We evaluated the efficacy and safety of tacrolimus (TAC) combined with corticosteroids in treating patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN). One hundred seventy-seven biopsy-proven IMN patients were recruited in this retrospective clinical study. Sixty patients received TAC (target blood concentration of 4–8 ng/mL) and 117 patients received daily cyclophosphamide (CYC, 100 mg) combined with prednisone. Remission rates at the end of the first, second and third month in the TAC group were significantly higher than that in the CYC group (1st: 35.0 vs 19.7%, P<0.05; 2nd: 56.7 vs 38.5%, P<0.05; 3rd: 76.7 vs 59.0%, P<0.05). In the first 3 months, daily urinary protein and serum albumin in the TAC group obtained a better improvement than that in the CYC group (P<0.05). At the end of the sixth and the twelfth month, the remission rates, daily urinary protein and serum albumin were all comparable between the two groups (P>0.05). No significant difference of relapse rate between the groups was found (16.3 vs 12.0%, P>0.05). Patients were more likely to develop glucose intolerance in the TAC group. The TAC regimen obtained more benefits in treating IMN patients, especially in the first 3 months, than the CYC regimen.

Silibinin, an effective anti-cancer and chemopreventive agent in various epithelial cancer models, has been reported to inhibit cancer cell growth through mitogenic signalling pathways including cervical cancer. However, the underlying mechanisms are still not well elucidated. Here, we assessed the effect of silibinin on human cervical carcinoma cell cycle modulation, apoptosis induction and associated molecular alterations by employing HeLa cell line. Silibinin treatment of HeLa cells resulted in a G2 arrest and induced a decrease in cyclin-dependent kinases involved in both G1 and G2 progression. In addition, silibinin showed a dose-dependent and a time-dependent apoptotic death in HeLa cells in both the mitochondrial pathway and the death receptor-mediated pathway, providing a strong rationale for future studies evaluating preventive and/or intervention strategies for silibinin in cervical cancer pre-clinical models.

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The new type of Mg-8Al-1Sn (AT81) magnesium matrix composites reinforced with different volume fractions (5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 vol.-%) of SiC particles (average size of 10 mm) was fabricated by powder metallurgy. With the increasing volume fraction of SiC particles (SiC p ), the particles gradually show more homogeneous distribution. Compared with the AT81 alloy, the yield strength (YS) and ultimate compressive strength of the SiC p /AT81 composites are improved simultaneously. With the increasing SiC p from 0 to 30 vol.-%, the YS and ultimate compressive strength increase from 69 to 239 MPa and 286 to 385 MPa respectively, while the corresponding fracture strain (e) decreases from 19?3 to 4?8%. The improvement of the YS and ultimate compressive strength of the SiC p /AT81 composites benefits from the more homogeneous microstructure due to the increase in the SiC particles.

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