Differentiation of tannin-containing herbal drugs by HPLC fingerprints

A new HPLC system coupled with multiple detectors - Diode array detector (DAD), fluorescence detector (FLD), electrochemical amperometric detector (ADC) and mass spectrometry detector (MSD) was developed for the characterization and differentiation of tannin-containing herbal drugs included in The European Pharmacopoeia. The HPLC separation system consisted of an Agilent ZORBAX Eclipse XDB C18 column and a gradient water and methanol as the mobile phase which was kept at a flow rate of 0.3 mL x min(-1). Four kinds of detectors were connected by a micro-splitter valve and simultaneously recorded the response of each analytical sample. Thirty-one samples from eight kinds of tannin-containing drugs were measured using this HPLC system and their signals from all detectors were comprehensively processed via principal component analysis (PCA). The statistic result demonstrates that thirty-one batches from different herbal drugs can be reasonably identified and systematically classified by their chemical fingerprints. The proposed multi-detector HPLC method aided by chemometrics not only offers a new pattern for the study of tannin-containing herbs, but also provides a useful foundation for quality control of herbal medicines.

Polymorphism of the melatonin receptor genes and its relationship with seasonal reproduction in the Gulin Ma goat breed

Melatonin is thought to be the main molecule that transmits the signal of seasonal change to the neuroendocrine system in seasonal breeding species. Melatonin exerts its effects through specific melatonin receptors, MTNR1A and MTNR1B. In the present study, six native goat breeds in China and one introduced goat breed were analysed to investigate the relationship between the genetic polymorphism of receptor genes and seasonal reproduction. Sequencing results showed that there were five polymorphic mutations in the MTNR1A gene and two in the MTNR1B gene. In the MTNR1A gene, genotypes AA, AB and BB for 424C>T and genotypes CC, CD and DD for 589C>A were observed in these goat breeds. In all six native goat breeds, only genotype AA was detected. In the MTNR1B gene, genotypes EE, EF and FF for 1179G>A and genotypes GG, GH and HH for 1529A>G were detected. However, in Gulin Ma goats, the genotypes EE and HH were not found. Moreover, the base of G at position 1179 and A at position 1529 were linked (By Arlequin ver 3.1, Zoological Institute, Berne, Switzerland, http://cmpg.unibe.ch/software/arlequin3,D' = 0.7496, r(2)  = 0.4421, χ(2)  = 489.8679, p = 0.000). Among these mutations, no amino acid change was found in MTNR1A, while both of the mutations in MTNR1B gene caused amino acid changes of R222H and S339G, respectively. The structural analysis showed that the R222H mutation occurred in the first amino acid residue of the third cytoplasmic loop, and the S339G mutation was located in the carboxyl terminus of the protein. In terms of seasonal breeding, all the genotypes we detected showed a similar kidding frequency distribution trend with a higher frequency in May-August than in January-April and in September-December. This suggests that the relationship between the polymorphisms in the MTNR1A and MTNR1B genes and seasonal breeding could not be established.

Analysis of reliability metrics and quality enhancement measures in current density imaging

Low frequency current density imaging (LFCDI) is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique which enables calculation of current pathways within the medium of study. The induced current produces a magnetic flux which presents itself in phase images obtained through MRI scanning. A class of LFCDI challenges arises from the subject rotation requirement, which calls for reliability analysis metrics and specific image registration techniques. In this study these challenges are formulated and in light of proposed discussions, the reliability analysis of calculation of current pathways in a designed phantom and a pig heart is presented. The current passed is measured with less than 5% error for phantom, using CDI method. It is shown that Gauss's law for magnetism can be treated as reliability metric in matching the images in two orientations. For the phantom and pig heart the usefulness of image registration for mitigation of rotation errors is demonstrated. The reliability metric provides a good representation of the degree of correspondence between images in two orientations for phantom and pig heart. In our CDI experiments this metric produced values of 95% and 26%, for phantom, and 88% and 75% for pig heart, for mismatch rotations of 0 and 20 degrees respectively.

