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Background: Licorice, one of the most commonly used phytomedicines in Asia, has detoxication and anti-oxidation properties. Due to the exhausted wild resources, licorice is obtained mainly from cultivation, and the suitable conditions under cultivation lead to a serious decline in quality. Objectives: To establish a method to improve the quality of cultivated licorice by environmental stress. Materials and Methods: The fresh roots of Glycyrrhiza uralensis were soaked in 5%, 10%, and 20% polyethylene glycol-6000 (PEG) for 4 days to construct a physiological state of drought. The changes in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and enzymes related to secondary metabolism in the treated licorice were observed, and their detoxication and anti-oxidation were verified by reducing aconite-induced cardiotoxicity and free radical scavenging rate experiments. Results: The H2O2 content notably boosted, and gene expression and allosterism of enzymes related to secondary metabolism such as 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGR), squalene synthase (SQS), β-amyrin synthase (β-AS), and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) were promoted, and enhance their activities. Under a drought stress of 10% PEG, secondary metabolites significantly increased, and the effectiveness of the drug also intensified. For the myocardial injury caused by aconite, compared with the untreated, creatine kinase (CK), cardiac troponin-T (cTn-T), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) decreased by 9.3%, 14.6%, and 6.3% in the 10% PEG. Meanwhile, the clearance rates of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl radical (DPPH·) and hydroxyl radical (OH·) heightened by 7.5% and 13.1%, separately. Conclusion: Drought stress can greatly increase the secondary metabolites of licorice and enhance its detoxication and anti-oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The standard of chemotherapy regimens for advanced or metastatic gastric cancer and the clinical outcome were heterogeneous in Asian versus non-Asian countries. This study aimed to explore predictors of safety and efficacy of chemotherapy for patients with advanced or metastatic gastric cancer. Methods: Treatment group-based meta-analysis and meta-regression were performed to analyze results of randomized trials published since 2005 for advanced or metastatic gastric cancer patients who received systemic chemotherapy as first-line treatment. Data were extracted and synthesized according to the Cochrane guidelines. Results: Twenty-five trials (8 Asian, 17 Western or international) with 56 treatment groups were analyzed. Asian trials reported a lower percentage of gastroesophageal junctional carcinoma, higher percentage of diffuse-type histology, and more frequent use of second-line chemotherapy. Meta-analysis revealed significant heterogeneity both in treatment safety (grade 3–4 neutropenia and diarrhea) and efficacy [6-month progression-free survival (PFS) and 1-year overall survival (OS)]. Meta-regression analyses indicate that Asian trials are associated with an 8.2% lower incidence of grade 3–4 neutropenia and 2.1% lower incidence of grade 3–4 diarrhea. A lower percentage of patients with gastroesophageal junction carcinoma and the use of combination regimens predicted better PFS. The use of second-line chemotherapy predicts better 1-year OS, which will increase by 10% for every 10% increase in patients who received second-line chemotherapy. Conclusion: Geographic region (Asian vs. non-Asian) is an independent predictor of safety in systemic therapy for gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Major hepatectomy is associated with high incidence of post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF). This study aimed to evaluate the effect of future remnant liver volume combined with liver function tests on predicting PHLF.Methods: Patients who underwent major hepatectomy from April 2009 to May 2017 were enrolled in the training cohort. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify independent risk factors of PHLF and generate a logistic regression model for the prediction of PHLF. A conditional inference tree was generated based on the optimal cutoff value of independent predictive factors of PHLF. The precedent results were validated in an independent cohort from June 2017 to March 2018.Results: One hundred and eighteen patients were included in the training cohort, while another 34 in the validation cohort. Future remnant liver volume/estimated standard total liver volume (FLV/eTV) and preoperative platelet count were independent predictive factors of PHLF (P = 0.0021 and P = 0.012, respectively). The conditional inference tree showed that patients with FLV/eTV ≤0.56 and PLT count ≤145 × 109/L were at high risk of developing PHLF.Conclusion: FLV/eTV combined with preoperative PLT count is effective in predicting PHLF after major hepatectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The standard of chemotherapy regimens for advanced or metastatic gastric cancer and the clinical outcome were heterogeneous in Asian versus non-Asian countries. This study aimed to explore predictors of safety and efficacy of chemotherapy for patients with advanced or metastatic gastric cancer., Methods: Treatment group-based meta-analysis and met a regression were performed to analyze results of randomized trials published since 2005 for advanced or metastatic gastric cancer patients who received systemic chemotherapy as first-line treatment. Data were extracted and synthesized according to the Cochrane guidelines., Results: Twenty-five trials (8 Asian, 17 Western or international) with 56 treatment groups were analyzed. Asian trials reported a lower percentage of gastroesophageal junctional carcinoma, higher percentage of diffuse type histology, and more frequent use of second-line chemotherapy. Meta-analysis revealed significant heterogeneity both in treatment safety (grade 3–4 neutropenia and diarrhea) and efficacy [6-month progression-free survival(PFS) and 1-year overall survival (OS)]. Meta-regression analyses indicate that Asian trials are associated with an 8.2% lower incidence of grade 3–4 neutropenia and 2.1%lower incidence of grade 3–4 diarrhea. A lower percentage of patients with gastroesophageal junction carcinoma and the use of combination regimens predicted better PFS. The use of second-line chemotherapy predicts better 1-year OS,which will increase by 10% for every 10% increase inpatients who received second-line chemotherapy., Conclusion: Geographic region (Asian vs. non-Asian) is an independent predictor of safety in systemic therapy for gastric cancer.

Sexual reproduction may be cryptic or facultative in fungi and therefore difficult to detect. Magnaporthe oryzae, which causes blast, the most damaging fungal disease of rice, is thought to originate from southeast Asia. It reproduces asexually in all rice-growing regions. Sexual reproduction has been suspected in limited areas of southeast Asia, but has never been demonstrated in contemporary populations. We characterized several M. oryzae populations worldwide both biologically and genetically, to identify candidate populations for sexual reproduction. The sexual cycle of M. oryzae requires two strains of opposite mating types, at least one of which is female-fertile, to come into contact. In one Chinese population, the two mating types were found to be present at similar frequencies and almost all strains were female-fertile. Compatible strains from this population completed the sexual cycle in vitro and produced viable progenies. Genotypic richness and linkage disequilibrium data also supported the existence of sexual reproduction in this population. We resampled this population the following year, and the data obtained confirmed the presence of all the biological and genetic characteristics of sexual reproduction. In particular, a considerable genetic reshuffling of alleles was observed between the 2 years. Computer simulations confirmed that the observed genetic characteristics were unlikely to have arisen in the absence of recombination. We therefore concluded that a contemporary population of M. oryzae, pathogenic on rice, reproduces sexually in natura in southeast Asia. Our findings provide evidence for the loss of sexual reproduction by a fungal plant pathogen outside its centre of origin., (© 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)