Meta-analysis of Chinese Medicines for prevention and treatment of radiation esophagitis

OBJECTIVE:To systematically assess the clinical effectiveness of Chinese medicines for prevention and treatment of radiation esophagitis by meta-analysis.METHODS:The articles were mainly retrieved from the "CHKD(China Hospital Knowledge Database) periodical full text databank",the "China periodical full text databank",the "CHKD doctor's and Master's degree student full text databank",and the "China doctor's degree student thesis databank",and they were selected according to the literature selection standard.The effects of Chinese medicines and Western medicines on radiation esophagitis were compared by meta-analysis.RESULTS:Based on 13 articles,we found that the effectiveness of Chinese medicines for prevention and treatment of radiation esophagitis was superior to Western medicines,with no obvious side effects.Meta-analysis showed that the total odds ratio was 0.426 and the 95% confidence interval was 0.368,0.493.CONCLUSION:Chinese medicines are superior to Western medicines in preventing and treating radiation esophagitis.However,some methodological problems in the literature may have affected the authenticity of the results.Therefore,more rigorous,multi-central,randomized controlled trials with a large sample size should be designed to obtain a more reliable conclusion.

Heijiangdan Ointment(黑绛丹膏)Relieves Oxidative Stress from Radiation Dermatitis Induced by ^(60)Co γ-Ray in Mice

Objective：To investigate the effects of Heijiangdan Ointment（黑绛丹膏,HJD） on oxidative stress in （60）Co γ-ray radiation-induced dermatitis in mice.Methods：Female Wistar mice with grade 4 radiation dermatitis induced by ^（60）Co γ-rays were randomly divided into four groups（n=12 per group）;the HJD-treated,recombinant human epidermal growth factor（rhEGF）-treated,Trolox-treated,and untreated groups,along with a negative control group.On the 11 th and 21 st days after treatment,6 mice in each group were chosen for evaluation.The levels of superoxide dismutase（SOD）,malondialdehyde（MDA）,and lactate dehydrogenase（LDH） were detected using spectrophotometric methods.The fibroblast mitochondria were observed by transmission electron microscopy（TEM）.The expressions of fibroblast growth factor 2（FGF-2） and transforming growth factor β1（TGF-β1） were analyzed by western blot.Results：Compared with the untreated group,the levels of SOD,MDA and LDH,on the 11 th and 21 st days after treatment showed significant difference（P〈0.05）.TEM analysis indicated that fibroblast mitochondria in the untreated group exhibited swelling and the cristae appeared fractured,while in the HJD group,the swelling of mitochondria was limited and the rough endoplasmic reticulum appeared more relaxed.The expressions of FGF-2 and TGF-β1 increased in the untreated group compared with the negative control group（P〈0.05）.After treatment,the expression of FGF-2,rhEGF and Trolox in the HJD group were significantly increased compared with the untreated group（P〈0.05）,or compared with the negative control group（P〈0.05）.The expression of TGF-β1 showed significant difference between untreated and negative control groups（P〈0.05）.HJD and Trolox increased the level of TGF-β1 and the difference was marked as compared with the untreated and negative control groups（P〈0.05）.Conclusion：HJD relieves oxidative stress-induced injury,increases the antioxidant activity,mitigates the fibroblast mitochondrial damage,up-regulates the expression of growth factor,and promotes mitochondrial repair in mice.

The academic achievements by Shiquan Sun

Professor Shiquan Sun was one of the founders of radiation medicine for China’s nuclear industry.He mainly focused on the occupational health effects from radiation during his academic career.His viewpoint of uranium poisoning solved the problem of hepatitis in the early stage of nuclear industry.He indicated that reducing radon and its progenies was the key to prevent lung cancer in miners.He was in charge of the first radio-epidemiological study over the nuclear industry,and developed the first national standard about attributing cancer to occupational radiation exposure.With the support from IAEA,he promoted the application of radiation sterilization for tissue allografts and established the first tissue bank in the country.