Progressive and Prognosis Value of Notch Receptors and Ligands in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is not sensitive to radiotherapy and chemotherapy and experiences postoperative relapse extremely easy, which is the major cause of the high mortality rate. The Notch signaling pathway is expected to become a new target for the biological treatment of HCC. We searched databases for studies that evaluated the expression of Notch receptors and/or ligands in human HCC tissue. The search yielded 15 studies that enrolled 1643 patients. Compared with non-HCC tissues, Notch 1 was associated with a higher expression level (odds risk 1.59, 95% confidence interval 0.34 to 7.45), as well as Notch 3 (2.63, 0.69 to 10.02), Notch 4 (1.33, 0.74 to 2.38) and Jagged 1 (1.47, 0.23 to 9.53); however, Notch 2 showed the opposite result (0.60, 0.30 to 1.20). Larger tumor size (>5 cm), metastasis positive, and micro vascular invasion positive were features that were associated with over-expression in Notch 1 according to the clinicopathological features. The expression levels of Notch 1, 3, 4 and Jagged 1 were associated with higher expression in HCC tissues, while Notch 2 had the opposite result. This study is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42017055782).

The influence of omeprazole on platelet inhibition of clopidogrel in various CYP2C19 mutant alleles.

Currently, concerns of clopidogrel and proton pump inhibitors (especially omeprazole) interaction are raised, because they are both metabolized by CYP2C19. What is more, omeprazole can also inhibit the activity of CYP2C19. The study was to compare the influence of omeprazole on platelet inhibition of clopidogrel in various CYP2C19 mutant alleles. One hundred forty-two consecutive patients undergoing elective coronary stenting received aspirin and clopidogrel, and were randomized to omeprazole or the placebo. Enrolled patients were analyzed for adenosine diphosphate-induced platelet aggregation (ADP-Ag), and CYP2C19*2 and CYP2C19*3 were identified by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Of the patients included, 47 (33.1%) belonged to homozygous extensive metabolizers (homEMs) (CYP2C19*1/*1), 70 (49.3%) belonged to heterozygous extensive metabolizers (hetEMs) (*1/*2 or *1/*3), and 25 (17.6%) belonged to poor metabolizers (PMs) (*2/*3 or *2/*2). ADP-Ag had a significant difference among the three genotypic groups (p<0.01). Moreover, the present study revealed that the degree of the interaction between clopidogrel and omeprazole was not homogeneous within the various genotypes of CYP2C19. The difference of ADP-Ag between the patients with and without omeprazole was significantly largest in homEMs (45.7%±14.2% vs. 35.5%±16.0%, p<0.05). However, any significant difference of ADP-Ag between the patients with and without omeprazole was not observed in other two genotypic groups (hetEMs and PMs, p>0.05). In conclusion, concomitant therapy with omeprazole appears to reduce the antiplatelet effect of clopidogrel most significantly in homEMs of CYP2C19.

[Studies on diclofenac sodium pulsatile release pellets].

AIM: To investigate the preparation of diclofenac sodium pulsatile release pellets (DS-PRP), the release in vitro and the pharmacokinetics of the drug. METHODS: Diclofenac sodium (DS) core pellets prepared by extrusion-spheronization technology were coated in a mini-fluidized bed spray coater with swelling material as the inner coating swelling layer and ethylcellulose aqueous dispersion as the outer coating controlled layer. The effects of formulation and medium on pulsatile release of DS were investigated under release rate test. Pharmacokinetic and bioavailability study in eight human subjects were performed by HPLC method. RESULTS: The delayed-release time and release rate of DS from DS-PRP were influenced obviously by the swelling material, the concentration of SDS in medium, the coating level of the inner swelling layer and the outer controlled layer. In vitro, the delayed-release time T0.1 was 3.1 h, and the pulsed-release time T0.1-0.2 was 1.2 h. In vivo, the delayed-release time Tlag was 2.8 h, and the bioavailability was (91 +/- 12)%. CONCLUSION: The release of drug from DS-PRP was shown to be in pulsed way both in vitro and in vivo.