BioScience Trends
Online ISSN : 1881-7823
Print ISSN : 1881-7815
ISSN-L : 1881-7815
9 巻, 1 号
選択された号の論文の10件中1~10を表示しています
Policy Forum
  • Peipei Song, Yu Chen
    2015 年 9 巻 1 号 p. 1-6
    発行日: 2015/02/28
    公開日: 2015/03/18
    ジャーナル フリー
    The unprecedented rapid aging of the population is poised to become the next global public health challenge, as is apparent by the fact that 23.1% of the total global burden of disease is attributable to disorders in people aged 60 years and older. Aging of the population is the biggest driver of substantial increases in the prevalence of chronic conditions, and the prevalence of multi-morbidity is much higher in older age groups. This places a large burden on countries' health and long-term care systems. Many behavioral changes and public policy responses to aging of the population have been implemented to cope with these challenges. A system of "aging in place" has been implemented in some high-income countries in order to better provide coordinated and cost-effective health services for the elderly. This approach reduces institutional care while supporting home- or community-based care and other services. Advances in information and communications technology (ICT), assistive devices, medical diagnostics, and interventions offer many ways of more efficiently providing long-term care as part of aging in place. The use of big data on a web services platform in an effective collaborative system should promote systematic data gathering to integrate clinical and public health information systems to provide support across the continuum of care. However, the use of big data in collaborative system is a double-edged sword, as it also bring challenges for information sharing, standardized data gathering, and the security of personal information, that warrant full attention.
Reviews
  • Qi Tang, Jiajia Li, Mei Sun, Jun Lv, Ruoyan Gai, Lin Mei, Lingzhong Xu
    2015 年 9 巻 1 号 p. 7-15
    発行日: 2015/02/28
    公開日: 2015/03/18
    ジャーナル フリー
    電子付録
    Over the past few decades, the field of food security has witnessed numerous problems and incidents that have garnered public attention. Given this serious situation, the food traceability system (FTS) has become part of the expanding food safety continuum to reduce the risk of food safety problems. This article reviews a great deal of the related literature and results from previous studies of FTS to corroborate this contention. This article describes the development and benefits of FTS in developed countries like the United States of America (USA), Japan, and some European countries. Problems with existing FTS in China are noted, including a lack of a complete database, inadequate laws and regulations, and lagging technological research into FTS. This article puts forward several suggestions for the future, including improvement of information websites, clarification of regulatory responsibilities, and promotion of technological research.
  • Fanghua Qi, Lin Zhao, Aiyan Zhou, Bo Zhang, Anyuan Li, Zhixue Wang, Ju ...
    2015 年 9 巻 1 号 p. 16-34
    発行日: 2015/02/28
    公開日: 2015/03/18
    ジャーナル フリー
    Recent studies indicate that Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can play an important role in the whole course of cancer treatment such as recovery stages of post-operative, radiotherapy or chemotherapy stages instead of only terminal stage of cancer. In this review, we have summarized current evidence for using TCM as adjuvant cancer treatment in different stages of cancer lesions. Some TCMs (e.g., TJ-41, Liu-jun-zi-tang, PHY906, Coumarin, and Aescine) are capable of improving the post-operative symptoms such as fatigue, pain, appetite, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and lymphedema. Some TCMs (e.g., Ginseng, Huang-Qi, BanZhiLian, TJ-48, Huachansu injection, Shenqi fuzheng injection, and Kanglaite injection) in combination with chemo- or radio-therapy are capable of enhancing the efficacy of and diminishing the side effects and complications caused by chemo- and radiotherapy. Taken together, they have great advantages in terms of suppressing tumor progression, relieving surgery complications, increasing the sensitivity of chemo- and radio- therapeutics, improving an organism's immune system function, and lessening the damage caused by surgery, chemo- or radio-therapeutics. They have significant effects on relieving breast cancer-related lymphedema, reducing cancer-related fatigue and pain, improving radiation pneumonitis and gastrointestinal side effects, protecting liver function, and even ameliorating bone marrow suppression. This review of those medicines should contribute to an understanding of Chinese herbal medicines as an adjunctive therapy in the whole course of cancer treatment instead of only terminal stage of cancer, by providing useful information for development of more effective anti-cancer drugs and making more patients "survival with cancer" for a long time.
