Efficacy and side-effects of a semi-individualized Chinese herb mixture "Tiáo Gēng Tāng" for menopausal syndrome in China.

Background: Chinese herbal medicine is an alternative therapy for menopausal problems and is widely practiced in China and many other Asian countries. However, efficacies and side-effects are rarely assessed according to the standards of evidence-based medicine.

Patients And Methods: This is a prospective observatory study following efficacy and side-effects of a semi-individualized Chinese herbal mixture "Tiáo Gēng Tāng (TGT)" in 30 patients for 3 months.

Anti-proliferation and anti-invasion effects of diosgenin on gastric cancer BGC-823 cells with HIF-1α shRNAs.

Drug resistance is a major factor for the limited efficacy of chemotherapy in gastric cancer treatment. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), a central transcriptional factor in hypoxia, is suggested to participate in the resistance. Here, we identified a hypoxia-mimic (cobalt chloride) sensitive gastric cell line BGC-823 to explore whether diosgenin, an aglycone of steroidal saponins, can inhibit cancer cell invasion and survival of solid tumor in a hypoxic mimic microenvironment.