Novel Tubeimoside I liposomal drug delivery system in combination with gemcitabine for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Aim: To evaluate the anti-pancreatic cancer effect of novel Tubeimoside I multifunctional liposomes combined with gemcitabine.Methods: Liposomes were prepared through the thin film hydration method, with evaluations conducted on parameters including encapsulation efficiency (EE%), particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential (ZP), storage stability, and release over a 7-day period. The cellular uptake rate, therapeutic efficacy in vitro and in vivo and the role of immune microenvironment modulation were evaluated.Results: The novel Tubeimoside I multifunctional liposomal exhibited good stability, significant anti-cancer activity, and immune microenvironment remodeling effects. Furthermore, it showed a safety profile.Conclusion: This study underscores the potential of Novel Tubeimoside I multifunctional liposomal as a promising treatment option for pancreatic cancer.

[Box: see text].

A Lymphoepithelioma-Like Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma With Massive Multinucleated Giant Cell Reaction.

Lymphoepithelioma-like intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (LEL-ICC) is a rare liver tumor that appears as a hepatic nodule on imaging with a specific pathological pattern, and the definitive diagnosis relies on its pathological histomorphology, immunophenotype, and Epstein-Barr encoding region test. Radical surgical resection is the primary treatment modality, and immunotherapy is expected to be a new adjuvant treatment option. LEL-ICC with massive multinucleated giant cell infiltration has not been reported so far. In this article, we report a patient with LEL-ICC showing massive multinucleated giant cell infiltration, review the relevant literature, and analyze its clinicopathological features and prognosis to accumulate experience for the accurate diagnosis of LEL-ICC.

Evans syndrome suggests disease progression in lung adenocarcinoma.

We admitted a 60-year-old male patient diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma who had a shrinking lung cancer mass after radiotherapy and 6 cycles of chemotherapy, but developed facial inflammation 2 weeks after the end of the final chemotherapy treatment, and was admitted to the hospital with anemia and thrombocytopenia, and diagnosed with Evans syndrome, and brain metastasis of lung cancer was found in the course of the consultation, which suggested disease progression. Evans syndrome was seen as a paraneoplastic syndrome.

STAT3 mediates ECM stiffness-dependent progression in ovarian cancer.

The treatment of ovarian cancer remains a medical challenge and its malignant progression is connected with obvious changes in both tissue and cell stiffness. However, the accurate mechanical-responsive molecules and mechanism remains unclear in ovarian cancer. Based on our previous results combined with the crucial regulatory role of STAT3 in the malignant progression of various cancer types, we want to investigate the relationship between STAT3 and matrix stiffness in ovarian cancer and further explore the potential mechanisms. Collagen-coated polyacrylamide gels (1, 6, and 60 kPa) were prepared to mimic soft or hard matrix stiffness. Western blotting, qRT-PCR, flow cytometry, IHC, EdU assays, and TEM were used to evaluate the effect of STAT3 in vitro under different matrix stiffnesses. Furthermore, a BALB/c nude mouse model was established to assess the relationship in vivo. Our results confirmed the differential expression of STAT3/p-STAT3 not only in normal and malignant ovarian tissues but also under different matrix stiffnesses. Furthermore, we verified that STAT3 was a mechanically responsive gene both in vitro and in vivo, and the mechanical response was carried out by altering the migration-related molecules (TNFAIP1) and adhesion-related molecules (LPXN, CNN3). The novel findings suggest that STAT3, a potential therapeutic target for clinical diagnosis and treatment, is a mechanically responsive gene that responds to matrix stiffness, particularly regulation in migration and adhesion in the progression of ovarian cancer.

