An Investigation of Oxidative DNA Damage in Pharmacy Technicians Exposed to Antineoplastic Drugs in Two Chinese Hospitals Using The Urinary 8-OHdG Assay

Objective To investigate oxidative DNA damage in pharmacy technicians preparing antineoplastic drugs at the PIVAS （Pharmacy Intravenous Admixture Service） in two Chinese hospitals. Methods Urinary 8-OHdG served as a biomarker. 5-Fluorouracil （5-FU） concentrations in air, masks and gloves were determined. The spill exposure of each PIVAS technician to antineoplastic drugs was investigated. Eighty subjects were divided into exposed group t, II, and control group I, II. Results 5-FU concentration ratios for gloves and masks in exposed group I were significantly higher than those in exposed group II （P〈0.05 or P〈0.01）. The average urinary 8-OHdG concentrations in exposed group I, control group I, exposed group II, and control group II were 24.69＋0.93, 20.68＋1.07, 20.57＋0.55, and 12.96_＋0.73 ng/mg Cr, respectively. Urinary 8-OHdG concentration in exposed group I was significantly higher than that in control group I or that in exposed group 11 （P〈0.02）. There was a significant correlation between urinary 8-OHdG concentrations and spill frequencies per technician （P〈0.01）. Conclusion There was detectable oxidative DNA damage in PIVAS technicians exposed to antineoplastic drugs. This oxidative DNA damage may be associated with their spill exposure experience and contamination of their personal protective equipment.

Effect of Magnetized Water on the Mice Given High Doses of Antineoplastic Drugs

To broaden the applications of magnetized water(MW) in medical science, the possible detoxicative effect of MW to anticancer drugs in vivo were studied. After being given ip with cyclophosphomide (CTX) 500 mg/kg, cisplatin (DDP) 40 mg/kg, harringtonine (HA) 20 mg/kg, mitomycin C (MMC) 8 mg/kg, lycobetaine (Lyc) 200 mg/kg, respectively, the mice were given MW ip 0.2 ml for 7 days. The average life span was calculated for each group. After being given subacutely lower doses of anticancer drugs ( CTX 100 mg/kg, HA 3 mg/kg ) ip 3 times, the mice were given MW ip 0.2 ml for 7 days and the blood white cells were counted as routine. It was shown that the mice in MW groups after ip anticancer drugs survived longer than those without MW. The effects of various anticancer drugs on life span were different. The white cell numbers of groups with MW were higher than that of the groups without MW. So it is possible that MW can remarkably extend the life span of mice and attenuate the leukopenia by mitigating the toxicity of anticancer drugs in vivo .

Nurses’ knowledge, perceptions, and behaviors regarding antineoplastic drugs:the mediating role of protective knowledge

Objective:To explore the relationships between Chinese nurses’knowledge,perceptions,and attitudes and their behavior and actual implementation of safety measures when handling antineoplastic drugs(ADs)in their daily work.Methods:This was a multisite study conducted in 8 public hospitals in China.A self-administered questionnaire was sent to par ticipants querying the degree of contact with ADs.The hypothesized relations were explored using structural equation modelling via the bootstrap method.Mediation analysis was applied to explore the mediating role of protective knowledge regarding AD exposure on the associations among protective training,using warning labels,and using protective masks.Results:A total of 305 nurses were enrolled.The average age of all par ticipants was 30.2(standard deviation[SD]:6.2)years.Nurses who had received protective training for AD exposure were more likely to use labels for ADs after age,body mass index(BMI),length of service,marital status,education,and department were controlled as covariates.The bias-corrected bootstrap of 95%confidence interval(CI)indicated that protective knowledge significantly mediated(23.4%)the association between protective training and using labels(indirect effect=0.202,95%CI:0.009,0.495);the proportion of mediation was 23.4%.Protective knowledge significantly mediated the association between protective training and using protective masks(indirect effect=0.157,95%CI:0.048,0.325);the propor tion of mediation was 27.2%.Conclusions:The findings of this study have provided baseline information on the current state of Chinese nurses’perceptions,knowledge,and preventive behaviors toward ADs as the crisis is happening.Training is also recommended to improve nurses’perceptions of the risks associated with ADs.

Downregulation of Scar Fibroblasts by Antineoplastic Drugs: A Potential Treatment for Fibroproliferative Disorders

The various fibroproliferative disorders affecting humans have in common excess fibroblast activity and persistent overexpression or dysregulated activity of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β). Cancer has many similar characteristics. Antineoplastic drugs can downregulate fibroblast activity and cytokine growth factors. This study evaluates the effect of six antineoplastic drugs on keloid and Dupuytren’s disease fibroblasts. Keloid, normal scar, Dupuytren’s affected palmar fascia, and normal palmar fascia fibroblasts were grown and seeded into Fibroblast Populated Collagen Lattices (FPCLs). The FPCLs were treated with one of six antineoplastic drugs or left untreated as controls. At 7 days, supernatants were extracted from all FPCLs and assayed for expression of Transforming Growth Factor beta (TGF)-β1 and TGF-β2. All six antineoplastic drugs significantly inhibited FPCL contraction in both fibroproliferative conditions compared with the untreated controls (p β1 and TGF-β2 expression was downregulated in the supernatants of all FPCLs by the drug exposure. Cytotoxicity did not occur in these studies and was not the reason for the results. Although antineoplastic drugs can have significant side effects when given systemically, these results may be minimized when given to small areas involved in fibroproliferative scarring or when given topically or intralesionally. These in vitro results suggest that antineoplastic drugs may have a utility for treating various fibroproliferative disorders and warrant further investigation.

