Formulation and antifungal performance of natamycin-loaded liposomal suspensions: the benefits of sterol-enrichment

The aim of this study is to develop and evaluate food-grade liposomal delivery systems for the antifungal compound natamycin. Liposomes made of various soybean lecithins are prepared by solvent injection, leading to small unilamellar vesicles (<130?nm) with controlled polydispersity, able to encapsulate natamycin without significant modification of their size characteristics. Presence of charged phospholipids and reduced content of phosphatidylcholine in the lecithin mixture are found to be beneficial for natamycin encapsulation, indicating electrostatic interactions of the preservative with the polar head of the phospholipids. The chemical instability of natamycin upon storage in these formulations is however significant and proves that uncontrolled leakage out of the liposomes occurs. Efficient prevention of natamycin degradation is obtained by incorporation of sterols (cholesterol, ergosterol) in the lipid mixture and is linked to higher entrapment levels and reduced permeability of the phospholipid membrane provided by the ordering effect of sterols. Comparable action of ergosterol is observed at concentrations 2.5-fold lower than cholesterol and attributed to a preferential interaction of natamycin–ergosterol as well as a higher control of membrane permeability. Fine-tuning of sterol concentration allows preparation of liposomal suspensions presenting modulated in vitro release kinetics rates and enhanced antifungal activity against the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.     

复方雷公藤逐痛颗粒辅助治疗痰瘀互结型类风湿关节炎的临床效果观察

目的:评价复方雷公藤逐痛颗粒治疗活动期类风湿关节炎痰瘀互结证的临床有效性和安全性。方法:选择2013年2月～2015年5月在上海光华中西医结合医院类风关内科门诊及住院的活动性痰瘀互结型类风湿关节炎患者63例,按治疗方式分为对照组33例和中西医结合治疗组30例,对照组采用西医治疗(甲氨蝶呤+青霉胺),治疗组采用中西医结合治疗(复方雷公藤逐痛颗粒+甲氨蝶呤+青霉胺)。治疗12周后,比较两组患者的临床疗效及各项观察指标的改善情况。结果:治疗后,两组患者晨僵持续时间、关节肿胀数、关节压痛数、中医症候积分、血沉(ESR)、血清CRP水平,疼痛VAS评分、患者总体状态自我VAS评分及DAS28评分均较治疗前显著下降(P0.05),且治疗组患者的上述各项指标均明显低于对照组(P0.05)。治疗期间,两组患者均未出现严重不良反应而中断治疗的情况,监测肝肾功能指标均未发现明显异常。结论:复方雷公藤逐痛颗粒辅助治疗痰瘀互结型类风湿关节炎的临床疗效确切,明显优于单用西医治疗,其有助于增强西医治疗对患者临床症状的缓解效果,提高患者的生活质量,且用药安全。     

生脉注射液联合曲美他嗪治疗缺血性心肌病合并肾功能不全的临床疗效分析

目的:研究生脉注射液联合曲美他嗪治疗缺血性心肌病合并肾功能不全的临床疗效。方法:选取2015年3月至2017年3月我院收治的100例缺血性心肌病合并肾功能不全患者,按照随机数表法分为观察组(n=50)和对照组(n=50)。对照组采用曲美他嗪治疗,观察组采用生脉注射液联合曲美他嗪治疗。观察和比较两组的治疗疗效、治疗前后心功能指标(左心室射血分数(LVEF)、左室收缩末径(LVESD)、左室舒张末期内径(LVEDD))、肾功能指标(血肌酐(Scr),尿素氮(BUN))、心肌损伤标志物(血清胱抑素(Cys C)、同型半胱氨酸(HCY)、脑钠肽(BNP))水平的变化。结果:治疗后,观察组总有效率显著高于对照组[92.30%(48/52) vs.70.83%(34/48)](P0.05),LVEDD、LVESD水平均显著低于对照组[(51.21±8.54)mm vs.(56.63±10.83)mm,(42.91±6.30)mm vs.(45.86±7.32)mm](P0.05),LVEF水平均显著高于对照组[(46.02±7.85)%vs.(41.20±8.84)%](P0.05),Scr、BUN水平均显著低于对照组[(164.30±17.95)μmol/L vs.(211.75±19.31)μmol/L;(8.12±0.76)mmol/L vs.(11.74±1.72)mmol/L](P0.05)。血清Cys C、HCY、NT-Pro BNP水平均显著低于对照组[(0.90±0.21)mg/L vs 1.52±0.34)mg/L (12.34±3.89)μmol/L vs.(20.86±5.28)μmol/L,(298.47±78.41)ng/L vs.(402.35±92.76)ng/L](P0.05)。结论:生脉注射液联合曲美他嗪治疗缺血性心肌病合并肾功能不全的的临床疗效显著优于单用曲美他嗪治疗,其可有效改善患者心、肾功能,减轻心肌细胞损伤。     

