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Background. Foreign object ingestion and food bolus impaction are a common clinical problem. We report our clinical experiences in endoscopic management for adults, foreign body ingestion, and food bolus impaction. Method. A retrospective chart review study was conducted on adult patients with foreign body ingestion and food bolus impaction between January 2011 and November 2014. Patients with incomplete medical records were excluded. Results. A total of 198 patients (226 incidents) were included in the study (male/female: 1.54/1; age 57 ± 16 years). Among them, 168 foreign bodies were found successfully (74.3%). 75.6% of the foreign bodies were located in the esophagus. Food bolus impaction was most common (41.6%). 93.5% of foreign bodies in current study cohort were successfully extracted and 5 patients required surgical interventions. Comparisons between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients revealed that locations of foreign bodies in the pharynx and esophagus were the significant relevant factors (P < 0.001). Shorter time taken to initiate endoscopic interventions increased detection rate (289.75 ± 465.94 versus 471.06 ± 659.93 minutes, P = 0.028). Conclusion. Endoscopic management is a safe and highly effective procedure in extracting foreign body ingestion and food bolus impaction. Prompt endoscopic interventions can increase the chance of successful foreign bodies' detection.

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Fracture liaison services (FLS), implemented in different ways and countries, are reported to be a cost-effective or even a cost-saving secondary fracture prevention strategy. This presumed favorable cost-benefit relationship is encouraging and lends support to expanded implementation of FLS per International Osteoporosis Foundation Best Practice Standards. This study summarizes the economic impact and cost-effectiveness of FLS implemented to reduce subsequent fractures in individuals with osteoporosis. This systematic review identified studies reporting economic outcomes for FLS in osteoporotic patients aged 50 and older through a comprehensive search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central, and PubMed of studies published January, 2000 to December, 2016. Grey literature (e.g., Google scholar, conference abstracts/posters) were also hand searched through February 2017. Two independent reviewers screened titles and abstracts and conducted full-text review on qualified articles. All disagreements were resolved by discussion between reviewers to reach consensus or by a third reviewer. In total, 23 qualified studies that evaluated the economic aspects of FLS were included: 16 cost-effectiveness studies, 2 cost-benefit analyses, and 5 studies of cost savings. Patient populations varied (prior fragility fracture, non-vertebral fracture, hip fracture, wrist fracture), and FLS strategies ranged from mail-based interventions to comprehensive nurse/physician-coordinated programs. Cost-effectiveness studies were conducted in Canada, Australia, USA, UK, Japan, Taiwan, and Sweden. FLS was cost-effective in comparisons with usual care or no treatment, regardless of the program intensity or the country in which the FLS was implemented (cost/QALY from $3023-$28,800 US dollars (USD) in Japan to $14,513-$112,877 USD in USA. Several studies documented cost savings. FLS, implemented in different ways and countries, are reported to be cost-effective or even cost-saving. This presumed favorable cost-benefit relationship is encouraging and lends support to expanded implementation of FLS per International Osteoporosis Foundation Best Practice Standards.

In recent years, studies on evaluation of the therapeutic and toxic activity of herbal medicinal products became available and popular. The advances in modern biotechnology have led to discovery of many new active constituents. However, it is a constant challenge to establish the pharmacological basis for efficacy and safety of herbal medicinal products. A better understanding of the effects and bioavailability of phytopharmaceuticals can help in discovering suitable and rational therapies. In this review, we present the bioavailability studies in immune system that has been conducted for some of the more important or widely used phytopharmaceuticals. Furthermore, various new drug targets worthy of using for drug development in immunomodulating herbal medicine area and their regulatory mechanisms are also discussed. Adverse effects, drug interactions, and contraindications are also discussed which show that caution should be exercised when combining phytopharmaceuticals with chemically derived pharmaceutical components. Cellular & Molecular Immunology. 2008;5(1):23-31.

Reduction of ethanethiol esters of a-amino acids to a-amino aldehydes by triethylsilane and catalytic palladium-on-carbon is described. a-Amino aldehydes with Boc, Cbz, or Fmoc protection could be obtained without racemization in high yield.

Berberine is an alkaloid extracted from Coptidis rhizome. Among the individual herbal components of a Chinese herb medicine, Ching-Wei-San, Coptidis Rhizoma has the most potent antimicrobial activity. By high-pressure liquid chromatography, the quantitative analysis of berberine from 6.25-mg/mL (w/v) Coptidis rhizome extract or 50.00-mg/mL (w/v) Ching-Wei-San was determined to be 0.26 mg/mL. To explore the potential use of Ching-Wei-San against herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection, the cytotoxicity, anti-HSV-1 and anti-HSV-2 activity in Vero cells were assayed. The selectivity index of berberine was about 1.2-1.5 times higher than that of Coptidis rhizome extract and Ching-Wei-San. Moreover, the antiviral activities correspond to the content of berberine in the aqueous solution. Berberine may interfere with the viral replication cycle after virus penetration and no later than the viral DNA synthesis step, and its activities were not affected by the preparation processes. Berberine, the natural plants that contain this component, including Coptidis rhizome, and Ching-Wei-San have all shown anti-HSV effects.