[Clinical research progression of molecular-targeted drugs and PD-1 inhibitors for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma].

Since sorafenib has been first-line molecular-targeted drug for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), clinical studies in the last 10 years failed to confirm that a new molecular-targeted drug or immune checkpoint inhibitor was superior or non-inferior to sorafenib, or approved second-line treatment for patients with the failure of sorafenib. However, many clinical studies published in 2017 have changed people's previous understanding. REFLECT trial showed that as the first-line treatment of advanced HCC, lenvatinib was non-inferior than sorafenib. In addition, RESORCE trial and CheckMate-040 trial confirmed respectively that regorafenib and PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab were options of second-line treatment for patients with advanced HCC after sorafenib treatment. The development of these drugs will bring a new prospect for advanced HCC patients.

Positive influence of L-carnitine on the different muscle fibres types of racing pigeons.

Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), Ca(2+) ATPase, Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), are involved in energy metabolism. These enzymes can be used as indicators of the energy capacity of aerobic cells. The study investigated the effects of L-carnitine supplementation on M. pectoralis superficialis, M. pectoralis profundus, M. extensor carpi radialis muscle and M. flexor carpi ulnaris. Twenty-eight racing pigeons hatched at the same time were divided randomly into three groups. Eight pigeons, which were used as the control group, were sacrificed at 92-day old. The remaining twenty pigeons continued training until they reached 157-day old, with half the pigeons getting 25 mg/head/day of L-carnitine, while the other half given the same amount of water. The pigeons were assessed by histochemical methods and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). To assess influence of L-carnitine on muscle fibre composition and the performance of three genes' mRNA, this study applied SDH localization, SDH, Ca(2+) ATPase and LDH mRNA expression to examine the results after oral administration of L-carnitine in vivo in racing pigeons. The results showed that L-carnitine significantly elevated the amount of white muscle fibre type IIa (p < 0.05). The mRNA expression quantities of SDH and LDH gene was higher via RT-PCR method. However, the expression of Ca(2+) ATPase remains similar. In conclusion, appropriate oral administration of L-carnitine of 25 mg/pigeon/day will result in an improvement of muscles related to flying.