Combination therapy with ropivacaine-loaded liposomes and nutrient deprivation for simultaneous cancer therapy and cancer pain relief.

Autophagy allows cancer cells to respond changes in nutrient status by degrading and recycling non-essential intracellular contents. Inhibition of autophagy combined with nutrient deprivation is an effective strategy to treat cancer. Pain is a primary determinant of poor quality of life in advanced cancer patients, but there is currently no satisfactory treatment. In addition, effective treatment of cancer does not efficiently relieve cancer pain, but may increase pain in many cases. Hence, few studies focus on simultaneous cancer therapy and pain relief, and made this situation even worse. Method: Ropivacaine was loaded into tumor-active targeted liposomes. The cytotoxicity of ropivacaine-based combination therapy in B16 and HeLa cells were tested. Moreover, a mice model of cancer pain which was induced by inoculation of melanoma near the sciatic nerve was constructed to assess the cancer suppression and pain relief effects of ropivacaine-based combination therapy. Results: Ropivacaine and ropivacaine-loaded liposomes (Rop-DPRL) were novelly found to damage autophagic degradation. Replicated administration of Rop-DPRL and calorie restriction (CR) could efficiently repress the development of tumor. In addition, administration of Rop-DPRL could relieve cancer pain with its own analgestic ability in a short duration, while repeated administration of Rop-DPRL and CR resulted in continuous alleviation of cancer pain through reduction of VEGF-A levels in advanced cancer mice. Further, dual inhibition of phosphorylation of STAT3 at Tyr705 and Ser727 by Rop-DPRL and CR contribute to the reduction of VEGF-A. Conclusion: Combination therapy with Rop-DPRL and nutrient deprivation simultaneously suppresses cancer growth and relieves cancer pain.

[Effects and mechanism on removing organics and reduction of membrane fouling using granular macro-porous anion exchange resin in drinking water treatment].

A granular macro-porous anion exchange resin combined with coagulation was used as pretreatment of microfiltration membrane, and their effects and mechanism on removing organics and reduction of membrane fouling were evaluated. The results showed that resin could be effective in removing organics with medium and small molecular weight ( Mr) but ineffective in removing organics with large Mr, while couagulation could significantly remove organics with large Mr, with a limited removal for organics with medium and small Mr. Using resin alone as pretreatment could be effective in removal of organics but limited in reduction of membrane fouling. With combination of coagulation and resin as pretreatment of microfiltration, not only organics could be removed effectively, but also membrane fouling could be reduced.

[Effect of relative molecular mass distribution and hydrophilicity/ hydrophobicity of NOM on membrane fouling in MF-combined process].

This study investigated the reversible and irreversible foulants in a submerged microfiltration (MF) with pretreatments (coagulation/powdered activated carbon (PAC)/potassium permanganate) in a pilot scale treatment of water from Taihu Lake. The study focused on the effect of relative molecular mass (M(r)) distribution and hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity on membrane fouling using high performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) with UV and TOC detectors and three dimension fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (3DEEM). HPSEC analyses showed that pretreatments could almost completely remove the macro molecules (M(r) > 10 x 10(3)), but only eliminate part of medium (10 x 10(3)) > M(r) > 1 x 10(3)) and micro molecules (M(r) < 1 x 10(3)). A majority of medium and micro molecules were found in chemical cleaning solutions, indicating that medium and micro molecules were the main foulants that contributed to irreversible membrane fouling. In addition, it was also found that the content of strong hydrophobic acids (SHA) and neutral hydrophilic (Neut) fractions in chemical solutions were far higher than that of weakly hydrophobic acids (WHA) and charged hydrophilic (Char), which suggested that both organic fractions were responsible for irreversible fouling. 3DEEM fluorescence demonstrated that aromatic proteins and soluble microbial products were the main contributors to irreversible membrane fouling.