Effect of Jiangtang Bushen Recipe (降糖补肾方) in Intervention Treatment of Patients with Impaired Glucose Tolerance

Objective:To evaluate the intervention effect of diet, exercise and Jiangtang Bushen Recipe (JBR, 降糖补肾方), a Chinese herbal recipe, in preventing the progress of patients with impaired glucose tolerance ( IGT ) to diabetes mellitus (DM) type 2. Methods: Fifty-one IGT patients with their diagnosis conformed to the diagnosis standard of WHO, 1999, were randomly divided into the control group (n = 26) and the TCM group (n=25). Patients in the control group attended to the educational course for DM and received dietotherapy and kinetotherapy, and to those in the TCM group, under these treatments, JBR was given additionally. Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), body weight index (BWI), levels of blood lipids and fasting insulin of all the patients were examined after 3 months, 6 months and 12 months of treatment. The total observation time was 1 year. Results:Except the 6 cases out of the 51 patients (11.7%), on whom the observa-tion discontinued, in the control group, as compared with before treatment, levels of fasting insulin and fasting blood glucose after treatment were not changed significantly ( P > 0. 05 ) , also insignificant difference was shown in levels of total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG), thoughthe two indexes lowered slightly after treatment (P>0. 05), but significant difference was shown in comparison of OGTT/2h, blood glucose and BWI (P<0. 05). While in the TCM group, fasting blood glucose was changed insignificantly (P> 0. 05) , but there was significant difference in comparison of fasting insulin, TC, BWI, OGTT/2h and plasma glucose levels (P<0. 01) respectively before and after treatment. At the end of the stud-y, the cumulative cases with conversion to diabetes were 3 (13. 6%) in the control group, and 1 (4. 3%) in the TCM group, x2 test showed insignificant difference in comparison of diabetes conversion rate between the two groups (P>0. 05), however, the TCM group showed a better year conversion rate of normal glucose tolerance than that in the control group (x2 = 8. 31, P<0. 01). Conclusion: TCM intervention is possibly effective in delaying the conversion of IGT to DM type 2, and plays integrative effeciency in impelling IGT patients to health. The favorable education and treatment of DM controlling, including dieto- and kineto-therapy may also be advantageous in IGT intervention, but could not be effective in blocking the advance of IGT.Original article on CJITWM (Chin) 2004 ;24 (4): 317

Clinical efficacy and tolerance of sunitinib in the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and side effects of sunitinib in treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma. Methods Forty-five patients with advanced renal cell carcinorna and an average age of 48. 6 yrs were treated with sunitinib. of the study group。

Preliminary experience of helical tomotherapy for locally advanced pancreatic cancer

Radiotherapy for locally advanced pancreatic cancer is technically difficult and frequently associated with high-grade digestive toxicity.Helical tomotherapy(HT)is a new irradiation modality that combines megavoltage computed tomography imaging for patient positioning with intensity-modulated fan-beam radiotherapy.Its recent availability opens new fields of exploration for pancreatic radiotherapy as a result of its ability to tailor very well-defined dose distributions around the target volumes.Here,we report the use of HT in two patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Doses to the bowel,kidneys and liver were reduced significantly,which allowed for excellent treatment tolerance without any high-grade adverse effects in either patient.

Effect of hydration on the surface basicity and catalytic activity of Mg-rare earth mixed oxides for aldol condensation

Magnesium and rare earth mixed oxides（Mg3 REOx（RE=La, Y. Ce）） were prepared and characterized by Xray diffraction（XRD）, N_2 adsorption-desorption, infrared spectra and microcalorimetry of CO_2. The results reveal that the Mg_3 CeO_x catalyst is present in the form of Mg-Ce-O solid solution,while the Mg3 LaOx and Mg_3 YO_x catalysts are probably rare earth oxides dispersed on MgO surface. As a result, among the calcined Mg_3 REO_x catalysts, the Mg_3 CeO_x catalyst presents the highest rate constant for acetone aldolization, which is well correlated to its more homogeneous distribution of basic sites. In contrary, the Mg_3 YO_x catalyst exhibit the lowest catalytic activity for acetone aldolization. Upon hydration pre-treatment, the basic properties on the surface of the Mg_3 REO_x catalysts were changed markedly. The Mg_3 YO_x catalyst after hydration treatment shows the highest amount of basic sites on catalyst surface, and then exhibits the highest activity among the hydrated Mg_3 REO_x catalysts. These results make it possible to fine-tune basic sites for acetone aldolization.