The prognostic value of Th17/Treg cell in cervical cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The prognostic significance of Treg and Th17 cells, as well as their ratio (Th17/Treg), in cervical cancer remains a topic of debate. Our study aimed to clarify their association with patient survival and clinical outcomes in cervical cancer through a comprehensive meta-analysis. Materials and methods: We conducted a comprehensive search in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science to identify eligible studies. Studies related to cervical cancer and involving Treg cells or Th17 cells were included. For prognostic analysis, we collected Hazard Ratio values of patient survival. For studies focusing on clinical characteristics, we selected mean and standard deviation values for further analysis. This study was registered at PROSPERO (ID:CRD42024546507). Results: Out of the 2949 records initially retrieved, we ultimately included 21 studies in our analysis. High levels of Treg cells were found to be correlated with shorter survival in patients with cervical cancer. Subgroup analysis revealed that the prognostic effect of Treg cells on cervical cancer was not influenced by their source or definition. However, analyses of different survival measures indicated that only Overall Survival showed a correlation with Treg cell levels. Additionally, Treg cells were associated with clinical staging. High-grade Th17 cells were associated with lymphatic metastases and advanced clinical stage. The Th17/Treg ratio was found to be elevated in both cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cervical cancer patients compared to controls. Discussion: Despite limitations such as heterogeneity among selected studies and inadequate subgroup analyses, our study contributes to a deeper understanding of the significance of Treg cells in the onset and progression of cervical cancer. It also provides valuable insights for future research in immunotherapy. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42024546507.

Clinicopathologic and prognostic significance of tumor-associated macrophages in cervical cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The role of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in cervical cancer (CC) remains controversial. Here, we report a meta-analysis of the association between TAMs infiltration and clinical outcomes. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and CNKI were searched systematically from inception until December 20, 2023. Studies involving TAMs and prognosis, clinical, or pathological features were included. Quality assessments of the selected studies were assessed. The fixed-effect or random-effects model, standard mean difference (SMD), odds ratios (OR), or hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used as the effect size estimate. RESULTS: 26 eligible studies with 2,295 patients were identified. Our meta-analysis revealed that TAMs were overexpressed in CC (OR = 12.93, 95% CI = 7.73-21.61 and SMD = 1.58, 95% CI = 0.95-2.21) and that elevated TAM levels were strongly associated with lymph node metastasis (LNM) (SMD = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.90-2.01) and FIGO stages (SMD = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.08-0.85). Subgroup analysis indicated a significant positive correlation between LNM and TAMs density in tumor stroma, but not in cancer nests (SMD = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.31-0.58). Furthermore, in early stage, a stronger correlation exists between LNM and TAM density (SMD = 1.21, 95% CI = 0.75-1.66). In addition, it revealed that patients with high TAMs expression had poorer overall survival (OS) (HR = 2.55 95% CI = 1.59-4.07) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR = 2.17, 95% CI = 1.40-3.35). CONCLUSIONS: Our analyses suggest that a high density of TAMs predicts adverse outcomes in CC.

Oncological outcomes of fertility-sparing surgery versus radical surgery in stage - epithelial ovarian cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The oncological outcomes of fertility-sparing surgery (FSS) compared to radical surgery (RS) in patients with stage I epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) remain a subject of debate. We evaluated the risk ratios (RRs) for outcomes in patients with stage I EOC who underwent FSS versus RS. METHODS: We conducted a systematic search of PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase for articles published up to November 29, 2023. Studies that did not involve surgical procedures or included pregnant patients were excluded. We calculated the RRs for disease-free survival, overall survival, and recurrence rate. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias in Nonrandomized Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I) tool. The meta-analysis was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42024546460). RESULTS: From the 5,529 potentially relevant articles, we identified 83 articles for initial screening and included 12 articles in the final meta-analysis, encompassing 2,906 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. There were no significant differences between the two groups in disease-free survival (RR [95% confidence interval {CI}], 0.90 [0.51, 1.58]; P = 0.71), overall survival (RR [95% CI], 0.74 [0.53, 1.03]; P = 0.07), and recurrence rate (RR [95% CI], 1.10 [0.69, 1.76]; P = 0.68). In sensitivity analyses, the significant difference was observed only for overall survival (before exclusion: RR [95% CI], 0.74 [0.53-1.03], P = 0.07; after exclusion: RR [95% CI], 0.70 [0.50-0.99]; P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first and only individual patient data meta-analysis comparing disease-free survival, overall survival, and recurrence rate of patients with early-stage epithelial ovarian cancer undergoing FSS and RS. FSS was associated with similar disease-free survival and risk of recurrence as RS. We hypothesized that the decreased overall survival in the FSS group could not be attributed to distant metastases from epithelial ovarian cancer.