Yanghe decoction attenuated pain hypersensitivity induced by michigan cancer foundation-7 injection in rats with bone metastases from breast cancer by inhibiting transient receptor potential ankyrin 1.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect and underlying mechanisms of Chinese medicine Yanghe decoction on pain relief in a rat model of bone metastasis of breast cancer induced by michigan cancer foundation-7 (MCF-7). METHODS: Bone pain was induced in the tibia of rats injected with MCF-7 cells. The Chinese herbal remedy was used to decoct Yanghe decoction for the treatment of bone pain rats. The behavior study was carried out to evaluate the paw mechanical withdraw threshold and thermal withdraw latency. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, Western blotting, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunohistochemical (IHC) staining were performed for analysis. RESULTS: Yanghe decoction could improve the defensive behavior similar to the transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) inhibitor. In morphology study, Yanghe decoction could attenuate the cellular growth as well as inflammatory infiltration in the metastasis group. Furthermore, Yanghe decoction downregulated the TRPA1 expression on the dorsal root ganglion from the metastatic rats at both transcriptional and protein level. Yanghe decoction alleviated the inflammation in metastatic tissues by hematoxylin-eosin and IHC analysis, and Yanghe decoction also reduced the inflammatory cytokines production in the serum including tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6, interleukin-1 beta by ELISA. As the cytochromec oxidase subunit II/prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is required for cancer development, Yanghe decoction reduced the expression of PGE2 in the tissue and serum. CONCLUSION: Taken together, Yanghe decoction protected the rats from breast cancer bone metastasis through TRPA1 signaling mediated neuropathic pain and additional immune modulation in tumor microenvironment.

Effect of ultra-mini percutaneous nephrolithotomy and ShuoTong ureteroscopy on the stress response, inflammatory indices, and urokinase level in patients with polycystic kidney disease complicated with renal calculus.

This study aimed to explore the effects of ultra-mini percutaneous nephrolithotomy (UMP) combined with ShuoTong ureteroscopy on the stress response, inflammation indicators and urokinase levels in patients with polycystic kidney disease and kidney stones. In this study, 42 patients with polycystic kidney disease and kidney stones diagnosed and treated in our hospital from February 2018 to February 2021 were selected as the research objects. They were randomly divided into the control group and the study group, with 21 cases in each group, and the control group adopted Ultra-mini percutaneous nephrolithotomy treatment; the study group was combined with ShuoTong ureteroscopy on the basis of the control group, and compared and analyzed the stress response, inflammation indexes, urokinase level, renal function, complications and stone clearance rate of the two groups of patients. After treatment, the average operation time, channel establishment time, hemoglobin decline, number of puncture channels, and hospital stay in the study group were significantly shorter than those in the control group (P<0.05); after treatment, the reduction in CRP and PCT in the study group was significantly higher than that in the control group The increase of Ang I and Ang II in the control group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05); the improvement of PGE2, NO, and LPO levels in the study group was significantly higher than that in the control group after treatment (P<0.05); the study group TH, Cys- The levels of C and ß2-MG were significantly lower than those of the control group; the UK levels of the study group were significantly lower than those of the control group (P<0.05); the complication rate of 14.29% in the study group after treatment was significantly lower than that of the control group 33.33%; the study group The stone clearance rate of 95.24% was significantly higher than that of the control group 80.95% (P<0.05). In general, UMP combined with ShuoTong ureteroscopy is used to treat polycystic kidney with kidney stones, accurately determine the tip position of the needle sheath, ensure that the needle sheath enters the collection system to adjust its position, reduce patient stress and inflammation, improve safety and feasibility, and is worthy of clinical practice Promote applications.

Correlation of the detection rate of upper GI cancer with artificial intelligence score: results from a multicenter trial (with video).

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The quality of EGD is a prerequisite for a high detection rate of upper GI lesions, especially early gastric cancer. Our previous study showed that an artificial intelligence system, named intelligent detection endoscopic assistant (IDEA), could help to monitor blind spots and provide an operation score during EGD. Here, we verified the effectiveness of IDEA to help evaluate the quality of EGD in a large-scale multicenter trial. METHODS: Patients undergoing EGD in 12 hospitals were consecutively enrolled. All hospitals were equipped with IDEA developed using deep convolutional neural networks and long short-term memory. Patients were examined by EGD, and the results were recorded by IDEA. The primary outcome was the detection rate of upper GI cancer. Secondary outcomes were part scores, total scores, and endoscopic procedure time, which were analyzed by IDEA. RESULTS: A total of 17,787 patients were recruited. The total detection rate of cancer-positive cases was 1.50%, ranging from .60% to 3.94% in each hospital. The total detection rate of early cancer-positive cases was .36%, ranging from .00% to 1.58% in each hospital. The average total score analyzed by IDEA ranged from 64.87 ± 16.87 to 83.50 ± 9.57 in each hospital. The cancer detection rate in each hospital was positively correlated with total score (r = .775, P = .003). Similarly, the early cancer detection rate was positively correlated with total score (r = .756, P = .004). CONCLUSIONS: This multicenter trial confirmed that the quality of the EGD result is positively correlated with the detection rate of cancer, which can be monitored by IDEA. (Clinical trial registration number: ChiCTR2000029001.).

