Aspirin promotes apoptosis of esophageal cancer cells induced by 5-FU through inhibiting β-catenin/EMT signaling pathway / 中国药理学通报

Aim To investigate the synergistic effect of aspirin and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) on proliferation and apoptosis of esophageal carcinoma ECA109 cells and further to explore the underlying mechanisms. Methods The ECA109 cells were cultured under different concentrations of aspirin (0. 062 5, 0. 125, 0. 25, 0.5, 1, 2 g · L-1)and 5-FU (0.01, 0.02, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1 mg · L-1) respectively, then the cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 assay. After that ECA109 cells were cultured with non-toxic low-concentration of aspirin (0. 125 g · L-1) and 5-FU (0. 1 mg · L-1). Flow cytometry analysis was used to detect the apoptotic rate. Western blot was used to evaluate the expression of apoptosis-related proteins and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related markers. Results Aspirin or 5-FU inhibited cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner. 5-FU enhanced apoptosis rate in ECA109 cells, with the down-regulation of Bcl-2 protein and up-regulation of cleaved caspase-3 protein, which was strengthened by aspirin. Furthermore, the synergistic effect of aspirin obviously downregulated the expression of N-cadherin and β-catenin protein while up-regulated the expression of E-cadherin. Conclusions Low-concentrations of aspirin and 5-FU have a synergistic effect on the proliferation and apoptosis of ECA109 cells through inhibiting β-catenin/ EMT signaling pathway, which might provide reference for esophagus cancer adjuvant chemotherapy.

Status of Health Resource Allocation of Medical Institutions in Poverty-stricken Areas / 昆明医科大学学报

Objective To understand the status quo of health resource allocation of medical institutions in poverty-stricken areas, and to provide decision-making basis for rationalizing health and poverty alleviation policies and improving the overall service capacity of medical institutions in poverty-stricken areas. Me thods The overall institutions, bed capacity and staffs in medical institutions in 680 poor counties were analyzed. Re s ults The proportion of government health expenditure in 14 concentrated areas was lower than 15％. The largest number of health institutions was 349 in the Dabie Mountains and 70 in Tibet, and the number of beds was lower than the national average level of 5.11.The largest number of health technical staff for 1 000 people of the four provinces is 4.42 people, the smallest number is 2.72 in Wumeng mountain area;the registered nurses (number) for 1 000 people is up to 1.56 people in the Luo Xia mountain area, the lowest Tibet, only 0.39 people. Thousands of population practice (assistant) physician number of Tibetans is up to 2.98 people, the lowest is 1.07 for the Xinjiang Southern Xinjiang three states; health care than the lowest in Tibet 1:0.54. Conclus ion At present, China's centralized contiguous poverty-stricken areas of county-level medical institutions is extremely short of resources, and the health resource allocation is uneven.

Clinical features and genetic screening of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze clinical features of 4 families with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) and potential mutations of ENG, ACVRL1 and SMAD4 genes.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Four unrelated HHT patients and their affected family members were analyzed. All exons and flanking regions of ENG, ACVRL1 and SMAD4 genes were analyzed with PCR and direct sequencing and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) methods.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Eleven patients from the 4 families were enrolled in this study. Two ENG and 1 ACVRL1 mutations were identified, among which an ENG mutation (c.207G>A; p.L69L) and an ACVRL1 mutation (c.817C>T; p.L273L) have been previously reported. In addition, a novel ENG mutation (c.1004A>T; p.Q335L) has been found in 3 different families. Similar mutations were not detected in 200 healthy individuals. No mutations of ENG, ACVRL1 and SMAD4 were found in the fourth family.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>A novel mutation c.1004A>T (p. Q335L) of ENG has been identified in patients with HHT. And there is significant phenotypic variability and genetic heterogeneity with the disease.</p>

Comparative analysis of liver function in HBsAg-/HBcAb+ patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with CHOP and R-CHOP regimens / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the liver function in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma(DLBCL), who are hepatitis B surface antigen negative/antibody to hepatitis B core antigen positive (HBsAg-/HBcAb+), treated with CHOP and R-CHOP regimens.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In this retrospective study, 86 DLBCL patients, who were HBsAg-/HBcAb+, were collected from Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences between January 2005 and December 2008. The patients were given at least two cycles of chemotherapy using CHOP-like or R-CHOP-like regimen without anti-HBV treatment, and followed-up for at least 12 months after completion of therapy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Forty-seven patients received CHOP-like regimen while 39 patients received R-CHOP-like regimen. There were no significant differences in the degree of liver dysfunction between CHOP group and R-CHOP group after the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th cycles (22.7% - 46.7% with CHOP and 17.6% - 34.2% with R-CHOP, respectively, (all P > 0.05), except for the 5th cycles (28.6% vs. 6.2%, P = 0.026). Liver function in most patients in CHOP group and R-CHOP group was normal after every cycle (53.3% - 77.3% and 65.8%-93.8%, respectively). Meanwhile, there were no significant differences in the degree of liver dysfunction between CHOP group and R-CHOP group in the 1st-3rd month, 4th-6th month, 7th-9th month and 10th-12th month after completion of therapy (7.7% - 40.0% with CHOP and 7.4% - 32.0% with R-CHOP, respectively, all P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The present study reveals a low incidence of liver dysfunction in HBsAg-/HBcAb+ DLBCL patients, both in CHOP group and in R-CHOP group. It may indicate a potential low incidence of HBV reactivation in these groups, and Rituximab do not increase the rate of liver dysfunction. Therefore, these data may not support regularly prophylactic antiviral therapy during chemotherapy, but close monitoring of liver function, HBV serum markers and HBV DNA level are demanded.</p>

Protective effect of GABA against hypoxic injury in rat hippocampal slices / 中国应用生理学杂志

<p><b>AIM</b>To study the mechanism of protective effect of GABA against hypoxic injury in rat hippocampal slices.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The hippocampal slices from adult rats and extracellular recording technique were used to observe the effect of GABA on the evoked population spikes in rat hippocampal slices after hypoxia in vitro.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>GABA can significantly delay the disappearance of PV, but have no effect on PS. When the receptor antagonist of GABA (bicuculline) and the inhibitor of Cl- channel (NPPB) were given, the protect effect could be suppressed.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>GABA increases hypoxic tolerance of hippocampal slices. The mechanism of the effect of GABA may be involved in the elevation of chloride influx through GABA receptor.</p>