Original Articles
  • Haiyan Yu, Xiaodong Wang, Haocheng Gao, Yong You, Aiyun Xing
    2015 年 9 巻 1 号 p. 35-41
    発行日: 2015/02/28
    公開日: 2015/03/18
    ジャーナル フリー
    Preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM) remains the leading cause of preterm deliveries and neonatal mortality and morbidity. The current cohort study sought to retrospectively examine perinatal outcomes in cases of PPROM < 34 weeks' gestation that were managed conservatively from 2010 to 2012 and to identify risk factors for short-term neonatal outcomes. Subjects were 510 pregnancies consisting of 114 twin and 396 singleton pregnancies. Clinical chorioamnionitis occurred in 17.8% of the pregnancies. Neonatal mortality was 7.4%, the rate of major neonatal conditions was 40%, and the rate of NICU admission was 72.9%. The latency period exceeded 48 h in 62.5% of the pregnancies and 7 days in 24.3% of the pregnancies. Twin pregnancies had a shorter latency period than singleton pregnancies (median of 2 days versus 4 days, p < 0.001). Pregnancies complicated with early vaginal bleeding had a higher neonatal mortality (13.95% vs. 6.36%, p = 0.013) and morbidity (51.16% vs. 38.32%, p = 0.024), fewer weeks of gestation at PPROM (p = 0.029). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that weeks of gestation at PPROM (OR: 0.953, 95% CI: 0.939-0.966, p < 0.001) and a latency period (OR: 0.948, 95%CI: 0.926-0.970, p < 0.001) were associated with neonatal mortality or morbidity. A twin pregnancy (OR: 0.319, 95% CI: 0.17-0.6, p < 0.001) and weeks of gestation at PPROM (OR: 0.737, 95% CI: 0.66-0.822, p < 0.001) were associated with the latency period. Gestational age at PPROM, a twin pregnancy, and the latency period are associated with neonatal mortality and morbidity.
  • Pinglan Ge, Yazhou Cui, Fang Liu, Jing Luan, Xiaoyan Zhou, Jinxiang Ha ...
    2015 年 9 巻 1 号 p. 42-48
    発行日: 2015/02/28
    公開日: 2015/03/18
    ジャーナル フリー
    Fibroblasts in soft tissues are one of the progenitors of ectopic calcification. Our previous experiment found that the serum concentrations of small metabolite L-carnitine (LC) decreased in an ectopic calcification animal model, indicating LC is a potential calcification or mineralization inhibitor. In this study, we investigated the effect of LC on NIH3T3 fibroblast osteoblast differentiation, and explored its possible molecular mechanisms. Two concentrations of LC (10 μM and 100 μM) were added in Pi-induced NIH3T3 fibroblasts, cell proliferation was compared by MTT assays, osteoblast differentiation was evaluated by ALP activity, mineralized nodules formation, calcium deposition, and expressions of the osteogenic marker genes. Our results indicated that 10 μM LC increased the proliferation of NIH3T3 cells, but 100 μM LC slightly inhibited cell proliferation. 100 μM LC inhibits NIH3T3 differentiation as evidenced by decreases in ALP activity, mineralized nodule formation, calcium deposition, and down-regulation of the osteogenic marker genes ALP, Runx2 and OCN, meanwhile 10 μM of LC exerts an opposite effect that promotes NIH3T3 osteogenesis. Mechanistically, 100 μM LC significantly inhibits IGF-1/PI3K/Akt signalling, while 10 μM LC slightly activates this pathway. Our study suggests that a decease in LC level might contribute to the development of ectopic calcification in fibroblasts by affecting IGF-1/PI3K/Akt, and addition of LC may benefit patients with ectopic calcification.
  • Fumie Oura, Yukiko Yajima, Munehiro Nakata, Kenzui Taniue, Tetsu Akiya ...
