Impacts of stand density on diversity of understory plant and soil seed banks in a Pinus massoniana plantation.

Stand density is a critical factor impacting the diversity of understory plants. We analyzed the diversity of understory plants and soil seed banks, as well as their relationship by setting up three planting densities in a Pinus massoniana plantation, including low density (1575 trees·hm-2, D1), medium (2474 trees·hm-2, D2), and high (3550 trees·hm-2, D3). It aimed to provide a scientific basis for the implementation of the multi-objective sustainable development of plantations. The results showed that there were 70 species of herbs and shrubs belonging to 42 families and 62 genera. D1 was dominated by heliophiles, whereas both the D2 and D3 were dominated by shade-tolerant species. The Margalef (M), Shannon (H), Simpson (D), Pielou (Jsw), and Altalo (Al) indices of the herbs and shrubs exhibited a downward trend with increasing stand den-sity. In the herb layer, D1 and D3 showed significant difference in H, D, Jsw and Al. There were significant differences of Jsw and Al in the shrub layer among the three stand densities, but no diffe-rence of H and D. H, D, Jsw and Al in the soil seed bank first decreased and then increased with increasing stand density, with species richness and diversity being the highest in D1. The similarity coefficient of Jaccard and Sorensen among different stand densities was low. In the herb layer, M was positively correlated with Jsw. The correlations between stand density and H, D, Jsw and Al were greater in the shrub layer than in the herb layer. There was significant negative correlation between stand density and Jsw both in the shrub and herb layers. The stand density of 1575 trees·hm-2 was comparatively beneficial for the development of understory, plant diversity, and sustainability of P. massoniana plantation.

Time-effective analgesic effect of acupressure ankle strip pressing wrist and ankle acupuncture point on primary dysmenorrhea: Study protocol clinical trial (SPIRIT compliant).

BACKGROUND: Dysmenorrhea seriously affects the ability of women to perform normal social activities and decreases their quality of life. Primary dysmenorrhea can be effectively treated with acupuncture. Based on the wrist-ankle acupuncture (WAA) theory, we designed a portable WAA point compression treatment strap that treats diseases by automatically applying pressure to acupuncture points. The proposed study aims to evaluate the immediate analgesic effect of the acupressure wrist-ankle strap in patients with primary dysmenorrhea. METHODS: The study will be a randomized controlled trial conducted from May 1, 2019 to May 30, 2020 that includes 78 students from Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine who have primary dysmenorrhea and meet the eligibility criteria. Participants will be randomly divided into 2 groups in a 1:1 allocation ratio. The intervention group will use the acupressure wrist-ankle strap equipped with tip compression component parts on the internal side; the control group will use the nonacupressure wrist-ankle strap with the tip compression parts removed. All participants will be treated for 30 minutes on the 1st day of menstruation. The primary outcome is the pain intensity score measured by the visual analog scale. The secondary outcomes are the onset time of analgesia, the pain threshold at Yinlingquan (SP 9), skin temperature at Guanyuan (CV 4), and expectations and satisfaction of patients as investigated via the expectation and treatment credibility scale. DISCUSSION: This trial will be the 1st study to evaluate the analgesic effect of the acupressure wrist-ankle strap in patients with primary dysmenorrhea. The quality of this study is ensured by the randomization, nonacupressure control, and blinded design. The results may provide evidence for a potential alternative treatment for primary dysmenorrhea and evidence-based proof of the analgesic effect of WAA.

Efficacy of complementary and integrative medicine on health-related quality of life in cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) has been used for improving health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with cancer. The objective of this review is to evaluate the effects of CIMs on the HRQOL of cancer patients. We identified randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving patients with cancer at any stage by retrieving electronic databases from the inception to February 14, 2018 (Systematic Review Registration: PROSPERO CRD42018091609). The main outcomes were HRQOL scores and related domains such as physical well-being scores. The standardized mean difference was used for the analysis and heterogeneity was assessed with the I 2 statistic. A Bayesian framework was used to estimate the ranking order of efficacy in HRQOL change. Finally, 34 RCTs with 3,010 patients were included. As a whole, the results showed clearly superior efficacy of CIM in improving HRQOL. For different domains of HRQOL, different CIM interventions may play different roles. The ranking order of efficacy in change HRQOL was qigong plus mindfulness, Chinese herbal medicine, multimodal complementary medicine, qigong, nutritional supplement, mindfulness, acupuncture, yoga, and massage, and it was different among different domains. There was no evidence of publication bias. In conclusion, CIM may improve the HRQOL of cancer patients. More studies, especially focusing on male cancer patients, are needed to increase the confidence level of our findings.

Clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of primary liver cancer with integrative traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an important part of the treatment of primary liver cancer (PLC) in China; however, the current instructions for the integrative use of traditional Chinese and Western medicine for PLC are mostly based on expert opinion. There is no evidence-based guideline for clinical practice in this field. Therefore, the Shanghai Association of Chinese Integrative Medicine has established a multidisciplinary working group to develop this guideline, which focuses on the most important questions about the use of TCM during PLC treatment. This guideline was developed following the methodological process recommended by the World Health Organization Handbook for Guideline Development. Two rounds of questionnaire survey were performed to identify clinical questions; published evidence was searched; the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach was used to evaluate the body of evidence; and recommendations were formulated by combining the quality of evidence, patient preferences and values, and other risk factors. The guideline was written based on the Reporting Items for Practice Guidelines in Healthcare tool. This guideline contains 10 recommendations related to 8 questions, including recommendations for early treatment by TCM after surgery, TCM combined with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for advanced PLC, TCM drugs for external use, and acupuncture and moxibustion therapy.

[Accumulation of Heavy Metals in Different Rice Varieties].

Field experiments were conducted on the heavy metal contents (Cd, Pb, Cr, inorganic As, and total Hg) of the 129 main cultivated rice varieties in southern China. We analyzed the effects of different varieties and types of rice on the absorption capacities of these heavy metals. The results showed that the Cd content in 35 brown rice of early rice was 0.35-0.60 mg·kg-1, exceeding the standard rate of 100%. The Pb content in brown rice was 0.08-0.30 mg·kg-1, exceeding the rate of 14.29%. The Cd content in 54 brown rice of medium rice was 0.03-0.45 mg·kg-1, exceeding the rate of 33.33%. The Cd content in 40 brown rice of late rice was 0.08-0.20 mg·kg-1, which did not exceed the national standard. Early, middle, and late rice all showed that the Cd content of three-line hybrid rice was higher than that of two-line hybrid rice, but the difference was not obvious. The contents of Cr and total Hg in brown rice of three-line hybrid rice in early rice were significantly higher than that of two-line hybrid rice. There was a significant positive correlation between Cd content in brown rice and Pb and total Hg content in medium rice, and there was a significant negative correlation between inorganic Cd content and inorganic As content, whereas there was no significant correlation between Cd and Cr content. In short, rice's absorption and accumulation of heavy metals is greatly affected by genetic background, species types, and heavy metal interactions.

Wrist-ankle Acupuncture Increases Pain Thresholds in Healthy Adults.

Context • Wrist-ankle acupuncture (WAA) has been used to relieve both chronic and acute pain in China. Some research has shown that WAA can increase the pain thresholds in pain patients, but the ability of WAA to affect the pain thresholds in healthy adults is unknown. Objective • The study intended to assess the influence of WAA on the pain thresholds of healthy adults. Design • This is an observational study. Setting • This study was conducted in the School of Traditional Chinese Medicine at the Second Military Medical University (Shanghai, China). Participants • Participants were 50 healthy university students aged 19-23 y. Intervention • In the theory of WAA, each side of the body and each limb are longitudinally divided into 6 regions, with 1 needling point defined for each region at the wrist or ankle. The theory indicates that needling a point should relieve pain in a point's corresponding region. For the study, a needle was inserted and retained for 30 min in the Upper 2 point of the left wrist of each participant. Outcome Measures • The pressure pain threshold was measured by a handheld algometer at a position in the left Upper 2 region corresponding to the site of the needling and at positions in the right Upper 2 region as well as the left and right Upper 3 regions not corresponding to the site of the needling. The measurements were taken at 40 min before needling, 5 min after needling, 30 min after needling when the needles were removed, and 70 min after needling. Results • The immediate influence of the WAA on the pain threshold was not significant at 5 min after needling (P > .05). However, at 30 min after needling when the needles were removed, the increases in the pain thresholds were statistically significant when compared to those at 40 min before needling, which were the measurements at baseline (P ≤ .01). At 70 min after needling, the pain thresholds remained higher than those at 40 min before needling (P < .05). From 40 min before needling to 70 min after needling, the pain thresholds in the different positions showed a continuous increase. Conclusions • The WAA had an analgesic effect on pressure-induced pain not only in the corresponding but also in the noncorresponding regions of the needling point in healthy adults. The immediate analgesic effect of the WAA at 5 min after needling was not obvious, but the effects at 30 min and 70 min after needling were statistically significant.

