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Background: Effective prevention against cancers depends heavily on sustained individual efforts practicing protective behaviors and avoiding risk factors in a complex sociocultural context, which requires continuous and personalized supports. Contemporary prevention relies primarily on strategies targeting general population with limited attention being paid to individualized approaches. This study tests a novel package called, in acronym of core intervention components, eCROPS-CA that leverages protective behaviors against over 80% leading cancers among high risk individuals via continuous and tailored counseling by village doctors. Methods/Design: The study utilizes a quesi-RCT design involving 4320 high risk individuals selected, via rapid and detailed risk assessments, from about 72,000 farmers aged 35+ in 36 administrative villages randomized into equal intervention and delayed intervention arms. The intervention arm receives baseline and semiannual follow up evaluations plus eCROPS-CA for 5 years; while the control arm, only the baseline and follow-up evaluations for the first 5 years and eCROPS-CA starting from the 6th year if the intervention is proved effective. eCROPS-CA comprises electronic supports and supervision (e), counseling cancer prevention (C), recipe for objective behaviors (R), operational toolkit (O), performance-based incentives (P), and screening and assessment (S). Evaluation measures include: incidence and stage of the leading cancers, cancer-related knowledge, attitudes and practices; easy biophysical indicators (e.g., body mass index, blood pressure); intervention compliance, acceptance of the package. Discussion: The prevention package incorporates key success factors in a synergetic way toward cost-effectiveness and long-term sustainability. It targets a set rather than any single cancer; choses village doctors as key solution to the widespread lack of professional manpower in implementing personalized and thus relatively sophisticated prevention; adopts real-time monitoring in reaching continuous improvement; utilizes smart web aids to enable prioritizing complex determinants of objective behaviors, linking counseling sessions happened at different time points and hence delivering highly coordinated prevention; uses 2-stage risk assessment models in identifying high risk individuals so as to focus on the most needed; applies standardized operation procedures in simplifying and smoothing behavior intervention yet ensuring delivery of essential steps and key elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ethnopharmacological relevance: Ligustrum purpurascens, named as “Ku ding cha”, has been used as a kind of functional tea in southern China for about two thousand years, which has the effects on diuresis, anti-hypertension, weight-loss and anti-inflammation. The aim of the study: This study was aimed to investigate the immune enhancement effects of the crude phenylethanoid glycosides (CPGs) from Ligustrum. Purpurascens on mice and analyze the chemical profiles of phenylethanoid glycosides in the CPGs. Materials and methods: The immune functions enhancing potential of CPGs was determined using serum hemolysin antibody, phagocytosis, splenocyte antibody production, and NK cells activity assays. The contents of five major constituents in the crude glycosides of Ligustrum purpurascens were determined by using liquid chromatography, other five glycosides were deduced according to their UV and MS spectra compared with the literature as well. Results: In the immunizing experiment, mice treated with different doses of CPGs showed an increase (p<0.01) in the haemagglutination titre compared with the control group. The increases (p<0.05) were found to be significant at doses of 440mg/kg and 1.32g/kg in the experiments of antibody production of spleen cells, MΦ phagocytosis of chicken RBCs and NK cell activity. Further chemical characterization yielded 10 constituents from CPGs, five glycosides were quantified by HPLC and the structures of other five compounds were speculated according to their UV and MS spectra. Conclusion: The results suggested that phenylethanoid glycosides from Ligustrum purpurascens have immunomodulatory effects on mice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Panax ginseng C. A. Mey has been used as a traditional medicine and functional food in Asia for thousands of years for its improvement of human immunity and metabolism and its antitumor and antifatigue activities. This study reports the impact of storage conditions and storage period on the quality of P. ginseng. The contents of four major ginsenosides in P. ginseng and phosphorylation activities of Akt of ginseng extracts were affected by both storage conditions and storage period. In contrast, the ATP generation capacity of ginseng extracts was affected by storage conditions, but not by storage period. The results showed that the quality of P. ginseng could be well maintained at a relative humidity between 70% and 90%, and dry conditions might decrease the quality of P. ginseng. Through dual-index evaluation, the present study extended our knowledge on the changes of ginsenosides and bioactivities in P. ginseng with respect to different storage conditions and storage periods.