Immunomodulatory activity of butanol extract from Solanum lyratum in tumor-bearing mice.

Solanum lyratum Thunb (Solanaceae) has been widely used for cancer as a folk remedy in Chinese traditional medicine. In this study, the main active fraction n-butanol extract from S. lyratum (BESL) was evaluated for the therapeutic efficacies on mice transplantable tumor and immunomodulatory potentials on the immune response in tumor-bearing mice. The effects of BESL on the growth of mouse transplantable S180 sarcoma, splenocyte proliferation, the activity of natural killer (NK) cells and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), production of cytokines from splenocytes, and serum antigen-specific antibody levels in S180-bearing mice were measured. BESL could not only significantly inhibit the growth of S180 sarcoma transplanted in mice, but also remarkably promote splenocytes proliferation, NK cell and CTL activity, interleukin-2 and interferon-γ production from splenocytes, and serum antigen-specific antibody levels in tumor-bearing mice (P < 0.05, P < 0.01, or P <0.001). The results suggested that BESL might exhibit antitumor activity by improving immune response, and it could act as antitumor agent with immunomodulatory activity. This study provided evidence to understand the therapeutic effects of S. lyratum for treatment of cancer and a natural product to further researches to be developed as a cancer chemopreventive agent.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy as a comprehensive treatment in patients with laryngeal and hypopharyngeal carcinoma.

Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is important for advanced laryngeal and hypopharyngeal carcinoma (LHC).Aims/objectives: To determine the efficacy and toxicity of the combination of docetaxel, nedaplatin, and 5-fluorouracil in induction treatment of advanced LHC.Material and methods: A total of 157 cancer patients were included. The primary endpoints of this study were overall response rate, pathological complete response rate, the safety of induction treatment, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS).Results: After two-cycle induction treatment, 17(10.8%) patients experienced complete remission, 76 (48.4%) experienced partial remission, 47 (30.0%) had stable disease, and 17 (10.8%) had progressive disease. The TNM stage decreased by two or more in 17 cases, decreased by one in 71 cases, increased in 15 cases, and did not change in 54 cases after induction treatment. Most of the adverse chemotherapy responses were alleviated by symptomatic management. After the induction treatment, 29 patients continued receiving chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy, and 112 underwent surgical management depending on tumor site followed by radiotherapy. The median PFS was 13.00 ± 2.10 months and the median OS was 14.20 ± 0.29 months.Conclusions and significance: Combination of docetaxel, nedaplatin, and 5-fluorouracil plays an important role in the comprehensive treatment of advanced LHC.

Accuracy of computer-aided geometric three-dimensional reconstruction of the human petrous bone based on serial unstained celloidin sections.

The aim of this study was to present a comprehensive three-dimensional (3D) morphology of the petrous bone with computer image-processing technology, which could be beneficial for the teaching of anatomy and for surgical procedures. The unstained celloidin sections of human temporal bone were digitized with high resolution and quality, and then processed with Amira® software to include alignment, segmentation and reconstruction. The integral structure of the human inner ear was presented with computer modeling, including the petrous bone, bone labyrinth, internal carotid artery canal, internal jugular vein canal, sigmoid sinus, inferior petrosal sinus, glossopharyngeal meatus, vagal meatus, internal acoustic meatus, facial nerve canal, greater superficial petrosal nerve, vestibular aqueduct, extraosseous portion of the endolymphatic sac, round and oval window, processus cochleariformis and pyramidal eminence. The 3D model showed detailed structure of the external and internal petrous bone, as well as their spatial relationship. The present study suggests the feasibility of comprehensive 3D reconstruction of the petrous bone using unstained celloidin sections, which may provide advantages for future study.

[Clinical applications of magnifying laryngoscopy on nasopharyngeal examination.].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the usability of magnifying laryngoscopy for the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal diseases. METHODS: An analysis was made on the nasopharyngeal figure and letter data among 6774 cases undergone magnifying laryngoscopy. Among these cases, biopsy would be given to those with suspected lesion in the nasopharynx carried out under magnifying laryngoscopy or endoscope. RESULTS: Compliance of patients to magnifying laryngoscopy at the rate of 98.9% (6700/6774) was superior to indirect nasopharyngoscopy 30.9% (2095/6774). The difference was statistically significant (chi(2) = 6872.75, P < 0.005). Magnifying laryngoscopy could clearly show a variety of diseases in nasopharynx, early detection of suspicious lesions. Among 615 cases, both fiber nasopharyngoscopy (192 cases) and nasal endoscopy (423 cases) with nasopharyngeal uplift were used, magnifying laryngoscopy found 418 cases bilateral symmetry, the surface smooth, no abnormal. The pathological examination confirmed normal tissue. Other 197 cases in the larger laryngoscopy also showed the uplift in nasopharynx by pathologically examination confirmed a variety of benign and maligant lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Magnifying laryngoscopy with strong brightness, high resolution, can early detect the nasopharyngeal lesions, increase the diagnostic accuracy rate and biopsy-positive rate. Therefore, it is valuable for the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal diseases.

[Secretion of platelet derived growth factor, tumour necrosis factor-alpha and hyaluronic acid into nasal fluid before and after sinus surgery].

OBJECTIVE: To detect the changing profiles of three factors in nasal fluid before and after endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS), including platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and hyaluronic acid (HA), to investigate the predictive factor of healing quality after sinus surgery. METHODS: Nasal secretions were obtained from 22 patients with nasal polyp before ESS and at 1, 4, 8, 12 weeks after ESS compared to 22 controls. Nasal fluid was analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for PDGF, TNF-alpha and HA. The healing quality was evaluated at 1, 4, 8, 12 weeks postoperatively for every one. Finally, we performed a multiple logistic regression model to assess whether the healing quality was associated with age, gender, body mass, preoperative stage, and concentrations of PDGF, TNF-alpha, HA before ESS. RESULTS: 1. Each factor before surgery showed different level when compared to controls, PDGF was constant, TNF-alpha was high (P = 0.034), and HA was low (P = 0.003). Comparing patients at 1 week after surgery with control subjects, a significant increase in the concentrations of PDGF, TNF-alpha, HA in nasal secretions could be demonstrated (compared to controls, P = 0.000, 0.020, 0.038, respectively). After that, decreasing amounts of these factors were found, reaching normal conditions at 12 weeks for PDGF (compared to controls, P = 0.087), 8 weeks for TNF-alpha (compared to controls, P =0.104), 4 weeks for HA (compared to controls, P = 0.304). There was another peak for TNF-alpha at 12 weeks (compared to controls, P = 0.002). 2. The percentage of good healing at 1, 4, 8, 12 week postoperatively was 0, 4.5%, 36.4%, 81.8%, respectively. The healing quality after ESS was significantly and independently correlated to the age of patient and preoperative PDGF concentrations in nasal secretions. The younger, the better healing. The lower PDGF concentration, the better healing. CONCLUSIONS: During the wound healing of nasal mucosa, the levels of PDGF, TNF-alpha, HA were different at each postoperative stage. Age and PDGF concentrations preoperatively were suitable factors to predict the healing quality after ESS.