How do systematic reviews of acupuncture for pain relief incorporate risk of bias assessments into the synthesis? A methodological study.

OBJECTIVE: By reviewing the assessment of internal validity in relevant systematic reviews (SRs), the aim of this study was to identify how critical appraisals of risk of bias (RoB) inform the synthesis of evidence in SRs of acupuncture for pain relief. METHODS: SRs were searched in Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database of SRs from their inception to 30 December 2014. Only SRs of acupuncture for pain relief were included. Basic information, types of RoB appraisal tool, whether or not there was domain-level assessment of RoB, whether or not the reviews ranked studies by RoB, plus whether or not (and, if so, how) RoB appraisal was incorporated into the synthesis were determined. RESULTS: A total of 91 SRs met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis. Over half of the SRs (85, 64.8%) used standard tools, such as the Jadad quality score and the Cochrane RoB tool, followed by adapted tools (n=23, 25.3%). Of the 85 SRs that assessed RoB, 29 (34.1%) presented domain-level assessment and 71 SRs (83.5%) included ranking of the studies based on RoB assessment. Of these 71, 35 (49.4%) used a cut-off threshold score and 26 (36.6%) required all criteria sum-up. Of the 85 SRs that assessed RoB, 48 (56.5%) incorporated RoB appraisal into the data synthesis. CONCLUSIONS: Although most SRs of acupuncture for pain relief conducted some form of RoB assessment, nearly half of them failed to incorporate the RoB assessment into the synthesis.

Wrist-ankle acupuncture for pain after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization in patients with liver cancer: a randomized controlled trial.

This study was designed to evaluate the analgesic effect of wrist-ankle acupuncture (WAA) for patients with primary liver cancer (PLC) after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE). Sixty PLC patients with post-TACE visual analog pain intensity scores greater than 3 were divided equally into two groups receiving either WAA or oral morphine sulphate (MOR) for post-TACE pain. Pain intensity scores were reassessed at 1, 2, 4, and 6 h after analgesic intervention. Patients were also monitored for adverse reactions to analgesic treatment. Pain scores recorded when the patients first felt pain after TACE showed no statistical difference between the two groups (p > 0.05). WAA and MOR had indistinguishable degrees of pain relief 1, 2, and 4 h after analgesic intervention (p > 0.05). At 6 h after intervention, the WAA group experienced significantly greater pain relief than the MOR group (p < 0.05). Incidence of abdominal distension was lower in the WAA group than in the MOR group (p < 0.05). The results suggest that WAA not only had an analgesic effect equal to or greater than MOR in PLC patients with moderate to severe post-TACE pain, but also reduced the incidence of post-operative abdominal distention.

[Application and research of acupuncture in military].

Acupuncture has remarkable effects of pain relieving and functional restoration on injuries of soft tissue and joint due to military training. As more and more attention has been attached to the impact of psychological states and biorhythm disorder on the fighting ability of military staff, acupuncture has found its place in treating chronic fatigue, combat stress reaction, traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder as well as regulating circadian rhythms. The therapeutic effect of acupuncture in military training-related physical damage and psychological trauma has already been proved by numerous clinical practices and researches. It is held that using acupuncture as an alternative could not only save medical resources, but also enhance the fighting ability of the army. However, the current clinical studies is facing the problem of limited sample size. Therefore, randomized controlled trials in large scale and multiple centers should be further carried out toward military staff, so as to provide more speaking evidences to the prevention and treatment of physical and psychological diseases.

