Three New Isomeric Indole Alkaloids from Nauclea officinalis.

Three new isomeric monoterpene indole alkaloids, naucleofficines I-III (1-3, resp.) were isolated from the stems (with bark) of Nauclea officinalis. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic methods and single-crystal diffraction analyses. The cytotoxic activities of 1-3 against human colon cancer, human gastric cancer, and human hepatoma cells were also investigated.

Two new triterpenoids from Nauclea officinalis.

Two new triterpenoids and three 27-nor-triterpenoids were isolated from the stems (with bark) of Nauclea officinalis. Their structures were identified to be 2ß,3ß,19α,23-tetrahydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid (1), 2ß,3ß,19α,23-tetrahydroxy-urs-12-en-28-O-[ß-D-glucopyranosyl (1-2)-ß-D-glucopyranosyl] ester (2), pyrocincholic acid 3ß-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (3), pyrocincholic acid 3ß-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosy 1-28-O-ß-D-glucopyranosyl ester (4), pyrocincholic acid 3ß-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosy1-28-O-ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-6)-ß-D-glucopyranosyl ester (5) by spectroscopic methods including 1D, 2D NMR and HR-MS analyses. The cytotoxic activity of 1-5 against lung cancer A-549 cells was also investigated.

Laparoscopic Versus Open Surgery for Mid-Low Rectal Cancer: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Short- and Long-Term Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: The safety of laparoscopic surgery for mid-low rectal cancer treatment has remained controversial, especially regarding the long-term outcomes. The aim of this study was to demonstrate whether the laparoscopic technique is feasible. METHODS: We searched all of studies that compared the short- or long-term outcomes regarding laparoscopic and open rectal cancer surgeries (the tumour distance from anal verge within 10 cm). The data sources included PubMed, EMBASE, OVID, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library databases. The combined outcome of the dichotomous variables was expressed as an estimation of the odds ratios and continuous variables were presented in the form of weighted mean differences with 95% credible intervals. Subgroup, publication bias and sensitivity analyses were performed. RESULTS: Thirteen studies met the final inclusion criteria (total n = 3,678). The pooled analyses showed, despite longer operation times, that there were significantly less blood loss, fewer transfusions, shorter times to bowel function recovery, resumed diet and hospital durations, and lower overall complication and wound infection rates. The compared results of the lymph node harvest number, distal resection margin, circumferential resection margin involvement, local and distant recurrences, disease-free survival and overall survival were similar between both groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the safety and feasibility of laparoscopic surgery appear to be equivalent to open surgery for treatment of mid- low rectal cancer, with the more favourable short-term benefits, fewer complications, comparable pathological outcomes and long-term outcomes.

Anti-inflammatory effect of hydroxyethylpuerarin on focal brain ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats.

The objective of this study is to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of hydroxyethylpuerarin on focal brain ischemia injury in rats and to explore its mechanisms of action. After 24 h of reperfusion following 2 h of cerebral ischemia, the infiltration of neutrophils was observed by myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity determination, the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) was observed by western blot and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis, and the nuclear translocation and DNA binding activity of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) were observed by western blot and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). The results showed that hydroxyethylpuerarin could obviously inhibit the MPO activity and ICAM-1 expression following 2 hours of ischemia with 24 hours of reperfusion. The nuclear translocation and DNA binding activity were also decreased by hydroxyethylpuerarin treatment. These results suggested that hydroxyethylpuerarin could inhibit neutrophil-mediated inflammatory response after brain ischemia reperfusion in rats. This effect may be mediated by down-regulation of ICAM-1 and NF-kappaB activity.