复方丹参注射液联合阿奇霉素治疗小儿喘息性支气管炎的效果及对炎性因子的影响

目的:探讨复方丹参注射液联合阿奇霉素治疗小儿喘息性支气管炎的效果及对炎性因子的影响。方法:选取2015年6月～2018年6月我院收治的喘息性支气管炎患儿300例,采用随机数字表法将患儿分为两组,每组各150例。对照组在常规治疗的基础上给予阿奇霉素注射液治疗,观察组在对照组的基础上联合应用复方丹参注射液治疗。比较两组的临床治疗效果,临床症状缓解时间及住院时间,治疗前后两组血清白介素(Interleukin, IL)-6、IL-8和肿瘤坏死因子-α(Tumor necrosis factor-α, TNF-α)水平的变化情况及不良反应发生情况和复发率。结果:治疗后,观察组治疗总有效率显著高于对照组(93.33%VS.85.33%, P0.05);观察组喘息缓解时间、咳嗽缓解时间、哮鸣音消失时间、体温恢复时间及住院时间均显著短于对照组(P0.05);两组治疗后血清IL-6、IL-8和TNF-α水平均较治疗前显著下降,且观察组更低(P0.05);两组不良反应发生率比较差异无统计学意义(P0.05),观察组的复发率显著低于对照组(P0.05)。结论:复方丹参注射液联合阿奇霉素可快速缓解喘息性支气管炎患儿的临床症状、体征并缩短住院时间,提高临床治疗效果,且复发率低,安全性较高,这可能与其可显著降低患儿血清IL-6、IL-8和TNF-α水平有关。     

Determination of oxytetracycline hydrochloride in milk and egg white samples using Ru(bipy)32+–Ce(SO4)2 chemiluminescence

A novel, rapid and sensitive chemiluminescence (CL) method for the determination of oxytetracycline hydrochloride (OTCH) is described in this paper. The presented method was based on the fact that OTCH could immensely enhance the CL of the reaction of cerium sulfate and tris(2,2‐bipyridyl) ruthenium (II) in acidic medium. Under optimal experimental conditions, CL intensity was favorably linear for OTCH in the range 5.0 × 10^?7 to 5.0 × 10^?5 g/ml, with a detection limit of 1.5 × 10^?7 g/ml (S/N = 3). The relative standard detection was 4.76% for 5.0 × 10^?6 g/ml (n = 11). This method was successfully applied to the analysis of OTCH in milk and egg white samples. According to the results of the kinetic curves for OTCH in the Ru(bipy)₃²⁺–Ce(SO₄)₂ CL system, together with CL and ultraviolet (UV)–visible spectra, the possible mechanism of the CL reaction is discussed briefly.     

急诊医疗中医用粘合剂的研究进展

医用粘合剂是能够应用于医疗范畴的一类具有一定生物相容性和高度粘合力的医学材料;并已得到广泛的关注和研究。本文对当前急诊医疗中医用粘合剂的分类、各类粘合剂的作用机理、特点及应用范畴、医用粘合剂复合生物材料构成复合物的基础和应用研究现状等做一回顾及评价,并对未来医用粘合剂的研究和发展趋势进行了展望。     

Automated work-flow for processing high-resolution direct infusion electrospray ionization mass spectral fingerprints

The use of mass spectrometry (MS) is pivotal in analyses of the metabolome and presents a major challenge for subsequent data processing. While the last few years have given new high performance instruments, there has not been a comparable development in data processing. In this paper we discuss an automated data processing pipeline to compare large numbers of fingerprint spectra from direct infusion experiments analyzed by high resolution MS. We describe some of the intriguing problems that have to be addressed, starting with the conversion and pre-processing of the raw data to the final data analysis. Illustrated on the direct infusion analysis (ESI-TOF-MS) of complex mixtures the method exploits the full quality of the high-resolution present in the mass spectra. Although the method is illustrated as a new library search method for high resolution MS, we demonstrate that the output of the preprocessing is applicable to cluster-, discriminant analysis, and related multivariate methods applied directly to mass spectra from direct infusion analysis of crude extracts. This is done to find the relationship between several terverticillate Penicillium species and identify the ions responsible for the segregation.     

