Effect of quercetin on granulosa cells development from hierarchical follicles in chicken

1. The bioflavonoid quercetin is a biologically active component, but its functional regulation of granulosa cells (GCs) during chicken follicular development is little studied. To investigate the effect of quercetin on follicular development in laying hens, an in vitro study was conducted on granulosa cells from hierarchical follicles treated with quercetin.2. The effect of quercetin on cell activity, proliferation and apoptosis of granulosa cells was detected by CCK-8, EdU and apoptosis assays. The effect on progesterone secretion from granulosa cells was investigated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) mRNA and oestrogen receptors (ERs), as well as the expression of steroid acute regulatory protein (StAR), cytochrome P450 cholesterol side chain cleavage enzyme (P450scc) and 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) mRNA during progesterone synthesis, were measured by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). PCNA, StAR and CYP11A1 protein expression levels were detected using Western blotting (WB).3. The results showed that treatment with quercetin in granulosa cells significantly enhanced cell vitality and proliferation, reduced apoptosis and promoted the expression of gene and protein levels of PCNA. The levels of progesterone secretion increased significantly following quercetin treatment, as did the expression levels of StAR and CYP11A1 using the Western Blot (WB) method.4. The mRNA expression levels of ERα were significantly upregulated in the 100 ng/ml and 1000 ng/ml quercetin-treated groups, while there was no significant difference in expression levels of ERβ mRNA.

Predicting response to immunotherapy in gastric cancer via assessing perineural invasion-mediated inflammation in tumor microenvironment

BACKGROUND

The perineural invasion (PNI)-mediated inflammation of the tumor microenvironment (TME) varies among gastric cancer (GC) patients and exhibits a close relationship with prognosis and immunotherapy. Assessing the neuroinflammation of TME is important in predicting the response to immunotherapy in GC patients.

METHODS

Fifteen independent cohorts were enrolled in this study. An inflammatory score was developed and validated in GC. Based on PNI-related prognostic inflammatory signatures, patients were divided into Clusters A and B using unsupervised clustering. The characteristics of clusters and the potential regulatory mechanism of key genes were verified by RT-PCR, western-blot, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence in cell and tumor tissue samples.The neuroinflammation infiltration (NII) scoring system was developed based on principal component analysis (PCA) and visualized in a nomogram together with other clinical characteristics.

RESULTS

Inflammatory scores were higher in GC patients with PNI compared with those without PNI (P < 0.001). NII.clusterB patients with PNI had abundant immune cell infiltration in the TME but worse prognosis compared with patients in the NII.clusterA patients with PNI and non-PNI subgroups. Higher immune checkpoint expression was noted in NII.clusterB-PNI. VCAM1 is a specific signature of NII.clusterB-PNI, which regulates PD-L1 expression by affecting the phosphorylation of STAT3 in GC cells. Patients with PNI and high NII scores may benefit from immunotherapy. Patients with low nomogram scores had a better prognosis than those with high nomogram scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Inflammation mediated by PNI is one of the results of tumor-nerve crosstalk, but its impact on the tumor immune microenvironment is complex. Assessing the inflammation features of PNI is a potential method in predicting the response of immunotherapy effectively.

SLC7A11-associated ferroptosis in acute injury diseases: mechanisms and strategies

Ferroptosis is a kind of iron-dependent renewal programmed death. Its main mechanism is to catalyze the unsaturated fatty acids highly expressed on the cell membrane under the effect of divalent iron, to produce lipid peroxidation, thus inducing cell death. SLC7A11 is a known iron death-related factor. It has been proved that iron death is involved in the occurrence and development of acute diseases, but the specific mechanism is unknown. The purpose of this review is to highlight the regulatory properties of SLC7A11 and gain a deeper understanding of its role in ferroptosis-related acute injury diseases. This is a narrative review. PubMed was used as the main source to randomly implement literature search strategy to index Scopus articles. No specific terms are used. Studies have shown that SLC7A11 may affect the sensitivity of cells to iron ptosis by regulating it at the transcriptional or post-transcriptional level, which is related to the pathology of many acute injury diseases, such as acute lung injury (ALI), acute kidney injury (AKI), acute liver injury, myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, and acute cerebral hemorrhage. In order to clarify this point, more and more researchers turn their attention to the study of the specific mechanism between SLC7A11 and ferroptosis-related acute injury diseases. In summary, this review summarized some specific mechanisms by which ferroptosis could be controlled by SLC7A11 and clarified the underlying mechanisms of a series of diseases caused by SLC7A11-associated ferroptosis. It also provided more scientific justification for the clinical application of targeting ferroptosis in preventing and treating various diseases.

[The effect of Wendler Glottoplasty to elevate vocal pitch in transgender women]

