Collagen proline hydroxylase activity in the uterus of the rat during rapid collagen synthesis in vivo

Danggui Buxue Tang, a Chinese herbal decoction containing Astragali Radix and Angelicae Sinensis Radix, improves mitochrondial bioenergetics in osteoblast

Osteoporosis is the process of bone loss, particular after menopause, when the production of estrogen in women is decreaing. Bioenergetic function is one of the critical roles in bone remodeling. Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT) is an herbal mixture containing Astragali Radix (AR) and Angelicae Sinensis Radix (ASR), and which is consumed for "Qi-invigorating", i.e., stimulating energy metabolism, as a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, the role of DBT in metabolism of osteoblast has not been examined. Here, we employed a metabolic flux to examine the mitochondrial functions of cultured osteoblast in the presence of herbal extracts, including DBT, ASR, AR, AR + ASR (single mixing of two herbal extracts), as well as DBT_∆cal (a DBT extract depeleting calycosin), to examine their roles in osteoblastic metabolism, e.g. glycolysis and energy kinetics. By revealing the rates of oxygen consumption and extracellular acidification of mitochrondia, the DBT-treated osteoblasts were markedly strengthened with increases of maximal respiration, spare capacity, glycolysis capacity and glycolysis reserve, in comparing to other herbal extracts. In addition, the bioenergetic metabolism was modulated by DBT via the signaling of cellular Ca²⁺ and reactive oxgen species (ROS). Furthermore, DBT affected the morphology of mitochondria, as well as mitochondrial dynamic. Here, we propose that DBT can be regarded as benefit herbal extract in improving osteoblastic metabolism for bone disorders via central energy metabolism and mitochondrial bioenergetics.

Poorer baseline performance status is associated with increased thromboembolism risk in metastatic cancer patients treated with immunotherapy

PURPOSE

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in cancer patients. However, the association of VTE with immunotherapy remains poorly defined. We therefore evaluated the frequency of VTE in patients receiving immunotherapy and tried to determine predisposing factors.

METHODS

A total of 133 adult metastatic cancer patients treated with immunotherapy for any cancer between were included. Baseline demographics, ECOG performance status, type of tumors, and baseline blood count parameters were recorded. Possible predisposing factors were evaluated with univariate and multivariate analyses.

RESULTS

The median age was 60 (interquartile range (IQR) 48-66) years, and the median follow-up was 10.1 (IQR 5.8-18.5) months. Renal cell carcinoma (26.3%) and melanoma (24.1%) were most common diagnoses. Fifteen patients (11.3%) had an episode of VTE. Most of the VTEs were diagnosed as pulmonary emboli (10/15; 67%). Eighty percent (12/15) of these VTE cases were detected incidentally. Patients with a baseline ECOG performance status of 1 or more (29.3% of patients) had a significantly increased risk of venous thrombosis (ECOG ≥1 vs. 0, HR: 3.023, 95% CI: 1.011-9.039, p=0.048). Other factors, including patient age, tumor type, body mass index, baseline thrombocyte, neutrophil, and lactate dehydrogenase levels were not significantly associated with VTE risk.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, we observed VTE development in more than 10% of immunotherapy-treated patients and increased VTE risk in patients with poorer ECOG status. With the asymptomatic nature of VTEs in most cases, a high index of suspicion level for VTE is required in patients treated with immunotherapy.