Clinical Study of Thalidomide Combined with Dexamethasone for the Treatment of Elderly Patients with Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma

Chen, Hai-Fei,Li, Zheng-Yang,Tang, Jie-Qing,Shen, Hong-Shi,Cui, Qing-Ya,Ren, Yong-Ya,Qin, Long-Mei,Jin, Ling-Juan,Zhu, Jing-Jing,Wang, Jing,Ding, Jie,Wang, Ke-Yuan,Yu, Zi-Qiang,Wang, Zhao-Yue,Wu, Tian Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.9

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the efficacy and safety of different doses of thalidomide (Thal) plus dexamethasone (Dex) as the initial therapy in elderly patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM). Methods: Clinical data of 28 elderly patients with newly diagnosed MM who underwent the TD regimen as the initial therapy were analyzed retrospectively. The patients were divided into two groups according to the maximal sustained dose of Thal: lower dose (group A) and higher dose (group B). The overall response rate (ORR), progression free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and adverse events (AES) were compared between the two groups. Results: A total of 28 patients were followed up with a median of 18 months. The ORR was 60.1%. The median response time and PFS were 2.0 and 17.0 months, respectively. The mean sustained dose of Thal in group B was significantly higher than group A (292.9 mg v 180.4 mg, P=0.01). There was no significantly difference in ORR (57.1% v 64.3%, P=1.00) and PFS (9.63months v 17.66 months, P=0.73) between groups A and B. During the follow up, only five patients died (<40%) and, therefore, median OS values were not available. It is estimated, however, that the mean survival time in the two groups was 35.6 and 33.4 months (P>0.05), respectively. All of the patients tolerated the treatment well. The incidence of AES in patients with a grading above 3 in group B was significantly higher than in group A (P=0.033). Conclusions: The TD regimen results in a high response rate and manageable AES as the initial therapy in elderly patients with MM. TD should be considered as the front line regimen for the treatment of elderly patients with MM in areas with financial constraints. The clinical response can be achieved at a low dose Thal with minimal toxicity.

Transcriptional profiling of mouse cavernous pericytes under high-glucose conditions: Implications for diabetic angiopathy

윤국남,Jitao Wu,Yuanshan Cui,Chunhua Li,Lei Shi,Zhen-Li Gao,서준규,류지간,Hai-Rong Jin 대한비뇨의학회 2021 Investigative and Clinical Urology Vol.62 No.1

Purpose: Penile erection requires integrative interactions between vascular endothelial cells, pericytes, smooth muscle cells, and autonomic nerves. Furthermore, the importance of the role played by pericytes in the pathogenesis of angiopathy has only recently been appreciated. However, global gene expression in pericytes in diabetes mellitus-induced erectile dysfunction (DMED) remains unclear. We aimed to identify potential target genes related to DMED in mouse cavernous pericytes (MCPs). Materials and Methods: Mouse cavernous tissue was allowed to settle under gravity in collagen I-coated dishes, and sprouted cells were subcultivated for experiments. To imitate diabetic conditions, MCPs were treated with normal-glucose (NG, 5 mM) or high-glucose (HG, 30 mM) media for 3 days. Microarray technology was used to evaluate gene expression profiles, and RT-PCR was used to validate sequencing data. Histological examinations and Western blot were used to validate final selected target genes related to DMED. Results: Decreased tube formation and increased apoptosis were detected in MCPs exposed to the HG condition. As shown by microarray analysis, the gene expression profiles of MCPs exposed to the NG or HG condition differed. A total of 2,523 genes with significantly altered expression were classified into 15 major gene categories. After further screening based on gene expression and RT-PCR and histologic results, we found that Hebp1 gene expression was significantly diminished under the HG condition and in DM mice. Conclusions: This gene profiling study provides new potential targets responsible for diabetes in MCPs. Validation studies suggest that Hebp1 may be a suitable biomarker for DMED.

Ce3+ triggers fenton-like processes in neutral solutions for effective catechol degradation

Xing Chen,Xu Liu,Hai-Bo Wang,Kang-Ping Cui,Rohan Weerasooriya,Shi-Long He,Guang-Hong Li,Jun Pan,Kai Zhou 대한환경공학회 2022 Environmental Engineering Research Vol.27 No.1

Classical Fenton and Fenton-like processes destruct organic pollutants in water non-selectively to complete mineralization. However, the usage of classical Fenton or Fenton-like processes is often limited due to the narrow operational pH window, sludge accumulation, inefficient H₂O₂ and efficiency decline. To overcome these constraints, in this study, we used a homogeneous Fe<SUP>3+</SUP>-Ce<SUP>3+</SUP>-H₂O₂ Fenton-like process to degrade catechol at different experimental conditions. At pH 7, almost 97% of 10 mM catechol can be destructed within 60 min while the degradation by Classical Fenton or Fe<SUP>3+</SUP>-H₂O₂ Fenton-like process only 36.2% and 23.7%. The resultant solution after the degradation contains only traces of cerium ions. The sludge created by the process was extensively characterized by FTIR and XPS spectroscopy to elucidate the fate of cerium ions. Electron spin resonance (ESR) data confirmed •OH as the major free radical in Fe<SUP>3+</SUP>-Ce<SUP>3+</SUP>-H₂O₂ process. Our Fenton-like process widens the optimal pH values to neutral condition.

