprofloxacin derivatives have proved a variety of biological activities even against drug-resistant organisms. However, to the best of our current knowledge, there are no studies that have reported the anticancer activity of 8-methoxy ciprofloxacin derivatives so far. Furthermore, many fluoroquinolone-hydrazone/acylhydrazone hybrids possess promising anticancer activity. Thus, it is rational to screen the anticancer activity of 8-methoxy ciprofloxacin derivatives. OBJECTIVE: To enrich the structure-activity relationship and provide new anticancer candidates for further investigations. METHODS: The desired 8-methoxy ciprofloxacin-hydrazone/acylhydrazone hybrids 5 and 6 were screened for their in vitro anticancer activity against liver cancer cells HepG2, breast cancer cells MCF-7, MCF7/DOX, prostate cancer cells DU-145 and MDR DU-145 by MTT assay. RESULTS: Some of 8-methoxy ciprofloxacin-hydrazone hybrids showed potential activity against HepG2, MCF-7, MCF-7/DOX, DU-145 and MDR DU-145 cancer cell lines, low cytotoxicity towards VERO cells and promising inhibitory activity on tubulin polymerization. CONCLUSION: Compounds 5d and 5f showed promising anticancer activity, low cytotoxicity, and potential tubulin polymerization inhibitory activity, were worthy of investigation. Other: The structure-activity relationship was enriched.