High-Temperature Soup Foods in Plastic Packaging Are Associated with Phthalate Body Burden and Expression of Inflammatory mRNAs: A Dietary Intervention Study.

Plastic packaging material is widely used to package high-temperature soup food in China, but this combination might lead to increased exposure to phthalates. The health effects and potential biological mechanisms have not been well studied. This study aimed to examine urinary phthalate metabolites and the expression of inflammatory cytokines in the blood before, during, and after a "plastic-packaged high-temperature soup food" dietary intervention in healthy adults. The results showed that compared with those in the preintervention period, urinary creatinine-adjusted levels of monomethyl phthalate (MMP), mono-n-butyl phthalate (MBP), mono-isobutyl phthalate (MIBP), and total phthalate metabolites in the intervention period were significantly higher, with increases of 71.6, 41.8, 38.8, and 29.8% for MMP, MBP, MIBP, and the total phthalate metabolites, respectively. After intervention, the mean levels of IL-1ß, IL-4, and TNF-α mRNA increased by 19.0, 21.5, and 25.0%, respectively, while IL-6 and IFN-γ mRNA decreased by 24.2 and 32.9%, respectively, when compared with the preintervention period. We also observed that several phthalates were associated with the mRNA or protein expression of IL-8, TNF-α, and IL-10. Therefore, consumption of plastic-packaged high-temperature soup food was linked to increased phthalate exposure and might result in significant changes in mRNA expression of several inflammatory cytokines.

[Effect of single low level laser therapy on initial pain during fixed orthodontic treatment].

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of single low level laser therapy on initial pain during fixed orthodontic treatment. METHODS: Sixty patients who underwent fixed orthodontic treatment in our hospital from January 2015 to December 2017 were enrolled.Patients were divided into 2 groups by random number table method, 30 in each group. Patients in the experimental group were treated with a single low level laser therapy ,while patients in the control group were treated with a placebo.The results of the 2 groups were compared in regard to spontaneous pain and chewing pain during the day and night using SPSS 22.0 software package. RESULTS: Spontaneous pain during day and night with 0.012, 0.014 inch superelastic nickel-titanium (NiTi) line was significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group(P<0.05), and there was no significant difference with 0.016 and 0.018 inch NiTi (P>0.05).Chewing pain with 0.012, 0.014, 0.016, and 0.018 inch NiTi lines in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group(P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Single low level laser therapy significantly reduced postoperative pain while placing a superelastic NiTi wire for initial alignment and correction.

Curcumin-encapsulated polymeric micelles suppress the development of colon cancer in vitro and in vivo.

To develop injectable formulation and improve the stability of curcumin (Cur), Cur was encapsulated into monomethyl poly (ethylene glycol)-poly (ε-caprolactone)-poly (trimethylene carbonate) (MPEG-P(CL-co-TMC)) micelles through a single-step solid dispersion method. The obtained Cur micelles had a small particle size of 27.6 ± 0.7 nm with polydisperse index (PDI) of 0.11 ± 0.05, drug loading of 14.07 ± 0.94%, and encapsulation efficiency of 96.08 ± 3.23%. Both free Cur and Cur micelles efficiently suppressed growth of CT26 colon carcinoma cells in vitro. The results of in vitro anticancer studies confirmed that apoptosis induction and cellular uptake on CT26 cells had completely increased in Cur micelles compared with free Cur. Besides, Cur micelles were more effective in suppressing the tumor growth of subcutaneous CT26 colon in vivo, and the mechanisms included the inhibition of tumor proliferation and angiogenesis and increased apoptosis of tumor cells. Furthermore, few side effects were found in Cur micelles. Overall, our findings suggested that Cur micelles could be a stabilized aqueous formulation for intravenous application with improved antitumor activity, which may be a potential treatment strategy for colon cancer in the future.

Thermosensitive hydrogel containing dexamethasone micelles for preventing postsurgical adhesion in a repeated-injury model.