Mechanistic insights into the renoprotective role of curcumin in cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury: network pharmacology analysis and experimental validation.

Cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury (CP-AKI) is a severe complication in patients receiving CP chemotherapy. However, effective therapies for CP-AKI are currently lacking. Curcumin (CUR), a natural polyphenol, is extracted from the rhizome of turmeric and has been reported to have nephroprotective activity. However, the role of CUR in CP-AKI remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the mechanism of CUR in CP-AKI by combining a network pharmacology approach with experimental validations. The analysis revealed 176 potential targets of CUR based on the HERB database and 1,286 related targets of CP-AKI from the GeneCards, DrugBank, and OMIM databases. Further, 106 common targets of CUR against CP-AKI were obtained, and these common targets constructed a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. In addition, the core targets were screened from the PPI network using Cytoscape. Molecular docking revealed that CUR displayed the best binding to AKT1. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis indicated that the primary biological processes of CUR against CP-AKI included cellular response to chemical stress and apoptotic regulation. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis suggested that the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway was most significantly enriched in CUR against CP-AKI. Western blotting and flow cytometry showed that CUR inhibited apoptosis induced by CP by activating the Akt signaling pathway in human kidney tubular epithelial cells (HK-2). Altogether, our findings demonstrated that CUR alleviated apoptosis by activating the Akt signaling pathway in CP-AKI in vitro. These data provide a scientific basis for future investigations into the clinical application of CUR against CP-AKI.

Cancer incidence and mortality in Zhejiang Province, Southeast China, 2016: a population-based study.

BACKGROUNDS: Cancer is one of the main causes of death worldwide, seriously threatening human health and life expectancy. We aimed to analyze the cancer incidence and mortality rates during 2016 in Zhejiang Province, Southeast China. METHODS: Data were collected from 14 population-based cancer registries across Zhejiang Province of China. Cancer incidence and mortality rates stratified by sex and region were analyzed. The crude rate, age-standardized rate, age-specific and region-specific rate, and cumulative rate were calculated. The proportions of 10 common cancers in different groups and the incidence and mortality rates of the top five cancers in different age groups were also calculated. The Chinese national census of 2000 and the world Segi population was used for calculating the age-standardized incidence and mortality rates. RESULTS: The 14 cancer registries covered a population of 14,250,844 individuals, accounting for 29.13% of the population of Zhejiang Province. The total reported cancer cases and deaths were 55,835 and 27,013, respectively. The proportion of morphological verification (MV%) was 78.95% of the population, and percentage of incident cases identified through death certificates only (DCO%) was 1.23% with a mortality-to-incidence ratio (M/I ratio) of 0.48. The crude incidence rate in Zhejiang cancer registration areas was 391.80/105; the age-standardized incidence rate of the Chinese standard population (ASIRC) and the age-standardized incidence rate of the world standard population (ASIRW) were 229.76/105 and 220.96/105, respectively. The incidence rate in men was higher than that in women. The incidence rate increased rapidly after 45 years of age and peaked in individuals aged 80 to 84 years. The top 10 incidence rates of cancers were lung cancer, female breast cancer, thyroid cancer, colorectal cancer, stomach cancer, liver cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer, esophageal cancer, and pancreatic cancer (from highest to lowest). The crude mortality rate in Zhejiang cancer registration areas was 189.55/105; the age-standardized mortality rate of the Chinese standard population (ASMRC) and the age-standardized mortality rate of the world standard population (ASMRW) were 94.46/105 and 93.42/105, respectively. The mortality rate in men was higher than that in women, and the male population in rural areas was higher than that in urban areas. The cancer mortality rate increased rapidly after 50 years of age and peaked in individuals aged 85+ years. The top 10 mortality rates of cancers were lung cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, esophageal cancer, female breast cancer, prostate cancer, lymphoma, and leukemia (from highest to lowest). CONCLUSIONS: Lung cancer, female breast cancer, thyroid cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, liver cancer, and stomach cancer were the most common cancers in Zhejiang Province. Effective prevention and control measures should be established after considering the different characteristics of cancers in urban and rural areas.