Cisplatin induces serotonin release from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells of cancer patients and methylprednisolone inhibits this effect

The aim of this study was to verify whether cisplatin (CDDP) can induce serotonin (5HT) release from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of cancer patients and determine whether methylprednisolone (MP) can inhibit such release. Ten patients (mean age 61.8 years) with cancer of different sites, all but one in advanced stage of disease were studied. Our study showed that unstimulated PBMC of cancer patients release a higher amount of 5HT than that of healthy subjects (57+/-5 nM vs 10+/-1 nM, p<0.001) and that similarly the stimulation with PHA or CDDP induces a higher amount of 5HT release by PBMC of cancer patients than that by PBMC of healthy subjects (74+/-6 vs 32+/-3 nM, p<0.001 and 91+/-8 vs 18+/-2 nM, p<0.001, respectively). The addition of MP to the culture in the presence of CDDP induced a significant decrease of 5HT levels: from 91+/-8 to 53+/-7 nM, p=0.002. This result obtained in cancer patients paralleled that previously obtained by us in healthy subjects. Our data confirm a new mechanism through which CDDP could induce emesis and provide a further possible explanation to the anti-emetic activity of corticosteroids, such as MP.

Mutations of p53 gene in hepatocellular-carcinoma (hcc) correlate with tumor progression and patient prognosis - a study of 138 patients with unifocal hcc

The mutation spectrum of p53 gene and its biological significance were studied in 138 patients with unifocal primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Taiwan. The p53 mutations were detected in 51 cases (37%); 36 (71%) were missense mutations. The others (29%) included mutations at the intron-exon junctions (5 cases), deletion or insertion (4 cases), nonsense mutations (4 cases), and silent mutations (2 cases). The mutation sites were scattered from exons 4 to 10, predominantly (75%) in exons 5, 7, and 8. Of these mutations, 72% were transversions, mostly G:C --> T:A change (46%); while only 28% were transitions. Mutation occurred at codon 249 only in 14 cases (10%), but accounted for 27% of the mutations. The p53 mutations correlated with allele loss of p53 locus (52% vs 17% p<0.02), alpha-fetoprotein elevation (45% vs 28%, p<0.04), and poorly differentiated HCC (46% vs 10%, p<0.0001). The p53 mutation rate was two times higher in large than in small HCC (48% vs 26%, p<0.008), and in more advanced tumor (stage 3 vs stages 1 and 2: 49% vs 21%, p<0.0007). HCC patients with mutated p53 gene had a worse outcome (5-year survival; 18% vs 38%, p<0.008). We conclude that p53 gene mutation is common in advanced HCC, occurs as a late event in HCC growth, correlates with tumor progression and aggression, and is a useful molecular prognostic parameter of HCC. The p53 mutation patterns did not correlate with HBV or HCV infection. The frequency of p53 mutations did not differ between Taiwanese patients and mainland Chinese in Taiwan. However, mutation at codon 249 was more common in Taiwanese patients (p<0.05), while mutations of other types more frequent in the mainlanders (p<0.03). Hence endogenous and exogenous factors other than aflatoxin may also play a role in p53 mutation in HCC.

PRACTICAL PARALLEL IMAGING COMPRESSED SENSING MRI: SUMMARY OF TWO YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN ACCELERATING BODY MRI OF PEDIATRIC PATIENTS

For the last two years, we have been experimenting with applying compressed sensing parallel imaging for body imaging of pediatric patients. It is a joint-effort by teams from UC Berkeley, Stanford University and GE Healthcare. This paper aims to summarize our experience so far. We describe our acquisition approach: 3D spoiled-gradient-echo with poisson-disc random undersampling of the phase encodes. Our re-construction approach: ℓ₁-SPIRiT, an iterative autocalibrating parallel imaging reconstruction that enforces both data consistency and joint-sparsity in the wavelet domain. Our implementation: an on-line parallelized implementation of ℓ₁-SPIRiT on multi-core CPU and General Purpose Graphics Processors (GPGPU) that achieves sub-minute 3D reconstructions with 8-channels. Clinical results showing higher quality reconstruction and better diagnostic confidence than parallel imaging alone at accelerations on the order of number of coils.

A systematic review of interventions by healthcare professionals on community-dwelling postmenopausal women with osteoporosis

A systematic review was conducted to evaluate evidence concerning the effect of non-drug interventions by healthcare professionals on community-dwelling postmenopausal osteoporotic women. Evidence available indicates that such interventions are effective in improving the quality of life, medication compliance, and calcium intake, but effect on other outcomes is less conclusive.

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic review to evaluate evidence concerning the effect of non-drug interventions by healthcare professionals on community-dwelling postmenopausal osteoporotic women.

METHODS

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in English between year 1990 and 2009 were identified. Types of patient outcome used as assessment included quality of life (QOL), bone mineral density (BMD), medication compliance and persistence, knowledge level, and lifestyle modification.