纳布啡鞘内注射对糖尿病神经痛模型大鼠行为能力及背根神经节TRPV1表达的影响

摘要 目的：探讨纳布啡鞘内注射对糖尿病神经痛（diabetic neuropathic pain, DNP）模型大鼠行为能力及背根神经节瞬时受体电位V1（transient receptor potential V1,TRPV1）表达的影响。方法：将糖尿病神经痛模型大鼠（n=48）随机平方为三组-模型组、纳布啡1组与纳布啡2组,每组16只。纳布啡1组与纳布啡2组分别给予纳布啡鞘内注射0.5 μg/10 μL与1.0 μg/10 μL,模型组给予注射等剂量的0.9 %氯化钠溶液,每天1次。分别于治疗第7 d、第14 d,采用血糖仪测定与记录空腹血糖（fasting blood glucose,FBG）水平并进行机械痛阈检测;治疗第14 d、第28 d,采用酶联免疫法检测血清IL-6与TNF-α含量,采用免疫印迹法检测背根神经节TRPV1蛋白的相对表达。结果：模型组、纳布啡1组与纳布啡2组治疗第7 d、第14 d的空腹血糖水平都高于20.00 mmol/L,组内与组间对比差异不具有统计学意义（P>0.05）。纳布啡1组与纳布啡2组治疗第7 d、第14 d的机械痛阈高于模型组（P<0.05）,也高于治疗前（P<0.05）,纳布啡2组与纳布啡1组差异具有统计学意义（P<0.05）。纳布啡1组与纳布啡2组治疗第14 d、第28 d的血清白细胞介素（Interleukin,IL）-6与肿瘤坏死因子（Tumor necrosis factor,TNF）-α含量明显低于模型组（P<0.05）,纳布啡2组明显低于纳布啡1组（P<0.05）。纳布啡1组与纳布啡2组治疗第14 d、第28 d的背根神经节TRPV1相对表达水平明显低于模型组（P<0.05）,纳布啡2组明显低于纳布啡1组（P<0.05）。结论：纳布啡鞘内注射在糖尿病神经痛模型大鼠的应用能改善行为能力,抑制背根神经节TRPV1的表达,还可抑制血清IL-6与TNF-α的释放,从而发挥镇痛治疗效用。     

The influence of the reference electrode location on the M−wave characteristics in the quadriceps

IntroductionIn the compound muscle action potential (M wave) recorded using the belly-tendon configuration, the contribution of the tendon electrode is assumed to be negligible compared to the belly electrode. We tested this assumption by placing the reference electrode at a distant (contralateral) site, which allowed separate recording of the belly and tendon contributions.MethodsM waves were recorded at multiple selected sites over the right quadriceps heads and lower leg using two different locations for the reference electrode: the ipsilateral (right) and contralateral (left) patellar tendon. The general parameters of the M wave (amplitude, area, duration, latency, and frequency) were measured.Results(1) The tendon potential had a small amplitude (<30%) compared to the belly potential; (2) Changing the reference electrode from the ipsilateral to the contralateral patella produced moderate changes in the M wave recorded over the innervation zone, these changes affecting significantly the amplitude of the M−wave second phase (p = 0.006); (3) Using the contralateral reference system allowed recording of short-latency components occurring immediately after the stimulus artefact, which had the same latency and amplitude (p = 0.18 and 0.25, respectively) at all recording sites over the leg.ConclusionsThe potential recorded at the “tendon” site after femoral nerve stimulation is small (compared to the belly potential), but not negligible, and makes a significant contribution to the second phase of belly-tendon M wave. Adopting a distant (contralateral) reference allowed recording of far-field components that may aid in the understanding of the electrical formation of the M wave.     

Intraovarian injection of miR-224 as a marker of polycystic ovarian syndrome declines oocyte competency and embryo development

miR-224 is associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) that is an epidemic in reproductive age women. Most studies of miR-224 have focused on in vitro analyses, whereas the in vivo effects are not widely understood. In this study, we have conducted in silico analysis and found two potential miR-224 target genes, Ptx3 and Smad4 that have roles in folliculogenesis. Because patients with PCOS have decreased numbers of follicular cells related to cell apoptosis, we also investigated two apoptotic genes, Bax and Bcl2. We used the intraovarian injection method to deliver miR-224 into a mouse model. Histological examination of the ovaries was done by fluorescent microscope. Fertilization, cleavage, and developmental competence rates were counted under a stereomicroscope and compared between the studied groups. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis of miR-224 was conducted to determine the levels of the studied genes in the oocytes, cumulus cells, and blastocysts. The numbers of oocytes and fertilization rate indicated a higher apoptosis index ( p < 0.05) and increased numbers of degenerated embryos with irregular blastomeres and fragmented cytoplasm in the experimental group. RT-PCR results indicated a significant increase in miR-224 levels in the manipulated group. Of the four analyzed genes, Ptx3, Smad4, and Bcl2 had decreased levels in the transfected group, with increased Bax expression ( p < 0.05). This data showed that miR-224 negatively affected ovulation in the mouse model by decreasing Ptx3 and Smad4 expressions. The changes in Bcl2 and Bax expression levels, as apoptosis biomarkers, showed that apoptosis was a secondary outcome of the effect of miR-224.