[Efficacy of chemotherapy regimen using ifosphamide and carboplatin on recurrent or refractory neuroblastoma].

Background & Objective: About 30% of neuroblastoma patients have poor response to first-line chemotherapy or progress during chemotherapy. Although advanced neuroblastoma patients could achieve complete remission after combined treatment, most of them relapsed finally. This study was to evaluate the efficacy of ifosphamide and carboplatin as a salvage chemotherapy regimen on recurrent or refractory neuroblastoma.

[Treatment outcome of children and adolescents with germ cell tumor after combined therapy---a report of 44 cases].

Background & Objective: The overall survival rate of children and adolescents with germ cell tumor is more than 75% after adopting combined therapy. However, the prognosis varies with stage, pathologic type, and primary tumor site. This study was to analyze the clinical characteristics and treatment outcome of children and adolescents with germ cell tumor, and to investigate the prognostic factors and therapeutic strategy.

[Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation combined with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and percutaneous ethanol injection for recurrent small hepatocellular carcinoma].

Objective: To explore the value of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (PRFA) combined with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) in the management of recurrent small hepatocellular carcinoma.

Methods: Between March 2001 and March 2005, 52 patients with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (tumor size< or =5 cm) underwent PRFA, and 14 of the patients (tumor size 3-5 cm) also received TACE and PEI, and their clinical data were analyzed retrospectively.

Results: MRI or CT after PRFA revealed complete coagulative necrosis of the tumor in 38 cases (tumor size <3 cm).

[Apoptosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line NCE induced by curcumin and its molecular mechanism].

Objective: To investigate the mechanism underlying the curcumin-induced apoptosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell line NCE cells.

Methods: The characteristics of apoptosis were identified by observation acridine orange and ethidium bromide stains, ultrastructure assay, DNA fragmentation assay and TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling method (TUNEL). Mitochondrial membrane potential (delta psi m), activity of caspase-3, cytosol cytochrome C and expression of gene Fas were determined by flow cytometry (FCM), Western Blot and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Improved treatment outcome in Chinese children and adolescents with Burkitt's lymphoma and large cell lymphoma by using the modified B-non-Hodgkin's lymphoma-Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster-90 protocol.

Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of the modified B-Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL)-Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster (BFM)-90-based protocol in Chinese children and adolescents with Burkitt's lymphoma and large cell lymphoma.

Methods: From September 1997 to August 2005, 55 untreated patients (age less than 20 yr) from a single institution were enrolled. The patients were stratified by risk factors (stage, LDH level and chemotherapy response).

A dose-ranging study of AAV-hAADC therapy in Parkinsonian monkeys.

The main medication for idiopathic Parkinson disease is L-Dopa. Drug efficacy declines steadily in part because the converting enzyme, aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC), is lost concomitant with substantia nigra atrophy. Over the past decade, we have developed a gene therapy approach in which AADC activity is restored to the brain by infusion into the striatum of a recombinant adeno-associated virus carrying human AADC cDNA.

[Insect community and its relationship with Ceroplastes japonicus occurrence in jujube orchards].

Employing community character indices and canonical correlation analysis, this paper studied the insect communi structure and its relationship with the occurrence degree of Ceroplastes japonicus in jujube orchards. The results showed that based on the community discrepancy coefficient of 0.20, the insect community in various sampling fields could be categorized into two groups, i.

Preoperative evaluation of resectability of Klatskin tumor with 16-MDCT angiography and cholangiography.

Objective: The objective of our study was to evaluate prospectively the preoperative use of 16-MDCT angiography and cholangiography in determining the resectability of Klatskin tumors.

Conclusion: Preoperative MDCT angiography and cholangiography gave a good assessment of the degree of vascular and biliary involvement of the Klatskin tumor.

[Expression of apoptosis-related proteins in the human bone marrow hematopoietic cells treated by Panax Notoginosides].

The study was aimed to investigate the action of Panax Notoginosides (PNS, extracted from notoginseng herb) on the expression of the apoptosis-related proteins (Daxx, Fas) and transcription factors (NFkB, c-Rel) in the hematopoietic cells and to explore the mechanisms of supporting cells to survive. The colony formation of CFU-GM and CFU-E in human bone marrow was assayed in the presence of various concentrations of PNS. The viability of cells was assayed by trypan blue and the changes of cell morphology were observed with microscope.

Inadvertent germline transmission of AAV2 vector: findings in a rabbit model correlate with those in a human clinical trial.

The risk of germline transmission of vector sequences in humans is a major safety concern, because the enrollment of subjects of reproductive age in early-phase clinical trials of gene transfer continues to increase. In a study of adult men with hemophilia B, adeno-associated virus serotype 2 (AAV2) delivered to the liver via the hepatic artery resulted in unexpected transient vector dissemination to the semen. Here we report that intravenous AAV2 injection in rabbits proved a useful model to assess biologic parameters of vector dissemination to the semen.

[Clinical analysis of reactive thymic hyperplasia following chemotherapy for childhood malignant lymphoma].

Background & Objective: Reactive thymic hyperplasia following chemotherapy for malignant tumors is likely to be misdiagnosed as tumor residue or relapse, therefore, leads to unnecessary treatment. This study was to analyze the clinical features of reactive thymic hyperplasia following chemotherapy for childhood malignant lymphoma.

Methods: Clinical data of 13 children with reactive thymic hyperplasia following chemotherapy for malignant lymphoma, treated from Mar.

Probing the catalytic center of porcine aminoacylase 1 by site-directed mutagenesis, homology modeling and substrate docking.