Comparison of registered and published primary outcomes in randomized controlled trials of gastroenterology and hepatology.

OBJECTIVES. The need for trial registration as well as the benefits it has brought for the transparency of medical research has been recognized for years. Trial registration has turned from an exception to a mandatory guideline in recent years. The present study aimed to examine the characteristics of registered randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in a sample of recently published gastroenterology RCTs, and to assess the consistency of registered and published primary outcome (PO) in RCTs. METHODS. Articles published in the top five "general and internal journals" and top five "gastroenterology and hepatology journals" categories between 2009 and 2012 were searched in PubMed. Basic characteristics and the registration information were identified and extracted from the included RCTs. PO consistency analysis was conducted to compare between the registered and published format. RESULTS. A total of 305 RCTs were included; among them 252 could be identified with a registration number. Nearly half of these RCTs were funded solely by industry (141/305, 46.3%). ClinicalTrials.gov was the most popular registry for these RCTs (214/252, 84.9%). A total of 155 RCTs were included in the PO consistency analysis. Among them, 22 (14.2%) RCTs had discrepancies between POs registered in the trial registry compared to the published article. CONCLUSIONS. Based on the results of the present study, selective outcome reporting of gastroenterology RCTs published in leading medical journals has been much improved over the past years. However, there might be a sampling bias to say that consistency of registered and published POs of gastroenterology RCTs has been better than before.

Extending the CONSORT Statement to moxibustion.

The STandards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials Of Moxibustion (STRICTOM), in the form of a checklist and descriptions of checklist items, were designed to improve reporting of moxibustion trials, and thereby facilitating their interpretation and replication. The STRICTOM checklist included 7 items and 16 sub-items. These set out reporting guidelines for the moxibustion rationale, details of moxibustion, treatment regimen, other components of treatment, treatment provider background, control and comparator interventions, and precaution measures. In addition, there were descriptions of each item and examples of good reporting. It is intended that the STRICTOM can be used in conjunction with the main CONSORT Statement, extensions for nonpharmacologic treatment and pragmatic trials, and thereby raise the quality of reporting of clinical trials of moxibustion. Further comments will be solicited from the experts of the CONSORT Group, the STRICTA Group, acupuncture and moxibustion societies, and clinical trial authors for optimizing the STRICTOM.

Pharmacokinetics and brain uptake of an IgG-TNF decoy receptor fusion protein following intravenous, intraperitoneal, and subcutaneous administration in mice.

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α is a proinflammatory cytokine active in the brain. Etanercept, the TNF decoy receptor (TNFR), does not cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The TNFR was re-engineered for BBB penetration as a fusion protein with a chimeric monoclonal antibody (mAb) against the mouse transferrin receptor (TfR), and this fusion protein is designated cTfRMAb-TNFR. The cTfRMAb domain of the fusion protein acts as a molecular Trojan horse and mediates transport via the endogenous BBB TfR. To support future chronic treatment of mouse models of neural disease with daily administration of the cTfRMAb-TNFR fusion protein, a series of pharmacokinetics and brain uptake studies in the mouse was performed. The cTfRMAb-TNFR fusion protein was radiolabeled and injected into mice via the intravenous, intraperitoneal (IP), or subcutaneous (SQ) routes of administration at doses ranging from 0.35 to 10 mg/kg. The distribution of the fusion protein into plasma following the IP or SQ routes was enhanced by increasing the injection dose from 3 to 10 mg/kg. The fusion protein demonstrated long circulation times with high metabolic stability following the IP or SQ routes of injection. The IP or SQ routes produced concentrations of the cTfRMAb-TNFR fusion protein in the brain that exceed by 20- to 50-fold the concentration of TNFα in pathologic conditions of the brain. The SQ injection is the preferred route of administration, as the level of cTfRMAb fusion protein produced in the brain is comparable to that generated with intravenous injection, and at a much lower plasma area under the concentration curve of the fusion protein as compared to IP administration.

Weight reduction effects of acupuncture for obese women with or without perimenopausal syndrome: a pilot observational study.

