Metals/bisulfite system involved generation of 24-sulfonic-25-ene ginsenoside Rg1, a potential quality control marker for sulfur-fumigated ginseng

Ginseng is a most popular health-promoting food with ginsenosides as its main bioactive ingredients. Illegal sulfur-fumigation causes ginsenosides convert to toxic sulfur-containing derivatives, and reduced the efficacy/safety of ginseng. 24-sulfo-25-ene ginsenoside Rg1 (25-ene SRg1), one of the sulfur-containing derivatives, is a potential quality control marker of fumigated ginseng, but with low accessibility owing to its unknown generation mechanism. In this study, metals/bisulfite system involved generation mechanism was investigated and verified. The generation of 25-ene SRg1 in sulfur-fumigated ginseng is that SO2, formed during sulfur-fumigation, reacted with water and ionized into HSO3-. On the one hand, under the metals/bisulfite system, HSO3- generates HSO5- and free radicals which converted ginsenoside Rg1 to 24,25-epoxide Rg1; on the other hand, as a nucleophilic group, HSO3- reacted with 24,25-epoxide Rg1 and further dehydrated to 25-ene SRg1. This study provided a technical support for the promotion of 25-ene SRg1 as the characteristic quality control marker of sulfur-fumigated ginseng.

[Correlation between laryngopharyngeal reflux and otitis media with effusion in adults patients]

Objective:Using the pepsin A concentration to investigate the relationship among gastroesophageal Reflux/laryngopharyngeal reflux and otitis media with effusion in adults patients.Method: Adults with OME underwent myringotomy with tube placement or eardrum puncturing suction were collected in the study group and the patients with coclear implatation were collected as control group. A standard sandwich Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method was applied to measure pepsin A concentration in the middle ear fluid.RSI and GERD-Q were used for the patients in study group.Result: Pepsin A concentration was (23.72±26.64; 2.00-84.47 ng/ml) in study group.The positive rates of pepsin A in the patients and samples were 21.69%(18/83) and 17.27%(19/110) respectively.In the control group, no pepsin A was detected in 26 samples. In the study group, 5 (6.02%) were diagnozid with GERD and 19 out of 83 patients (22.89%,19/83) were diagnosed with LPRD.LPRD, 8 out of 18 patients (44.44%) in the pepsin A positive group, was much higher than that in the pepsin A negative group (16.92%)(P<0.01).Conclusion: Laryngopharyngeal reflux was an important pathogeny of OME in adults patients, although those patients maybe have no any symptoms of GERD. The fat maybe be one of a indirect risk factor of OME in adults.

[Outcomes of pregnancy among women with alpha-thalassemia minor: A retrospective study of Pingguo county in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region]

Objective: To investigate the association between the value of α-thalassemia minor and the outcomes in pregnant women. Methods: A total of 445 pregnant women with α-thalassemia minor were selected as thalassemia group in the Pingguo County Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Guangxi from January 2011 to December 2015, with ratio of 1∶4 healthy pregnant women was randomly recruited as non-thalassemia group. Clinical characteristics and pregnancy outcomes of the two groups were retrospectively analyzed using methods including t test, χ(2) test, and logistic regression model and ROC curve. Results: There were no significant differences noticed in factors as age, BMI, gestational age and educational level of the two groups. Hemoglobin of the thalassemia group was significantly lower than that of the non-thalassemia group (P<0.001). Differences on parity, ethnicities or occupation were statistically significant. Results from univariate analysis showed that the proportions of low birth weight, small for date infant and 1 min Apgar score<7 were higher in the thalassemia group, but the ratio of adverse pregnancy outcomes was comparable on parameters as preterm birth, stillbirth, macrosomia. Findings from the unconditional logistic regression showed that pregnancy complicated with α-thalassemia minor appeared a risk for both newborns with low birth weight (aOR=2.29, 95%CI: 1.32-3.95) and small for date infant (aOR= 2.11, 95%CI: 1.16-3.84). The ROC curve showed that α-thalassemia minor combined with multiple indicators presented a certain predictive value on neonatal birth weight. Conclusion: Pregnancy complicated with α-thalassemia minor was likely to increase the risk of birth weight loss in newborns, suggesting that prenatal care for pregnant women with thalassemia be strengthened, in order to reduce the incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes.

[Modified radical mastoidectomy on"drum sinus" type chronic suppurative otitis media:our experience]

Objective:To our experience of modified radical mastoidectomy on "drum sinus" type chronic suppurative otitis media.Method:We measured the size of tympanic sinus,the extent of meningeal plate lowering and the extent of sigmoid ante-displacement in 54 patients of chronic suppurative otitis media,and determined the criterion of "drum sinus".The patients who comply with the criterion received modified radical mastoidectomy and tympanoplasty via epitympanum approach.The patients were followed up for at least 3 months,The time of dry ear,growth of repaired tympanic membrane,and any complications such as dizziness,facial paralysis,cerebrospinal fluid leakage were recorded.Result:Twenty-nine out of the 54 CSOM patients complied with the criterion of drum sinus.Two cases were lost to follow-up.Therefore,27 cases were included in the study.Three months after the operation,the rate of dry ear was 81.5% Tympanic membrane was successfully repaired in 77.8% of the patients.Three cases had dizziness after operation.No facial paralysis or cerebrospinal fluid leakage was observed.Conclusion:For"drum sinus" type chronic suppurative otitis media,the modified radical mastoidectomy and tympanoplasty via epitympanum approach can be taken.

[p27 protein expression and its significance in human laryngeal carcinoma]

OBJECTIVE

To determine clinical significance and expression of p27 protein in human laryngeal carcinoma tissue.

METHOD

To measure p27 protein expression in 50 cases laryngeal carcinoma tissue by immunohistochemical LSAB (labelled streptavidin biotin) method, 15 cases vocal cord polyps used as control.

RESULT

There was significant difference between p27 protein expression in laryngeal carcinoma and in vocal cord polyps, among pathological staging of laryngeal carcinoma (G1-G2 and G3), between the survived and the dead laryngeal carcinoma patients 3 years after operation, but no significant difference among clinical staging and between the patients with and without lymph node metastases. There was significant difference between the survival rate curves (Kaplan-meier curve) in p27 protein expression positive group and that in p27 protein expression negative group.

CONCLUSION

p27 Protein expression is related to malignant degree of laryngeal carcinoma, so it can be an important marker of identifying the malignancy and prognosis of laryngeal carcinoma.