Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in HAART and antibiotic therapy

Therapeutic agents used to inhibit the HIV replication are used in combination. The achievement of effective plasma concentrations of the drug in its active form, and sustaining such concentrations for the duration of a dosing interval without exceeding thresholds of toxicity is fundamental in HIV therapy. The issues determining the absorption, biotransformation, distribution to and activity at the intended site, and elimination, are myriad and complex. Studies at molecular, cell, and tissue levels are useful for predicting the possible fate of these agents in vivo, but the wide inter individual variability shown in whole-body pharmacokinetic studies is illustrative of the difficulty in making general statements rather than more guarded recommendations.     

Anti-fungal sesquiterpenoid from the root exudate of Solanum abutiloides

The Solanum abutiloides plant is highly resistant to soil-borne pathogens such as Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melongenae, Verticillium dahliae, and Ralstonia solanacearum. This species is utilized as a mating source of resistant cultivars and is also used as a rootstock. The root exudate of Solanum abutiloides was extracted from a soil system composed of charcoal and vermiculite. Anti-fungal activity was found in the extract, and an active ingredient was isolated. The chemical structure of the active compound was determined to be 3-beta-acetoxysolavetivone, a new sesquiterpenoid. The anti-fungal activity of 3-beta-acetoxysolavetivone examined by the inhibition of spore germination of Fusarium oxysporum was close to that of lubimin, and higher than that of solavetivone.     

HIV-associated dementia in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)

Neurological complications associated with HIV-1 are being recognized as a common disorder in AIDS patients, especially patients with HIV-associated dementia (HAD). However, our knowledge of the complicated pathogenesis and clinical symptoms of HAD is limited by an incomplete understanding of the biology of HIV-1 in the nervous system. Therefore, this review focuses on the pathogenesis of HAD in the context of novel highly active antiretroviral therapy (HARRT) regimens.     

唐菖蒲球茎中抗真菌物质的部分性质研究

本文报道唐菖蒲球茎中抗真菌活性物质的成分及其分子量测定方法和结果。用沸水提取,经过超滤、透析、柱层析,纯化到一种有抗真菌活性的物质。排除了它是蛋白质、核酸、脂类及小分子物质的可能性,确定这是一种多糖,定名为唐菖蒲抗真菌多糖（Gladiolus hntifungal Polysaccharide,简称GAFS）。真空旋转蒸发干燥后,用苯酚-硫酸法测得干燥后的样品糖含量为44．08％,用FPLC（快速蛋白质液相层析仪）测其分子量为15750。     

Personalized therapy in chronic viral hepatitis

Chronic carriers of major hepatitis viruses (i.e., hepatitis B and C viruses, HBV and HCV) account for at least 600 millions people worldwide. About 50% of them are at risk for chronic hepatitis and 20-30% of patients with chronic hepatitis develop progressive liver disease and symptomatic life-threatening liver lesions. Therefore, the identification of the carrier at risk is mandatory to prevent progressive liver disease, avoiding non-appropriate treatments. The decision making has three major steps. The 1st is the identification of the patient who needs to be treated; the 2nd is the choice of the best therapeutic strategy and the most appropriate drugs and timing during the phase of infection and disease; the 3rd is the treatment optimization to reduce non effective therapy and avoid drug resistance virus mutants. This careful evaluation takes into account the individual variability, the host/virus interplays and the drug impact on viral replication with the risk of selection of resistant mutants. The complexity of the virus/host interactions, however, cannot be managed by simple mean of probabilistic statistics and/or step-wise algorithms based on population statistics. A better answer for personalized antiviral therapy may come from the combined use of molecular biology and bio-mathematical modeling that can help the medical doctor to follow the dynamic of viral infection during therapy, like the flight simulator helps the pilot. We provide a concise review of the potentials of this approach in clinical practice.     

Antibacterial therapy of cholecystocholangitis in viral hepatitis

The chemotherapy of cholecystocholangitis in patients with virus hepatitis was estimated. Antibiotics, furagin and pathogenetic drugs were used for the treatment. The antibiotics were chosen with regard to their sensitivity to the bile microflora. This resulted in sanation of the bile ducts. Furagin was less effective. The use of the pathogenetic drugs alone was ineffective in the majority of patients.     