Objective: To evaluate the effect of Wendler Glottoplasty to elevate vocal pitch in transgender women. Methods: The voice parameters of pre-and 3-month post-surgery of 29 transgender women who underwent Wendler Glottoplasty in department of otorhinolaryngology head and neck surgery of Beijing Friendship Hospital from January, 2017 to October, 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The 29 transgender women ranged in age from 19-47 (27.0±6.3) years old. Subjective evaluation was performed using Transsexual Voice Questionnaire for Male to Female (TVQ^MtF). Objective parameters included fundamental frequency (F₀), highest pitch, lowest pitch, habitual volume, Jitter, Shimmer, maximal phonation time (MPT), noise to harmonic ratio (NHR) and formants frequencies(F1, F2, F3, F4). SPSS 25.0 software was used for statistically analysis. Results: Three months after surgery, the score of TVQ^MtF was significantly decreased [(89.9±14.7) vs. (50.4±13.6), t=11.49, P<0.001]. The F₀ was significantly elevated [(152.7±23.3) Hz vs. (207.7±45.9) Hz, t=-6.03, P<0.001]. Frequencies of F1, F2 and F3 were significantly elevated. No statistical difference was observed in the frequencies of F4. The highest pitch was not significantly altered while the lowest pitch was significantly elevated [(96.8±17.7) Hz vs. (120.0±28.9) Hz, t=-3.71, P=0.001]. Habitual speech volume was significantly increased [(60.0±5.2) dB vs. (63.6±9.6) dB, t=-2.12, P=0.043]. Jitter, Shimmer, NHR and MPT were not obviously altered (P>0.05). Conclusions: Wendler Glottoplasty could notably elevate the vocal pitch, formants frequencies and degree of vocal femininity in transgender women without affecting phonation ability and voice quality. It can be an effective treatment modality for voice feminization.

POS1332 TOWARD SAFER GLUCOCORTICOID THERAPY OF POLYMYALGIA RHEUMATICA

Background

SPI-62 is a potent 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (HSD-1) inhibitor entering Phase 2 development as adjunctive therapy to prednisolone in polymyalgia rheumatica, as well as for treatment of Cushing’s syndrome and autonomous cortisol secretion. HSD-1, an intracellular enzyme, activates glucocorticoids in target tissues in which glucocorticoid medicines are associated with morbidity including liver, adipose, muscle, and skin. In Phase 1 clinical trials SPI-62 was generally well tolerated and associated with maximal liver and brain HSD-1 inhibition.

Objectives

To demonstrate mitigation by SPI-62 of corticosterone (CORT) adverse effects in mouse.

Methods

C57BL/6 male mice (age 7 weeks; n=14 per group) were administered CORT (100 g/mL in drinking water) and SPI-62 (by gavage in 0.5% HPMC; 0, 1, or 10 mg/kg/day or 10 mg/kg twice daily) for 35 days. A control group received no CORT or SPI-62. Body weight was assessed daily and food consumption twice weekly. Whole body muscle and fat amounts were measured at Days 0, 14, and 28 using an EchoMRI-130H body composition analyzer. Blood samples for fasting glucose and insulin were obtained at Days 1 (pre-dose), 15, 29, and 35. An open field test was conducted on Day 22. A grip strength test was performed on Day 28. After sacrifice on Day 36, gonadal, subcutaneous, retroperitoneal, and mesenteric fat, quadriceps, and tibialis anterior were dissected and weighed, and skin was formalin fixed and paraffin embedded.

Results

One control mouse died due to accidental gavage injury. Two mice who received CORT + 0.5% HPMC died on Days 11 and 19. CORT resulted in increased food consumption which was normalized by SPI-62 in a dose-dependent manner. CORT-treated mice showed reduced body weight gain for 2 weeks then accelerated body weight gain. SPI-62 prevented body weight gain acceleration in a dose-dependent manner. CORT effects on dermal thickness and structure were less prominent in mice who also received SPI-62. No effect of CORT or SPI-62 was observed in the open field test. SPI-62 prevented CORT adverse effects of insulin resistance, increased adiposity, skeletal myoatrophy, and grip strength reduction (Table 1).

Table 1.

Observed percentage difference of treatment group mean, compared to control group mean, in CORT-treated mice

SPI-62 treatmentnone1 mg/kg1x/day10 mg/kg1x/day10 mg/kg2x/dayHOMA-IR Day 15+422+428+104+8HOMA-IR Day 29+788+472+204+14HOMA-IR Day 35+3620+1270+324+92Body fat content Day 14*+110+72-13-7Body fat content Day 28*+166+102+63-12Gonadal fat weight*+151+74+39-1Subcutaneous fat weight*+471+121+83+7Retroperitoneal fat weight*+227+89+36+25Mesenteric fat weight*+240+133+124+71Body muscle content Day 14*-10-70+1Body muscle content Day 28*-15-8-6+3Quadriceps weight*-54-43-24-16Tibialis anterior weight*-35-29-5+5Grip strength-12+16+15+26

*Normalized by body weight.

Conclusion

SPI-62 prevented several CORT adverse effects in mouse, demonstrating that blockade of local intracellular glucocorticoid activation by a HSD-1 inhibitor in target tissues can mitigate glucocorticoid toxicity. These results suggest that SPI-62 has potential to similarly mitigate adverse effects of glucocorticoid medications in human. A placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical trial has been initiated to compare prednisolone effects with and without SPI-62. Up to 48 patients diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica, on stable prednisolone 10 mg daily for at least 2 weeks, and with stable disease inactivity based on acute phase biomarkers will continue prednisolone 10 mg daily for 4 weeks, during which they will receive SPI-62 or placebo for 2 weeks each. Acute phase and other immune function biomarkers, symptom measures, and biomarkers of prednisolone adverse effects will be assessed at baseline and after each 2-week period. After analysis of data from a first cohort of 12 patients the prednisolone dose might be adjusted, in blinded fashion, during the SPI-62 period to maintain equipotency on acute phase biomarker suppression.