Enhanced recovery after surgery pathway reduces the length of hospital stay without additional complications in lumbar disc herniation treated by percutaneous endoscopic transforaminal discectomy.

BACKGROUND: Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) pathway in spine surgery is increasingly popular which can reduce the length of hospital stay (LOS). However, there are few studies on the safety and effectiveness of ERAS pathway in the treatment of single-level lumbar disc herniation (LDH) by percutaneous endoscopic transforaminal discectomy (PETD). The aim of this study was to investigate whether ERAS can reduce LOS of patients with single segment LDH treated by PETD. METHODS: We reviewed the outcomes of all LDH patients (L4/5) who had been treated with PETD at our institution. Quasi-experimental study was adopted between patients treated in an ERAS after PETD with those rehabilitated on a traditional pathway. The two groups were analyzed for LOS, operation time, complications, visual analog scale (VAS), Oswestry Dysfunction Index (ODI), hospitalization expenses (HE), and improved MacNab efficacy assessment criteria (MacNab). RESULTS: A total of 120 single segment LDH patients (ERAS pathway 60 cases, traditional care pathway 60 cases) who were selected from January 2019 to January 2021 met the inclusion criteria. There was a significant difference in mean LOS postoperative VAS scores and ODI on the 3rd day after surgery between the two groups (P < 0.05). The incidence of complications and HE were similar in the two groups (P > 0.05). The mean LOS decreased from 3.47 ± 1.14 days to 5.65 ± 1.39 days after application of ERAS pathway (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The ERAS pathway reduced LOS without resulting in additional complications after PETD. These findings support the application of the perioperative ERAS pathway in the treatment of single-level LDH with PETD. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic.

Brief Report: HIV Testing, Diagnosis of HIV Infection, Linkage to Medical Care, and Interview for Partner Services Among Transgender Persons-United States, 2012-2017.

BACKGROUND: Transgender persons are at high risk for HIV infection. Testing is a key component of the national effort to end the HIV epidemic in the United States. SETTING: Sixty-one local and state health departments and 150 community-based organizations funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct HIV testing programs. METHODS: We analyzed HIV testing data submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by funded health departments and community-based organizations during 2012-2017. Descriptive analysis examined patterns of HIV testing and key outcomes (diagnosis of HIV infection, linkage to HIV medical care, and interview for partner services) among transgender persons. Multivariate robust Poisson regression was used to assess associations between HIV testing outcomes and demographic characteristics, census region, and test setting. RESULTS: A total of 82,818 HIV tests were provided to transgender persons. Of these, 2280 (2.8%) transgender persons were diagnosed with HIV infection; 1556 (1.9%) received a new and 724 (0.9%) a previous diagnosis with HIV infection. The highest percentage of new HIV diagnosis was found among persons tested in correctional settings (4.6%), non-Hispanic Blacks (3.5%) and transgender women (2.4%). Among newly diagnosed persons, 85.0% were linked to HIV medical care ≤90 days after diagnosis and 63.5% were interviewed for partner services. CONCLUSIONS: HIV positivity was high, and the delivery of partner services was low, among transgender persons. HIV testing outcomes among transgender persons varied significantly by demographic characteristics and test setting. HIV prevention programs that are responsive to the needs of transgender persons may address gender-related disparities in HIV testing outcomes.

Increased expression of LCN2 formed a positive feedback loop with activation of the ERK pathway in human kidney cells during kidney stone formation.