RESULTS

Twenty four RCTs met the inclusion criteria. Seven studies assessed interventions by physiotherapists, six by physicians, seven by nurses, three by multi-disciplinary teams and one by dietitians. Variability in the types and intensity of interventions made comparison between each study difficult. Collectively, these studies provided some evidence to show that interventions by healthcare professionals improved the QOL medication compliance and calcium intake of patients but its effects on BMD, medication persistence, knowledge, and other lifestyle modifications were less conclusive.

CONCLUSIONS

From this review, it was found that some outcome measures of such non-drug interventions still required further studies. Future studies should use validated instruments to assess the outcomes, with focus on common definitions of interventions and outcome measures, more intensive one-to-one interventions, appropriate control groups, adequate randomization procedures, and also provide information on effect size.

Utility of virosomal adjuvated influenza vaccines: a review of the literature

In spite of the efforts of the World Health Organization (WHO), influenza continues to be a major public health problem, both because of its impact on the health of subjects at risk, such as the elderly, and because of the economic burden that it places on society. Adjuvants are agents which, when incorporated into vaccines, enhance the immunogenicity of their antigens. The need for ever more immunogenic and efficacious influenza vaccines has led to the development of innovative vaccines. One of these, the virosomal vaccine, has been on the market since 1997. The results obtained through controlled clinical studies and widespread application in the field suggest that the virosomal vaccine is not only an important tool for the prevention of seasonal influenza but also a valid means of potentiating the effect of a pandemic influenza vaccine and, perhaps, of preparing multivalent or combined vaccines.

Wavelet-based prognostic model with comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) data in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)

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Background: In order to obtain a good prognostic model for HCC, clinical data alone may not be adequate. DNA microarray technology has enabled quantification of thousands of genes in a single assay but it has the inborn drawback of high background noise. In order to deal with the problem of information overflow, we developed multivariate dependencies approach using CGH to guide the initial modeling process. This approach takes into account the multivariate nature and potential interaction among the genes during the prognostic modeling process. Methods: The study includes 165 patients with CGH data containing 858 regions/bands. The clinical outcome is survival at 1.72 years. Potential prognostic factors include CGH regions, albumin, ALT, bilirubin, AFP, ascites, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), tumor size, and encephalopathy. We used a blocked wavelet-shrinkage principal component analysis (BWSPCA) to reduce the dimension of CGH data with respect to clinical outcome and followed by logistic regression. We compared the BWSPCA with PCA alone, supervised PCA (Bair et al. 2004), and supervised BWSPCA. Results: Among the 165 patients, 133 (80%) were male, average age of 54.8 years, 78 (47%) stage I-II and 75 (45%) ECOG 0–2. PCA alone and supervised PCA models failed to identify significant CGH regions. BWSPCA model includes tumor size (p = 0.005), albumin (p = 0.047), ALP (p = 0.025), Chr.6q25.1 (p = 0.031), Chr.12q24.32 (p = 0.012), Chr.Xq28 (p = 0.035). Supervised BWSPCA approach includes tumor size (p = 0.016), ALP (p = 0.002), Chr.12q24.11 (p = 0.047). The area under the receiver operating curve (ROC) for the BWSPCA model was 0.78 with a sensitivity and specificity about 0.8 and 0.6 respectively. Conclusions: PCA alone is not effective in identifying CGH regions as prognostic factors. Supervised learning approach did not improve the results. The BWSPCA method identified a number of significant CGH regions associated with survival outcome for HCC patients. These results would be verified in future study. This method will be extended and applied to develop prognostic models using both CGH and DNA microarray data. Acknowledgement: This study is funded by the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong #CUHK4469/03M.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Temporal trends in small cell lung cancer: Analysis of the national Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results (SEER) database