This study was designed to compare the weight reduction effects of acupuncture for obese women with or without perimenopausal syndrome. We observed 60 women with either simple obesity or perimenopausal obesity (obesity complicated with perimenopausal syndrome) treated by five acupuncture treatments given in the first week of three successive four-week treatment courses, and obesity indexes including body weight, body mass index, obesity degree and waist/hip ratio were evaluated. Versus baseline, the obesity indexes decreased at the end of each treatment course in women with simple obesity (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01), while women with perimenopausal obesity showed no decrease at the end of the first course of treatment, and these indexes decreased at the end of the second and the third courses of treatment (p < 0.05). There was no difference when comparing obesity indexes recorded at the end of three courses of treatment and at the end of three-month follow-up between women with simple obesity and those with perimenopausal obesity. The results suggest that acupuncture reduced body weight in the obese women, and the weight loss occurred earlier in the treatment process for simple obesity than perimenopausal obesity.

Bioreducible and acid-labile poly(amido amine)s for efficient gene delivery.

Intracellular processes, including endosomal escape and intracellular release, are efficiency-determining steps in achieving successful gene delivery. It has been found that the presence of acid-labile units in polymers can facilitate endosomal escape and that the presence of reducible units in polymers can lead to intracellular release. In this study, poly(amido amine)s with both bioreducible and acid-labile properties were synthesized to improve gene delivery compared with single-responsive carriers. Transfection and cytotoxicity were evaluated in three cell lines. The complexes of DNA with dual-responsive polymers showed higher gene transfection efficiency than single-responsive polymers and polyethylenimine. At the same time, these polymers were tens of times less cytotoxic than polyethylenimine. Therefore, a polymer that is both reducible and acid-labile is a promising material for efficient and biocompatible gene delivery.

A traditional Chinese herbal medicine compound preparation versus interventional therapy after resection of small hepatocellular carcinoma: 22-year follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the long-term effectiveness of compound Ruanjianhugan(RJH)tablets and interventional therapy (IT) in patients after resection of small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). in 399 patients after resection of small HCC who were admitted between January 1987 and December 2008 in the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery and Center of Minimally Invasive Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University. Four groups were based on different therapy modes: a TCM-only (TCMO) group, a TCM combined with interventional therapy (TCM-IT) group, an interventional therapy-only (ITO) group, and a simple operation (SO) group. Prognostic factors were correlated with overall survival (OS) and OS rates were calculated with the Kaplan-Meier method, and multivariate analyses for factors affecting survival were evaluated by the Cox proportional hazard model. RESULTS: The median OS was 151.20 months in the TCM-IT group, 43.87 months in the ITO group, and 20.77 months in the SO group. All survival rates of the TCMO group were higher than those of the other three groups (>50%). The 5-, 10-, and 15-year OS in the TCMO and ITO patients were 83.94%, 45.50%, and 71.22% and 33.34%, 55.58%, and 9.26%, respectively (risk ratio, 0.209; 95% confidence interval, 0.126-0.347; P = 0.000). Multivariate analysis revealed that the independent risk factors were therapy mode (P = 0.000), sex (P = 0.005), family history (P = 0.011), TNM classification of malignant tumor staging (P = 0.000), medical care-seeking behavior (P = 0.021), and maximum diameter (P = 0.030). CONCLUSION: Long-term oral use of compound RJH tablets may improve OS for small HCC after resection compared with IT.

Selective plasma pharmacokinetics and brain uptake in the mouse of enzyme fusion proteins derived from species-specific receptor-targeted antibodies.

Enzymes may be re-engineered for brain drug targeting as an IgG-enzyme fusion protein, where the IgG is a monoclonal antibody (MAb) against an endogenous blood-brain barrier (BBB) receptor transporter, such as the insulin receptor or transferrin receptor (TfR). Iduronate 2-sulfatase (IDS) is fused to the heavy chain of a genetically engineered MAb against the human insulin receptor (HIR). Neither the HIRMAb alone, nor the HIRMAb-IDS fusion protein, is delivered across the BBB in the mouse, owing to lack of cross-reactivity of the HIRMAb with the insulin receptor in the mouse. The uptake of the HIRMAb-IDS fusion protein in peripheral organs exceeds that of the HIRMAb, which is attributed to uptake mediated via the mannose-6 phosphate receptor in non-brain organs. In contrast to the lack of BBB transport of the HIRMAb-IDS fusion protein, there is high BBB penetration in the mouse of an IDS fusion protein and a chimeric MAb against the mouse TfR. The comparison of the brain distribution of two different IgG-IDS fusion proteins, with different reactivity for an endogenous BBB receptor, illustrates the difference in brain targeting of a biopharmaceutical caused by the targeting properties of the IgG domain of the fusion protein.

