Dual role of polyglycerol vitamin E succinate in emulsions: An efficient antioxidant emulsifier.

α-Tocopherol, as an oil-soluble vitamin with strong antioxidant activity. It is the most naturally abundant and biologically active form of vitamin E in humans. In this study, a novel emulsifier (PG20-VES) was synthesized by attaching hydrophilic twenty-polyglycerol (PG20) to hydrophobic vitamin E succinate (VES). This emulsifier was shown to have a relatively low critical micelle concentration (CMC = 3.2 µg/mL). The antioxidant activities and emulsification properties of PG20-VES were compared with those of a widely used commercial emulsifier: D-α-Tocopherol polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS). PG20-VES exhibited a lower interfacial tension, stronger emulsifying capacity and similar antioxidant property to TPGS. An in vitro digestion study showed that lipid droplets coated by PG20-VES were digested under simulated small intestine conditions. This study showed that PG20-VES is an efficient antioxidant emulsifier, which may have applications in the formulation of bioactive delivery systems in the food, supplement, and pharmaceutical industries.

Chinese Data of Efficacy of Low- and High-Dose Iodine-131 for the Ablation of Thyroid Remnant.

BACKGROUND: Chinese data on the efficacy of low- and high-dose radioiodine for thyroid remnant are still absent. The aim of the study was to investigate whether a low dose of radioiodine is as effective as a high dose for remnant ablation in Chinese patients. METHODS: Patients presenting for radioiodine ablation in the authors' department were included. Inclusion criteria were aged ≥16 years, total or near-total thyroidectomy, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage of pT1-3, any N stage, and M0. All patients were randomly allocated to either the high-dose group of 3700 MBq or the low-dose group of 1850 MBq for remnant ablation. The response to treatment was defined as successful or unsuccessful after a six- to nine-month interval. Ablation was considered to be successful if patients fulfilled the following criteria: no tracer uptake in the thyroid bed on diagnosis whole-body scanning and a negative level of serum thyroglobulin. RESULTS: There were 327 patients enrolled between January 2013 and December 2014. More than 95% had papillary thyroid cancer. Data could be analyzed for 278 cases (Mage = 44 years; 71.6% women), 155 in the low-dose group and 123 in the high-dose group. The rate of initial successful ablation was 84.2% in all patients, 82.6% in the low-dose group, and 86.2% in the high-dose group. There was no difference between the two groups (p = 0.509). CONCLUSIONS: In Chinese patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma, the low dose of 1850 MBq radioiodine activity is as effective as a high dose of 3700 MBq for thyroid remnant ablation.

Comparison of 18F-AIF-NOTA-PRGD2 and 18F-FDG uptake in lymph node metastasis of differentiated thyroid cancer.

UNLABELLED: A widespread application of integrin αvß3 imaging has been emerging in both pre-clinical and clinical studies. But few studies reported its value as compared with 18F-FDG PET, especially for differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). In this study, we compared the tracer uptake of 18F-AIF-NOTA-PRGD2 and 18F-FDG in lymph node metastasis of DTC to evaluate 18F-AIF-NOTA-PRGD2 as compared with 18F-FDG. METHODS: 20 DTC patients with presumptive lymph node metastasis were examined with 18F-AIF-NOTA-PRGD2 and 18F-FDG PET/CT. 16 patients undergoing fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) were evaluated by cytology results. For lesions without FNAB, the findings of clinical staging procedures served as the standard of reference (including neck ultrasound and serum thyroglobulin). RESULTS: A total of 39 presumptive lymph node metastases were visualized on PET/CT images. 35 lesions were confirmed as malignant by FNAB and other clinical findings. The mean 18F-AIF-NOTA-PRGD2 in radioactive iodine-refractory (RAIR) lesions and benign lesions were 2.5±0.9 and 2.8±0.9 respectively. The mean SUV for 18F-FDG in all malignant lesions was 4.5±1.6 while in benign lesions it was 3.3±1.2. For all malignant lesions, the mean SUV for 18F-FDG was significantly higher than that for 18F-AIF-NOTA-PRGD2 (P<0.05). No significant correlation was found between the SUVs of 18F-AIF-NOTA-PRGD2 and 18F-FDG for 35 lesions (r = 0.114, P = 0.515). Moreover, 15 lesions of which the diameter larger than 1.5 cm had higher 18F-AIF-NOTA-PRGD2 uptake as compared with the lesions smaller than 1.5 cm. CONCLUSION: Although most lymph node metastases of DTC showed abnormal uptake of 18F-AIF-NOTA-PRGD2, its diagnostic value was inferior to 18F-FDG. No correlation was found between the uptake of 18F-AIF-NOTA-PRGD2 and 18F-FDG, which may suggest the two tracers provide complementary information in DTC lesions.

Low- or high-dose radioiodine remnant ablation for differentiated thyroid carcinoma: a meta-analysis.

CONTEXT: There is uncertainty over the dose of (131)I required for thyroid remnant ablation. Most previous studies have been inadequately powered to establish the best fixed dose of (131)I for effective ablation. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess the effects of low- vs high-dose regimens of radioiodine in thyroid remnant ablation for patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma. DATA SOURCES: Sources included the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and SCOPUS (all until September 2012). STUDY SELECTION: Randomized controlled trials that assess the efficacy of low- or high-dose of radioiodine ablation of thyroid remnants were collected. DATA EXTRACTION: Two authors performed the data extraction independently. DATA SYNTHESIS: Nine randomized controlled trials involving 2569 patients were included. The 1100-MBq vs the 3700-MBq radioiodine showed no statistically significant difference in successful thyroid remnant ablation (risk ratio [RR], 0.91 [0.79 to 1.04]; P = .15), both the 1100 vs the 1850 MBq (RR, 0.95 [0.83 to 1.10]; P = .52) and the 1850 vs the 3700 MBq (RR, 1.00 [0.85 to 1.17]; P = .98) also showed no significant differences (95% confidence intervals were calculated for each estimate). Also, no significant differences existed in quality-of-life scores on the SF-36 between different (131)I-dose groups both on the day of ablation (RR, 0.15 [-0.65 to 0.96], P = .71; I(2) = 29%, P = .24) and 3 months after ablation (RR, -1.1 [-2.37 to 0.17], P = .09; I(2) = 22%, P = .26). A low dose of 1100 MBq radioiodine showed significant benefits in reducing adverse effects (total RR, 0.65 [0.55 to 0.77], P < .1; I(2) = 31%, P =.14) and shorter hospital isolation (RR, 0.4 [0.32 to 0.50]; P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The low dose of 1100 MBq radioiodine activity is sufficient for thyroid remnant ablation as compared to 3700 MBq radioiodine activity with similar quality of life, less common adverse effects, and a shorter hospital stay.