The potential of artemether for the control of schistosomiasis

Schistosomiasis continues to rank – following malaria – at the second position of the world's parasitic diseases in terms of the extent of endemic areas and the number of infected people. There is yet no vaccine available and the current mainstay of control is chemotherapy with praziquantel used as the drug of choice. In view of concern about the development of tolerance and/or resistance to praziquantel, there is a need for research and development of novel drugs for the prevention and cure of schistosomiasis. Interestingly, derivatives of artemisinin, which are already effectively used in the treatment of malaria, also exhibit antischistosomal properties. Significant advances have been made with artemether, the methyl ether derivative of artemisinin. We review the discovery of the antischistosomal activity of artemether by Chinese scientists two decades ago; the detailed laboratory studies of the susceptibility of, and effect on, the different developmental stages of Schistosoma japonicum, Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma haematobium to artemether; the possible mechanism of action and the potential long-term toxicity. Finally, we look at the effect of combined treatment with artemether and praziquantel; and clinical findings thus far obtained from randomised controlled trials with oral artemether for the prevention of patent infections and morbidity. The review intends to create a forum for strategic discussion of how these laboratory and clinical findings could be translated into public health actions. We conclude that artemether – as part of integrated current control measures and adapted to specific socio-ecological and epidemiological settings – has considerable potential to significantly reduce the current burden of schistosomiasis in many parts of the world.     

Variations in prostate biopsy recommendation and acceptance confound evaluation of risk factors for prostate cancer: Examining race and BMI

BackgroundProstate cancer is ubiquitous in older men; differential screening patterns and variations in biopsy recommendations and acceptance will affect which man is diagnosed and, therefore, evaluation of cancer risk factors. We describe a statistical method to reduce prostate cancer detection bias among African American (n = 3398) and Non-Hispanic White men (n = 22,673) who participated in the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention trial (SELECT) and revisit a previously reported association between race, obesity and prostate cancer risk.MethodsFor men with screening values suggesting prostate cancer but in whom biopsy was not performed, the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial Risk Calculator was used to estimate probability of prostate cancer. Associations of body mass index (BMI) and race with incident prostate cancer were compared for observed versus imputation-enhanced outcomes using incident density ratios.ResultsAccounting for differential biopsy assessment, the previously reported positive linear trend between BMI and prostate cancer in African American men was not observed; no BMI association was found among Non-Hispanic White men.ConclusionsDifferential disease classification among men who may be recommended to undergo and then consider whether to accept a prostate biopsy leads to inaccurate identification of prostate cancer risk factors. Imputing a man’s prostate cancer status reduces detection bias. Covariate adjustment does not address the problem of outcome misclassification. Cohorts evaluating incident prostate cancer should collect longitudinal screening and biopsy data to adjust for this potential bias.     

人金属硫蛋白在乳酸菌中的融合表达及其预防食源性镉污染的应用

目的:镉(Cd)是一种重要的环境污染物,其具有半衰期长、不能生物降解等特性使之易于在人体重要脏器中蓄积并对人身体健康造成不可逆的损伤。为此,减少镉的摄入,尤其是经胃肠道,是预防人体慢性镉中毒的有效方法。方法:构建以α-半乳糖苷酶作为筛选标记、表达金属硫蛋白融合蛋白(GST-SUMO-MT)的重组乳酸乳球菌MG1363/p M-GSMT。原子吸收光谱法分析重组乳酸菌对Cd~(2+)和Zn~+的结合能力。以灌胃方式,对雄性Sprague-Dawley大鼠每天口服不同剂量的重组乳酸菌(2×10~9~2×10~(11)CFU/d)及CdCl_2溶液[5mg/(kg·d)],连续处理56天。收集实验动物肝、肾、脑及睾丸,利用原子吸收光谱法检测这些脏器中镉离子的含量。生化分析检测血清中尿素及丙氨酸转氨酶的含量。石蜡切片及苏木精-伊红染色分析各组织的病理变化。结果:获得不含抗生素抗性的重组乳酸菌MG1363/p M-GSMT,其吸附Cd~(2+)、Zn~(2+)能力比对照组分别提高3.52倍和1.60倍。动物实验结果显示,镉能在肝、肾、脑及睾丸中蓄积,并对这些器官造成明显的病理损伤。原子吸收光谱分析、血清生化指标及病理切片结果都显示,重组乳酸菌能有效降低胃肠道中镉的摄入,进而减少Cd~(2+)在各脏器中的蓄积及对器官功能的损伤。结论:为预防人体食源性慢性镉中毒提供了一种有效的生物材料和使用方法。     

温州蜜柑裂果因子调查初报

通过对1990年温州蜜柑裂果的调查,初步探明了不同品系,不同的基砧、中间砧及砧木高度,树体在园中所处的位置,树体的不同部位、树势,结果枝上的裂果顺序,灌溉条件,气象要素的变化,果实某些指标的差异等因子与裂果的关系。据此,提出防止裂果措施。     