Direct abdominal vein thrombus imaging (DATI): a contrast-free black-blood MR technique for the diagnosis of abdominal vein thrombosis.

OBJECTIVES: To develop and evaluate a direct abdominal vein thrombus imaging (DATI) technique, based on a respiratory navigating SPACE sequence with DANTE black-blood preparation, for diagnosing abdominal vein thrombosis (AVT) without the use of exogenous contrast agents. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 10 healthy subjects and 28 suspected AVT patients who underwent DATI scans on 3.0 T MRI. Contrast-enhanced CT venography (CTV) was also conducted on the suspected AVT patients for comparison. All images were analyzed by two blinded radiologists who independently evaluated randomized images and gave image quality and diagnostic confidence scores (1-poor, 4-excellent) for DATI and CTV. The accuracy (ACC), sensitivity (SE), specificity (SP), positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of CTV were calculated using CTV as a standard reference. The diagnostic agreement between DATI and CTV as well as the interobserver agreement were conducted using Cohen κ test. RESULTS: The patient study demonstrated that DATI can provide adequate thrombus signal intensity and the contrast between the thrombus to dark venous lumen for the diagnosis of AVT. It offers good to excellent image quality (reader1/reader2: 3.50 ± 0.64/3.42 ± 0.63, κ = 0.872) and diagnostic confidence (reader1/reader2: 3.71 ± 0.53/3.78 ± 0.42, κ = 0.804) for the diagnosis of AVT. Taking CTV as a reference, DATI has high accuracy (96.6%), SE (91.5%), SP (98.0%), PPV (92.3%), and NPV (97.8%). DATA CONCLUSION: DATI can provide good to excellent image quality, effective venous blood signal suppression, and definitive thrombus detection for the diagnosis of AVT without the use of exogenous contrast agents.

Correlation analysis between vitamin A, D, and E status with altitude, seasonal variation, and other factors, among children aged 0-6 years in a Chinese population living in the Tibetan plateau of Ganzi prefecture.

OBJECTIVE: We attempted to understand the status of vitamin (Vit) A, D, and E in children aged 0-6 living in the Tibetan plateau areas of Ganzi prefecture, to provide the basis for relevant government departments to carry out physical examinations of these children and to prevent and cure four key diseases (Infantile diarrhea, nutritional anemia, rickets, and infantile pneumonia). METHODS: Serum retinol and tocopherol levels were detected using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Serum levels of 25-(OH)D were detected by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The polynomial logistic regression was used to analyze the effects of age, season, altitude, and gender on Vit A, D, and E levels. RESULTS: Vit A and D had the lowest mean serum levels before the age of 1 year and with the most significant deficiency rates. The lowest Vit E levels were seen in the Toddlerhood group. The rates of deficiency and insufficiency were the highest. Vit A, D, and E levels were significantly affected by seasonal changes and were significantly higher in the summer than in any other season. Vit A and D were significantly affected by altitude, and their levels were lowest above 4 km. CONCLUSION: The overall levels of Vit A, D, and E in children aged 0-6 in the Tibetan plateau areas of Ganzi prefecture were lower than those in the plain's areas.

10-HDA Induces ROS-Mediated Apoptosis in A549 Human Lung Cancer Cells by Regulating the MAPK, STAT3, NF-κB, and TGF-ß1 Signaling Pathways.

10-Hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA), also known as royal jelly acid, has a variety of physiological functions, and recent studies have shown that it also has anticancer effects. However, its anticancer mechanisms have not been clearly defined. In this study, we investigated the underlying mechanisms of 10-HDA in A549 human lung cancer cells. We used Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, scratch wound healing assay, flow cytometry, and western blot analysis to investigate its apoptotic effects and underlying mechanism. Our results showed that 10-HDA inhibited the proliferation of three types of human lung cancer cells and had no significant toxic effects on normal cells. Accompanying reactive oxygen species (ROS), 10-HDA induced A549 cell apoptosis by regulating mitochondrial-associated apoptosis, and caused cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase in a time-dependent manner. Meanwhile, 10-HDA also regulated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathways by increasing the expression levels of phosphorylated c-Jun N-terminal kinase, p-p38, and I-κB, and additionally, by decreasing the expression levels of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase, p-STAT3, and NF-κB. These effects were blocked by MAPK inhibitors and N-acetyl-L-cysteine. Furthermore, 10-HDA inhibited cell migration by regulating transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-ß1), SNAI1, GSK-3ß, E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and vimentin. Taken together, the results of this study showed that 10-HDA induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in A549 human lung cancer cells through ROS-mediated MAPK, STAT3, NF-κB, and TGF-ß1 signaling pathways. Therefore, 10-HDA may be a potential therapy for human lung cancer.

