The "Dextran-Magnetic Layered Double Hydroxide-Fluorouracil" Drug Delivery System Exerts Its Anti-tumor Effect by Inducing Lysosomal Membrane Permeability in the Process of Cell Death.

The "dextran-magnetic layered double hydroxide-fluorouracil" (DMF) drug delivery system is a new type of pharmaceutic preparation that can cause cancer cell oncosis. In the present study, we used different experimental methods such as 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), cycle assay, reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay, Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)/propidium iodide (PI), Giemsa stainings, transmission electron microscopy, immunofluorescence staining and Western blotting to study the mechanism of expansion death by using Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as a positive control and 5-Fluorouracil (5-Fu) as reference. The results showed that DMF exhibited a better anti-tumor effect than 5-Fu in the process of cell death, and the pharmacological mechanism of 5-Fu was changed by its preparation DMF. The mechanism of cancer cell death induced by DMF was similar to that of HCQ. But DMF intervention did not cause a large amount of accumulation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species, and the location of lysosomotropic LysoTracker Red (LTR) staining induced by DMF was closer to the nucleus or nuclear membrane. Lysosomal membrane permeability (LMP) and its subsequent the explosive death of cancer cells may be mainly related to the direct action of DMF with different organelles.

A Novel Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease Based on the Regulatory Effect of Amyloid-ß on Gut Flora.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases worldwide. The accumulation of amyloid-ß (Aß) protein and plaque formation in the brain are two major causes of AD. Interestingly, growing evidence demonstrates that the gut flora can alleviate AD by affecting amyloid production and metabolism. However, the underlying mechanism remains largely unknown. This review will discuss the possible association between the gut flora and Aß in an attempt to provide novel therapeutic directions for AD treatment based on the regulatory effect of Aß on the gut flora.

[Clinical Characteristics and Therapeutic Efficacy of Multiple Myeloma Combined with Renal Amyloidosis].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical characteristics of multiple myeloma (MM) combined with renal amyloidosis and its curative efficacy and prognosis. METHODS: The clinical data of 22 cases of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma combined with renal amyloidosis treated in our hospital from November 2011 to July 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: According to Intenational Staging System (ISS), among above-menthioned 22 patients the ISS II accounted for 77.2% (17/22), ISS III accounted for 22.8% (5/22). The patients with renal impairment accounted for 36.4% (8/22), with anemia 40.9% (9/22), with serum album < 35 g/L 86.4% (19/22), with urinary protein positive 100% (22/22). The evaluation of the curative efficacy of the 22 cases was as follows: CR 13.6% (3/22); VGPR 4.5% (1/22); PR 22.8% (5/22); SD 45.5% (10/22); PD 13.6% (3/22). Out of 9 patients with effective treatment, 3 cases (3/9, 33.3%) achieved "improved" in renal amyloidosis, 4 cases (4/9, 44.5%) achieved stable in renal amyloidosis, 2 cases (2/9, 2%) achieved "worsened" in renal amyloidosis. Among 17 cases who were followed up, 7 cases died, 10 cases survived, the average duration of follow-up for these cases was 11 (1-37) months, the median overall survival (OS) time was 19 (95% CI 9.2-28.8) months. CONCLUSION: MM with renal amyloidosis is rare, refractory and has a poor prognosis. Whether there is impairment of kidney function or not, renal amyloidosis shall be taken into consideration if the MM patients got massive proteinuria especially nephritic syndrome. Bortezomib may improve the curative efficacy.