Disclosure of Interests

Xingyu Pan: None declared, Qiongqiong Hou: None declared, Jiahui Xu: None declared, Yake Ma: None declared, Jiawen Li: None declared, Min Li: None declared, Jing Su: None declared, Xuerou Shi: None declared, William Bracken Consultant of: Sparrow Pharmaceuticals, David Katz Shareholder of: Sparrow Pharmaceuticals, Employee of: Sparrow Pharmaceuticals

[Construction of a nomogram model for predicting 2-year survival rate of small cell lung cancer based on more comprehensive variables]

Objective: To construct a novel prognostic nomogram model based on more comprehensive variables for patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). Methods: The data of 722 patients with SCLC confirmed by pathology in Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from January 2015 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed [including 592 males and 130 females, aged from 23 to 82(61±9) years]. A random seed count of 133 was used to divide those patients into training set (n=422) and validation set (n=300). Kaplan-Meier was used for survival curves analysis and univariate Log-rank test was used for evaluating the influence of clinical variables on the prognosis of sclc, variables with P<0.05 in univariate analysis were included in a multivariate Cox regression model. The nomogram was constructed based on the variables which P<0.05 in multivariate analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration by Integrated Brier score (IBS) and clinical net benefit by decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to evaluate model discriminative power, prediction error value, and clinical net benefit, and compared with the American Joint Committee on Cancer 8th TNM. Results: Male, abnormal monocyte (MON) counts, abnormal neuron specific enolase (NSE), abnormal cytokeratin 19 fragment (Cyfra211), M1a stage, M1b stage, M1c stage, radiotherapy (RT), chemotherapy ≥4 cycles and prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) were prognostic factors for SCLC[HR(95%CI)=1.39(1.00-1.92), 1.29(1.02-1.63), 1.41(1.11-1.80), 2.02(1.48-2.76), 1.09(0.77-1.55), 1.44(0.94-2.22), 2.01(1.49-2.71), 0.75(0.57-0.98), 0.40(0.31-0.51)and 0.42(0.26-0.68), respectively, all P<0.05]. The area under ROC curve (AUC) of the nomogram in training set and validation set were 0.814(95%CI: 0.765-0.862)and 0.787 (95%CI: 0.725-0.849), which were higher than TNM [0.616(95%CI: 0.558-0.674) and 0.648(95%CI: 0.581-0.715)].The calibration curve showed a good correlation between the nomogram prediction and actual observation for the 2-year overall survival (OS). IBS indicted a lower prediction error rate (training set: 0.132 vs 0.169; validation set: 0.138 vs 0.169). DCA showed a wider threshold range than TNM (training set: 0.01-0.96 vs 0.01-0.85, validation set: 0.01-0.94 vs 0.01-0.86) and a greater improvement of the clinical net benefit (in training set the nomogram had a greater clinical benefit than TNM in the range of 0.19-0.96, and remained in validation set in the range of 0.19-0.94). Conclusion: The established nomogram model for predicting 2-year OS in patients with SCLC based on 8 variables, including gender, MON, NSE, Cyfra211, M stage, RT, CT cycles and PCI can be used for an more accurately prognosis prediction and reference for therapeutic regimen selection.

[Clinical analysis of 234 esophageal foreign bodies]

Objective: To explore the clinical characteristics and treatment methods of esophageal foreign body. Method: The clinical data of 234 patients with esophageal foreign bodies admitted to our department from January 2015 to August 2018 were retrospectively analyzed, including course time, foreign body types, surgical methods, imaging manifestations and treatment related complications. Result: The diagnosis of esophageal foreign bodies was confirmed by esophageal CT or esophageal barium meal X-ray examination before operation in 234 patients. Course time varied from 3 hours to 7 days, and the jujube nucleus was the most common food-borne foreign body.223 patients underwent esophagoscopic exploration and foreign body removal under general intravenous anesthesia, 11 of them had no definite esophageal foreign body, 22 had esophageal perforation and periesophagitis. After removal of foreign body, the nasogastric feeding tube was inserted. About 10 days later, the nasogastric feeding tube was removed when they got healthy. Nine cases underwent cervical abscess incision and drainage under general anesthesia. The average postoperative hospital day was 11 days. Conclusion: The rigid esophagoscopy is a safe and effective method for the esophageal foreign bodies. And neck abscess incision must be necessary,when they suffered from esophageal perforation with neck abscess and other serious complications.

[Role of sleep apnea monitoring management platform in the treatment of patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome]

Objective:To investigate the clinical significance and value of the sleep apnea monitoring management platform in the treatment of patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) by comparing with the traditional continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) card reader mode.Method:A total of 48 severe adult OSAHS patients from Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery-Sleep Medical Center of the Third People's Hospital of Honghe during the period of Nov. 2015 to Aug. 2016 were collected in this prospective study. All of them were diagnosed by PSG and treated with nasal continuous positive airway pressure. They were randomly divided into group A (n=24) and group B (n=24). Group A and B were treated with the traditional CPAP card reader mode and the sleep apnea monitoring management platform respectively. During the follow-up, the compliance, mean blood oxygen saturation, titration pressure, Epworth sleepiness scale after 1, 3, 6 and 12 month treatment were compared between two groups. Ttest was used to analyze the difference. Statistical significance was set at P <0.05.Result:Statistical analysis showed that there were significant difference in the compliance of using CPAP, mean blood oxygen saturation and Epworth sleepiness scale score between the two groups (P < 0.05), but the titration pressure had no difference between the two groups (P>0.05).Conclusion:Compared the sleep apnea monitoring management platform with traditional CPAP card reader mode in the treatment of OSAHS patients, the former could solve the problems during the CPAP use in time, improve the compliance of using CPAP, and which could increase the efficacy of CPAP. Thus, the sleep apnea monitoring management platform is of more clinical value and deserve promotion.