Kidney stones are a common threat to the health of elderly patients with a high incidence of disease. However, the specific molecular mechanism of the formation of kidney stones has not been elucidated. Here, we combined signalling molecules with signalling pathways in a double positive circulation regulation model. In addition, we found that LCN2 plays a role in promoting kidney stones through regulation of the ERK signalling pathway and expression of other kidney stone-related genes. LCN2 expression was upregulated upon oxalate stimulation. P-ERK1/2 inhibition by U0126 in kidney epithelial cells resulted in decreased expression of LCN2. Furthermore, the upregulation of LCN2 not only depended on the activation of the ERK signalling pathway but also regulated the activation of the ERK signalling pathway. Importantly, upregulation of LCN2 not only caused kidney epithelial cell damage but also promoted the expression of other kidney stone-related genes. Our findings improved the understanding of LCN2 and might lead to the development of new therapeutic and prognostic markers for kidney stones.

Complex foot deformities associated with lower limb deformities: a new therapeutic strategy for simultaneous correction using Ilizarov procedure together with osteotomy and soft tissue release.

AIM: The aim of the current study is to introduce a new therapeutic strategy for simultaneous correction of complex foot deformities (CFD) and the associated lower limb deformities (LLD) by using Ilizarov technique with osteotomy and soft tissue procedure and to report its early clinical results. METHODS: A retrospective review of CFD associated with LLD simultaneous correction utilizing the Ilizarov procedure together with osteotomy and soft tissue balance from 2015 to 2019 was conducted. RESULTS: Thirty-two patients were followed for an average of 42.8 months. The mean external fixation time (EFT) was 6.5 months. The mean healing index (HI) was 1.7 months/cm. At the time of fixator removal, plantigrade feet were achieved in all patient and lower limb deformities were corrected. No recurrence of the deformities occurred. The mean LLRS AIM score was improved from 7.5 to 0.3. At the final follow-up, the ASAMI-Paley score was graded as excellent in all limbs in the aspect of bone results, and functional results were defined as excellent in 29 (90.6%) limbs and good in 3 (9.4%) limbs. The mean modified Dimeglio score was significantly improved from 7.2 to 1.3. No deep infection of the osteotomy site or nonunion was noted in the current study. CONCLUSION: The therapeutic strategy by using the Ilizarov procedure together with osteotomy and soft tissue balance is a safe and effective way to simultaneously correct CFD and LLD. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, retrospective case series.

Use of the Nuclear Matrix Protein 22 BladderChek Test for the Detection of Primary and Recurrent Urothelial Carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of the nuclear matrix protein 22 (NMP22) BladderChek test in urothelial carcinoma (UC). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 1318 patients who performed the NMP22 BladderChek tests. Of them, 103 were primary UC patients, 90 were surgical treatment UC patients, and 1125 were benign disease patients. The performance of the NMP22 BladderChek test for the diagnosis of primary and recurrent UC was evaluated. Moreover, the performance of urine cytology and the NMP22 BladderChek test for the diagnosis of primary UC was compared in 90 available subjects including 48 primary UC patients and 42 benign disease patients. RESULTS: The sensitivity and specificity of the NMP22 BladderChek test were 37.9% and 95.8%, respectively, for the diagnosis of primary UC (n = 1228). The corresponding parameters of the NMP22 BladderChek test were 31.0% and 88.5%, respectively, for the diagnosis of recurrent UC (n = 90). The sensitivity and specificity of urine cytology were 54.2% and 97.6%, respectively, for the diagnosis of primary UC (n = 90); the corresponding parameters of the NMP22 BladderChek test were 41.7% and 83.3%, respectively; the corresponding parameters of the two tests combination were 64.6% and 83.3%, respectively. There was a significant difference in the performance between the NMP22 BladderChek test and urine cytology or the combination of two tests (P = 0.017 and 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The NMP22 BladderChek test has a low sensitivity for detecting primary and recurrent UC. Urine cytology is superior to the NMP22 BladderChek test, and combined use of the two tests improves the sensitivity in the detection of primary UC.

Improvement in the Analytical Capabilities of LA-ICP-MS for High Spatial Resolution U-Pb Dating of Zircon Using Mixed-Gas Plasma.