    2015 年 9 巻 1 号 p. 49-55
    発行日: 2015/02/28
    公開日: 2015/03/18
    ジャーナル フリー
    Anti-Tn antigen MLS128 monoclonal antibody was produced two decades ago by immunizing mice with "cancerous antigens" derived from LS180 colon cancer cells. Previous studies demonstrated that MLS128 bound to 110 kDa glycoprotein (GP) in colon cancer cells, thereby inhibiting cell growth. Extensive attempts have been made towards understanding the inhibitory action of MLS128 on colon cancer cell growth and solving the primary structure of 110 kDa GP. Since limited proteolysis of 110 kDa GP was observed in microdomain fractions that had been kept frozen for several years, susceptibility of 110 kDa GP to trypsin and other proteases as well as N-glycosidase F has been investigated. Furthermore, 110 kDa GP expression was examined in colon cancer cells independently cultured in Akiyama laboratory. In summary, 110 kDa GP contains N-glycans. It does not contain inter-disulfide bonds but appears to have intra-disulfides. It must contain multiple cleavage sites for trypsin and thermolysin since these proteases digested 110 kDa GP to MLS128-undetectable small fragments. It seems to contain cleavage sites for cathepsin D which could cause limited digestion. LS180 cells derived from Akiyama laboratory produced a limited proteolysis product-like 75 kDa GP. This study provides a structural basis for developing cancer diagnostics and therapeutics.
  • Chengxi Sun, Hongling Wen, Yuzhen Chen, Fulu Chu, Bin Lin, Guijie Ren, ...
    2015 年 9 巻 1 号 p. 56-64
    発行日: 2015/02/28
    公開日: 2015/03/18
    ジャーナル フリー
    Newcastle disease virus (NDV), an avain paramyxovirus, has been assigned to the genus Avulavirus within the family Paramyxoviridae. It causes Newcastle disease (ND) that is a highly contagious and fatal viral disease affecting poultry and most species of birds. The hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) protein of NDV has multiple functions including mediating hemadsorption (HAD), neuraminidase (NA), and fusion promotion activities affecting the process of viral attachment, entry, replication and dissemination. Fusion ability of the NDV was highly correlated to its virulence. Mutations in the HN globular head and headless HN of NDV were constructed to determinate the impact of highly conserved amino acids in the globular head of paramyxovirus HN proteins and the roles of the stalk region of HN in the fusion process. It was found that the interaction between F and HN mutants E401A, G402A, G468A, V469A, Y526A, and T527A was equal to that in F and wt HN. The mutations of G402A, G468A, V469A, and T527A had various effects on cell fusion promotion, receptor binding ability, and NA activity, but the membrane merging rate was comparable to wt HN. The elimination of hemadsorption ability and NA activity of E401A and Y526A resulted in the loss of the fusion promotion function of HN. The conclusion was that receptor binding and NA had a common active site and E401 and Y526 amino acids were essential for virus attachment, entry, and dissemination. In addition, G468A mutation made different contributions to HAD and NA, which indicated that G468 was one of the potential key amino acids in switching the two functions between receptor binding and sialic acid destruction of HN. It was also proven that the headless HN of NDV could promote the fusion event mediated by F. Thus, it revealed a novel mechanism in F activation of NDV.
  • Rui Guo, Xiaobin Feng, Senlin Xiao, Jun Yan, Feng Xia, Kuansheng Ma, X ...
    2015 年 9 巻 1 号 p. 65-72
    発行日: 2015/02/28
    公開日: 2015/03/18
    ジャーナル フリー
    The objective of this study was to compare the short- and long-term outcomes of radiofrequency-assisted liver resection (RFLR) and conventional clamp-crushing liver resection (CCLR) and to evaluate the safety and efficiency of RFLR. Between January 2008 and December 2012, a total of 597 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who underwent curative hepatectomy were identified. A total of 272 patients underwent RFLR, and 325 patients received CCLR. The short- and long-term outcomes were compared. The patients in the RFLR and CCLR groups showed similar baseline characteristics. The RFLR group showed less intraoperative blood loss (485.5 vs. 763.2 mL, p = 0.003), a lower transfusion requirement rate (19.1 vs. 31.7%, p ≤ 0.01), shorter surgery duration (211 vs. 296 min, p ≤ 0.01) and a lower vascular inflow occlusion rate (25.7 vs. 33.8%, p = 0.032). No significant postoperative changes in bilirubin or liver enzymes were observed in the two groups. The degree of postoperative complications and morbidity did not significantly differ between the two groups. There were no significant differences in the 1-, 2- and 3-year overall survival rates (73.8%, 58.5%, and 55.7% vs. 80.8%, 65.8%, and 56.2%, respectively) or disease-free rates (51.9%, 47.2%, and 46.0% vs. 54.5%, 44.9%, and 38.5%, respectively) between the RFLR and CCLR groups. These results suggested RFLR was a safe and efficient method for patients with HCC. RFLR was associated with decreased blood loss, fewer blood transfusions, shorter surgery times and less vascular inflow occlusion application. The RFLR group did not show increased liver injury or postoperative morbidity or mortality.