[Analysis of olfactory dysfunction after endoscopic and microscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary adenoma]

Objective:To analyze the clinical data of patients with olfactory dysfunction after endoscopic or microscopic endonasal transsphenoidal approach,and to screen out the possible related factors,to guide clinical diagnosis and treatment,and to improve the patients' quality of life.Method:In the retrospective study,we analyze patients' data,and follow up them with telephone,records the olfactory levels before and after surgery. In the prospective study,five odors were applied to test the olfactory function before the surgery,then one week,3 weeks and 6 weeks after that. The results were statistically analyzed.Result:In the retrospective study,olfactory dysfunction occurred in 67.74%,47.37%in MTS group and ETS group. The olfactory disorder had no significant difference (P>0.05) among MTS group and ETS group after surgery. And the analysis of factors showed no significant difference. In the prospective study,there is significant difference between the preoperative results and postoperative results about the operative side and nonoperative side in ETS group and MTS group (P<0.05). In all results,there is no significant difference between operative side and nonoperative side in ETS group and MTS group (P>0.05).Conclusion:There is olfactory dysfunction after transsphenoidal surgery to resect pituitary adenomas. To prepare the nasal condition well preoperatively,protect the nasal structure intraoperatively and aplicate appropriate treatment postoperatively may reduce the incidence of olfactory disorder.

Clinical and Imaging Characteristics of Arteriopathy Subtypes in Children with Arterial Ischemic Stroke: Results of the VIPS Study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Childhood arteriopathies are rare but heterogenous, and difficult to diagnose and classify, especially by nonexperts. We quantified clinical and imaging characteristics associated with childhood arteriopathy subtypes to facilitate their diagnosis and classification in research and clinical settings.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The Vascular Effects of Infection in Pediatric Stroke (VIPS) study prospectively enrolled 355 children with arterial ischemic stroke (2010-2014). A central team of experts reviewed all data to diagnose childhood arteriopathy and classify subtypes, including arterial dissection and focal cerebral arteriopathy-inflammatory type, which includes transient cerebral arteriopathy, Moyamoya disease, and diffuse/multifocal vasculitis. Only children whose stroke etiology could be conclusively diagnosed were included in these analyses. We constructed logistic regression models to identify characteristics associated with each arteriopathy subtype.

RESULTS

Among 127 children with definite arteriopathy, the arteriopathy subtype could not be classified in 18 (14%). Moyamoya disease (n = 34) occurred mostly in children younger than 8 years of age; focal cerebral arteriopathy-inflammatory type (n = 25), in children 8-15 years of age; and dissection (n = 26), at all ages. Vertigo at stroke presentation was common in dissection. Dissection affected the cervical arteries, while Moyamoya disease involved the supraclinoid internal carotid arteries. A banded appearance of the M1 segment of the middle cerebral artery was pathognomonic of focal cerebral arteriopathy-inflammatory type but was present in <25% of patients with focal cerebral arteriopathy-inflammatory type; a small lenticulostriate distribution infarct was a more common predictor of focal cerebral arteriopathy-inflammatory type, present in 76%. It remained difficult to distinguish focal cerebral arteriopathy-inflammatory type from intracranial dissection of the anterior circulation. We observed only secondary forms of diffuse/multifocal vasculitis, mostly due to meningitis.

CONCLUSIONS

Childhood arteriopathy subtypes have some typical features that aid diagnosis. Better imaging methods, including vessel wall imaging, are needed for improved classification of focal cerebral arteriopathy of childhood.

[The research progress of LGR4 in the eye development and related diseases]

LGR4, also known as GPR48, is a member of the leucine-rich, G protein-coupled receptor family. It is widely expressed in tissues of the reproductive system, urinary system, sensory organs, digestive system, and central nervous system. LGR4 plays an important role in the development of various organs and cancer development and progression by modulating multiple signaling pathways. Recent studies have revealed that LGR4 is related with many kinds of human diseases such as gastrointestinal carcinomas. Eye development is a dynamic process regulated by a number of growth factors and cytokines. LGR4 is extensively expressed in the eyes in a finely tuned spatiotemporal pattern. Mice lacking LGR4 have been found to display anterior segment dysgenesis, including microphthalmia, iris hypoplasia, iridocorneal angle malformation and corneal dysgenesis, cataract and other defects. Here we review the role of LGR4 in the eye development and related molecular mechanisms. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2017, 53: 236-240).

Evolution and heterogeneity of non-hereditary colorectal cancer revealed by single-cell exome sequencing

Recently single-cell whole-exome sequencing (scWES) has deeply expanded and sharpened our knowledge of cancer evolution and subclonality. Herein, with scWES and matched bulk whole-exome sequencing (bulk WES) on two colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with normal or adenomatous polyps, we found that both the adenoma and cancer were of monoclonal origin, and both shared partial mutations in the same signaling pathways, but each showed a specific spectrum of heterogeneous somatic mutations. In addition, the adenoma and cancer further developed intratumor heterogeneity with the accumulation of nonrandom somatic mutations specifically in GPCR, PI3K-Akt and FGFR signaling pathways. We identified novel driver mutations that developed during adenoma and cancer evolution, particularly in OR1B1 (GPCR signaling pathway) for adenoma evolution, and LAMA1 (PI3K-Akt signaling pathway) and ADCY3 (FGFR signaling pathway) for CRC evolution. In summary, we demonstrated that both colorectal adenoma and CRC are monoclonal in origin, and the CRCs further diversified into different subclones with heterogeneous mutation profiles accumulating in GPCR, PI3K-Akt and FGFR signaling pathways. ScWES provides evidence for the importance of mutations in certain pathways that would not be as apparent from bulk sequencing of tumors, and can potentially establish whether specific mutations are mutually exclusive or occur sequentially in the same subclone of cells.