[Association of MMP14 gene polymorphisms and osteoporosis in Zhuang men from Baise region of Guangxi].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase gene (MT1-MMP, MMP14) polymorphisms and osteoporosis in Zhuang men from Baise region of Guangxi. METHODS: Genotypes of 5 loci (rs1003349, rs3751488, rs2269213, rs2236303 and rs743257) of MMP14 gene in 301 Zhuang men were determined with single base extension methods, and bone mineral density (BMD) at left calcaneus was evaluated with quantitative ultrasound with measured values of broadband ultrasonic attenuation (BUA). The subjects were divided according to BMD into osteoporosis group, osteopenia group and normal bone density group. RESULTS: All selected loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P> 0.05). By multiple linear stepwise regression analysis, polymorphisms of the five loci were not associated with BUA. But a significant higher risk of osteoporosis was found in individuals with MMP14 rs1003349 GT genotype (vs. GG genotype; P<0.05) and rs2236303 CC and CT genotypes (vs. TT genotype; P<0.05). Genetic linkage between rs1003349 and rs2236303 was also discovered (D'= 0.839, r(2) = 0.458, P<0.01). Compared with the normal bone density group, the frequency of a G-T haplotype of rs1003349 and rs2236303 was significantly lower in the osteoporosis group (P<0.05). And the risk of osteoporosis for individuals with G-C and T-C haplotypes was 2.556 (95% CI: 1.029-6.349, P = 0.038) and 5.111 (95% CI: 1.341-19.485, P = 0.011) compared with G-T haplotype. CONCLUSION: Polymorphisms of rs1003349 and rs2236303 loci of MMP14 gene are associated with the susceptibility of osteoporosis in Zhuang men in Guangxi. G-C and T-C haplotypes for loci rs1003349 and rs2236303 may increase the disease risk.

[Assessment of research papers in medical university staff evaluation].

Medical university staff evaluation is a substantial branch of education administration for medical university. Output number of research papers as a direct index reflecting the achievements in academic research, plays an important role in academic research evaluation. Another index, influence of the research paper, is an indirect index for academic research evaluation. This paper mainly introduced some commonly used indexes in evaluation of academic research papers currently, and analyzed the applicability and limitation of each index. The author regards that academic research evaluation in education administration, which is mainly based on evaluation of academic research papers, should combine the evaluation of journals where the papers are published with peer review of the papers, and integrate qualitative evaluation with quantitative evaluation, for the purpose of setting up an objective academic research evaluation system for medical university staff.

Synthesis of bisethylnorspermine lipid prodrug as gene delivery vector targeting polyamine metabolism in breast cancer.

Progress in the development of nonviral gene delivery vectors continues to be hampered by low transfection activity and toxicity. Here we proposed to develop a lipid prodrug based on a polyamine analogue bisethylnorspermine (BSP) that can function dually as gene delivery vector and, after intracellular degradation, as active anticancer agent targeting dysregulated polyamine metabolism. We synthesized a prodrug of BSP (LS-BSP) capable of intracellular release of BSP using thiolytically sensitive dithiobenzyl carbamate linker. Biodegradability of LS-BSP contributed to decreased toxicity compared with nondegradable control L-BSP. BSP showed a strong synergistic enhancement of cytotoxic activity of TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) in human breast cancer cells. Decreased enhancement of TRAIL activity was observed for LS-BSP when compared with BSP. LS-BSP formed complexes with plasmid DNA and mediated transfection activity comparable to DOTAP and L-BSP. Our results show that BSP-based vectors are promising candidates for combination drug/gene delivery.