Guangxi is the province most seriously affected by rabies virus (RABV) in China. Those most affected by RABV each year are people in rural areas, where dogs are the main cause of human infection with ...the virus.
In this study, we established a rabies vaccination demonstration program that included eradication, core, and peripheral areas. This program was implemented for 9 years and comprised three stages: 12 counties in the first stage (2008-2010), 21 counties in the second stage (2011-2013), and then extending to all counties of Guangxi Province in the third stage (2014-2016). The program included a dog vaccination campaign, surveillance of clinically healthy dogs who may be potential RABV carriers, monitoring anti-RABV antibody titers in vaccinated dogs, and compiling and reporting statistics of human rabies cases.
The target effectiveness was achieved in the eradication, core, and peripheral areas in all three stages. The vaccination demonstration program successfully promoted RABV vaccination of domestic dogs throughout Guangxi Province by drawing upon the experience gained at key points. Compared with a vaccination coverage rate of 39.42-46.85% in Guangxi Province overall during 2003-2007, this rate gradually increased to 48.98-52.67% in 2008-2010, 60.24-69.67% in 2011-2013, and 70.09-71.53% in 2014-2016, thereby meeting World Health Organization requirements. The total cases of human rabies in the province decreased from 602 in 2004 to 41 cases in 2017.
The present pilot vaccination program obviously increased the rabies vaccination and seroconversion rates, and effectively reduced the spread of rabies from dogs to humans as well as the number of human rabies cases, thus successfully controlling rabies in Guangxi.
A preliminary screening test was performed to discover new antihyperlipidaemic active compounds from the leguminous plant Derris eriocarpa How. A new compound, derris-isoflavone F (1), and derrubone ...dimethyl ether (6), a known synthetic compound of natural origin, were isolated from the stems of D. eriocarpa alongside eight recognised compounds. To our knowledge, this is the first instance of documenting the identification of compounds 1-10 from this plant. The new compound were evaluated for their antihyperlipidemic and antiproliferative properties. Compound 1 evidently reduced the triglyceride (TG) content in oleic acid-treated HepG2 cells, which validated its efficacy as a potential TG-lowering agent.
Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common cancer and the sixth leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Surgery is the primary form of treatment, but the survival is poor, especially for ...patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer. Radiotherapy has been a critical treatment option that may be combined with chemotherapy in patients with unresectable esophageal cancer. However, resistance to chemoradiotherapy might result in treatment failures and cancer relapse. This review will mainly focus on the possible cellular mechanisms and tumor-associated microenvironmental (TAM) factors that result in radioresistance in patients with esophageal cancer. In addition, current strategies to increase radiosensitivity, including targeted therapy and the use of radiosensitive biomarkers in clinical treatment, are discussed in this review.
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•We investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of erythromycin through the PPARγ/NF-κB axis.•The study suggested that PPARγ may be a potential target for COPD prevention.
Chronic ...obstructive pulmonary disease is characterized by chronic inflammation of the airway and lungs. Accumulating evidence has suggested that erythromycin (EM) plays a protective role against cigarette smoke-induced oxidative stress and the inflammatory response. However, the underlying mechanisms remain relatively unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the role of EM in inhibiting cigarette smoke-induced inflammation in human macrophages and its potential mechanism. A Cell Counting Kit-8 assay was used to determine the optimum concentration of EM and cigarette smoke extract (CSE) and it was found that 0.1 and 1% CSE and 0.1, 1.0 and 10 μg/ml EM exerted no significant effect on the cell proliferation activity, whereas 2 and 3% CSE exerted a significant inhibitory effect over the cell proliferation activity. We observed that 10 μmol/ml GW9662 (A PPARγ antagonist) and the presence of 1% CSE could promote the expression and activation of NF-κB p65. And this increased the expression of IL-6, IL-8 and reactive oxygen species (ROS). At the same time, 10 μmol/ml GW9662 and 1% CSE was found to inhibit the expression and activation of peroxisome proliferator activated receptors γ (PPARγ); However, 1 μg/ml EM was discovered to reverse these effects. Co-immunoprecipitation subsequently discovered an interaction between PPARγ and NF-κB p65. In conclusion, the present study suggested that EM may reduce the damage of PPARγ by inhibiting oxidative stress and reducing the expression of ROS and finally relieving cigarette smoke-induced inflammation through the PPARγ/NF-κB signaling pathway in macrophages.
