Antitumor effects of oncolytic adenovirus armed with PSA-IZ-CD40L fusion gene against prostate cancer.

Advanced prostate cancer (PC) still remains incurable. Novel immunogene therapy shows promise as treatment strategy that can target both localized and metastasized PC. In this study, we have developed a PC-specific oncolytic adenovirus (Ad-PL-PPT-E1A) armed with fusion gene of prostate-specific antigen and CD40 ligand, and aimed to evaluate its therapeutic effect in vitro and in vivo. After they were rescued in human embryonic kidney 293 cells, we confirmed that Ad-PL-PPT-E1A could mediate the expression of E1A efficiently and produce abundant progeny viruses in PC cells in vitro. Our data showed that Ad-PL-PPT-E1A induced apoptosis and resulted in specific oncolytic toxicity in PC cells, which was detected by Annexin-V staining and crystal violet, respectively. After stimulation with lysates, immune phenotypes and cytokines expression of human dendritic cells was detected by flow cytometry and real-time polymerase chain reaction, respectively. And, the results showed that the lysate of Ad-PL-PPT-E1A-infected LNCaP cells upregulated the expression of CD80, CD83, CD86 and mRNA level of interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-12, IL-23 and tumor necrosis factor-α significantly. In established PC3M cell-xenografted mouse models, Ad-PL-PPT-E1A treatment improved the survival and suppressed the tumor growth obviously. In conclusion, Ad-PL-PPT-E1A exhibited enhanced antitumor activity is a promising approach for gene therapy of advanced PC.

A review of otolaryngologic aircrew disqualification in the Chinese Air Force, 1961-90.

Otolaryngologic disease was the third most common medical cause of permanent grounding, accounting for 145 (12.2%) of 1,186 aircrew members permanently grounded for various medical reasons in the General Hospital of the Chinese Air Force, 1961-90. We reviewed the medical files of these 145 grounded aircrew members. Their mean age was 31.7 years, their mean flight time before grounding was 878.3 hours, and the mean course of disease from onset to disqualification for flying was 3.9 years. Nearly half of them flew in fighter aircraft and 91 (62.8%) were pilots. The most common otolaryngologic condition responsible for permanent grounding was barotitis media, followed by hearing loss, Ménière's disease, motion sickness, and vertigo. The information from this report demonstrated that the grounded aircrew members were likely to be young, and that the course of disease from onset to grounding was too long.

Effect of yunfujing on the vestibular system.

Yunfujing is a traditional chinese drug which in earlier studies has been shown to reduce vestibular signs in man on a rotatory chair with coriolis accelerate stimulation. Recently 131 patients were studied including all kinds of peripheral vestibular disturbances. Eighty-nine cases were treated with yunfujing and 42 controls were given armillaria mellea vabi which has the same effect as diphenidol. We found that yunfujing has the same effect as armillaria mellea vabi or diphenidol: the symptoms were reduced in a few days.