Patients with brain metastases are more prone to developing life-threatening neurological symptoms. Initial therapies include surgery, whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT), and stereotactic radiotherapy. With the progress of stereotactic radiotherapy, the indication of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is gradually expanding, and the indications for surgery and WBRT gradually narrowed. The existing studies have shown that SRS can significantly benefit patients who are <50 years old with single brain metastasis, but the specific scope of the application with SRS is still controversial, and a large number of the phase Ⅲ randomized multicenter trials designed around the controversies are also developing. This review summarizes the results of clinical research and came to the conclusion. Firstly, postoperative adjuvant SRS in the treatment of brain metastases is superior to postoperative adjuvant WBRT. Secondly, using SRS in the elderly patients with multiple brain metastases are safe and effective. Thirdly, the use of targeted therapy in patients with brain metastases thereby delaying SRS may lead to poor prognosis. The focus of future research include selection of optimal timing for adjuvant targeted therapy after SRS and the appropriate patient population, as well as prevention of recurrence and metastasis after lacal treatment.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is rather common in Southeast Asia and Southern China. The standard treatment for NPC is intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). A large number of the NPC survivors benefit from the IMRT, while some suffer from the late toxicities which can be life-threatening or significantly erode the patients’ quality of life and functional status, especially in the locally advanced NPC. Nowadays the late radiotherapy-related toxicities have been the most important concern for the radiotherapists and patients, who look forward to the better long-term tumor local control and overall survival. Therefore, we carried out a review about the late radiotherapy-related toxicities of the vital organs at risk after IMRT for NPC patients.
Currently, all the conventional antibiotics have developed corresponding drug-resistant pathogenic strains, which have increasingly become a serious threat to people's health. Development of completely new types of antibiotics is one of effective ways to solve the drug resistance issue. Antimicrobial peptides with broad-spectrum antibacterial and antimicrobial activity and wild variety become the ideal alternative to traditional antibiotics. Antimicrobial peptides are derived from wide range of sources, such as plants, animals, and microorganisms. Mechanism of function of the antimicrobial peptides and the investigation approaches of different antimicrobial peptides also vary dramatically. In this paper, we give an overview of preparation, antibacterial mechanisms, and research methodology of antimicrobial peptides.
Objective To observe the inhibitory effect of kallikrein-binding protein (KBP) on choroidal neovascularization. Methods Forty Brown Norway rats were randomly divided into the KBP groups and the control group, 20 rats in each group, the right eye as the experimental eye. The rats were photocoagulated by 532 nm laser to induce CNV model. One week after laser photocoagulation, the rats were received FFA examination. At the second day after FFA examination, the rats of KBP group were received an intravitreal injection of KBP 5 mu;l (4 mg/ml KBP). The same volume of deionized water was injected into the rats in the control group. The rats of two groups received FFA examination at one, two and three weeks after injection. The expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor and pigment epithelium derived factor were observed using hematoxylin and eosin stain and immunohistochemistry stain. CNV leakage area and the cumulative absorbance of laser spot area were analyzed by Image-Pro plus 6.0 software. Results FFA examination showed that there were CNV and fluorescence leakage at one week after laser photocoagulation; one, two and three weeks after injection, the leakage decreased gradually in KBP group, but increased with time in control group. Compared with control group, the spot area and CNV in KBP group reduced gradually, but CNV was always there in control group. The differences of VEGF (F=1.29) and PEDF (F=6.29) expressions at one week after laser photocoagulation were not statistically significant (P＞0.05). The differences of VEGF and PEDF expressions at one, two and three weeks after injection were statistically significant（VEGF:F=14.16,66.89,24.34; PEDF：F=4.22,62.04,233.05;P＜0.001）.Conclusion Intravitreal injection with KBP can inhibit CNV.
Objective To explore the influencing factors of inhalation medication compliance in Chinese asthma patients, and to provide evidence for improving the compliance of patients with inhalation therapy. Methods PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, Chongqing VIP, and SinoMed were searched for literature on factors influencing inhalation medication compliance in Chinese asthma patients from the establishment of databases to December 2021. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2 software. Results A total of 16 studies were included, with a sample size of 2 600 cases, 1 084 cases of good compliance with inhalation administration, 1 516 cases of poor compliance with inhalation administration, and good compliance with inhalation administration accounted for 41.69%. The literature quality evaluation scores were all ≥4 points, all of which were of medium quality and above. Meta-analysis showed that the factors affecting inhalation compliance of asthma patients included age [odds ratio (OR)=0.54, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.32, 0.91), P=0.02], educational level [OR=0.57, 95%CI (0.36, 0.90), P=0.02], doctor-patient relationship [OR=0.42, 95%CI (0.19, 0.93), P=0.03], disease severity [OR=0.25, 95%CI (0.11, 0.58), P=0.001], degree of mastery of asthma knowledge [OR=2.51, 95%CI (1.11, 5.65), P=0.03], degree of mastery of inhalation technique [OR=8.66, 95%CI (3.20, 23.40), P<0.0001], adverse drug reaction [OR=0.23, 95%CI (0.13, 0.41), P<0.00001]. Conclusion The compliance of inhaled dosing in Chinese asthma patients needs to be improved urgently. Age, education level, doctor-patient relationship, disease severity, mastery of asthma knowledge, mastery of inhalation technology, and adverse drug reactions are the important influencing factors of inhaled medication compliance.