Cloud platform to improve efficiency and coverage of asynchronous multidisciplinary team meetings for patients with digestive tract cancer.

Background: Multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings are the gold standard of cancer treatment. However, the limited participation of multiple medical experts and the low frequency of MDT meetings reduce the efficiency and coverage rate of MDTs. Herein, we retrospectively report the results of an asynchronous MDT based on a cloud platform (cMDT) to improve the efficiency and coverage rate of MDT meetings for digestive tract cancer. Methods: The participants and cMDT processes associated with digestive tract cancer were discussed using a cloud platform. Software programming and cMDT test runs were subsequently conducted to further improve the software and processing. cMDT for digestive tract cancer was officially launched in June 2019. The doctor response duration, cMDT time, MDT coverage rate, National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines compliance rate for patients with stage III rectal cancer, and uniformity rate of medical experts' opinions were collected. Results: The final cMDT software and processes used were determined. Among the 7462 digestive tract cancer patients, 3143 (control group) were diagnosed between March 2016 and February 2019, and 4319 (cMDT group) were diagnosed between June 2019 and May 2022. The average number of doctors participating in each cMDT was 3.26 ± 0.88. The average doctor response time was 27.21 ± 20.40 hours, and the average duration of cMDT was 7.68 ± 1.47 min. The coverage rates were 47.85% (1504/3143) and 79.99% (3455/4319) in the control and cMDT groups, respectively. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines compliance rates for stage III rectal cancer patients were 68.42% and 90.55% in the control and cMDT groups, respectively. The uniformity rate of medical experts' opinions was 89.75% (3101/3455), and 8.97% (310/3455) of patients needed online discussion through WeChat; only 1.28% (44/3455) of patients needed face-to-face discussion with the cMDT group members. Conclusion: A cMDT can increase the coverage rate of MDTs and the compliance rate with National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines for stage III rectal cancer. The uniformity rate of the medical experts' opinions was high in the cMDT group, and it reduced contact between medical experts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Antioxidative effects of curcumin and its analogues against the free-radical-induced peroxidation of linoleic acid in micelles.

Curcumin (1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione, 1) is a yellow ingredient isolated from turmeric (curcumin longa). Many health benefits have been claimed for curcumin, and these have generally been ascribed to its radical-trapping antioxidant properties. In order to find more active antioxidants with 1 as the lead compound, we synthesized curcumin analogues, i.e., 1,7-bis(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione (2), 1-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-7-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione (3), 1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-7-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione (4), 1,7-bis (4-hydroxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione (5), 1,7-bis(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione (6), 1,7-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione (7), and 1,7-diphenyl-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione (8). Antioxidative effects of curcumin and these analogues against the peroxidation of linoleic acid were studied in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) micelles. The peroxidation was initiated thermally by a water-soluble initiator 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinopropane hydrochloride) (AAPH), and reaction kinetics were monitored by the formation of linoleic acid hydroperoxides. Kinetic analysis of the antioxidation process demonstrates that these compounds, except 6, 7 and 8, are effective antioxidants in micelles by H-atom abstraction from the phenolic groups. Compounds 2 and 3, which bear ortho-diphenoxyl functionality, possess significantly higher antioxidant activity than curcumin and other analogues, and the 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl group also plays an important role in the antioxidative activity. In addition, the synergistic antioxidant effect of these compounds with alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) in micelles was also studied by following the formation of linoleic acid hydroperoxides and the consumption of alpha-tocopherol. It was found that these compounds could not synergistically interact with alpha-tocopherol in micelles.

Diterpenoids from the Chinese herb Caryopteris terniflora and their antibacterial and antitumor activity.

Two ent-kaurene type diterpenoids, diterpenoids A (1) and B (2) were isolated from the Chinese herb Caryopteris terniflora and defined as ent-7beta, 11alpha,14-trihydroxy-18-aldehyde-11beta-20-epoxy-kaur-16-en15-one and ent-7beta,14-dihydroxy-11alpha-methoxy-18-aldehyde-11beta-20-epoxy-kaur-16-en-15-one respectively. Compounds 1 and 2 showed significant antibacterial and antitumour activity.

Cytotoxic and apoptotic activities of diarylheptanoids and gingerol-related compounds from the rhizome of Chinese ginger.

