Search

A new method of preparing Itraconazole(C35H38Cl2N8O4), a synthetic triazole antifungal agent, was developed using supercritical carbon dioxide(SC CO2) while eliminating the use of toxic solvents. Dissolution amounts of the product were measured in gastric fluid and compared to those of conventional drug formulations. Different operating conditions(five levels of treatment temperature ranging between 110–140°C, four levels of treatment pressure ranging between 30–400 atm, and four different treatment times ranging from 10–60 minutes) were tested in order to produce a desired Itraconazole product, which does not degrade during the product formation and has the highest extent of dissolution in gastric fluid after one hour. Itraconazole dissolution of 100% at one-hour was achieved for the drug produced at the optimum treatment condition: 135°C, 300 atm, and 30 minutes. Extent of dissolution obtained from this solvent and detergent-free process is 10% higher than that of the conventional method involving toxic organic solvents. Itraconazole produced using SC CO2 should provide minimal side effects in human body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a type of small noncoding RNAs that often play important roles in carcinogenesis, but the carcinogenic mechanism of miRNAs is still unclear. This study will investigate the functions and the mechanism of miR-638 in osteosarcoma (OS). The expression of miR-638 in OS and the DNA copy number of miR-638 were detected by real-time PCR. The effect of miR-638 on cell proliferation was measured by CCK8 assay. Different assays, including bioinformatics algorithms, luciferase report assay, and Western blotting, were used to identify the target gene proviral integration site for Moloney murine leukemia virus 1 (PIM1) of miR-638 in OS. The expression of PIM1 in clinical OS tissues was also validated by immunohistochemical assay. From this research, we found that miR-638 was downregulated in OS tissues compared with corresponding noncancerous tissues (NCTs), and the DNA copy number of miR-638 was lower in OS than in NCTs, which may induce the corresponding downregulation of miR-638 in OS. Ectopic expression of miR-638 inhibited OS cell growth in vitro. Subsequently, we identified that PIM1 is the downstream target gene of miR-638 in OS cells, and silencing PIM1 expression phenocopied the inhibitory effect of miR-638 on OS cell proliferation. Furthermore, we observed that PIM1 was overexpressed in OS tissues, and high expression of PIM1 in OS predicted poor overall survival. In summary, we revealed that miR-638 functions as a tumor suppressor through inhibiting PIM1 expression in OS.

Spermatozoa of 10, 15 and 20-wk-old KM mice were frozen and stored at--196 degrees C. After thawing, intact superovulation oocytes were inseminated in vitro with relative high motility frozen/thawed mouse spermatozoa. Some 2-cell embryos obtained by in vitro fertilization were transferred to pseudopregnant recipients and 47%-56% of them developed into live-born offspring. Some 2-cell embryos were incubated in vitro and 57% of them progressed to the blastocyst stage. Others were cryopreserved by simple vitrification procedure, and most of them (about 80%) were morphologically normal after warming, and 50% of the cryopreserved embryos transferred to recipients had developed into live pups. These results indicated that there was no significant difference when compared with embryos obtained from oocytes inseminated with fresh sperm.