In this work, a novel method for high spatial resolution U-Pb dating of zircon by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) at 10-16 µm spot diameter has been proposed. This was achieved by introducing 2% (v/v) water-ethanol vapours into ICP in combination with the shielded torch system to increase the sensitivity and suppress the isotopic fractionation effect. Precise and accurate concordant U-Pb ages for Plesovice, GJ-1, and 91500 zircons were obtained using the proposed method, and the results agreed well with the isotope dilution-thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID-TIMS) and LA-ICP-MS within 2σ, except for the ages obtained using dry plasma at 10 µm spot diameter. Additionally, the effects of plasma condition (dry plasma or 2% (v/v) ethanol plasma) and spot size (10, 16, 24, or 32 µm) on precision (RSD), accuracy (RE), and uncertainty (2σ) of the 206Pb/238U ages have been studied. The results indicated that increasing the spot diameter and introducing 2% (v/v) water-ethanol vapours into ICP significantly improved the precision, accuracy, and uncertainty for small spot diameters (10 and 16 µm), while it exhibited little influence for intermediate spot diameters (24 and 32 µm). Furthermore, the effects of spot size and plasma condition on the precision, accuracy, and uncertainty strongly depended on the sensitivity of analytes.

Cancer cell membrane-cloaked mesoporous silica nanoparticles with a pH-sensitive gatekeeper for cancer treatment.

Nanoparticular drug delivery system (NDDS) has great potential for enhancing the efficacy of traditional chemotherapeutic drugs. However, it is still a great challenge to fabricate a biocompatible NDDS with simple structure capable of optimizing therapeutic efficacy, such as high tumor accumulation, suitable drug release profile (e.g. no premature drug leakage in normal physiological conditions while having a rapid release in cancer cells), low immunogenicity, as well as good biocompatibility. In this work, a simple core/shell structured nanoparticle was fabricated for prostate cancer treatment, in which a mesoporous silica nanoparticle core was applied as a container to high-efficiently encapsulate drugs (doxorubicin, DOX), CaCO3 interlayer was designed to act as sheddable pH-sensitive gatekeepers for controlling drug release, and cancer cell membrane wrapped outlayer could improve the colloid stability and tumor accumulation capacity. In vitro cell experiments demonstrated that the as-prepared nanovehicles (denoted as DOX/MSN@CaCO3@CM) could be efficiently uptaken by LNCaP-AI prostate cancer cells and even exhibited a better anti-tumor efficiency than free DOX. In addition, Live/Dead cell detection and apoptosis experiment demonstrated that MSN/DOX@CaCO3@CM could effectively induce apoptosis-related death in prostate cancer cells. In vivo antitumor results demonstrated that DOX/MSN@CaCO3@CM administration could remarkably suppress the tumor growth. Compared with other tedious approaches to optimize the therapeutic efficacy, this study provides an effective drug targeting system only using naturally biomaterials for the treatment of prostate cancer, which might have great potential in clinic usage.

Pharmacokinetic and tissue distributions study of adenosine, 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol and Parishin C from Gastrodia elata extract in rats.

The plant Gastrodia elata is a type of the orchid plant Gastrodia elata Bl. which contains glycosides, phenols, polysaccharides, sterols, and organic acids and a variety of active ingredients are proved to have certain pharmacological activities. To understand the process in the body of Gastridua elata, we used HPLC to study pharmacokinetics and tissue distributions of adenosine, 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol and Parishin C in rats. The results showed that the three ingredients could be detected in plasma and different organizations at various time points. There was no significant difference in systemic clearance at three ingredients and it may be show that the three ingredients distributed (0.475±0.025, 0.518±0.033, 0.699±0.051) quickly and eliminated (5.37±0.87, 4.54±0.69, 5.34±0.82) slowly in plasma. There was the highest content of adenosine in spleen, followed by liver and lung. The highest content of 4-hydroxybenzylacohol in liver, and was higher in spleen. Parishin C was highest in heart, followed by liver and spleen. It is obvious that the contents of three ingredients are all higher in liver. The trends of the three ingredients' contents in G. rhizome extract were consistent with the contents in the plasma after intravenous administration.

Amentoflavone induces apoptosis and suppresses glycolysis in glioma cells by targeting miR-124-3p.