[Role of microRNA-17-5p in the pathogenesis of pediatric nephrotic syndrome and related mechanisms].

OBJECTIVE: To study the role of microRNA-17-5p (miR-17-5p) in the pathogenesis of pediatric nephrotic syndrome (NS) and its effect on renal podocyte apoptosis via the activin A (ActA)/Smads pathway. METHODS: An analysis was performed on 55 children with NS (NS group) who were admitted from March 2018 to March 2019. Fifty healthy children who underwent physical examination during the same period of time were enrolled as the control group. The mRNA expression of miR-17-5p in peripheral blood was measured and compared between the two groups. Human renal podocytes were transfected with antisense oligonucleotide recombinant plasmid containing miR-17-5p (inhibition group) or control vector containing nonsense random sequence (negative control group), and untreated human renal podocytes were used as the blank group. These groups were compared in terms of cell apoptosis and the mRNA and protein expression of miR-17-5p, ActA, and Smads after transfection. RESULTS: The NS group had a significantly higher level of miR-17-5p in peripheral blood than the control group (P<0.001). Compared with the blank and negative control groups, the inhibition group had significantly lower apoptosis rate and relative mRNA expression of miR-17-5p and significantly higher relative mRNA and protein expression of ActA, Smad2, and Smad3 (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: There is an increase in the content of miR-17-5p in peripheral blood in children with NS. Low expression of miR-17-5p can inhibit the apoptosis of human renal podocytes, which may be associated with the upregulation of the mRNA and protein expression of ActA, Smad2 and Smad3.

Acupuncture for hyperlipidemia: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Hyperlipidemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Acupuncture has been widely applied in the treatment of hyperlipidemia. But its efficacy has not been evaluated scientifically and systematically. Therefore, we provide a protocol of systematic evaluation to assess the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture treatment on patient with hyperlipidemia. METHODS: We will search the following databases electronically, including 3 English literature databases (i.e., PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library) and 4 Chinese literature databases (i.e., Chinese Biological and Medical database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP, and Wanfang Database). We will also search randomized-controlled trials about acupuncture treatment for hyperlipidemia and the search time limit is from its establishment to October 2018. The primary outcome is lipid-lowering efficacy. Secondary outcomes are total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. We will use RevMan V.5.3 software as well to compute the data synthesis carefully when a meta-analysis is allowed. RESULTS: This study will provide a high-quality synthesis to assess the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture treatment on patient with hyperlipidemia. CONCLUSION: The conclusion of our systematic review will provide evidence to judge whether acupuncture is an effective intervention for patient with hyperlipidemia.

Identifying genes related with rheumatoid arthritis via system biology analysis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, inflammatory joint disease that mainly attacks synovial joints. However, the underlying systematic relationship among different genes and biological processes involved in the pathogenesis are still unclear. By analyzing and comparing the transcriptional profiles from RA, OA (osteoarthritis) patients as well as ND (normal donors) with bioinformatics methods, we tend to uncover the potential molecular networks and critical genes which play important roles in RA and OA development. Initially, hierarchical clustering was performed to classify the overall transcriptional profiles. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between ND and RA and OA patients were identified. Furthermore, PPI networks were constructed, functional modules were extracted, and functional annotation was also applied. Our functional analysis identifies 22 biological processes and 2 KEGG pathways enriched in the commonly-regulated gene set. However, we found that number of set of genes differentially expressed genes only between RA and ND reaches up to 244, indicating this gene set may specifically accounts for processing to disease of RA. Additionally, 142 biological processes and 19 KEGG pathways are over-represented by these 244 genes. Meanwhile, although another 21 genes were differentially expressed only in OA and ND, no biological process nor pathway is over-represented by them.

Expression of HLA-G is associated with prognosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

The detection of HLA-G expression might serve as a clinical marker in the diagnosis or prediction of clinical outcomes for certain types of carcinoma. The aim of this study was to determine whether the detection of HLA-G has any important clinical applications for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) by using immunohistochemical methods. We observed that the HLA-G protein was expressed in 90.9% (110/121) of the primary sites of ESCC but not in the normal esophageal tissues. The expression of HLA-G in the tumors was significantly correlated with histologic grade, depth of invasion, nodal status, host immune response, and clinical stage of disease. Patients with positive HLA-G expression had a significantly worse prognosis. In multivariate analysis, HLA-G was an independent prognostic factor. Our results indicate that expression of HLA-G is a characteristic feature of ESCC and suggest that immunostaining by anti-HLA-G antibodies may be a potentially useful prognostic indicator.

