Aidi injection,a traditional Chinese biomedical preparation for gynecologic tumors: a systematic review and PRISMA-compliant meta-analysis

Aidi injection (ADI), a traditional Chinese biomedical preparation, is a promising adjuvant therapy for gynecologic tumors (GTs), including cervical cancer (CC), endometrial cancer (EC), and ovarian cancer (OC). Although studies have reported positively on ADI therapy, its exact effects and safety in GT patients remain controversial. Therefore, a wide-ranging systematic search of electronic databases was performed for this meta-analysis. Data from 38 trials including 3309 GT patients were analyzed. The results indicated that the combination of conventional treatment and ADI markedly improved the patients’ overall response rate (P<0.00001), disease control rate (P<0.00001), and quality of life (P<0.05) compared with conventional treatment alone. Furthermore, patient immunity was enhanced with combined treatment, as indicated by significantly increased percentages of CD3⁺ (P=0.005) and CD4⁺ (P<0.00001) and increased CD4⁺/CD8⁺ ratio (P=0.001). Most of the adverse events caused by radiochemotherapy such as gastrointestinal issues, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, and hepatotoxicity, (P<0.05 for all) were significantly alleviated when ADI was used in the GT patients. However, other adverse events such as nephrotoxicity, diarrhea, alopecia, and neurotoxicity did not significantly differ between the two groups. Overall, these results suggest that the combination of conventional and ADI treatment is more effective than conventional treatment alone.     

秦岭地区中段死亡斑羚空间分布规律初探

In recent years, Chinese goral (Nemorhaedus griseus) carcasses were frequently found in the mid-Qinling Mountains. In order to assess the spatial distribution pattern of goral carcasses, data of the individuals from Shaanxi's Fourth Giant Panda Survey was used in this study to analyse how the gorals/goral carcasses sites were related to altitude, slope, aspect, river, and road through quantitative analyses. The results showed:(1) the correlation between the sites of goral carcasses and topographic factors was relatively significant. Goral carcasses tend to be found at relatively low altitude (1 200-2 400 m) and mild slope (6°-25°). The chi-square test also showed that the aspect of the goral carcasses sites was significantly different from the goral sites. Most of the goral carcasses were found at south-facing/half southfacing slopes. (2) The correlation between the sites of goral carcasses and the distance to river was significant. The kernel density analysis and Z-test further showed that there were significant differences between the gorals/goral carcasses sites and the distance to river. Most of the goral carcasses sites were close to river (< 100 m). (3) The correlation between the sites of goral carcasses and the distance to road was not significant. Kernel density analysis and Z-test showed that there was no significant difference between the sites of gorals/goral carcasses and the distance to road. This study proposed several suggestions about how to strengthen the protection of gorals in the future.     

旅游干扰下水质对大鲵繁殖行为与繁殖力的影响

通过控制大鲵仿生态繁育池进水量模拟旅游干扰下的水质溶解氧特征,采用红外数字监控系统研究大鲵繁殖行为(产卵与护卵)及繁殖力(相对产卵量、受精率与孵化率)特点,分析它们与水质的关系,探讨旅游干扰导致的水质变化对大鲵繁殖行为及繁殖力的影响。结果表明: 与对照组相比,旅游干扰下大鲵的产卵行为与繁殖力未受到显著影响,但雄鲵护卵行为中的扇尾与搅动时间显著延长,以提高水中溶解氧浓度,满足大鲵胚胎发育需求;此外,旅游干扰下受精卵的孵化时间显著延长,但孵化率未受到显著影响。雄鲵护卵行为变化与受精卵孵化时间延长可能是大鲵对旅游干扰导致的水质变化的一种主动响应。     

Comprehensive landscape and interference of clonal haematopoiesis mutations for liquid biopsy: A Chinese pan-cancer cohort

