Synthesis and evaluation of L-quebrachitol derivatives against platelet aggregation.

Thrombosis plays an important role in the occurrence and development of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases that contribute to high mortality and morbidity in patients. L-(-)-Quebrachitol (QCT), a natural product, was first isolated from quebracho bark. It can inhibit PAF receptor and decrease gastric damage induced by indomethacin, as a drug against platelet aggregation. Here, five QCT derivatives were synthesized and investigated for their inhibitory effects on platelet aggregation. Among them, compound 3a showed anticoagulant effects comparable to aspirin, while compound 4b showed dose-independent inhibitory activities in rats that were stronger than aspirin.

[The effect of RABEX-5 downregulation on the chemosensitivity of human breast cancer cells].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the changes in sensitivity to anthracycline and taxanes of human breast cancer cells after RABEX-5 downregulated. METHODS: By constructing a lentiviral vector for RNA interference (RNAi) of RABEX-5 gene and transfected into human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 to silence the express of RABEX-5. Real-time PCR and Western blot were used to detect the silencing effect. The changes in sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs of MCF-7/RNAi and its negative control cell lines MCF-7/vector were detected by CCK-8 reagent. RESULTS: Compared with MCF-7 cell and MCF-7/vector cell, the expression of RABEX-5 mRNA and protein was downregulated in MCF-7/RNAi cells. The sensitivity to epirubicin was reduced after downregulating the expression of RABEX-5, the 50% inhibition concentration (IC50) of MCF-7/RNAi [(3.590 0 +/- 0.228 69) microg/mL] was higher than that of MCF-7/Vvector [(1.193 3 +/- 0.187 71) microg/mL, P < 0.05]; while the same effect was not found in docetaxel group, the IC50 were (11.162 7 +/- 0.210 26) microg/mL and (10.536 7 +/- 0.430 97) microg/mL, respectively (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Downregulation of RABEX-5 can induce chemoresistance to epirubicin in human breast cancer cell MCF-7; while its effect on sensitivity to docetaxel is not significant. This study can provide a theoretical basis for future research RABEX-5 in the individualized treatment of breast cancer.

Implant complications after one-level or two-level cervical disc arthroplasty: A retrospective single-centre study of 105 patients.

The aim of study was to investigate the complications of cervical disc arthroplasty (CDA) and to discuss the factors affecting the mobility of the prosthesis and the measures to prevent these complications. Hundred and five patients who underwent CDA between 2009 and 2016 were enrolled. The clinical and radiographic outcomes were used to assess and the complications were recorded as well.All the patients were followed-up with an average of 41.30 ±â€Š16.90 months with an average age of 47.90 ±â€Š9.22 years. The visual analogue scale (VAS), neck disability index (NDI), and Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scores improved significantly at the final follow-up (FU) compared with the preoperative values. At the final FU, the overall incidence of heterotopic ossification (HO) was 51.42%. The distribution of different grades of HO was low-level HO (53.7%) and high-level HO (46.3%). No significant differences were found in the NDI, VAS, or JOA scores between patients with HO and those without HO (P > .05). In the high-level HO patients, the range of mobility (ROM) was significantly reduced compared with the low-level HO patients and those without HO (P < .05). The anterior displacement, subsidence, and instability were observed in 1 patient respectively and the segmental kyphosis, adjacent segment degeneration in 3 patients respectively. The patient of CDA instability also suffered severe neck pain and the revision surgery was performed.Postoperative complications in CDA such as HO, segmental kyphosis, and prosthesis displacement are prone to occur, affecting prosthesis mobility. Surgical indications should be strictly controlled, and intraoperative and postoperative treatments should be given great attention in order to reduce prosthesis-related complications.

One-stage posterior debridement with transverse process strut as bone graft in the surgical treatment of single-segment thoracic tuberculosis: A retrospective single-center study.

This retrospective study investigated the effect of the novel bone graft transverse process strut (TPS) in single segmental thoracic spinal tuberculosis (TB) with the one-stage posterior approach of debridement, fusion, and internal instrumentation. Thirty patients treated in our department from March 2014 to October 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. Surgical time, blood loss, hospitalization time, drainage volume, and follow-up (FU) duration were recorded. The visual analog scale (VAS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) grade, segmental angle, and bone fusion were compared between preoperative and final FU. All the patients were followed for a mean 50.10 ±â€Š25.10 months; the mean age, surgical time in minutes, blood loss, hospitalization time, and drainage volume were 46.23 ±â€Š17.20 years, 195.08 ±â€Š24.0 minutes, 280.77 ±â€Š189.90 mL, 17.31 ±â€Š4.23 days, 436.92 ±â€Š193.81 mL, respectively. VAS and ODI scores were significantly improved at the final FU. The ESR and CRP returned to normal. All patients achieved bony fusion with a mean time of 5.85 ±â€Š1.82 months and a mean segmental angle of 18.77 ±â€Š2.49° preoperatively, which significantly decreased to 9.31 ±â€Š1.54° at the final FU (P < .05). No complications, such as bone graft failure, pleural effusion, fistula, or wound infection were recorded except for cerebrospinal fluid leakage (one case), water electrolyte imbalance (5 cases), superficial infection (1 case), and mild intestinal obstruction (1 case). TPS as a bone graft is reliable, safe, and effective for segmental stability reconstruction for surgical management of single-segment thoracic spinal TB.