The antibody-based CA125-targeted maintenance therapy for the epithelial ovarian cancer: a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effect and toxicity of CA125-targeted antibody used as maintenance therapy for advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Two reviewers searched PubMed, Medline, Embase, VIP databases, and the references of selected articles for randomized controlled trials comparing maintenance CA125-targeted antibody treatment with placebo/observation. One-, two-, three-, and five-year overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) were collected. Incidence and severity of adverse events were extracted. Meta-analysis of combined risk ratio (RR) for OS , PFS, and toxicity were conducted.

RESULTS

Four trials including 1,259 women were identified. Meta-analysis showed the combined RR was 1.02 (95% CI, 0.85-1.22) for three-year OS and 0.98 (95% CI, 0.70-1.39) for the three-year PFS. This review found that abagovomab and oregovomab caused toxicity no more than placebo.

CONCLUSIONS

CA125-targeted antibody used as maintenance therapy alone is not more effective than placebo but they were safe as maintenance therapy.

A longitudinally split rabbit segmental gracilis to simulate penile erectile function: anatomic basis and animal models

OBJECTIVE

The gracilis was once applied in reconstructing erectile function but its appearance was bulky. We aimed to design a model meeting the requirements of both reducing volume and retaining function.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The gracilis muscles of 6 rabbits were harvested, applied colorful vascular perfusion and modified Sihler's intramuscular nerve staining. According to their intramuscular nerves and blood vessels, 9 rabbit right gracilis muscles were then longitudinally split into two halves. The anterior muscle bundle was selected as the functional unit and blood supply.

RESULTS

The intramuscular nerves and vessels were simultaneously presented on a same specimen. Their relationship suggested gracilis muscle to be composed of two relatively independent subunits. The reconstructed penis survived well, simulating erectile action satisfactorily.

DISCUSSION

The penis model reconstructed with longitudinally split rabbit segmental gracilis myocutaneous flap had met the requirements of both restoring erectile function and improving the appearance.

The impact of oral consumption of Lactobacillus plantarum P-8 on faecal bacteria revealed by pyrosequencing

Lactobacillus plantarum P-8 (Lp-8) is a novel probiotic bacterium showing beneficial effects in human. The current study is a follow-up work of a previous clinical trial, and it aimed at understanding the mechanism of the observed desirable effects by evaluating the change in faecal bacterial structure at phylogenetic level. The genomic DNAs used for 16S rRNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-pyrosequencing were obtained from the previous clinical trial. Briefly, 33 recruited subjects were given a single daily oral dose of Lp-8 (6×1010 cfu) for 4 weeks. Faecal genomic DNAs were extracted from samples collected before (day 0) and after (day 28) Lp-8 consumption from the subjects. Our results show that the consumption of Lp-8 did not result in major change in the faecal bacterial structure by principal coordinate analysis. However, multivariate analysis of variance and analysis of UniFrac metric distances at day 0 and day 28 revealed significant difference in the faecal bacterial structure upon Lp-8 treatment. Thus, the difference lied on the less abundant rather than the predominant lineages. At genus level, the relative abundance of 5 Firmicutes genera (Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, Sporacetigenium, Blautia and Staphylococcus) significantly increased after Lp-8 consumption, whereas 3 Proteobacteria genera (Shigella, Escherichia and Enterobacter) decreased (P<0.05). 60 key responding lineages could be identified at operational taxonomic unit (OTU) level by redundancy analysis. Among them, the abundance of 18 OTUs showed significant difference (P<0.05), while 12 OTUs exhibited modest change (0.05<P<0.01) upon treatment. Our study identified a shift in the faecal bacterial structure upon Lp-8 administration, which may explain some of the previously observed beneficial effects.

Reduction of Lactobacillus in the milks of cows with subclinical mastitis

Clinical and subclinical bovine mastitis are the most frequent diseases encountered on dairy farms worldwide, which cause significant economic loss and veterinary cost. The mastitic disease status is associated with increases in both milk bacterial pathogens and somatic cell count (SCC). Although it is well established that the mastitic pathogens generally correlate with the milk SCC, to our knowledge, the correlation between the probiotic genus, Lactobacillus, and the mastitic causative bacteria and SCC have not been determined previously. Thus, in this study, milk samples from 12 mild and 28 severe subclinical mastitic dairy cows were collected from the same farm. The overall milk bacterial load was quantified with the total plate count method. The Lactobacillus genus and 4 common clinical and subclinical mastitic pathogens (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, and Trueperella pyogenes) in the sampled milk were enumerated by quantitative PCR. Mild and severe subclinical mastitic samples were distinctly separated on the principal component analysis score plot generated based on the quantities of these 5 target bacteria, suggesting that clear differences existed in the microbiological composition between the two sample groups. Based on comparison with the pairwise Mann-Whitney test, the mild subclinical mastitic dairy cows had a significantly higher amounts of lactobacilli (P=0.0175), but lower E. coli (P=0.0002), S. aureus (P<0.0001), S. agalactiae (P=0.0001) and T. pyogenes (P=0.0044) quantities, while an opposite trend occurred in the severe subclinical mastitic group. The negative correlation between Lactobacillus and the pathogenic bacteria, as well as the SCC, was confirmed with Spearman correlation analysis. Data generated from the current study may hint to a close relationship between Lactobacillus and the health of bovine udder.