Malignant glioma is the most common type of brain tumor with poor clinical outcome and survival. Therefore, it is imperative to develop novel therapeutic agents for managing glioma. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of amentoflavone (AF), an active flavonoid component in Selaginella tamariscina Spring, in glioma cells and the underlying mechanism of its action. Our results showed that miR-124-3p expression was significantly down-regulated in glioma tissues relative to normal brain tissues. AF decreased cell viability and triggered apoptosis in both glioma cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. AF induced apoptosis and inhibited glycolysis in the glioma cells by upregulating miR-124-3p. Furthermore, AF upregulated miR-124-3p by repressing DNMT1 through Sp1, which in turn was caused by the activation of ROS/AMPK signaling pathway by AF. In conclusion, AF could induce apoptosis and inhibited glycolysis in glioma cells via miR-124-3p. Our findings provide preliminary experimental data that support further investigation on the therapeutic efficacy of AF in glioma.

Carboxymethyl-hexanoyl Chitosan Nanodroplets for Ultrasonic Imaging and Drug Delivery to Tumor.

INTRODUCTION: Although a great many strategies have been proposed for tumor-targeted chemotherapy, current delivery methods of anticancer drugs present limited success with inevitable systemic toxicity. The aim of this study was to develop a new kind of theranostic carrier for targeted tumor therapy. METHODS: Prior to prepare CHC-PFP-DOX, carboxymethyl-hexanoyl chitosan (CHC) was synthesized by acylation of carboxymethyl chitosan. To develop CHC-PFP, perfluoropentane (PFP), an ultrasound gas precursor, was simultaneously encapsulated into the hydrophobic inner cores of pre-formulated CHC micelle in aqueous phase via using the oil in water (O/W) emulsion method. The size distribution and surface charges of these nanodroplets were measured and the morphology was observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). For ultrasound imaging application, in vitro model was established to evaluate the imaging of CHC-PFP-DOX under different concentration and mechanical index. After that, the anti-tumor effect of ultrasound combined with CHC-PFPDOX on ovarian cancer cells was investigated. RESULTS: The resulting CHC-PFP-DOX had a nano-sized particle structure, with hydrophobic anticancer DOX/PFP inner cores and a hydrophilic carboxymethyl chitosan polymer outer shell. The favorable nano-scaled size offers the potential to extravagate from veins and accumulate in tumor tissues via enhanced permeation and retention (EPR) effect. Additionally, CHC-PFP-DOX showed the ability to serve as ultrasound imaging agent at body temperature. Notably, it exhibited an ultrasound-triggered drug release profile through the external ultrasound irradiation. Further study demonstrated that ultrasound combined with CHC-PFP-DOX can improve the killing effect of chemotherapy for tumor. CONCLUSION: CHC-PFP-DOX holds great promise in simultaneous cancer-targeting ultrasound imaging and ultrasound- mediated delivery for cancer chemotherapy.

Iron-based magnetic superhalogens with pseudohalogens as ligands: An unbiased structure search.

We have performed an unbiased structure search for a series of neutral and anionic FeL4 (L = BO2, CN, NO2, NO3, OH, CH3, NH2, BH4 and Li2H3) clusters using the CALYPSO (Crystal structure Analysis by Particle Swarm Optimization) structure search method. To probe the superhalogen properties of neutral and anionic FeL4 clusters, we used density-functional theory with the B3LYP functional to examine three factors, including distribution of extra electron, pattern of bonding and the nature of the ligands. Theoretical results show that Fe(BO2)4, Fe(NO3)4 and Fe(NO2)4 can be classified as magnetic superhalogen due to that their electron affinities even exceed those of the constituent ligands. The magnetic moment of Fe atom is almost entirly maintained when it is decorated with various ligands except for neutral and anionic (Li2H3)4. Moreover, the current work is also extended to the salt moieties formed by hyperhalogen/superhalogen anion and Na+ ion. It is found that these salts against dissociation into Na + FeL4 are thermodynamic stable except for Na[Fe(OH)4]. These results provides a wealth of electronic structure information about FeL4 magnetic superhalogens and offer insights into the synthesis mechanisms.