[Outline of Song's works on the gynecology of traditional Chinese medicine]

Because of long history and excellent medical skills, the Song gynecology is regarded as one of the "four great masters" of the gynecology in Zhejiang province. The monographs survived of Song gynecology are at least four, besides the earliest one Songshi Nüke Cuoyao(, Synopsis of Song's Gynecology)(1612), there is Songshi Bochuan Chanke Quanshu(, Complete Treatise on Gynecology of Song Bochuan), Songshi Nüke Chanhou Pian(, Chapter of Puerperal Disease from Song's Gynecology), which are formed in Qing dynasty, and Linzheng Lu(, Clinical Records) formed in the Republic of China era.And Jingli Songshi Nüke(, Meticulously Sort Out Song's Gynecology), which might belong to School of Song's gynecology, and Nüke Milu(, Secretive Records of Gynecology) were found in records. This paper excavates and sorts these 6 Song's gynecological monographs, carries out in-depth research on the changes of editions, spread and origins, and clarify the general situation of song's gynecological monographs.

[Observation and prevention measures against adverse reaction to intratympanic corticosteroid injections]

Objective:To investigate clinical characteristic and incidence of the adverse reaction to tympanic injection. The incidence rates of adverse reaction were also compared after improvement of anesthetic method and changed ratio of methylprednisolone. Method: A retrospective analysis of 712 cases (1 928 injections) of receiving injection in a medical center, to explore the overall and classified adverse reactions, as well as effects of age and gender and frequency on adverse reactions. According to the clinical characteristics of the early stage, the incidence of adverse reaction was observed after the application of anesthesia warming method and the change of methylprednisolone ratio. Result: Adverse reaction was found in 76 cases which included 62 cases of mild reactions, 4 cases of severe reactions and 10 cases of glucocorticoid-related reactions. Overall, 10.67% of patients had adverse reactions. There was no correlation between adverse reactions and age, gender or frequency. The incidence of vertigo was decreased after the application of improved anesthesia (P<0.05). The incidence of pain of joint methylprednisolone-and-lidocaine injection was lower than that of methylprednisolone injection (P<0.05). Conclusion: Intratympanic injection is a safe treatment, to some extent, although there is low incidence of adverse effects of it. At the same time, anesthetic warming method and changing the ratio of methylprednisolone can further reduce the incidence of vertigo and pain.

Clinicopathologic Factors Related to the Histological Tumor Grade of Breast Cancer in Western China: An Epidemiological Multicenter Study of 8619 Female Patients

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Breast cancer is now recognized as a clinically heterogeneous disease with a wide spectrum of epidemiological and clinicopathologic features. We aimed to evaluate whether epidemiological and clinicopathologic features are associated with the histological tumor grade of breast carcinomas in Western China.

METHODS

We retrospectively collected data from the Western China Clinical Cooperation Group and assessed associations between clinicopathologic factors and histological tumor grade in 8619 female breast cancer patients. Patients were divided into two groups: Group I (tumor grade I/II) and Group II (tumor grade III). Univariable analysis and multivariable logistic regression models were used to analyze the relationships between clinicopathologic factors and tumor grade.

RESULTS

Patients presenting with positive axillary lymph nodes, large tumor size (>2 cm), lymphovascular invasion, hormone receptor negativity, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) positivity, and triple negativity tended to have an increased risk of a high tumor grade. However, the number of pregnancies or births was inversely correlated with the risk of a high tumor grade. In addition, patients presenting with grade III tumors were more likely to receive aggressive treatment, such as adjuvant chemotherapy, anti-HER-2 therapy, and level III axillary lymph node dissection.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggested that several clinicopathologic factors were associated with high tumor grade of breast cancer patients in Western China.

Overexpression of Contactin 1 promotes growth, migration and invasion in Hs578T breast cancer cells

Background

Contactin1 (CNTN1) has been shown to play an important role in the invasion and metastasis of several tumors; however, the role of CNTN1 in breast cancer has not been fully studied. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of CNTN1 in regulating tumor growth, migration and invasion in breast cancer.

Results

To investigate its function, CNTN1 was expressed in Hs578T cells. CNTN1 expression was confirmed by western blot, immunohistochemistry and real-time RT-PCR. The effect of CNTN1 overexpression on proliferation, migration and invasion of Hs578T breast cancer cells was assessed in vitro and in vivo. Our results showed that CNTN1 overexpression promoted Hs578T cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, colony formation, invasion and migration. Notably, overexpression of CNTN1 in Hs578T cells enhanced the growth of mouse xenograft tumors.