Investigation of defects in SiCp/A356 composites made by a stir casting method

Han Jian-min,Wu Zhao-ling,Cui Shi-hai,Li Wei-Jing,DuYong-ping 한양대학교 세라믹연구소 2007 Journal of Ceramic Processing Research Vol.8 No.1

A stir casting method is one of the most competitive methods for fabricating SiC particle reinforced aluminum matrix composites because of its low cost with competitive quality. However, defects formed in the composites during the fabrication process will deteriorate their properties. Different kinds of defects such as black inclusions related to agglomerated SiC, silver spots related to Al-Fe-Si phases, white inclusions related to Al2O3 and porosity related to gas and SiC agglomeration are investigated in this paper. Based on these investigations, a technique for improving the quality of SiCp/A356 composites fabricated by a stir casting method is proposed. A SiCp/A356 composite with few defects and good properties was fabricated with the improved stir casting process. A stir casting method is one of the most competitive methods for fabricating SiC particle reinforced aluminum matrix composites because of its low cost with competitive quality. However, defects formed in the composites during the fabrication process will deteriorate their properties. Different kinds of defects such as black inclusions related to agglomerated SiC, silver spots related to Al-Fe-Si phases, white inclusions related to Al2O3 and porosity related to gas and SiC agglomeration are investigated in this paper. Based on these investigations, a technique for improving the quality of SiCp/A356 composites fabricated by a stir casting method is proposed. A SiCp/A356 composite with few defects and good properties was fabricated with the improved stir casting process.

Prediction of Lung Cancer Based on Serum Biomarkers by Gene Expression Programming Methods

Yu, Zhuang,Chen, Xiao-Zheng,Cui, Lian-Hua,Si, Hong-Zong,Lu, Hai-Jiao,Liu, Shi-Hai Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.21

In diagnosis of lung cancer, rapid distinction between small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors is very important. Serum markers, including lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), C-reactive protein (CRP), carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA), neurone specific enolase (NSE) and Cyfra21-1, are reported to reflect lung cancer characteristics. In this study classification of lung tumors was made based on biomarkers (measured in 120 NSCLC and 60 SCLC patients) by setting up optimal biomarker joint models with a powerful computerized tool - gene expression programming (GEP). GEP is a learning algorithm that combines the advantages of genetic programming (GP) and genetic algorithms (GA). It specifically focuses on relationships between variables in sets of data and then builds models to explain these relationships, and has been successfully used in formula finding and function mining. As a basis for defining a GEP environment for SCLC and NSCLC prediction, three explicit predictive models were constructed. CEA and NSE are requentlyused lung cancer markers in clinical trials, CRP, LDH and Cyfra21-1 have significant meaning in lung cancer, basis on CEA and NSE we set up three GEP models-GEP 1(CEA, NSE, Cyfra21-1), GEP2 (CEA, NSE, LDH), GEP3 (CEA, NSE, CRP). The best classification result of GEP gained when CEA, NSE and Cyfra21-1 were combined: 128 of 135 subjects in the training set and 40 of 45 subjects in the test set were classified correctly, the accuracy rate is 94.8% in training set; on collection of samples for testing, the accuracy rate is 88.9%. With GEP2, the accuracy was significantly decreased by 1.5% and 6.6% in training set and test set, in GEP3 was 0.82% and 4.45% respectively. Serum Cyfra21-1 is a useful and sensitive serum biomarker in discriminating between NSCLC and SCLC. GEP modeling is a promising and excellent tool in diagnosis of lung cancer.

β-elemene Induces Caspase-dependent Apoptosis in Human Glioma Cells in vitro through the Upregulation of Bax and Fas/FasL and Downregulation of Bcl-2

Li, Chen-Long,Chang, Liang,Guo, Lin,Zhao, Dan,Liu, Hui-Bin,Wang, Qiu-Shi,Zhang, Ping,Du, Wen-Zhong,Liu, Xing,Zhang, Hai-Tao,Liu, Yang,Zhang, Yao,Xie, Jing-Hong,Ming, Jian-Guang,Cui, Yu-Qiong,Sun, Ying Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.23

Background: ${\beta}$-elemene, extracted from herb medicine Curcuma wenyujin has potent anti-tumor effects in various cancer cell lines. However, the activity of ${\beta}$-elemene against glioma cells remains unclear. In the present study, we assessed effects of ${\beta}$-elemene on human glioma cells and explored the underlying mechanism. Materials and Methods: Human glioma U87 cells were used. Cell proliferation was determined with MTT assay and colony formation assay to detect the effect of ${\beta}$-elemene at different doses and times. Fluorescence microscopy was used to observe cell apoptosis with Hoechst 33258 staining and change of glioma apoptosis and cell cycling were analyzed by flow cytometry. Real-time quantitative PCR and Western-blotting assay were performed to investigated the influence of ${\beta}$-elemene on expression levels of Fas/FasL, caspase-3, Bcl-2 and Bax. The experiment was divided into two groups: the blank control group and ${\beta}$-elemne treatment group. Results: With increase in the concentration of ${\beta}$-elemene, cytotoxic effects were enhanced in the glioma cell line and the concentration of inhibited cell viability ($IC_{50}$) was $48.5{\mu}g/mL$ for 24h. ${\beta}$-elemene could induce cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase. With Hoechst 33258 staining, apoptotic nuclear morphological changes were observed. Activation of caspase-3,-8 and -9 was increased and the pro-apoptotic factors Fas/FasL and Bax were upregulated, while the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 was downregulated after treatment with ${\beta}$-elemene at both mRNA and protein levels. Furthermore, proliferation and colony formation by U87 cells were inhibited by ${\beta}$-elemene in a time and does-dependent manner. Conclusions: Our results indicate that ${\beta}$-elemene inhibits growth and induces apoptosis of human glioma cells in vitro. The induction of apoptosis appears to be related with the upregulation of Fas/FasL and Bax, activation of caspase-3,-8 and -9 and downregulation of Bcl-2, which then trigger major apoptotic cascades.