Ataxin-10 is involved in Golgi membrane dynamics

<正>Cytokinesis is the final stage of cell division that generates two daughter cells(Fededa and Gerlich,2012).The textbook version di-vides the plant and animal cell cytokinesis into two categories.Plant cells form a mid-zone phragmoplast via vesicle delivering and fusion,and cell wall materials are thus deposited.Animal cells form actomyosin contractile rings,which are the sole force that drives abscission.However,recent evidence has been mounting and pinpointing a pivotal role of membrane transport and subse-     

Terminate lung cancer (TLC) study—A mixed-methods population approach to increase lung cancer screening awareness and low-dose computed tomography in Eastern Kentucky

For low dose CT lung cancer screening to be effective in curbing disease mortality, efforts are needed to overcome barriers to awareness and facilitate uptake of the current evidence-based screening guidelines. A sequential mixed-methods approach was employed to design a screening campaign utilizing messages developed from community focus groups, followed by implementation of the outreach campaign intervention in two high-risk Kentucky regions. This study reports on rates of awareness and screening in intervention regions, as compared to a control region.     

激活蛋白1在双歧杆菌预防大肠癌生长中的作用

目的 :探索青春型双歧杆菌体内预防大肠癌的机制。方法 :首先建立大肠癌裸鼠移植瘤动物模型 ,将实验动物分为双歧杆菌预防组和肿瘤对照组 ,以激光共聚焦显微镜定量检测了大肠癌组织激活蛋白1(AP-1)中的 c-fos和 c-jun的含量。结果 :双歧杆菌预防组大肠癌移植瘤 c-jun和 c-fos的含量均明显低于肿瘤对照组 (P<0 .0 1)。结论 :青春型双歧杆菌可通过降低大肠癌移植瘤组织 AP-1中的 c-jun和 c-fos的表达这一途径来预防大肠癌的生长     

Modulating human aging and age-associated diseases

Population aging is progressing rapidly in many industrialized countries. The United States population aged 65 and over is expected to double in size within the next 25 years. In sedentary people eating Western diets aging is associated with the development of serious chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes mellitus, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. About 80% of adults over 65 years of age have at least one chronic disease, and 50% have at least two chronic diseases. These chronic diseases are the most important cause of illness and mortality burden, and they have become the leading driver of healthcare costs, constituting an important burden for our society. Data from epidemiological studies and clinical trials indicate that many age-associated chronic diseases can be prevented, and even reversed, with the implementation of healthy lifestyle interventions. Several recent studies suggest that more drastic interventions (i.e. calorie restriction without malnutrition and moderate protein restriction with adequate nutrition) may have additional beneficial effects on several metabolic and hormonal factors that are implicated in the biology of aging itself. Additional studies are needed to understand the complex interactions of factors that regulate aging and age-associated chronic disease.     

心脏术后急性肾损伤的研究进展

急性肾损伤（Acute Kidney Injury,AKI）是心脏术后较常见且较严重的并发症,明显增加患者的住院费用,并且增加手术死亡率。研究发现术前肾功能不全、糖尿病、及外周血管疾病等是术后AKI的危险因素。最新的研究发现一些新的生物学标准物可以为我们早期诊断心脏术后AKI的发生的提供帮助。而一旦出现AKI,选择适当药物治疗和肾脏替代治疗,可以保护肾功能,改善AKI患者的预后。     

From evidence to practice: development of web-based Dutch lipid reference values

IntroductionIn the Netherlands, the total number of yearly measured lipid profiles exceeds 500,000. While lipid values are strongly affected by age and sex, until recently, no up-to-date age- and sex-specific lipid reference values were available. We describe the translation of big-cohort lipid data into accessible reference values, which can be easily incorporated in daily clinical practice.MethodsLipid values (total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides) from all healthy adults and children in the LifeLines cohort were used to generate age- and sex-specific percentiles. A combination of RStudio, Cascading Style Sheets and HyperText Markup Language was used to interactively display the percentiles in a responsive web layout.ResultsAfter exclusion of subjects reporting cardiovascular disease or lipid-lowering therapy at baseline, 141,611 subjects were included. On the website, input fields were created for age, sex and all main plasma lipids. Upon input of these values, corresponding percentiles are calculated, and output is displayed in a table and an interactive graph for each lipid. The website has been made available in both Dutch and English and can be accessed at www.lipidtools.com.ConclusionWe constructed the first searchable, national lipid reference value tool with graphical display in the Netherlands to use in screening for dyslipidaemias and to reduce the underuse of lipid-lowering therapy in Dutch primary prevention. This study illustrates that data collected in big-cohort studies can be made easily accessible with modern digital techniques and preludes the digital health revolution yet to come.