Conclusions

CNTN1 promotes growth, metastasis and invasion of Hs578T breast cancer cell line. Thus, therapies targeting CNTN1 may prove efficacious for breast cancer. However, further investigation is required to understand the mechanism by which CNTN1 influences proliferation, metastasis and invasion in breast cancer.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12860-018-0154-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

[Relationship between multi-slice spiral CT angiography imaging features and in-hospital death of patients with aortic dissection]

Objective: To explore the imaging manifestations of multi-slice spiral CT angiography (CTA) and relationship with in-hospital death in patients with aortic dissection (AD). Methods: The clinical data of 429 patients with AD who underwent CTA in Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University between January 2009 and January 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. AD patients were divided into 2 groups, including operation group who underwent surgery or interventional therapy (370 cases) and non-operation group who underwent medical conservative treatment(59 cases). The multi-slice spiral CTA imaging features of AD were analyzed, and multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between imaging manifestations and in-hospital death in AD patients. Results: There were 12 cases (3.24%) of in-hospital death in operation group, and 28 cases (47.46%) of in-hospital death in non-operation group(P<0.001). AD involved different vascular branches. Multi-slice spiral CTA can clearly show the dissection of true and false lumen, and intimal tear was detected in 363 (84.62%) cases, outer wall calcification was revealed in 63 (14.69%) cases, and thrombus formation was present in 227 (52.91%) cases. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the number of branch vessels involved (OR=1.374, 95%CI 1.081-1.745, P=0.009) and tearing false lumen range(OR=2.059, 95%CI 1.252-3.385, P=0.004) were independent risk factors of in-hospital death in AD patients, and the number of branch vessels involved (OR=1.600, 95%CI 1.062-2.411, P=0.025) was independent risk factor of in-hospital death in the operation group, while the tearing false lumen range (OR=2.315, 95%CI 1.019-5.262, P=0.045) was independent risk factor of in-hospital death of non-operation group. Conclusions: Multi-slice spiral CTA can clearly show the entire AD, true and false lumen, intimal tear, wall calcification and thrombosis of AD patients. The number of branch vessels involved and tearing false lumen range are the independent risk factors of in-hospital death in AD patients.

One-step approach for the synthesis of CoFe2O4@rGO core-shell nanocomposites as efficient adsorbent for removal of organic pollutants

CoFe₂O₄-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites (CFG) have been successfully synthesized via one-step solvothermal method. The prepared CFG are characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), vibrating sample magnetometer and so on. The FESEM results show that CFG have uniform core-shell structure with an average diameter of about 75 nm and the thickness of the outer graphene shell is about 15-20 nm. The mass ratio of CoFe₂O₄ to graphene oxide is a key factor affecting the formation of core-shell hybrids. CFG display much higher adsorption capacity for anionic dyes than cationic dyes owing to the favorable electrostatic interaction. The adsorption capacity for methyl orange is observed as high as 263 mg g^-1 at 298 K, and the adsorption isotherms follow the Langmuir model. Furthermore, the specific saturation magnetization (Ms) of CFG is 32.8 emu g^-1, and the as-synthesized nanocomposites can be easily separated by external magnetic field after adsorption. The results suggest that CFG have great potential for the practical industrial wastewater treatment.

Low levels of serum miR-99a is a predictor of poor prognosis in breast cancer

MicroRNA (miRNA) deregulation has been previously linked to the initiation and development of breast cancer. Although miR-99a is aberrantly expressed in many types of cancers, including breast cancer, the serum miR-99a expression level in breast cancer and its clinical significance remains unknown. Blood samples were obtained from 72 patients with breast cancer and 40 healthy volunteers, and subjected to real-time polymerase chain reaction to evaluate the level of expression of serum miR-99a in the study participants. Furthermore, we investigated the association between serum miR-99a and the clinical outcome of breast cancer. Serum miR-99a expression was significantly downregulated in patients with breast cancer, compared to that in healthy controls (P < 0.01). Moreover, the serum miR-99a was correlated with various clinical parameters of breast cancer, including lymph node metastasis (P = 0.0194), distant metastasis (P = 0.0037), Ki67 intensity (P = 0.0164), TNM stage (P = 0.0096), and histological grade (P = 0.0051) of cancer. Additionally, breast cancer patients displaying lower miR-99a levels showed poorer overall survival rates (P = 0.0411). The serum miR-99a level was also found to be an independent risk factor for breast cancer (hazard ratio = 3.176, 95% confidence interval = 1.543-7.360, P = 0.023). Our data indicated that serum miR-99a expression was downregulated in breast cancer patients; moreover, this downregulation was associated with poor prognosis, suggesting that serum miR-99a could function as a tumor suppressor in breast cancer.

