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Objective. Our aim was to investigate the effect of soy isoflavone (SI) on liver fibrosis in a thioacetamide (TAA)-induced rat model. Materials and methods. Twenty-eight rats were assigned to four groups: sham group, fibrosis group, low-dose treatment group (LDg) and high-dose treatment group (HDg). SI (90 or 270 mg/kg) was administered daily during the model development by TAA. Standard liver tests, platelet derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) were measured. The expression of collagen, αα-smooth muscle actin (αα-SMA) and transforming growth factor-ββ1 (TGF-ββ1) in liver tissue was determined. Electron microscopy was used to perform ultrastructural analysis of the livers. Results. Hepatic fibrosis was induced by 8 weeks of TAA administration. However, following the administration of SI, collagen staining significantly declined as compared with the fibrosis group ( p < 0.01). Less collagen fibers around the hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) were observed in HDg as compared to the fibrosis group and LDg. There was no significant difference in standard liver tests between the fibrosis group and the two treatment groups. The levels of PDGF-BB and TIMP-1 in the two SI-treated groups were significantly lower than in the fibrosis group ( p < 0.01). The expression of αα-SMA and TGF-ββ1 in HDg was less than that in the fibrosis group and LDg ( p < 0.01). Conclusion. Administration of a high dose of SI resulted in an obvious inhibitory effect on liver fibrosis induced by TAA in rats. One hypothesis is that the effect may be related to the inhibition of HSC activation and proliferation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the enhancing effects of ginsenoside Rg3 combined with mitomycin C and tegafur (MF) on postoperative chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer., Methods: Seventy-one postoperative patients with advanced gastric cancer were randomly divided into two groups, the control group (n=33), which received treatment with only MF (Mitomycin C+Tegafur), and the trial group (n=38), which were treated with ginsenoside Rg3+MF. The serum VEGF levels in the control group and trial group were detected preoperatively and postoperatively, meanwhile, the serum VEGF levels in 30 healthy persons were detected as comparison. The relations between patients survival and serum VEGF levels were analyzed., Results: The levels of serum VEGF in advanced gastric cancer were higher than those in healthy persons [(297.8+/-129.6) pg/ml vs (212.3+/-67.5) pg/ml] (P<0.01), and were correlated with the depth of tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis, tumor size > 4 cm and TNM stage (P<0.05). Fourteen weeks after operation, the levels of serum VEGF in trial group decreased below those of preoperation and approached to normal range, while in the control group, the levels of serum VEGF decreased near those of preoperation only. The median survival of patients in trial group and control group were 40 and 25 months respectively. The survival rate of patients in trial group was significantly higher than that in control group (P=0.047)., Conclusion: The combined application of ginsenoside Rg3+MF chemotherapy can decrease the concentration of serum VEGF and improve the survival rate in advanced gastric cancer patients.

Background/aims: To summarize the experience in the diagnosis and surgical treatment of primary hepatic cholangiocarcinoma (PHCC)., Methodology: Forty-seven PHCC patients, who had undergone surgical treatment in our hospital from 1970 to 1999, were retrospectively analyzed with their clinicopathological features, surgical treatments and prognoses., Results: 1) PHCC patients lacked typical clinical manifestation, and some had an accompanying history of virus B hepatitis (36.2%, 17/47) and liver cirrhosis (46.8%, 23/47), and elevation of AFP (25.5%, 12/47). 2) The detection rates of BUS, CT, MRI and liver scintigraphy were 95.7% (45/47), 93.6% (44/47), 100% (23/23) and 100% (4/4), respectively. The lesions detected by those methods needed to differentiate with hepatocellular carcinoma. 3) The resection rate was 76.6% (36/47), the postoperative overall 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates were 54.1% (24/47), 34.0% (16/47), and 29.8% (14/47) in all patients, respectively, including the 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates were 83.3% (30/36), 50.0% (18/36), and 38.9% (14/36) in hepatectomy cases, respectively. 4) All of the four patients who survived more than 5 years, including small liver cancer (< or = 3 cm) three cases and encapsulated large nodular lesion one case, received curable resection and postoperative adjuvant therapies., Conclusions: PHCC patients can obtain a better result by early detection and curative resection with adjuvant therapies.