The construction of cDNA library and the screening of related antigen of ascitic tumor cells of ovarian cancer

OBJECTIVE

To construct the cDNA library of the ascites tumor cells of ovarian cancer, which can be used to screen the related antigen for the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer and therapeutic targets of immune treatment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Four cases of ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma, two cases of ovarian mucinous cystadenocarcinoma, and two cases of ovarian endometrial carcinoma in patients with ascitic tumor cells which were used to construct the cDNA library. To screen the ovarian cancer antigen gene, evaluate the enzyme, and analyze nucleotide sequence, serological analysis of recombinant tumor cDNA expression libraries (SEREX) and suppression subtractive hybridization technique (SSH) techniques were utilized. The detection method of recombinant expression-based serological mini-arrays (SMARTA) was used to detect the ovarian cancer antigen and the positive reaction of 105 cases of ovarian cancer patients and 105 normal women's autoantibodies correspondingly in serum.

RESULTS

After two rounds of serologic screening and glycosides sequencing analysis, 59 candidates of ovarian cancer antigen gene fragments were finally identified, which corresponded to 50 genes. They were then divided into six categories: (1) the homologous genes which related to the known ovarian cancer genes, such as BARD 1 gene, etc; (2) the homologous genes which were associated with other tumors, such as TM4SFI gene, etc; (3) the genes which were expressed in a special organization, such as ILF3, FXR1 gene, etc; (4) the genes which were the same with some protein genes of special function, such as TIZ, ClD gene; (5) the homologous genes which possessed the same source with embryonic genes, such as PKHD1 gene, etc; (6) the remaining genes were the unknown genes without the homologous sequence in the gene pool, such as OV-189 genes.

CONCLUSION

SEREX technology combined with SSH method is an effective research strategy which can filter tumor antigen with high specific character; the corresponding autoantibodies of TM4SFl, ClD, TIZ, BARDI, FXRI, and OV-189 gene's recombinant antigen in serum can be regarded as the biomarkers which are used to diagnose ovarian cancer. The combination of multiple antigen detection can improve diagnostic efficiency.

Synthesis and Interfacial Properties of Dialkylbenzenesulfonates for Producting Low Interfacial Tensions

A new method of synthesis a series of pure dialkylbenzene sulfonates is described. The benzene ring carries a major alkyl substituent, consisting of a linear chain of sixteen carbon atoms long, and one additional methyl group. Products are charactered by EI-MS and 1H NMR. Experimental investigations have been conducted to explore the interfacial tension behavior of crude oil with dialkylbenzenesulfonates. The effects of various parameters such as surfactant concentration, salinity concentration on the interfacial tension of crude oil-water were investigated in detail. The transient low interfacial tensions in crude oil/alkali system were caused by the synergistic effects between surfactant and the active species generated at interface, but surfactant molecules plays the dominant role at equilibrium.

Is symptom relief associated with reduction in gastric retention after gastric electrical stimulation treatment in patients with gastroparesis? A sensitivity analysis with logistic regression models

BACKGROUND

Enterra gastric electrical stimulation (GES) is an alternative treatment for gastroparesis (GP) when standard medical therapy fails. The aims of this study were to evaluate the association between total symptom score (TSS) and reduction in gastric retention (GR) after GES by GP etiology and to examine the sensitivity of the association to varying cutpoints used to define GR and TSS improvement.

METHODS

Gastric retention assessed with a standardized (99m) Tc radio-labeled egg meal and TSS measured by a five-point Likert scale in 221 GP patients treated with Enterra GES therapy for at least 1 year were analyzed. Bivariate chi-square test and multivariable logistic regression with all possible cutpoints were used to assess the consistency of association and quantitate the relationship across three GP etiologies.

KEY RESULTS

Symptom relief in diabetic GP was more likely attributable to GR reduction as indicated by the consistently significant odds ratios (P < 0.01) across all cutpoints. The association in idiopathic GP was inconclusive because odds ratios were sensitive to cutpoints with P-values ranging from 0.01 to 0.47. No association was found for patients with post surgical gastroparesis (P > 0.1 for all cutpoints). Patient age, gender, baseline TSS and baseline GR had no significant effect at 5% level on clinical improvement regardless of cutpoints for GR.

CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES

Association between clinical improvements and GR reduction following GES treatment depends on patient etiology and was able to be demonstrated in diabetic GP. The association for idiopathic GP was inconclusive and no such association was found for post surgical GP across all possible cutpoint combinations.

A Bayesian hierarchical assessment of gastric emptying with the linear, power exponential and modified power exponential models

BACKGROUND

Many studies assessed gastric retention over time utilizing different models, mostly with scintigraphic measures at varied endpoints from limited number of normal volunteers. With a standardized 4-h gastric emptying (GE) protocol, we compared model fit by the linear, power exponential (PE), and modified power exponential (MPE) models to contrast differences in GE among different groups based on clinical diagnosis and gender.

METHODS

We retrospectively collected 320 patient records with four consecutive hourly scintigraphic measures of percent intragastric residual at the Kansas University Medical Center. We obtained parameter estimates with the Bayesian hierarchical models using informative priors from previous research.

KEY RESULTS

The PE or MPE model captured the time dependent GE rate better than the linear model. The estimated GE rates more than doubled for those without gastroparesis compared to patients diagnosed with gastroparesis. Males tended to empty gastric content faster but were not significantly different from females at the 5% level.

CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES

The point estimates and 95% credible interval for GE rates obtained with the PE and MPE models may provide an alternative diagnostic tool for clinicians since it utilizes gastric emptying scintigraphy measures at multiple endpoints which may be sensitive to different aspects of the disease. No agreement in lag phases was obtained by the three models based on respective definitions from previous researches, but similar results would be obtained with the PE and MPE models if both defined lag phase by back projecting the regression lines to the same gastric retention level.

An evaluation of resident exposure to respirable particulate matter and health economic loss in Beijing during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Previous epidemiological studies showed that air pollutants, especially respirable particulate matter, including PM(10), could impose harmful effects on human health. The assessment of the effects of PM(10) on mortality and morbidity makes an important basis for enhancing pollution control efforts, and for protecting public health. In this study, we measured the levels of Beijing residents' exposure to PM(10) during three different time periods around the Beijing Olympic Games held in 2008, and calculated the economic cost associated with human health. A comparative analysis of human exposure to PM(10) and associated health economics was also made to see the difference between 2005 and 2008. GIS technology was employed to interpolate the distribution of population and PM(10) data collected by 27 stations at a scale of 1kmx1km. Study results show that Beijing's population is distributed in a highly inhomogeneous manner, with the majority of people dwelling in the city proper. During the Olympic Games, population-weighted PM(10) exposure came down by 46% and 19% respectively, compared with the pre-OG and the post-OG periods. Consequently, the economic cost associated with human health during the Games came down by 38% and 16% respectively, compared with the pre-OG and the post-OG periods. Comparative analysis shows that during the Olympic Games, both PM(10) and the economic cost associated with health as a proportion of GDP sat at the bottom of the 4-year statistics, indicating that in addition to favorable weather conditions, enhanced traffic and emission control policies and measures have produced a noticeable effect on PM(10) reduction.

Association of the status of interstitial cells of Cajal and electrogastrogram parameters, gastric emptying and symptoms in patients with gastroparesis

Our goal was to investigate associations between the status of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) and electrogastrogram (EGG) parameters, gastric emptying and symptoms in a large cohort of patients with gastroparesis. Forty-one patients with refractory gastroparesis who were referred for gastric electrical stimulation (GES) underwent full thickness gastric (antrum) biopsy during the surgery to place the GES device. The biopsy samples were stained with c-kit and scored for the presence of ICC based on criteria obtained from 10 controls. All patients underwent EGG recordings, a 4-h standardized scintigraphic gastric emptying study and symptom assessment prior to the surgery. Based on antral biopsy, 15 patients (36%) had almost no ICC (ICC- group) and 26 patients had adequate cell numbers (ICC+ group). EGG recordings in the ICC- group displayed significantly less normal slow waves than in the ICC+ group both in the fasting and fed states. Tachygastria in the ICC- group was significantly more than in the ICC+ group both in the fasting (32 +/- 8%vs 11 +/- 2%) and fed states (27 +/- 9%vs 12 +/- 2%). There was no statistical difference in gastric emptying, symptom severity of gastroparesis, aetiology, age and gender between the two groups. Severely depleted ICC occurs in up to 36% of gastroparetic patients and significantly correlates with an abnormal EGG. Severely depleted ICC does not correlate with the severity of gastroparesis as assessed by gastric emptying or symptom status but did result in a poorer symptomatic response to GES. These data suggest that the EGG may have a role for predicting ICC status during clinical evaluation of gastroparetic patients.

Association between changes in symptoms and gastric emptying in gastroparetic patients treated with gastric electrical stimulation

To investigate whether there is an association between gastric emptying rate and symptom improvement in gastroparetic patients treated with gastric electrical stimulation (GES), we retrospectively reviewed 63 gastroparetic patients who received GES therapy for at least 1 year. Patient characteristics, seven upper gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and 4-h standardized gastric emptying test (GET) were evaluated at baseline and at 1 year of GES. All symptoms were significantly reduced (P < 0.001). Mean gastric retention was reduced by 7% (P = 0.102) for measurement at 4 h. Of the 63 patients, 14 had their GET normalized and 49 remained delayed after 1 year. Normalized GET patients had a similar symptom improvement as those whose GET remained delayed. Of all upper GI symptoms, the improvements in vomiting (P = 0.04), nausea (P = 0.002) and epigastric pain (P = 0.001) were significantly correlated with reduction in 4-h gastric retention between baseline and 12 months of GES therapy for patients with normalized gastric emptying but there were no correlations with any symptoms and change in gastric emptying for those patients who remained delayed. In summary, overall gastric emptying is not significantly accelerated at 4 h after successful symptomatic improvement with GES but nausea, vomiting and epigastric pain can be correlated with normalization of GET in a subset of patients.

The effect of contact lens induced oedema on the accuracy of Goldmann tonometry in a mature population

AIM

To determine the effect of contact lens induced oedema on the accuracy of Goldmann tonometry measurements of intraocular pressure (IOP) in mature subjects.

METHODS

22 healthy subjects aged between 50 and 60 years were recruited. Corneal curvature, IOP, and central corneal thickness (CCT) were measured before and after two hours of monocular closed eye wear of a thick hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) contact lens. Measurements were then repeated at 20 minute intervals for one hour after lens removal.

RESULTS

Both CCT (+54.1 mum) and IOP (+2.7 mm Hg) increased significantly after lens wear (p<0.001, paired t test with Bonferroni correction). For the hour following lens removal, the measured IOP was correlated to the increase in CCT (r = 0.84, p<0.001), at a rate of 1.0 mm Hg/10 mum (95% confidence interval, 0.8 to 1.2 mm Hg/10 mum, linear mixed model analysis).