Ginger is one of the most widely used spices and has been used in traditional oriental medicines for long time. Its extract and major pungent principles have been shown to exhibit a variety of biological activities. In order to find more active constituents and evaluate their structure-activity relationship (SAR) we isolated from the rhizomes of Chinese ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) five new diarylheptanoids along with 20 known diarylheptanoids and gingerol-related compounds and studied their cytotoxic and apoptotic activities against human promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) cells. It was found that compounds 1a, 2a, 5, 6a, 6b and 7 possess significant cytotoxicity against HL-60 cells (IC(50)<50 microM) and that the cytotoxic activity is associated with the cell apoptosis. SAR analysis demonstrates that the following structural determinants contribute critically to the enhancement of the activity: (i) acetoxyl groups at 3- and/or 5-positions of the side chain; (ii) the appropriate longer alkyl side-chain length; (iii) the ortho-diphenoxyl functionality on the aromatic ring; (iv) the alpha,beta-unsaturated ketone moiety in the side chain. These provide useful information for potential chemopreventive drug design.

Evidence for alpha-tocopherol regeneration reaction of green tea polyphenols in SDS micelles.

The synergistic antioxidant mechanism of alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) with green tea polyphenols, i.e., (-)-epicatechin (EC), (-)-epigallocatechin (EGC), (-)-epicatechin gallate (ECG), (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and gallic acid (GA), was studied by assaying the kinetics of the reaction of alpha-tocopheroxyl radical with green tea polyphenols by stopped-flow electron paramagnetic resonance, the inhibition of linoleic acid peroxidation by these antioxidants, and the decay of alpha-tocopherol during the peroxidation. It was found that the green tea polyphenols could reduce alpha-tocopheroxyl radical to regenerate alpha-tocopherol with rate constants of 0.45, 1.11, 1.31, 1.91, and 0.43 x 10(2) M(-1) s(-1) for EC, EGC, ECG, EGCG, and GA, respectively, in sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles. In addition, these second-order rate constants exhibited a good linear correlation with their oxidation potentials, suggesting that electron transfer might play a role in the reaction.

Strictinin as an efficient antioxidant in lipid peroxidation.

The antioxidant effect of strictinin (SOH), which was extracted from green tea leaves, against the peroxidation of linoleic acid in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and cetyl trimethylammonium (CTAB) micelles, against the peroxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and against oxidative hemolysis of human red blood cells (RBCs), has been studied. The peroxidation of linoleic acid and LDL, and oxidative hemolysis of RBCs were initiated thermally by a water-soluble azo initiator 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinopropane hydrochloride) (AAPH), and the reaction kinetics in micelles and LDL were monitored by uptake of oxygen. The synergistic antioxidant effect of SOH with alpha-tocopherol (Vitamin E) was also studied by following the decay kinetics of alpha-tocopherol. Kinetic analysis of the antioxidation process demonstrates that SOH, used either alone or in combination with alpha-tocopherol, is an effective antioxidant against lipid peroxidation, but its effects significantly depend on the reaction medium.

Phenolic compounds from Anaphalis aureo-punctata.

From the ethanolic extract of the whole plant of Anaphalis aureo-punctata, a new acylated flavonoid glycoside 3-O-kaempferol-3-O-acetyl-6-O-(p-coumaroyl)-beta-D-glucopyranoside (1), and five known phenolic compounds were isolated. Their structures were established by spectral methods (UV, IR, MS, 1D, 2D-NMR). The flavonoid glycosides, 1, 2 and 3 showed markedly inhibited oxidative DNA strand breaks induced by Fenton reaction and NADH/PMS in a concentration-dependent manner.

Antioxidative and free radical scavenging effects of ecdysteroids from Serratula strangulata.

The antioxidative and free radical scavenging effects of four ecdysteroids, 20-hydroxyecdysone (E1), 25-deoxy-11,20-dihydroxyecdysone (E2), 24-(2-hydroxyethyl)-20-hydroxyecdysone (E3), and 20-hydroxyecdysone-20,22-monoacetonide (E4), isolated from the Chinese herb Serratula strangulata have been investigated in vitro. These ecdysteroids could protect human erythrocytes against oxidative hemolysis induced by a water-soluble azo initiator 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinopropane hydrochloride) (AAPH). They could also inhibit the peroxidation of rat liver microsomes induced by hydroxyl radicals, as monitored by the formation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and prevent radical-induced decrease of membrane fluidity as determined by fluorescence polarization. They reacted with galvinoxyl radicals in homogeneous solution, and the pseudo-first-order rate constants were determined spectrophotometrically by following the disappearance of galvinoxyl radicals. Compounds E1 and (or) E3 were the most active in both antioxidative and radical-scavenging reactions.