Tissue adhesion is a common complication after surgery. In this work, a dexamethasone loaded polymeric micelles in thermosensitive hydrogel composite (Dex hydrogel) was prepared, which combined the anti-adhesion barrier with controlled release of anti-adhesion drug. Dexamethasone (Dex) was encapsulated in polymeric micelles (Dex micelles), and then the Dex micelles were loaded into biodegradable and thermosensitive hydrogel. The obtained Dex hydrogel showed a temperature-dependent sol-gel-sol phase transition behavior. The Dex hydrogel could form a non-flowing gel in situ upon subcutaneous injection and gradually degrade in about 20 days. In addition, Dex hydrogel was assigned for anti-adhesion studies in a more rigorous recurrent adhesion animal model. Compared with normal saline (NS) and Dex micelles group, tissue adhesions in hydrogel and Dex hydrogel group were significantly alleviated. In Dex hydrogel group, the media adhesion score is 0, which was dramatically lower than that in blank hydrogel group (2.50, P < 0.001). In histopathological examination and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, an integral neo-mesothelial cell layer with microvilli on their surface was observed, which revealed that the injured parietal and visceral peritoneum were fully recovered without the concerns of adhesion formation. Our results suggested that Dex hydrogel may serve as a potential anti-adhesion candidate.

Enhanced antitumor activity and mechanism of biodegradable polymeric micelles-encapsulated chetomin in both transgenic zebrafish and mouse models.

Chetomin is a promising molecule with anti-tumor activities in the epipolythiodioxopiperazine family of fungal secondary metabolites; however, strong hydrophobicity has limited its further applications. In this work, chetomin was encapsulated into polymeric micelles to obtain an aqueous formulation, and the chetomin loaded micelles (Che-M) exhibited small particle size and high encapsulation efficiency. When the concentration of copolymer was higher than the critical gelation concentration, the Che-M could form a thermosensitive hydrogel (Che-H), which was free-flowing sol at ambient temperature and converted into a non-flowing gel at body temperature. The molecular modeling study has indicated that chetomin interacted with PCL as a core, which was embraced by PEG as a shell. Che-M showed equal cytotoxicity with free chetomin, but the apoptosis inducing effects of Che-M were more significant. Besides, Che-M could increase the GSSG level, decrease the GSH level, and increase the ROS in CT26 cells. Furthermore, stronger inhibitory effects of Che-M were observed on embryonic angiogenesis, tumor-induced angiogenesis and tumor growth in transgenic zebrafish models. In addition, Che-M was effective in inhibiting tumor growth and prolonging survival in a subcutaneous CT26 tumor model. In a colorectal peritoneal carcinomatosis model, both Che-M and Che-H showed excellent therapeutic effects, but Che-H was more effective. In conclusion, Che-M and Che-H may serve as candidates for cancer therapy.

Assessment of therapeutic efficacy of liposomal nanoparticles mediated gene delivery by molecular imaging for cancer therapy.

The inadequate treatment efficacy, suboptimal cancer detection and disease monitoring in anticancer therapies have led to the quest for clinically relevant, innovative multifaceted solutions such as development of targeted and traceable approaches. Molecular imaging technologies with the versatility of liposomal nanoparticles platform offer tangible options to better guide treatment delivery and monitor outcome. In this study, we introduced noninvasive, quantitative and functional imaging techniques with reporter gene methods to probe breast cancer processes with liposomal nanoparticles by bioluminescence imaging (BLI). A breast cancer model was applied for therapy by injecting 5.0 x 10(5) 4T1 cells carrying a reporter system encoding a double fusion reporter gene consisting of firefly luciferase (Fluc) and green fluorescent protein (GFP) into BALB/c mice. Liposomal nanoparticles loaded with a triple fusion gene containing the herpes simplex virus truncated thymidine kinase (HSV-ttk) and renilla luciferase (Rluc) and red fluorescent protein (RFP) were applied by in situ injection for monitoring and evaluating gene therapy. The BALB/c mice were subsequently treated with ganciclovir (GCV) and the growth status of tumor was monitored by bioluminescence imaging of Fluc and the treatment delivery of liposomal nanoparticle was efficiently tracked by Rluc imaging. In fact, TF plasmids were shown to be useful for monitoring and evaluating targeting efficacy and gene therapy by non-invasive molecular imaging. In conclusion, the combination of noninvasive imaging techniques and liposomal nanoparticle can provide a practical and clinically useful way for gene delivery and monitoring the level of gene expression over time and treatment response in patients undergoing gene therapy.