CONCLUSIONS

A relatively small increase in CCT from contact lens induced corneal oedema caused an overestimation error in Goldmann tonometry measurements of IOP in healthy mature subjects.

Complete activation of Bax by a single site mutation

Bax translocation from the cytosol to mitochondria culminates a key step by which this protein mediates cell death. Here, we identified two amino acids, L70 and D71, within the BH3 domain of Bax that play a critical role in regulating Bax's cytosolic vs mitochondrial distribution. Individual substitution of these amino acids with alanine resulted in Bax conformational change, oligomerization, localization to mitochondria and cell death. Further mutational analysis indicated that L70 interacts with T174, V177 and A178 of Bax's C-terminal hydrophobic segment, while the negative charge of D71 is required for maintaining Bax in its soluble monomeric state. In summary, we have identified a new regulatory site that controls Bax's subcellular distribution and activation.

Sulfatide-tenascin interaction mediates binding to the extracellular matrix and endocytic uptake of liposomes in glioma cells

Tenascin-C is an extracellular matrix glycoprotein, whose expression is highly restricted in normal adult tissues, but markedly up-regulated in a range of tumors, and therefore serves as a potential receptor for targeted anticancer drug or gene delivery. We describe here a liposomal carrier system in which the targeting ligand is sulfatide. Experiments with tenascin-C-expressing glioma cells demonstrated that binding of liposomes to the extracellular matrix relied essentially on the sulfatide-tenascin-C interaction. Following binding to the extracellular matrix, the sulfatide-containing liposomes were internalized via both caveolae/lipid raft- and clathrin-dependent pathways, which would ensure direct cytoplasmic release of the cargoes carried in the liposomes. Such natural lipid-guided intracellular delivery targeting at the extracellular matrix glycoproteins of tumor cells thus opens a new direction for development of more effective anticancer chemotherapeutics in future.

Granzyme K cleaves the nucleosome assembly protein SET to induce single-stranded DNA nicks of target cells

Although granzymes (Gzms) A- and B-induced cell death pathways have been defined, little is known about how other orphan Gzms function in CTL-mediated cytotoxicity. GzmK and A are tryptases among all the Gzms of humans and they are closely linked on the same chromosome. In this study, we showed that GzmK can be efficiently delivered into target cells with a cationic lipid protein transfection reagent Pro-Ject. We found human GzmK triggers rapid cell death independently of caspase activation. The features of death are characterized by rapid externalization of phosphatidylserine, nuclear morphological changes and single-stranded DNA nicks. GzmK hydrolyzes the nucleosome assembly protein SET in its recombinant and native forms or in intact cells. Cleavage of SET by GzmK abrogates its nucleosome assembly activity. After GzmK loading, SET and DNase NM23H1 rapidly translocate into the nucleus and SET is cleaved, where the nuclease activity of NM23H1 is activated to nick chromosomal DNA.

Apoptosis modulatory activities of transiently expressed Bcl-2: roles in cytochrome C release and Bax regulation

Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L) are pro-survival members of the Bcl-2 family. These proteins have been shown to antagonize the pro-apoptotic activity of Bax and promote cell survival through blocking Bax translocation from the cytosol to mitochondria and by preventing the release of cytochrome c. However, it has been recently reported that transiently expressed Bcl-2 unexpectedly leads to significant cell toxicity. To study this intriguing phenomenon, we have carried out further analyses into the properties of transiently expressed Bcl-2. We found that various isoforms of human and different species of Bcl-2 were equally capable of inducing apoptosis. In addition, we discovered that transient expression of Bcl-2, unlike its pro-survival homolog Bcl-X(L), can lead to the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria and that the resulting cell death can be inhibited by caspase and calpain inhibitors. Moreover, we have shown that unlike the pro-apoptotic protein Bid, the toxicity associated with the transient expression of Bcl-2 occurs independent of the activity of the endogenous Bax. Finally, we found that in spite of its intrinsic toxicity, transiently expressed Bcl-2 is fully capable of blocking the ectopically expressed Bax from localizing to mitochondria. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that transiently expressed Bcl-2 displays opposing functional properties.

Molecular dynamics used in radiation therapy

In this Letter, classical molecular dynamics is used to deal with optimization problems occurring in intensity modulated radiation therapy. By introducing the concepts of virtual atom and virtual cluster, the optimization process in this kind of therapy can be considered as an analogy to finding the equilibrium configuration of a cluster. This viewpoint gives great insight into the optimization problems. To show how the idea works, a dose-based objective function is adopted to obtain the optimized intensity profiles. The results and high computational efficiency show that molecular dynamics is applicable clinically for this therapy. The idea presented here also could be inspiring to other fields where optimization problems exist.

Some features of intestinal absorption of intact fibrinolytic enzyme III-1 from Lumbricus rubellus

In order to investigate whether earthworm fibrinolytic enzyme III-1 (EFE-III-1) isolated from Lumbricus rubellus is capable of transporting into blood through intestinal epithelium and keeping its biological function in circulation, we have raised an antibody against EFE-III-1. The immunological results showed that 10-15% of intact EFE-III-1 was absorbed by the intestinal epithelium with the incubation chamber method [Vilhardt and Lundin, Acta Physiol. Scand. 126 (1986) 601-607]. The enzyme could be detected in the intestinal epithelial cells by immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, immunoreactive intact EFE-III-1 was found in serum or plasma after intraperitoneal injection of rats. Approx. 10% of the full-size enzyme could transport through the intestinal epithelium. The maximum remaining activity in blood could be assayed around 60 min after the intraperitoneal injection.