A Retrospective Study of a Chinese Traditional Medicine YIKEER in the Treatment of Verruca Patients in Liaoning District.

BACKGROUND: There are many possible ways to treat verruca, but no one is the single perfect treatment. YIKEER is a kind of compound preparation of Chinese traditional medicine, which has been used in the treatment of verruca for several years. AIM: To confirm the effects of YIKEER for verruca. METHOD: Patients with verruca vulgaris, verruca plantaris, or verruca plana were instructed to apply YIKEER stock solution or diluent to the lesions once or twice daily for 5-7 days. Then, the YIKEER was ceased for 3-4 days, and sea buckthorn oil was used for wound repairing. The total procession was defined as one session. RESULT: Respective 88.05% verruca vulgaris patients, 86.03% verruca plantaris patients, and 82.42% verruca plana patients achieved complete response. Most patients gained complete or partial responses after 4 treatment sessions. The percentage of patients who achieved at least 50% improvement was 90.34% for verruca vulgaris, 90.60% for verruca plantaris, and 80.91% for verruca plana after 4-session treatment. The efficacy of verruca vulgaris or verruca plantaris was better than that of verruca plana. CONCLUSION: YIKEER is an effective, safe, and well-tolerated agent for treating verruca including verruca vulgaris, verruca plantaris, and verruca plana.

Phase II study of weekly vinorelbine and 24-h infusion of high-dose 5-fluorouracil plus leucovorin as first-line treatment of advanced breast cancer.

We prospectively investigated the efficacy and safety of combining weekly vinorelbine (VNB) with weekly 24-h infusion of high-dose 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and leucovorin (LV) in the treatment of patients with advanced breast cancer (ABC). Vinorelbine 25 mg m(-2) 30-min intravenous infusion, and high-dose 5-FU 2600 mg m(-2) plus LV 300 mg m(-2) 24-h intravenous infusion (HDFL regimen) were given on days 1 and 8 every 3 weeks. Between June 1999 and April 2003, 40 patients with histologically confirmed recurrent or metastatic breast cancer were enrolled with a median age of 49 years (range: 36-68). A total of 25 patients had recurrent ABC, and 15 patients had primary metastatic diseases. The overall response rate for the intent-to-treat group was 70.0% (95% CI: 54-84%) with eight complete responses and 20 partial responses. All 40 patients were evaluated for survival and toxicities. Among a total of 316 cycles of VNB-HDFL given (average: 7.9: range: 4-14 cycles per patient), the main toxicity was Gr3/4 leucopenia and Gr3/4 neutropenia in 57 (18.0%) and 120 (38.0%) cycles, respectively. Gr1/2 infection and Gr1/2 stomatitis were noted in five (1.6%) and 59 (18.7%) cycles, respectively. None of the patients developed Gr3/4 stomatitis or Gr3/4 infection. Gr2/3 and Gr1 hand-foot syndrome was noted in two (5.0%) and 23 (57.5%) patients, respectively. Gr1 sensory neuropathy developed in three patients. The median time to progression was 8.0 months (range: 3-25.5 months), and the median overall survival was 25.0 months with a follow-up of 5.5 to 45+ months. This VNB-HDFL regimen is a highly active yet well-tolerated first-line treatment for ABC.

Weekly gemcitabine plus 24-h infusion of high-dose 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin for locally advanced or metastatic carcinoma of the biliary tract.

Both gemcitabine and weekly 24-h infusion of high-dose 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin (HDFL) have shown promising antitumour activity for patients with locally advanced or metastatic carcinoma of the biliary tract (CBT). From April 1999 through December 2002, 30 patients with inoperable CBT were treated with gemcitabine 800 mg m(-2), intravenous infusion for 30 min, followed by 5-FU, 2000 mg m(-2) and leucovorin, 300 mg m(-2), intravenous infusion for 24 h, on day 1, 8 and 15, every 4 weeks. A total of 166 cycles were given (median of four cycles per patient, range 1-24 cycles). Response was evaluable in 28 patients and toxicity in 29 patients. Partial response was obtained in six patients, stable disease in 13, while progressive disease occurred in nine. The objective response rate was 21.4% (95% CI: 5.2-37.6%). The most common grade 3 or 4 toxicity was infection (nine patients). Other types of grade 3 or 4 toxicity included leucopenia (four patients), thrombocytopenia (three patients), anaemia (three patients), nausea/vomiting (two patients) and elevation of liver transaminases (three patients). As of 30 September 2003, the median progression-free survival was 3.7 months (95% CI: 2.8-4.6 months) and the median overall survival was 4.7 months (95% CI: 0.8-8.6 months). Our data suggest that weekly gemcitabine plus HDFL is modestly active with acceptable treatment-related toxicity for patients with advanced CBT.

Variation of plasma cholesterol levels in rats fed trans fatty acids or cis fatty acids.

To investigate the effect of dietary trans fatty acids on plasma and liver lipids, 16 Sprague Dawley male rats fed the hydrogenated soybean oil (Trans fat) or Cis fat from olive oil with two similar dietary fatty acid ratios for 9 weeks were studied. Higher plasma total cholesterol and LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol levels were observed in rats fed trans fat diet when compared with rats fed the cis fat diet after 2 weeks of feeding. However, no significant changes in plasma total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels were found in rats of both dietary groups at 4-weeks of feeding. Rats fed trans fatty acids had lower plasma total cholesterol, LDL and VLDL (very low density lipoprotein) cholesterol levels at the end of the experimental period. Although significantly (p < 0.05) lower liver triacylglycerol contents were found in rats fed trans fat diet, no significant (p > 0.05) changes in liver cholesterol and phospholipids contents were observed in rats after trans fatty acids treatment. It is interesting that lower saturated to polyunsaturated ratios in fatty acid composition of plasma VLDL total lipids were found in rats fed trans fat diet. Results from this study suggest that the changes in plasma lipoprotein cholesterol in rats fed trans fatty acids might be related to the long or the short term study, and dietary trans fatty acids may alter the plasma lipoprotein metabolism in rats.

Persistant abnormal serum parathyroid hormone after renal transplantation: correlation between renal graft function.

Secondary hyperparathyroidism in uremia renal transplantation. We studied the i-PTH (immunoactive parathyroid hormone) of nineteen immunoactive parathyroid hormone) of nineteen patients before and after renal transplantation with average of 20 months post transplantation. In group I patients with normal i-PTH serum level had an significant lower serum level of creatinine than Group II with elevated abnormal i-PTH. While the calcium and phosphorus showed no significant difference between group I and Group II patients. We suggested that abnormal serum i-PTH level after renal transplantation after one year was closely related to renal graft function. This group of abnormal serum i-PTH should be closely monitored for their renal graft function.