Five common functional polymorphisms in microRNAs (rs2910164, rs2292832, rs11614913, rs3746444, rs895819) and the susceptibility to breast cancer: evidence from 8361 cancer cases and 8504 controls

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the relationship between the five common polymorphisms in miRNAs (miR-146a rs2910164 G>C, miR-149 rs2292832 C>T, miR-196a2 rs11614913 C>T, miR-499 rs3746444 A>G and miR-27a rs895819 A>G), and breast cancer (BC) risk.

METHODS

Meta-analyses were performed on 15 published studies involving 8, 361 BC patients and 8, 504 cancer-free controls. There were 8 studies with 4, 314 cases and 4, 485 controls for rs2910164, 3 studies with 1, 439 cases and 1, 508 controls for rs2292832, 10 studies with 4, 618 cases and 5, 590 controls for rs11614913, 5 studies with 2, 924 cases and 3, 563 controls for rs3746444, and 5 studies with 2, 912 cases and 3, 697 controls for rs895819. Summary odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to evaluate the BC risk.

RESULTS

Meta-analyses showed that rs2910164 (miR-146a) was associated with BC risk in Caucasian population (homozygote comparison: OR = 1.29, 95%CI = 1.02-1.63, P=0.03; dominant model: OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.05-1.65, P=0.02), whereas negative results were obtained for Asians in all genetic models. rs11614913 (miR-196a2) was associated with BC risk in the overall population based on the recessive model (OR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.80-0.99, P=0.03). Association of rs3746444 (miR-499) with BC risk was detected under three genetic models (allele contrast genetic model: OR = 1.13, 95%CI = 1.03-1.23, P=0.007; homozygote comparison: OR = 1.36, 95 %CI = 1.10-1.69, P=0.005 and recessive model: OR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.12-1.70, P=0.003). When stratified by ethnicity, the effects remained in Asians. rs895819 (miR-27a) was associated with BC risk in the overall population based on the allele contrast genetic model (OR = 0.91, 95%CI = 0.85-0.98, P=0.02); heterozygote comparison (OR = 0.89, 95 %CI = 0.80-0.99, P=0.03) and the dominant model (OR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.80-0.98, P=0.02). However, there was no association between rs2292832 (miR-149) polymorphism and BC susceptibility.

CONCLUSION

Our meta-analysis results suggested that the rs2910164 and rs3746444 polymorphisms are associated with increased BC risk, while the rs11614913 and rs895819 polymorphisms correlate with reduced BC risk.

Three-dimensional reconstruction of registered and fused Chinese Visible Human and patient MRI images

Radiological images are commonly used as important tools in medical diagnoses and treatment. Different modalities of medical images provide uniquely different content. Hence, it is natural and desirable to combine different image modalities to obtain additional new information to enhance clinical assessment. However, given the current technology, radiological images are not always sufficiently informative to permit diagnosis and treatment. In order to address this problem, we fused selected portions of the Chinese Visible Human (CVH) dataset with MRI images from a patient. Specifically, we segmented the caudate nucleus, the lentiform nucleus, and the thalamus in the CVH dataset and then registered and fused this dataset with corresponding MRI images using both rigid and nonrigid registration techniques. After rigid and nonrigid registration, the CVH and MRI images largely coincided with each other. The shape, relationship, and position of focal areas and neural structures were clearly displayed. Using volume and surface rendering, these images were three-dimensionally reconstructed to display the neural structures of interest within the brain. These structures can be rotated at will and observed from different angles. Our research indicates that the fusion of CVH and patients' MRI images can enhance the amount of neural information available to physicians and lay a foundation for the clinical use of the CVH dataset.

Practical asymmetric synthesis of a selective endothelin A receptor (ETA) antagonist

[structure: see text]. A practical, chromotography-free asymmetric synthesis was developed for the large scale preparation of an endothelin receptor antagonist 2. This synthesis includes a new efficient process for the preparation of 6-bromo-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran, a stereoselective conjugate addition of an aryllithium followed by stereospecific addition of the Grignard reagent of the top aryl bromide, and an aminophosphate-mediated sterospecific intramolecular enolate alkylation, which led to the formation of the five-membered ring bearing three contiguous asymmetric centers.

