Self-assembly of CXCR4 antagonist peptide-docetaxel conjugates for breast tumor multi-organ metastasis inhibition

As a representative chemotherapeutic drug, docetaxel (DTX) has been used for breast cancer treatment for decades. However, the poor solubility of DTX limits its efficacy, and the DTX based therapy increases the metastasis risk due to the upregulation of C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) expression during the treatment. Herein, we conjugated CXCR4 antagonist peptide (CTCE) with DTX (termed CTCE-DTX) as an anti-metastasis agent to treat breast cancer. CTCE-DTX could self-assemble to nanoparticles, targeting CXCR4-upregulated metastatic tumor cells and enhancing the DTX efficacy. Thus, the CTCE-DTX NPs achieved promising efficacy on inhibiting both bone-specific metastasis and lung metastasis of triple-negative breast cancer. Our work provided a rational strategy on designing peptide-drug conjugates with synergistic anti-tumor efficacy.

Epidemiologic characteristics of fall in the elderly in urban and rural areas in Shanghai / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective@#To understand the epidemiologic characteristics of fall in the elderly in Shanghai, as well as the differences between urban and rural areas, and provide evidence for targeted fall prevention and intervention.@*Methods@#From January to March in 2017, a questionnaire survey was conducted in the elderly aged 60 or above selected from 7 urban communities and 6 rural communities in Shanghai to understand the epidemiologic characteristics of fall in the elderly and analyze the gender and urban-rural differences.@*Results@#In urban area, a total of 3 386 elderly people were surveyed, in whom 441 (13.0%) had fall and 261 (7.7%) were injured after fall. In rural area, a total of 2 826 elderly people were surveyed, in whom 320 (11.3%) had fall and 169 (6.0%) were injured after fall. Fall risk in women were higher than that in men in both urban and rural areas with OR of 1.62 (95%CI: 1.42-1.86) and 1.16 (95%CI: 1.38-1.98) respectively, but the differences of fall related injury were not significant. Compared with urban areas, fall risk and fall related injury risk were both lower in rural areas with OR of 0.86 (95%CI: 0.73-0.99) and 0.74 (95%CI: 0.56-0.99). Compared with urban areas, men had lower risk for fall, and women had lower risk for fall related injury with OR of 0.68 (95%CI: 0.51-0.90) and 0.66 (95%CI: 0.47-0.93) respectively. Fall mainly occurred at home. Fall in urban area more frequently occurred on stairs, and fall in rural area more frequently occurred during farming. More than 60% of the falls had environmental risk factors. Slippery ground and uneven ground were main reasons. The incidence of fracture resulted from fall was high indicated by 89 fracture cases in urban areas (28.2%) and 64 fracture cases in rural areas (36.1%).@*Conclusions@#The risk for fall in Shanghai had gender and urban-rural differences. Targeted intervention should be conducted according to the characteristics of fall in the elderly.

The clinical efficacy of lamellar hole-associated epiretinal proliferation flap insertion and autologous blood for degenerative type lamellar macular hole / 中华眼底病杂志

Objective To observe the efficacy of lamellar hole-associated epiretinal proliferation (LHEP) flap insertion and autologous blood for degenerative type lamellar macular hole (LMH).Methods Retrospective case review.Twenty-eight eyes of 28 patients with LMH were enrolled in this study.There were 2 males (2 eyes) and 26 females (26 eyes).Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA),medical optometry,slit-lamp biomicroscop,indirect ophthalmoscope,spectral domain optical coherence tomography,b-scan ultrasonography and axial length detection were performed on all patients.Logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) was used to calculate visual acuity.There were 10 eyes (35.7％) with degenerative type LMH (flap insertion group) and LHEP.There were 18 eyes (64.3％) with tractional type LMH (general group).The differences of BCVA,AL,horizontal hole diameter from retina and lens state between two groups were not significant (P＞ 0.05).The differences of horizontal hole diameter of internal limiting membrane (ILM),central foveal thickness (CFT) and integrity of ellipsoidal zone between two groups were significant (P＜ 0.05).LHEP flap insertion and autologous blood without ILM peeling were used in eyes of flap insertion group.Vitrectomy combined ILM peeling were used in eyes of general group.The follow-up was ranged from 3 to 14 months.The changes of CFT,central foveal form and logMAR BCVA were observed.Results At latest follow-up,the BCVA of flap insertion group and general group were 0.34±0.27,0.31±0.29;which significantly better than the preoperative BCVA (Z=-3.519,-4.945;P＜ 0.001).The CFT of flap insertion group and general group were (200.10±58.78),(226.61±70.49) μm.There was no difference between pre-and post-operative CFT in eyes of general group (Z=-1.455,P=0.146).There was significant difference between pre-and post-operative CFT in eyes of flap insertion group (Z=-2.798,P=0.005).In flap insertion group,regular recovery of the foveal contour occurred in 9 eyes (90.0％),improvement in 1 eyes (10.0％).In general group,regular recovery of the foveal contour occurred in 10 eyes (55.6％),improvement in 8 eyes (44.4％).The closure rate of LMH were 100％ both in two groups.Conclusion LHEP flap insertion and autologous blood is an effective treatment of degenerative type LMH.

Analgesic and Anti-inflammatory Effects of Ginger Oil / 中草药·英文版

Objective Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is widely used as a spice in cooking and as a medicinal herb in traditional herbal medicine. The present study was to investigate the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of ginger oil in experimental animal models. Methods The analgesic effect of the oils was evaluated by the acetic acid and hot-plate test models of pain in mice. The anti-inflammatory effect of the oil was investigated in rats, using rat paw edema induced by carrageenan, adjuvant arthritis, and vascular permeability induced by bradykinin, arachidonic acid, and histamine. Indomethacin (1 mg/kg), Aspirin (0.5 g/kg) and Dexamethasone (2.5 mg/kg) were used respectively as reference drugs for comparison. Results The ginger oil (0.25-1.0 g/kg) produced significant analgesic effect against chemically- and thermally-induced nociceptive pain stimuli in mice (P < 0.05, 0.01). And the ginger oil (0.25-1.0 g/kg) also significantly inhibited carrageenan-induced paw edema, adjuvant arthritis, and inflammatory mediators-induced vascular permeability in rats (P < 0.05, 0.001). Conclusion These findings confirm that the ginger oil can be used to treat pain and chronic inflammation such as rheumatic arthritis.

Behavior problems in left-behind children living in rural areas of Changzhi City / 中华健康管理学杂志

Objective To understand the status quo and influencing factors of behavior problems in rural left-behind children. Methods Cross-sectional sampling approach was used for this comparative study.A total of 983 children of 7 to 9 grades from three counties of Changzhi City finished out questionnaires. Results The prevalence of behavior problems was significantly increased in the left-behind children in comparison with the non-left-behind children (59. 7% vs 50. 0% ; χ2 =5. 591 ,P＜0. 05). Long-time separation with mother and poorer education level were risk factors of behavior problems of left-behind children. Conclusion Behavior problems in rural left-behind children are even serious. Parents should avoid becoming a long-term migrant employee and have more concerns to children's mental and behavior health.