Insights into viral transmission at the uterine-placental interface

During human gestation, viruses can cause intrauterine infections associated with pregnancy complications and fetal abnormalities. The ability of viruses to spread from the infected mother to the fetus arises from the architecture of the placenta, which anchors the fetus to the uterus. Placental cytotrophoblasts differentiate, assume an endothelial phenotype, breach uterine blood vessels and form a hybrid vasculature that amplifies the maternal blood supply for fetal development. Human cytomegalovirus - the major cause of congenital disease - infects the uterine wall and the adjacent placenta, suggesting adaptation for pathogen survival in this microenvironment. Infection of villus explants and differentiating and/or invading cytotrophoblasts offers an in vitro model for studying viruses associated with prenatal infections.     

Development of hybrid viral vectors for gene therapy

Adenoviral, retroviral/lentiviral, adeno-associated viral, and herpesviral vectors are the major viral vectors used in gene therapy. Compared with non-viral methods, viruses are highly-evolved, natural delivery agents for genetic materials. Despite their remarkable transduction efficiency, both clinical trials and laboratory experiments have suggested that viral vectors have inherent shortcomings for gene therapy, including limited loading capacity, immunogenicity, genotoxicity, and failure to support long-term adequate transgenic expression. One of the key issues in viral gene therapy is the state of the delivered genetic material in transduced cells. To address genotoxicity and improve the therapeutic transgene expression profile, construction of hybrid vectors have recently been developed. By adding new abilities or replacing certain undesirable elements, novel hybrid viral vectors are expected to outperform their conventional counterparts with improved safety and enhanced therapeutic efficacy. This review provides a comprehensive summary of current achievements in hybrid viral vector development and their impact on the field of gene therapy.     

Engineering targeted viral vectors for gene therapy

To achieve therapeutic success, transfer vehicles for gene therapy must be capable of transducing target cells while avoiding impact on non-target cells. Despite the high transduction efficiency of viral vectors, their tropism frequently does not match the therapeutic need. In the past, this lack of appropriate targeting allowed only partial exploitation of the great potential of gene therapy. Substantial progress in modifying viral vectors using diverse techniques now allows targeting to many cell types in vitro. Although important challenges remain for in vivo applications, the first clinical trials with targeted vectors have already begun to take place.     

Production of viral vectors for gene therapy applications

Advances in cell culture engineering, cell metabolism, bioreactor design and operation, and downstream processing will all positively impact the bioprocessing of viral vectors. Design of appropriate vectors and tailoring of packaging cells to support more productive infections will be of paramount importance for production of high-titer and high-quality vectors. Furthermore, quantitative analysis of the infection parameters during virus propagation, such as time of infection, multiplicity of infection, the length of replication cycle, virus half-life, and burst size, will also be important to the process optimization. Finally, procedures for separation, purification and formulation of vector preparations have to be further developed.     

Encapsulation of viral vectors for gene therapy applications

In gene therapy, a number of viruses are currently being used as vectors to provide transient expression of therapeutic proteins. A drawback of using free virus is that it gives a potent immune response, which reduces gene transfer and limits re-administration. An alternative delivery system is to encapsulate the virus in poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLG) microspheres prior to administration. A recombinant adenovirus (Ad) expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) was used to test the transduction efficiency of Ad encapsulated in microspheres on target cells. The number of infected cells that expressed GFP was measured by flow cytometry. It was demonstrated that encapsulated viral vectors could successfully transduce target cells with encapsulation efficiencies up to 23% and that the level of transduction could be controlled by varying both the quantity of microspheres and the amount of Ad in the microspheres. High transduction efficiencies and its recognized biocompatibility make PLG-encapsulated Ad an attractive alternative to the use of free virus in gene therapy applications. The infectivity of Ad was found to be significantly influenced by the processing conditions and changes in environmental factors. Free Ad and encapsulated Ad were able to infect both E1 complimenting cells (HEK 293) and non-complimenting cells (A549), with the viral expression in HEK 293 cells being 2.1 times greater than for A549 cells.     

Impact of tumor microenvironment on oncolytic viral therapy

Interactions between tumor cells and their microenvironment have been shown to play a very significant role in the initiation, progression, and invasiveness of cancer. These tumor–stromal interactions are capable of altering the delivery and effectiveness of therapeutics into the tumor and are also known to influence future resistance and re-growth after treatment. Here we review recent advances in the understanding of the tumor microenvironment and its response to oncolytic viral therapy. The multifaceted environmental response to viral therapy can influence viral infection, replication, and propagation within the tumor. Recent studies have unveiled the complicated temporal changes in the tumor vasculature post-oncolytic virus (OV) treatment, and their impact on tumor biology. Similarly, the secreted extracellular matrix in solid tumors can affect both infection and spread of the therapeutic virus. Together, these complex changes in the tumor microenvironment also modulate the activation of the innate antiviral host immune response, leading to quick and efficient viral clearance. In order to combat these detrimental responses, viruses have been combined with pharmacological adjuvants and “armed” with therapeutic genes in order to suppress the pernicious environmental conditions following therapy. In this review we will discuss the impact of the tumor environment on viral therapy and examine some of the recent literature investigating methods of modulating this environment to enhance oncolysis.     