[The spectroscopic study of the iodine beta-cyclodextrin complexes]

In this paper, the iodine beta-cyclodextrin complexes prepared in different techniques were investigated by Fourier transformation infrared spectrum(FTIR), FT-Raman, Ultra-violet absorption spectrum in qualitative and quantitative analysis. Results showed that the iodine existed in dissociated, bundle and polymerized forms in the complexes. Contras to the method of alcohol craft, the sample prepared in water craft method included a higher capacity of iodine, but it was not stable enough to keep a constant high iodine concentration. This analysis method was simple and convenient, it is useful for quality control of the iodine beta-cyclodextrin complexes raw material medicine.

[Analyses of chromosomal karyotypes and cytogenetic variations of animal cell lines]

After the master cell stock(mcs) and working cell bank of more than 30 different strains of 7 animal kidney cell lines (F-81 or CRFK cell line, MDCK cell line, Vero or Vero-2 cell line, MA-104 cell line and BHK-21 cell line) were established in China, the chromosomal number variations and structural aberrations of the above lines, primary feline or canine kidney cell (FKC or CKC) and HeLa cell line were investigated and their karyotypes of routine or Giemsa chromosomal bands were analyzed. The carcinogenesis or tumorigenicity testing of these cells in about 700 nude mice and for colony formation in soft agar (SA) and for agglutination under different concentration of plant lectins was carried out. Both tumorigenicity-negative strains of F-81, CRFK, Vero or Vero-2 lines and very-low-tumorigenicity strains of MDCK line were successfully selected and evaluated for the production of canine or feline combination viral vaccines, which are free of infectious agents, and described with respect to cytogenetic characteristics and tumorigenicity. Rate of modal chromosome number represents the ratio of cell number having modal chromosome number to all the split cell number analyzed at random. Rate of difference represents the ratio of difference of the rate of modal chromosome number between mcs (master cell stock) + n and mcs passages. The chromosomal analysis results showed that the ratio of difference of the rate of modal chromosome number between mcs + n and mcs passages was not more than 5%-15% and the structure aberrations was generally 0%-3%, not more than 5%-10%, thus the hereditary character of cell lines is comparatively stable without significant difference between different passages. The genetic characteristics of chromosomal number of cell lines determines their tumorigenicity, but it is species specific. Experimental models were established for the researches on the prevention and prophylaxis of malignant tumors or cancers and their genetically biological characteristics. Tests showed that there was correlation among cell line chromosome number variations, anchorage independence in soft agar, agglutination under plant lectins and tumor-forming ability in nude mice. Since testing in vitro is more economic, simpler, faster, and is thought to be reliable, we recommend plant lectins followed by SA or analysis of karyotypes as the initial means for monitoring tumorigenicity of animal cell line in nude mice.

Effects of Radix Angelicae sinensis and shuanghuanglian on a rat model of chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia

OBJECTIVE

To study the effect of two kinds of Chinese herbal medicine, Radix angelicae sinensis (RAS) ([Chinese characters: see text]) and Shuanghuanglian (SHL) ([Chinese characters: see text]) on chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) lung infection in a rat model mimicking cystic fibrosis (CF).

METHODS

Rats were divided into RAS, SHL and control groups. All rats were challenged intratracheally with alginate embedded PA and the treatments with herbal medicine started on the same day of challenge. The drugs were administered subcutaneously once a day for ten days and the control group was treated with sterile saline. The rats were sacrificed two weeks after challenge.

RESULTS

Significantly improved lung bacterial clearance (P < 0.05, P < 0.01) and milder macroscopic lung pathology (P < 0.005) were found in the two treated groups compared to the control group. In the SH treated group, the neutrophil percent in the peripheral blood leukocytes (P < 0.05), the anti-PA IgG level in serum (P < 0.05), the incidence of lung abcesses (P < 0.005) and the incidence of acute lung inflammation (P < 0.05) were significantly lower than in the control group. The RAS treatment reduced fever (P < 0.05), decreased the incidence of lung abcesses (P < 0.005) and lung mast cell number (P < 0.05), and lowered anti-PA IgG1 level in serum (P < 0.05) when compared to the control group. The anti-PA bacterial activity test in SHL was weakly positive whereas in RAS it was negative.

CONCLUSION

The treatment with both herbal medicines could increase the resistance of the rats against PA lung infection and they therefore might be potential promising drugs for stimulation of the immnune system in CF patients with chronic PA lung infection.

Inhibitory effects of sodium quercetin monosulfate on pig platelet aggregation induced by thrombin

AIM

To study the inhibitory effects of sodium quercetin monosulfate (SQMS) on pig platelet aggregation induced by thrombin.

METHODS

Platelet aggregation was analyzed by turbidimetry. Cytosolic free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) was determined by Fura-2 fluorescence. Activity of protein kinase C (PKC) was assayed by incubating PKC with histone III S and [gamma-32 P] ATP. The cytoskeletal proteins were precipitated by Triton X-100 and separated by SDS-PAGE.