We present Chandra observations of seven broad absorption line (BAL) quasars at with redshifted BAL troughs (RSBALs). Five of our seven targets were detected by Chandra in 4-13 ks exposures with ...ACIS-S. The values, values, and spectral energy distributions of our targets demonstrate they are all X-ray weak relative to expectations for non-BAL quasars, and the degree of X-ray weakness is consistent with that of appropriately matched BAL quasars generally. Furthermore, our five detected targets show evidence for hard X-ray spectral shapes with a stacked effective power-law photon index of . These findings support the presence of heavy X-ray absorption ( cm−2) in RSBAL quasars, likely by the shielding gas found to be common in BAL quasars more generally. We use these X-ray measurements to assess models for the nature of RSBAL quasars, finding that a rotationally dominated outflow model is favored while an infall model also remains plausible with some stipulations. The X-ray data disfavor a binary quasar model for RSBAL quasars in general.
The purpose of this study is to analyze the safety and clinical efficacy of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with portal vein stent and 125I implantation for the treatment of ...portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) in hepatocellular carcinoma. Fifty-six patients from our department diagnosed with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma with PVTT between January 2008 and December 30, 2010 were divided into two groups. Patients in Group A were treated with TACE and portal vein stent; patients in Group B were treated with TACE, portal vein stent and 125I implantation. The success rate of TACE with portal vein stent and 125I implantation was 100%, with no severe surgery-related complications. After an 8 mo follow-up, the total clinical benefit rates were 56.7 and 88.5% for Groups A and B, respectively (p < 0.05). The median survival times (mOS) for the two groups were 5.7 and 8.9 mo, respectively (p < 0.05). The median time of progression (mTTP) of the two groups were 5.3 and 7.9 mo, respectively (p < 0.05). The 2, 6, 8, 12 and 18 mo patency rates in Group A were 100, 93.3, 83.3, 53.3 and 36.6%. Those in Group B were 100, 100, 92.3, 84.6 and 80.7%. The 2, 6 and 8 mo patency rates showed no statistical differences (p > 0.05), but the 12 and 18 mo rates did (p < 0.05). Our results suggest that TACE combined with portal vein stent and 125I implantation are both safe and effective, and 125I implantation can further postpone the restenosis of the portal vein effectively.
Ten new monoterpenoid indole alkaloids, together with thirty two known compounds were firstly isolated from Melodinus yunnanensis. All structures were elucidated based on NMR, FTIR, UV, and MS ...spectroscopic data. Meloyine I showed activity against four human cancer cell lines. Display omitted
► Melodinus species have been shown to be good sources of MIAs. ► Ten monoterpenoid indole alkaloids, MIAs, together with 32 known alkaloids were isolated from M. yunnanensis endemic to Yunnan. ► A bisindole alkaloid showed activity against four human cancer cell lines, HL-60, SMMC-7721, A-549, and MCF-7.
Ten monoterpenoid indole alkaloids, namely meloyine, 19S-methoxytubotaiwine N4-oxide, 16,19-epoxy-Δ14-vincanol, 14β-hydroxymeloyunine, meloyunine, Δ14-vincamenine N4-oxide, 16β,21β-epoxy-vincadine, 14β,15β-20S-quebrachamine, 3-oxo-voaphylline, 2α,7α-dihydroxy-dihydrovoaphylline, and 32 known alkaloids were isolated from leaves and twigs of Melodinus yunnanensis. Their structures were elucidated based on 1- and 2-D NMR, FTIR, UV, and MS spectroscopic data. Meloyine I showed weak cytotoxic activity against four human cancer cell lines: MCF-7 breast cancer, SMMC-7721 hepatocellular carcinoma, HL-60 myeloid leukemia, and A-549 lung cancer.