蝉花抗真菌活性成分的分离纯化研究

通过抗真菌实验进行活性跟踪,采用NKA大孔吸附树脂和硅胶两步柱色谱对蝉花中抗真菌活性成分进行分离纯化;并通过红外、质谱进行结构鉴定。结果表明,分离得到的抗真菌活性成分为多球壳菌素,对真菌的最小抑制浓度为0.02 mg/mL。本研究为进一步研究蝉花及制备医药工业所需的多球壳菌素提供了依据。     

Phenotypic patterns of HIV-1 clonal populations during highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

Several studies have demonstrated that during HIV-1 infection many different viral clones may co-exist in the same individual. These clones may differ regarding their biological phenotype and may influence both the natural history of infection and the clinical response to antiretroviral therapy. The aim of the present study was to investigate the influences of combination therapies including protease inhibitors (HAART) on the phenotypical pattern of HIV-1 biological clones in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Viral isolation and biological characterisation of bulk isolates and clonal viral isolates were performed on two AIDS patients, before and after three months of antiretroviral therapy. A decrease of viral load in plasma specimens in association with a change of clonal composition during antiretroviral therapy was observed in both patients during treatment. Before therapy both of the patients had a syncytium inducing (SI) bulk isolate and the majority of the biological clones were characterised as SI. After treatment, the bulk isolates were still SI in both cases, but the majority of biological clones were characterised as non-syncytium inducing (NSI). These results suggest that HIV clonal composition and relative phenotypic pattern undergo different changes not only during the natural course of HIV infection but also while patients are on antiretroviral combination therapy.     

纳米氧化镁对柑橘炭疽菌的抗菌效应

纳米氧化镁(MgO NP)因其自身卓越的物理化学性质,尤其是较高的比表面积,使其在光学、电学、材料学和生物医学等各个领域都表现出重要的应用前景.MgO NP对细菌表现出良好的抗菌性,而对真菌的抗菌性研究较少.本文研究了MgO NP对柑橘炭疽病菌胶孢炭疽菌(Colletotrichum gloeosporioides)的抗菌作用,测定了其对胶孢炭疽菌的菌丝生长和菌丝形态的影响,以及对孢子萌发的抑制作用,并测定了MgO NP对柑橘炭疽病的防控效果.研究结果表明,100~800μg/mL的MgO NP都能较好抑制胶孢炭疽菌菌丝生长和孢子萌发,其中400μg/mL和800μg/mL剂量效果最明显;同时提前施用400μg/mL的MgO NP表现出较好的柑橘炭疽病防治效果,说明MgO NP具有作为植物保护剂的潜力.     

一株芽孢杆菌的分类鉴定及其抑菌产物特性

为挖掘用于生物防治的微生物资源,从土壤中分离到1株芽孢杆菌,经16S rRNA基因序列及16S-23S rRNA间隔区测序比较分析,表明该菌同枯草芽孢杆菌菌株168的相似达100%。该菌株在产生水解酶、最大积累生物量方面远高于同种对照菌株,而且在发酵过程中能够产生抗生素类物质,对农林业危害真菌链格孢具有强烈的抑制作用。研究表明,在Martin液体培养基中发酵时,进入稳定生长期后开始产生抑菌物质,72 h时积累达到最大值。这种抑菌物质的特性为外泌型、脂溶性,可透过孔径0.22μm的微孔滤膜,可耐受100℃5 min,80℃10 min的高温,微碱性条件不影响其生物活性。     

Latest development in viral vectors for gene therapy

Gene therapy includes the application of various viral vectors, which represent most types and families of viruses, suitable for infection of mammalian host cells. Both hereditary diseases and acquired illnesses, such as cancer, can be targeted. Because of the various properties of each viral vector, the definition of their application range depends on factors such as packaging capacity, host range, cell- or tissue-specific targeting, replication competency, genome integration and duration of transgene expression. Recent engineering of modified viral vectors has contributed to improved gene delivery efficacy.