  • Yinzhong Shen, Hongzhou Lu, Tangkai Qi, Yong Gu, Ming Xiang, Shuihua L ...
    2015 年 9 巻 1 号 p. 73-78
    発行日: 2015/02/28
    公開日: 2015/03/18
    ジャーナル フリー
    We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 17 fatal H7N9 cases in Shanghai in 2013, analyzed clinical variables and described their clinical and epidemiologic characteristics. The median age was 73 years, and 82.4% had underlying medical conditions. The most frequent symptoms were fever (100%), followed by productive cough (47.1%) and dry cough (35.5%). Thirteen (76.5%) patients had dyspnea or respiratory distress, five (29.4%) had shock, and four (23.5%) had acute kidney injury. Seventeen (100.0%) patients had lymphopenia. Involvement of both lungs was found by chest radiography in 14 (82.4%) patients at presentation. Fifteen (88.2%) patients were hospitalized. The median times from illness onset to hospitalization and to diagnosis confirmation were both six days. Eleven (64.7%) patients were admitted to the intensive care unit. Sixteen (94.1%) patients were treated with oseltamivir. The median time from illness onset to oseltamivir treatment was six days. Among six patients for whom the duration of viral shedding was available, the median duration of viral shedding after oseltamivir treatment was 17 days. The median time from illness onset to death was 11 days. Refractory hypoxemia accounted for most deaths. The clinical and epidemiologic characteristics in the Shanghai fatal series of patients do not differ from other reports of H7N9 patients in China. This investigation reflects a delay in the diagnosis and antiviral treatment of H7N9 patients in the early stage of the epidemic in Shanghai. Late antiviral treatment and a long duration of viral shedding may be associated with a fatal outcome in these patients.
Brief Report
  • Kazuhiko Kotani, Uurtuya Shuumarjav, Nobuyuki Taniguchi, Toshiyuki Yam ...
    2015 年 9 巻 1 号 p. 79-81
    発行日: 2015/02/28
    公開日: 2015/03/18
    ジャーナル フリー
    Hyperglycemia predicts cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related outcomes. The resting heart rates (HRs) and serum amyloid A (SAA), an inflammatory marker, are respectively factors associated with CVD-related outcomes; however, little is known regarding the associations between these two factors. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between the HRs and SAA levels under hyperglycemic conditions. This study included 298 subjects (males, 44%; mean age, 61.1 years) without a history of CVD and/or hypertensive levels. Clinical data, including general laboratory measurements, HRs and SAA, were measured. The analyses were performed after dividing all of the subjects into two groups based on the blood glucose level (< or ≥ 6.1 mmol/L). There was a higher SAA level in the hyperglycemic group (n = 143; median [interquartile range] 6.1 [4.1-10.6] μg/mL) than in the counterpart group (n = 155; 6.0 [3.5-8.5] μg/mL; p < 0.01). There was a trend toward increased HRs in the hyperglycemic group (mean [standard deviation] 65.3 [11.2] bpm) compared to the counterpart group (63.2 [9.4] bpm; p = 0.08). In the hyperglycemic group, there was a significant positive correlation between the HRs and SAA levels (multiple variables-adjusted analysis: β = 0.21, p = 0.02), while no correlation was found in the counterpart group (β = 0.06, p = 0.50). In summary, a positive correlation between the HRs and SAA levels can present under hyperglycemic conditions. These findings may provide relevant insights into the CVD-related pathologies associated with hyperglycemia. Further studies are warranted.
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