Three-dimensional structural models of porcine aminoacylase 1 (pACY1) were constructed by homology modeling and aligning the structures of members of the M20 peptidase family. After energy minimization and quality evaluation, the best model from the homology modeling was chosen for docking with the best substrate (N-acetyl-L-methionine). The most reasonable binding mode was found among a large number of predicted complexes by using clustering analysis and screening with expert knowledge.

[Efficacy of short-term and intensive chemotherapy for the treatment of childhood and adolescent B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma].

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of the B-NHL-BFM-90 protocol in the treatment of Chinese childhood and adolescent B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (B-NHL).

Methods: Forty-two untreated childhood and adolescent B-NHL were enrolled in the present study. Of them 18 cases were Burkitt's lymphoma, 16 diffuse large B cell lymphoma and 8 anaplastic lymphoma.

Enhanced external counterpulsation improves endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation in the carotid arteries of hypercholesterolemic pigs.

Background: Enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) has been demonstrated to be an effective method for the treatment of atherosclerotic vascular disease. However, the exact mechanism underlying the beneficial effects of EECP is not completely clear. We hypothesized that EECP leads to improvement in endothelial function, contributing to its clinical benefits.

Analysis of the expression of Fas, FasL and Bcl-2 in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid disorders.

To investigate the expression of apoptosis-related protein (Fas, FasL, and Bcl-2) in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid disorders (ATDs), immunohistochemical staining was performed on 20 Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), 20 Graves' disease (GD), and 20 thyroid follicular adenoma (TFA, as control). All the cases expressed Fas, mainly on the cell surface and cytoplasm. FasL was found in 17 cases of the TFA.

Determination of quinolizidine alkaloids in Sophora flavescens and its preparation using capillary electrophoresis.

A simple and accurate capillary electrophoresis method was developed for the determination of four quinolizidine alkaloids in Sophora flavescens and Kuhuang injection. Optimum separation of the analytes was obtained on a 65 cm x 75 microm i.d.

Can an allograft become harmonious with its recipient by analogous mechanisms to the long-term survival of a parasite in its host? Transplantation is similar to parasitism and chronic parasite infection can prolong allograft survival.

Organ transplantation is very similar to the parasitism, the immune responses to the allograft and parasite share some general characters in acute stage. But host-parasite interplay seems harmonious and clinically asymptomatic carriers act as long-term reservoirs for transmission even several decades. It is proposed that the allograft also can survive long-term like the parasite harmonious with the host if we exploit the mechanism of the parasitism.

The human herpesvirus 6 G protein-coupled receptor homolog U51 positively regulates virus replication and enhances cell-cell fusion in vitro.

Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) is a ubiquitous T-lymphotropic betaherpesvirus that encodes two G protein-coupled receptor homologs, U12 and U51. HHV-6A U51 has been reported to bind to CC chemokines including RANTES, but the biological function of U51 remains uncertain. In this report, we stably expressed short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) specific for U51 in human T cells and then infected these cells with HHV-6.

Identification of factors that contribute to recombinant AAV2 particle aggregation and methods to prevent its occurrence during vector purification and formulation.

Aggregation of recombinant AAV2 results in reduced yield during purification and may have deleterious effects on vector transduction efficiency, biodistribution and immunogenicity following in vivo administration. Studies to elucidate the mechanism of vector aggregation and methods to prevent its occurrence are reported. In excipient screening studies, the sugars sorbitol, sucrose, mannitol, trehalose, or glycerol at concentrations of up to 5% (w/v), or surfactants Tween 80 or Pluronic F68, did not prevent aggregation.

Adeno-associated virus-mediated gene transfer of human aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase protects mixed striatal primary cultures from L-DOPA toxicity.

Although L-DOPA is the drug of choice for Parkinson's disease, prolonged L-DOPA therapy results in decreased drug effectiveness and the appearance of motor complications. This may be due in part to the progressive loss of the enzyme, aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC). We have developed an adeno-associated virus vector (AAV-hAADC) that contains human AADC cDNA under the control of the cytomegalovirus promoter.

[Analysis on HLA-E polymorphism in Guangdong Han population].

To investigate the distribution of HLA-E alleles and linkage between HLA-E and HLA-A or -B loci in Chinese Han in Guangdong area, HLA-E alleles were detected by using PCR-SSP in 150 unrelated healthy individuals from Guangzhou area; HLA-A, -B antigens typing in 106 individuals was carried out with NIH standard microlymphocytoxic method. Analysis of linkage was performed between HLA-E and HLA-A, -B. The results showed that three alleles of HLA-E could be detected in this population.

[Surgical treatment of transcranial middle cranial fossa-lateral skull base malignant tumor].

Objective: To evaluate the surgical method of transcranial middle cranial fossa-lateral skull base malignant tumor.

Methods: Sixteen patients with transcranial middle cranial fossa-lateral skull base malignant tumors were treated by three surgical methods. (1) Postauricular "C" form incision, combined with subtotal resection of temporal bone and high lateral neck approach to resect tumors located in middle cranial fossa, lateral skull base, and parotid region.

[Efficacy of modified BFM-90 regimen on children and adolescents with T cell lymphoblastic lymphoma: a report of 20 cases].

Background & Objective: T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma in childhood and adolescence is an aggressive malignant disease with higher mortality. BFM-90 regimen for lymphoblastic lymphoma is one of the most effective regimens. This study was designed to evaluate efficacy and toxicities of modified BFM-90 regimen on Chinese children and adolescents with lymphoblastic lymphoma.