RESULTS

SQMS inhibited the platelet aggregation induced by thrombin 500 U.L-1 with IC50 132 (50-347) mumol.L-1. SQMS inhibited Ca2+ influx in blood platelets induced by thrombin 500 U.L-1 in the presence of extracellular Ca2+ 1 mmol.L-1 with IC50 20 (9-46) mumol.L-1; SQMS inhibited the internal Ca2+ release in the absence of extracellular Ca2+. SQMS also decreased [Ca2+]i level in quiescent blood platelets. SQMS (10-160 mumol.L-1) inhibited the activity of cytosolic PKC from blood platelets in a concentration-dependent manner, but had no effect on membrane PKC. SQMS (20-80 mumol.L-1) inhibited the actin polymerization induced by thrombin 500 U.L-1 inblood platelets in a concentration-dependent manner.

CONCLUSION

SQMS inhibited pig platelet aggregation induced by thrombin and its mechanism might be due to its inhibitions of Ca2+ influx, internal Ca2- release, PKC activity, and actin polymerization.

Effects of genistein on aggregation and cytosolic free calcium in pig platelets

AIM

To study the effects of genistein on aggregation and cytosolic free calcium concentration in platelets.

METHODS

Using turbidimetry to analyse aggregation and using Fura-2 fluorescence technique to determine Ca2+ level.

RESULTS

Genistein strongly inhibited the pig platelet aggregation induced by thrombin (250 U.L-1). When genistein concentrations were 5 and 20 mumol.L-1, the inhibition rates on the aggregation were 52% and 73%, respectively. Genistein inhibited the rise of cytosolic free calcium concentration in platelets stimulated by thrombin (500 U.L-1) in the presence of extracellular Ca2+ 1 mmol.L-1. When genistein concentrations were 10, 20, 40, and 80 mumol.L-1, the inhibition rates were 24%, 40%, 63%, and 65%, respectively, but no effect on thrombin-induced internal Ca2+ release from dense tubular system.

CONCLUSION

Genistein is a potential anti-platelet agent, mainly due to an inhibition of Ca2+ influx.

Ginseng treatment enhances bacterial clearance and decreases lung pathology in athymic rats with chronic P. aeruginosa pneumonia

In an athymic rat model of chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection mimicking cystic fibrosis (CF), we studied the effects of the Chinese herb ginseng. Rats were treated subcutaneously with ginseng extracts (25 mg/kg) once a day for 10 days after challenge with P. aeruginosa embedded in alginate beads. We found that ginseng treatment significantly reduced bacterial load (p < 0.02) and the number of mast cells in the lungs (p < 0.01). Furthermore, it decreased the severity of lung pathology (p < 0.02) and lowered serum anti-P. aeruginosa IgM and IgA antibody levels (p < 0.004, p < 0.04) compared to the control group. The down-regulated specific humoral immunity in the ginseng-treated group and the fact that athymic rats have a severely compromised T-cell-mediated immune reactivity due to the absence of thymus might suggest an activation of innate immunity after ginseng treatment. Our findings indicate that ginseng treatment increases the resistance of the athymic rats to P. aeruginosa lung infection. We therefore think that ginseng has promising potential as a natural medicine for stimulation of the immune system in CF patients with chronic P. aeruginosa lung infections.

Expression of c-myc, c-Ki-ras and c-Ha-ras oncogene products in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with myasthenia gravis

The oncogene products of c-myc, c-Ki-ras and c-Ha-ras and the subsets of natural killer cells in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 39 patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) and 40 healthy individuals were studied by immunocytochemical procedures. The MG patients showed an increased expression of c-myc, c-Ki-ras and c-Ha-ras oncoproteins in both lymphocytes and monocytes compared to those of healthy individuals (P < 0.01, P < 0.005 and P < 0.001, respectively). On the contrary, the number of Leu-7-Leu-11c+ cells of MG patients was less than that of healthy controls (P < 0.05). The oncogene expressions in PBMC of MG patients correlated positively with white blood cell counts, total natural killer cell counts (NK), Leu-7+Leu-11c+ of NK cell subset, gamma-globulin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and serum immunoglobulins; the oncogene expressions were negatively correlated with the Leu-7+Leu-11c-NK subset. Thus, the increased expressions of c-myc, c-Ki-ras and c-Ha-ras oncoproteins accompanying the decreased Leu-7-Leu-11c+NK cell in MG PBMC are likely responsible for the acceleration of the clinical manifestations in MG patients.