Hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach: Thirteen case reports and review of literature.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to examine the clinical characteristics of hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach (HAS) and its diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. CASE SUMMARY: A retrospective analysis of 13 HAS cases was performed. The mean age of the 13 patients was 66.08 years, and 10 of the 13 patients were male. Prior to treatment, the alpha-fetoprotein levels in the serum were elevated in 7 patients, the tumour was located in the distal or gastric body in 11 patients, and the gastroscopy pathological results showed that 3 patients had poorly differentiated tumours and that 8 patients had moderately/poorly differentiated tumours. Abdominal CT scans showed local stomach wall thickening, and enlarged lymph nodes were visible around the stomach in 8 patients. Of the 13 patients, 11 underwent radical surgery. The clinical pathological staging was as follows: Stage II in 2 cases; stage III in 8 cases; and stage IV in 1 case. A total of 3 patients were lost to follow-up. Otherwise, as of the last follow-up, 3 patients had survived for 56 mo, and the other 7 patients failed to achieve long-term survival (survival period of 1-56 mo). CONCLUSION: HAS is a special type of gastric cancer, and the prognosis of HAS has improved compared with past prognoses. Measurement of alpha-fetoprotein, early diagnosis, active surgical treatment, and application of new diagnostic and treatment techniques are conducive to improving the prognosis of HAS.

Implications of soluble E-cadherin level of antiviral treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Soluble E-cadherin (sE-cadherin) has been observed elevated in patients with various diseases, and implicated in the occurrence and development of those diseases. The implications of sE-cadherin in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are still unclear. The purpose of this study is to explore the significance of sE-cadherin in chronic hepatitis C infection and the correlation with treatment response. METHODS: 87 chronic HCV infected patients and 60 healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. Blood samples from patients receiving the combined treatment of pegylated interferon-a (Peg-IFN-α) with ribavirin (RBV) were collected before treatment, during 4th, 12th therapy weeks, end of the treatment, and 24 weeks post-therapy. Plasma sE-cadherin level was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the relationship between sE-cadherin and antiviral treatment outcome was analyzed. RESULTS: Plasma sE-cadherin concentrations of Chronic HCV infected patients were significantly higher than that of healthy controls. A strong correlation between sE-cadherin level and the HCV viral load, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and also glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) level was detected. Chronic HCV infected patients achieving rapid virological response (RVR) and sustained virological response (SVR) had lower baseline sE-cadherin concentrations compared with the non-RVR and non-SVR groups respectively. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses suggested that baseline plasma sE-cadherin level was predictive of therapeutic effect in patients with chronic HCV infection. CONCLUSION: Baseline sE-cadherin level could be considered as an independent predictor of SVR with Peg-IFN-α plus ribavirin therapy in the Chinese Han population chronic HCV infection patients. Effective antiviral therapy might restore sE-cadherin at physiological levels.

Dispersion of daidzein with polyvinylpyrrolidone effects on dissolution rate and bioavailability.

OBJECTIVE: To study on the dispersion of daidzein with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and its effects on the aqueous solubility, dissolution rate and bioavailability of daidzein. METHODS: The solid dispersion of daidzein at various daidzein to PVP ratios were obtained via the solvent evaporation method and characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. In addition,the bioavailability of free daidzein as well as its solid dispersion were studied in mice. RESULTS: It was found that the daidzein solubility in the solid dispersion form was 8 times greater than that of the free drug in water at (37 +/- 0.1) degrees C. Meanwhile,the daidzein dissolution rate was significantly increased after dispersing with PVP. The results of the bioavailability showed that both Cmax and AUC value of daidzein solid dispersion were about 5 times larger than unprocessed daidzein, implying that the rate-limiting step in daidzein absorption may be the dissolution process. CONCLUSIONS: The results in this work reveal the substantial advantages of adopting polyvinylpyrrolidone dispersion as an oral preparation to improve daidzein bioavailability.

Effect of intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid in rheumatoid arthritis patients with knee osteoarthritis.

BACKGROUND: Intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid (HA) is a well-documented treatment for knee osteoarthritis (OA). One of the multifactorial mechanisms is that exogenous HA can stimulate endogenous HA production. HA can regulate the growth and function of chondrocytes by binding to CD44 receptors on the chondrocytes. Synovitis is often found in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and is supposed to result from CD44 activity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of intra-articular injection of HA in patients with RA combined with knee OA. METHODS: Twenty RA patients with OA knees were enrolled; 11 patients were placed into a stage II group and 9 into a stage III group, in accordance with the Kellgren-Lawrence classification of knee OA. All patients received intra-articular injection of HA (ARTZ) once a week for 5 weeks, and were evaluated with the WOMAC index (including the pain, stiffness and physical function subscales) at baseline, week 5 and week 9. The Friedman test and Wilcoxon signed rank test with Bonferroni correction method were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The effect of intra-articular injection of HA was significant at week 5 (p < 0.0167) and persisted to week 9 (p < 0.0167). This therapy was equally efficacious with stage II and stage III patients, with no difference between the 2 groups. CONCLUSION: Intra-articular injection of HA was beneficial in patients with RA combined with knee OA.

[Analysis of supercritical fluid extracts of Radix caulophylli with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry].

To analyze the constituents in supercritical fluid CO2 extraction (SFE-CO2) of Radix caulophylli, the Radix caulophylli was extracted with SFE-CO2, and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The GC-MS analysis with a DB-5MS capillary column (30 mm x 0.32 mm ID, 0.25 microm film thickness) was used. The inlet temperature was maintained at 280 degrees C. The column oven was held at 80 degrees C for 2 min, then programmed from 80 to 280 degrees C at 5 degrees C x min(-1) and, finally, held for 4 min. Helium at a constant flow rate of 2.0 mL x min(-1) was used as the carrier gas. The mass spectrometry conditions were as follows: ionization energy, 70 eV; ion source temperature, 200 degrees C. The mass selective detector was operated in the TIC mode (m/z was from 40 - 500). For the first time 49 peaks were separated and identified, the compounds were quantitatively determined by normalization method, and the identified compounds represent 97.44% of total GC peak areas. Viz, n-hexadecanoic acid (31.4%), (E, E) -9, 12-octadecadienoic acid (26.54%), (Z)-7-tetradecenal (9.4%), hexadecenoic acid (3.23%), 10-undecenal (3.22%), octadecanoic acid (2.25%), and caulophylline (1.76%) etc. The results will provide important foundation for understanding the constituents and further exploitation of Radix caulophylli.