A conjugate of methotrexate and an analog of luteinizing hormone releasing hormone shows increased efficacy against prostate cancer.

LHRH receptor, is over-expressed in a variety of human tumors and, is a potential binding site for targeted metastatic prostate cancer therapy. The objectives of our study were to synthesize a bioconjugate of the LHRH analog [DLys6]-LHRH and the anti-tumor agent methotrexate and test the hypothesis that [DLys6]-LHRH-MTX targets and inhibits prostate cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo. The results of in vitro studies, showed that both [DLys6]-LHRH-MTX and MTX displayed superior cytotoxicity against prostate cancer cells in a concentration-dependent manners, with IC50 concentrations for PC-3 cells of, 1.02 ± 0.18 µmol/L and 6.34 ± 1.01 µmol/L; for DU-145 cells, 1.53 ± 0.27 µmol/L and 8.03 ± 1.29 µmol/L; and for LNCaP cells, 1.93 ± 0.19 µmol/L and 9.68 ± 1.24 µmol/L, respectively. The IC50 values of [DLys6]-LHRH-MTX and MTX were 110.77 ± 15.31 µmol/L and 42.33 ± 7.25 µmol/L, respectively. Finally, [DLys6]-LHRH-MTX significantly improved the anti-tumor activity of MTX in nude mice bearing PC-3 tumor xenografts. The inhibition ratios of tumor volume and tumor weight in the [DLys6]-LHRH-MTX treated group were significantly higher than those in the MTX-treated group. Tumor volume doubling time was also significantly extended from 6.13 days in control animals to 9.67 days in mice treated with [DLys6]-LHRH-MTX. In conclusion, [DLys6]-LHRH -MTX may be useful in treating prostate cancer.

Development and validation of a stability-indicating high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the determination of related substances of micafungin sodium in drug substances.

An isocratic, sensitive and stability-indicating high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for separation and determination of the related substances of micafungin sodium was developed. The chromatographic separation was achieved on Agilent Zorbax SB-C18 column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 µm). Forced degradation study confirmed that the newly developed method was specific and selective to the degradation products. The performance of the method was validated according to the present ICH guidelines for specificity, linearity, accuracy, precision and robustness. Regression analysis showed correlation coefficient value greater than 0.999 for micafungin sodium and its six impurities. Limit of detection of impurities was in the range of 0.006%-0.013% indicating the high sensitivity of the newly developed method. Accuracy of the method was established based on the recovery obtained between 98.2% and 102.0% for all impurities. RSD obtained for the repeatability and intermediate precision experiments, was less than 1.0%. The method was successfully applied to quantify related substances of micafungin sodium in bulk drugs.

[Advances in studies compatibility applied toattenuation and synergy of Tripterygium wilfordii].

Review the research and development status that Chinese medicine are compatible with Tripterygium wilfordii for attenuation and synergy for recent year. From modern medicine view and Chinese medicine dialectical perspective explain the mechanisms and methods of compatibility applied to attenuation and synergy of T. wilfordii. Provide a reference for reasonable application of other toxic Chinese medicine. Prefer the suggestion that Chinese medicinal formulae can be developed into Chinese medicine compound preparation.