Tumour-derived DNA found in the plasma of cancer patients provides the probability to detect somatic mutations from circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in plasma samples. However, clonal hematopoiesis (CH) mutations affect the accuracy of liquid biopsy for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Here, we integrated landscape of CH mutations in 11,725 pan-cancer patients of Chinese and explored effects of CH on liquid biopsies in real-world. We first identified 5933 CHs based on panel sequencing of matched DNA of white blood cell and cfDNA on 301 genes for 5100 patients, in which CH number of patients had positive correlation with their diagnosis age. We observed that canonical genes related to CH, including DNMT3A, TET2, ASXL1, TP53, ATM, CHEK2 and SF3B1, were dominant in the Chinese cohort and 13.29% of CH mutations only appeared in the Chinese cohort compared with the Western cohort. Analysis of CH gene distribution bias indicated that CH tended to appear in genes with functions of tyrosine kinase regulation, PI3K-Akt signalling and TP53 activity, suggesting unfavourable effects of CH mutations in cancer patients. We further confirmed effect of driver genes carried by CH on somatic mutations in liquid biopsy of cancer patients. Forty-eight actionable somatic mutations in 17 driver genes were considered CH genes in 92 patients (1.80%) of the Chinese cohort, implying potential impacts of CH on clinical decision-making. Taken together, this study exhibits strong evidence that gene mutations from CH interfere accuracy of liquid biopsies using cfDNA in cancer diagnosis and treatment in real-world.     

Targeting P2 receptors in purinergic signaling: a new strategy of active ingredients in traditional Chinese herbals for diseases treatment

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and its metabolites adenosine diphosphate, adenosine monophosphate, and adenosine in purinergic signaling pathway play important roles in many diseases. Activation of P2 receptors (P2R) channels and subsequent membrane depolarization can induce accumulation of extracellular ATP, and furtherly cause kinds of diseases, such as pain- and immune-related diseases, cardiac dysfunction, and tumorigenesis. Active ingredients of traditional Chinese herbals which exhibit superior pharmacological activities on diversified P2R channels have been considered as an alternative strategy of disease treatment. Experimental evidence of potential ingredients in Chinese herbs targeting P2R and their pharmacological activities were outlined in the study.

     

Y-SNPs Haplotype Diversity in Four Chinese Cattle Breeds

To investigate the genetic diversity of Chinese cattle, 96 male samples of 4 Chinese native cattle breeds were investigated using 5 single nucleotide polymorphisms specific to the bovine Y chromosome. Two previously described haplotypes (taurine Y2 and indicine Y3) were detected in 74 and 22 animals, respectively. The haplotype frequencies varied amongst the four native breeds. The taurine Y2 haplotype dominated in the Qinchuan, Dabieshan, and Yunba breeds. However, the indicine Y3 haplotype occurred in high frequency in the Enshi breed. Among the four native breeds, Yunba had the highest haplotype diversity (0.4330 ± 0.0750), followed by Qinchuan (0.2899 ± 0.1028) and Enshi (0.2222 ± 0.1662), Dabieshan was the least differentiated (0.1079 ± 0.0680). Compared with some foreign cattle breeds, the low level of haplotype diversity was detected in our breeds (0.2633 ± 0.1030).     

Chinese plasma-derived products supply under the lot release management system in 2007–2011

In 2007, the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) implemented a management system for lot release of all plasma-derived products. Since then, there have been only a few systematic studies of the blood supply, which is a concern when considering the small amount of plasma collected per capita (approximately 3 L/1000 people). As a result, there may be a threat to the safety of the available blood supply. In this study, we examined the characteristics of the supply of Chinese plasma-derived products. We investigated the reports of lot-released biological products derived from all 8 national or regional regulatory authorities in China from 2007 to 2011. The market supply characteristics of Chinese plasma-derived products were analyzed by reviewing the changes in supply varieties, the batches of lot-released plasma-derived products and the actual supply. As a result, the national regulatory authorities can more accurately develop a specific understanding of the production and quality management information provided by Chinese plasma product manufacturers. The implementation of the lot release system further ensures the clinical validity of the plasma-derived products in China and improves the safety of using plasma-derived products. This work provides an assessment of the future Chinese market supply of plasma-derived products and can function as a theoretical basis for the establishment of hemovigilance.