Do Antineoplastic Drugs Play an Additional Role in the Progression of Non-Compaction Cardiomyopathy? A Case Report

Non-compaction cardiomyopathy is a rare form of cardiomyopathy;its most common clinical manifestations are heart failure (HF), ventricular arrhythmia, thromboembolism, and sudden cardiac death. We report a rare case of a 63-year-old man with chest tightness, worsening lower leg edema, dyspnea, and decreased exercise tolerance. He had a medical history of gastric cancer treated with subtotal gastrectomy and post-operative chemotherapy with paclitaxel and fluorouracil three years ago. At that time, he was diagnosed with non-compaction cardiomyopathy, and the thickened and reticulated trabecular muscle was exclusively confined to left ventricular apex. Five months ago, he was admitted to our hospital with heart failure and treated for dilated cardiomyopathy, echocardiography revealed severe trabecular noncompact myocardium in both ventricles, which was confirmed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). It is generally accepted that non-compacted myocardium forms in the early embryonic stage, which raises a question in our case whether acquired factors, such as antineoplastic drugs, potentially accelerate the pathological progression of non-compaction cardiomyopathy. Considering there are disparities between current screening tools such as echocardiography and CMR regarding diagnostic criteria, multi-detector CT may be an alternative examination method that could provide a new perspective for diagnosis.

Activation of STAT3 signaling in human stomach adenocarcinoma drug-resistant cell line and its relationship with expression of vascular endothelial growth factor

AIM: To investigate the difference in activation of STAT3 signaling between two human stomach adenocarcinoma cell lines: 5-fluorouracil resistant cell line and its parental cell line, and to evaluate its relationship with the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). METHODS: Western blot and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) were used to detect the expression of phospho-STAT3 protein and constitutive activation of STAT3 in two human stomach adenocarcinoma cell lines, 5-fluorouracil resistant cell line SGC7901/R and its parental cell line SGC7901, respectively. The mRNA expression of VEGF was analysed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. The expressive intensity of VEGF protein was measured by immunocytochemistry. RESULTS: The expressions of phospho-STATS protein and constitutive activation of STAT3 between two human stomach adenocarcinoma cell lines were different. Compared with the parental cell line SGC7901, the STAT3DNA binding activity and the expressive intensity of phospho-STAT3 protein were lower in the drug-resistant cell line SGC7901/R. The expression levels of VEGF mRNA and its encoded protein were also decreased in drugresistant cell line. CONCLUSION: Over-expression of VEGF may be correlated with elevated STAT3 activation in parental cell line. Lower VEGF expression may be correlated with decreased STAT3 activation in resistant cell line, which may have resulted from negative feedback regulation of STAT signaling.

Evolutionary trace analysis of eukaryotic DNA topoisomerase I superfamily:Identification of novel antitumor drug binding site

The studies of novel inhibitors of DNA topoisomerase I(Topo I)have already be-come very promising in cancer chemotherapy.Identifying the new drug-binding residues is playing an important role in the design and optimization of Topo I inhibitors.The designed com-pounds may have novel scaffolds,thus will be helpful to overcome the toxicities of current camptothecin(CPT)drugs and may provide a solution to cross resistance with these drugs.Mul-tiple sequence alignments were performed on eukaryotic DNA topoisomerase I superfamily and thus the evolutionary tree was constructed.The Evolutionary Trace method was applied to iden-tify functionally important residues of human Topo I.It has been demonstrated that class-specific hydrophobic residues Ala351,Met428,Pro431 are located around the 7,9-position of CPT,indi-cating suitable substitution of hydrophobic group on CPT will increase antitumor activity.The conservative residue Lys436 in the superfamily is of particular interest and new CPT derivatives designed based on this residue may greatly increase water solubility of such drugs.It has also been demonstrated that the residues Asn352 and Arg364 were conservative in the superfamily,whose mutation will render CPT resistance.As our molecular docking studies demonstrated they did not make any direct interaction with CPT,they are important drug-binding site residues for future design of novel non-camptothecin lead compounds.This work provided a strong basis for the design and synthesis of novel highly potent CPT derivatives and virtual screening for novel lead compounds.

Clinical Study on Acupoint-injecting Method for Marrow Inhibition Caused by Chemical Medications

Purpose. In order to explore the feasibility and efficacy of acupoint-injecting method for marrow inhibition caused by chemical medications. Methods： 110 cases of malignant tumors in the phase of marrow inhibition after arterial chemotherapy were treated by puncturing the acupoints, Zusanli （ST 36）, Sanyinjiao （SP 6）, Xuehai （SP 10） and Qihai （CV 6） plus injection of 5 mg dexamethasone. Results. Acupuncture treatment and acupuncture plus injection of medications can both effectively improve marrow inhibition after chemotherapy, and the therapeutic effect was better in the group by acupuncture plus acupoint-injecting method. Conclusion： Acupuncture can effectively stimulate the acute and short term marrow inhibition caused by chemical medications, and acupuncture plus acupointqnjecting method can effectively shorten the treatment time and the lower hemogram phase of peripheral blood. The combination of two therapeutic methods can have remarkable cooperative effect and reduce the medical expenses.