Expression of human leucocyte antigen G (HLA-G) is associated with prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer.

In a previous study, we demonstrated that human leucocyte antigen G (HLA-G) was aberrantly expressed in a majority of primary colorectal carcinomas, and that the detection of HLA-G expression had a strong and independent prognostic value in human colorectal cancer. In the current study, we look into whether the aberrant expression of HLA-G is also related to non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The expression of HLA-G was investigated immunohistochemically in 106 patients with NSCLC. The correlation between HLA-G status and various clinicopathological parameters was analysed. As well, the level of HLA-G expression was also compared to the survival rate of patients with NSCLC. In total, we found that in 75% (79/106) of the primary site of NSCLC, an aberrant HLA-G expression was detected. However, this expression was not observed in the normal lung tissues. HLA-G expression in NSCLC was significantly correlated with lymph nodal metastasis, clinical stages of the disease, and host immune response (P = 0.0001, 0.0001, and 0.027, respectively). Patients with HLA-G positive tumours had a significantly shorter survival time than those with tumours that were HLA-G negative (P = 0.001). In addition, through multivariate analysis, HLA-G exhibited an independent prognostic factor (P = 0.01, relative risk 4.09; 95% confidence interval 1.40-11.9). All in all, our results indicate that the expression of HLA-G is a characteristic feature of NSCLC, and they suggest that immunostaining by anti-HLA-G antibodies may be a potentially useful prognostic indicator.

Expression of human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) correlates with poor prognosis in gastric carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: We had previously demonstrated that human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) was expressed in a majority of primary colorectal carcinomas and that the detection of HLA-G expression had a strong and independent prognostic value for that cancer. Currently, we investigate whether or not HLA-G is also expressed in patients with gastric carcinoma and whether the expression has any clinical application value. METHODS: The expression of HLA-G was investigated immunohistochemically in 160 patients with gastric carcinoma. The correlation between HLA-G status and various clinicopathological parameters was analyzed with the levels of HLA-G expression used to compare the survival length amongst patients. RESULTS: HLA-G protein expression was observed in 71% (113 of 160) of the primary site of gastric carcinomas, but not in the normal stomach tissues. HLA-G expression in the tumors was significantly correlated with the tumor location, histological grade, depth of invasion, lymph nodal metastasis, clinical stages of the disease, and host immune response (P = .012, .008, .001, .038, .030, and .016, respectively). Patients with HLA-G positive tumors had a significantly shorter survival time than those patients with tumors that were HLA-G negative (P = .001). As well, in multivariate analysis, HLA-G demonstrated an independent prognostic factor (P = .0001, relative risk 9.08; 95% confidence interval, 3.44-24.0). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our results indicated that the expression of HLA-G is a characteristic feature of gastric carcinoma and that immunostaining by anti-HLA-G antibody may be a potentially useful prognostic indicator.

Human leukocyte antigen G expression: as a significant prognostic indicator for patients with colorectal cancer.

Aberrant expression of human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) has been proposed to be involved in tumor escape mechanisms. It has been also proposed that detection of HLA-G might service as a potential biomarker for diagnosis or prediction of the clinical outcomes in ovarian and breast cancers, carcinoma of the lung and endometrial cancer. The aim of this current study is to determine if HLA-G is expressed in colorectal carcinomas and if the expression is associated with clinicopathological and prognostic data. The expression of HLA-G was investigated immunohistochemically in 201 patients with colorectal carcinomas. The correlation between HLA-G status, clinicopathological factors and the overall survival rate was analyzed. In this prospectively study, HLA-G protein expression was observed in 64.6% (130/201) of the primary site colorectal carcinomas, but not in the normal colorectal tissues or benign adenomas. HLA-G expression in the tumors was significantly correlated with the depth of invasion, histological grade, host immune response, lymph nodal metastasis and clinical stages of the disease (P=0.001, 0.0001, 0.002, 0.001 and 0.031, respectively). Patients with HLA-G positive tumors had a significantly shorter survival time than those patients with tumors that were HLA-G negative (P=0.0001). As well, in multivariate analysis, HLA-G demonstrated an independent prognostic factor (P=0.021, relative risk 3.14; 95% confidence interval, 1.34-8.10). Therefore, it can be gathered that HLA-G might serve as an independent prognostic factor for colorectal cancer patients.