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Background: Research interest in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has waned over the past 10 years due to the lack of significant therapeutic advances and a presumed decline in the incidence of SCLC. Methods: We analyzed data on all patients with primary bronchogenic carcinoma registered in the national SEER database from 1973–2002. To identify temporal trends, the study period was divided into three decades: 1973–1982 (D1), 1983–1992 (D2), and 1993–2002 (D3). Results: Of 318,584 eligible patients, 59,704 (18.7%) had SCLC. The proportional incidence of SCLC relative to non-SCLC was higher in Caucasians than African-Americans (19.6% vs 13.9%), women vs men (21% vs 17.4%), and patients ≥ 50 yrs old vs < 50 yrs old (18.9% vs 16%). By decade, the proportional incidence of SCLC was: D1, 18.4%; D2, 19.8%; D3, 17.9%. The overall incidence rates for both SCLC and non-SCLC initially rose and then declined during the study period. The incidence rates for SCLC were similar in both Caucasians and African-Americans throughout the study period, while those for non-SCLC were significantly higher in African-Americans. The gap between incidence rates in men and women has narrowed to a similar degree for both SCLC (M/F: D1, 2.6/1 to D3 1.4/1) and NSCLC (M/F: D1, 3.3/1 to D3, 1.7/1). Only 0.8% of SCLC patients underwent surgical resection from 1988–2002. The use of radiotherapy decreased during the study period (D1, 53% to D3, 43%) with greater use in younger patients and African-Americans. Stage-specific 2- and 5-year survival rates for SCLC improved over time (regional 2-yr/5-yr: D1, 15%/6.8% to D3, 22%/11%; distant 2-yr/5-yr: D1, 3.4%/1.3% to D3, 5.6%/1.9%). In multivariate analysis, significant favorable prognostic factors included: younger age, Caucasian race, female gender, limited stage, and later year of diagnosis. Conclusions: The proportional incidence of SCLC has declined only slightly over the past three decades. While overall survival has modestly improved, SCLC remains a major public health problem.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Transarterial ethanol ablation of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma with lipiodol-ethanol mixture (LEM): A phase II study

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Background: Transarterial ablation with lipiodol-ethanol mixture (LEM) induced potent dual embolization of arterioles and portal venules in preclinical studies, and extensive tumor necrosis in clinical studies. It is potentially an effective treatment and a better alternative to chemoembolization for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The authors aim to study the safety and efficacy of this treatment. Methods: Unresectable HCC diagnosed by histology or viral serology + AFP > 500 ug/l + typical imaging; bilirubin ≤ 30 umol/l; hypervascular tumor on CT / angiogram, no vascular invasion or extrahepatic spread. LEM with Lipiodol and ethanol mixed in ratio of 2:1 by volume was infused transarterially into tumor vasculature by superselective catheterization of tumor feeders at a subsegmental level under fluoroscopy until flow stagnation. Adverse events (AE) graded by NCI-CTC V2.0. Tumor response monitored by CT scan q3m. LEM repeated for residual enhancing lesion or intrahepatic progression on CT scan. Primary endpoint was response rate. Secondary endpoints: toxicity and survival. Results: From 7/2001 to 4/2005, 77 pts enrolled. Age 28–85 (median 64). M:F=60:17. ECOG 0=68; 1=9. Cirrhosis 92%. HBV 77%, HCV 14%, alcohol 4%. Child A 88%, B 12%. Okuda A 73%, B 27%. Histology confirmed in 78%. 39% had previous treatment. Median tumor size 4.5cm (range 1.5–15cm); Number of lesions: One (58), Two (14), Three (5). Best tumor response (WHO criteria): CR 0%, PR 43%, MR 36%, SD 17%, PD 4%. Patients received 1 to 8 LEM treatments (mean 2.2). Mean hospital stay 2.7 days (range 2 -15). Significant AEs are shown in the table. Fever in 15% for mean duration of 3.1 days. After a median follow-up of 1.65 yr, 23 pts died. One year survival 77%. 3 pts had tumor resection after downstage by LEM. Conclusions: Transarterial ablation with LEM is a well tolerated and effective local regional treatment of unresectable HCC. The high tumor response and 1-year survival rate warrants further investigation in comparative study. [Table: see text]

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Virological investigation on aerosol from waste depuration plants

Aerosol from activated mud decontamination plants used for the treatment of urban sewage can represent a vehicle for bacteria, virus and fungi. As a result, they become an infective hazard for plant personnel, the general population residing in the surrounding area and the occasional visitor. The present investigation focuses on the identification of enteric-type viruses in this kind of aerosol. The following methods were employed on 214 samples collected in the 1999-2000 period: cell culture (BGM, RD, Hep-2), electron microscopy, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Cytopathic effect was mild in 180 samples, and severe in 14, upon their first passage in culture. Virus identification was based on positivity to both electron microscopy (EM) and PCR. Thus, one positive sample was recognized to be of enteric-type virus and two positive samples were recognized as reovirus-type. All samples were negative for Norwalk-type virus or HAV. There was considerable discrepancy between electron microscopy and PCR concerning the number of enteric-type viruses recognized. A possible explanation is contamination with animal-type enterovirus.