This comprehensive investigation was performed to evaluate the expression level and potential clinical value of NEAT1 in digestive system malignancies. A total of 57 lncRNA datasets of microarray or ...RNA-seq and 5 publications were included. The pooled standard mean deviation (SMD) indicated that NEAT1 was down-regulated in esophageal carcinoma (ESCA, SMD = -0.35, 95% CI: -0.5~-0.20, P < 0.0001) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC, SMD = -0.47, 95% CI: -0.60~-0.34, P < 0.0001), while in pancreatic cancer (PC), NEAT1 was up-regulated (SMD = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.2~0.71, P = 0.001). However, NEAT1 expression in gastric cancer (GC), colorectal cancer (CRC), biliary tract cancer (BTC) and gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) showed no significant difference between cancer and control groups. The pooled area under the curve values for ESCA, GC, CRC, PC and HCC were 0.60, 0.89, 0.81, 0.77 and 0.69, respectively. Furthermore, our result demonstrated that a high expression of NEAT1 predicted an unfavorable prognosis in patients with digestive system malignancies (HR: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.28-1.76, P < 0.0001). Our study suggests that NEAT1 may play different roles in the initiation and progression of digestive system cancers and could be a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in patients with digestive system carcinomas. Further and stricter studies with a larger number of cases are necessary to strengthen our conclusions.
The role of induction chemotherapy (IC) or adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) in the treatment of locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains controversial.
To update meta-analyses on the ...association of survival outcomes with IC and AC regimens in patients with locoregionally advanced NPC and assess whether the current evidence is conclusive by a trial sequential analysis (TSA) approach.
PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched for articles published from inception until June 1, 2019.
Randomized clinical trials that assessed the efficacy of radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy among previously untreated patients and patients with nondistant metastatic NPC.
Data were extracted by 2 investigators from each trial independently and synthesized by the 2 investigators. All trial results were combined and analyzed by a fixed- or random-effects model.
Overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), and locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS).
A total of 8036 patients (median age, 46.5 years; 5872 73.1% male) from 28 randomized clinical trials were included in the analysis. Pooled analyses revealed that concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) was significantly associated with improved OS, PFS, DMFS, and LRFS compared with radiotherapy across all subgroups. The TSA confirmed the treatment outcomes of CCRT compared with radiotherapy. The additional IC regimen was associated with an improvement in OS (hazard ratio HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.74-0.95), PFS (HR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.64-0.84), DMFS (HR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.59-0.78), and LRFS (HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.64-0.85). These findings were consistent in subgroup analyses of multicenter trials with sample sizes greater than 250, years of survival rate of 5 or greater, median follow-up longer than 5 years, or low risk of bias. However, the additional AC regimen was not associated with a survival benefit in OS (HR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.78-1.23), PFS (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.70-1.07), DMFS (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.64-1.10), or LRFS (HR, 0.80, 95% CI, 0.59-1.09). The TSA provided sound evidence on the additional benefit of IC but not AC.
These data suggest a significant association of survival outcomes with CCRT in patients with locoregionally advanced NPC. The addition of IC instead of AC could achieve survival benefits. The potential therapeutic gain of AC should be explored in the future.
Overexpression of folate receptor alpha (FRα) and high telomerase activity are considered to be the characteristics of ovarian cancers. In this study, we developed FRα-targeted lipoplexes loaded with ...an hTERT promoter-regulated plasmid that encodes a matrix protein (MP) of the vesicular stomatitis virus, F-LP/pMP(2.5), for application in ovarian cancer treatment. We first characterized the pharmaceutical properties of F-LP/pMP(2.5). The efficient expression of the MP-driven hTERT promoter in SKOV-3 cells was determined after an in-vitro transfection assay, which was significantly increased compared with a non-modified LP/pMP(2.5) group. F-LP/pMP(2.5) treatment significantly inhibited the growth of tumors and extended the survival of mice in a SKOV-3 tumor model compared with other groups. Such an anti-tumor effect was due to the increased expression of MP in tumor tissue, which led to the induction of tumor cell apoptosis, inhibition of tumor cell proliferation and suppression of tumor angiogenesis. Furthermore, a preliminary safety evaluation demonstrated a good safety profile of F-LP/pMP(2.5) as a gene therapy agent. Therefore, FRα-targeted lipoplexes with therapeutic gene expression regulated by an hTERT promoter might be a promising gene therapy agent and a potential translational candidate for the clinical treatment of ovarian cancer.