[Meta-analysis of effect of Jinqi Jiangtang Tablets on treating insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes].

To systematically assess the efficacy and safety of Jinqi Jiangtang Tablets for patients with insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes, literatures were retrieved in 7 databases: PubMed, EMbase, Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI), WanFang database, Chinese BioMedical Database(CBM), VIP Chinese Science and Technique Journals Database, from the date of its inception up to November 2018. Review Manager 5.3 software was used for risk bias assessment, data synthesis and subgroup analysis. Begg's and Egger's tests were performed for assessing symmetries of funnel plot by software Stata 14.0. GRADE system was used to assess the quality of evidence. A total of 10 trials involving 797 participants were eligible. Compared with Western medicine alone, Jinqi Jiangtang Tablets showed a statistical significance in FBG(WMD=-0.63, 95%CI[-1.00,-0.26]). Jinqi Jiangtang Tablets showed a significant decrease in 2 h BG combined with Western medicine compared with Western medicine alone(WMD=-1.46, 95%CI[-1.71,-1.21], P<0.000 01). Jinqi Jiangtang Tablets combined with Western medicine showed a significant decrease in HbA1 c(WMD=-0.75, 95%CI[-0.97,-0.53], P<0.000 01), FINS(WMD=-0.65, 95%CI[-0.80,-0.50], P<0.000 01), 2 h INS(SMD=-1.67, 95%CI[-2.26,-1.09], P<0.000 01) and HOMA-IR(WMD=-1.22, 95%CI[-1.67,-0.76], P<0.000 01). Jinqi Jiangtang Tablets combined with Western medicine was beneficial for ISI(WMD=1.00, 95%CI[0.84, 1.17], P<0.000 01). Egger's and Begg's test showed no publication bias(P=0.379). Sensitivity analysis showed no impact on the overall results. The GRADE quality of the evidence was low. Despite of the apparently positive results, we cannot draw a rational conclusion that Jinqi Jiangtang Tablets has a positive effect in patients with IR, because of the low evidence grade.

Screening and validating the core biomarkers in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PAAD) is one of the most common malignant tumors in digestive system. To find the new therapeutic targets and explore potential mechanisms underlying PAAD, the bioinformatics has been performed in our study. The PAAD gene expression profile GSE28735 was chosen to analyze the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between PAAD carcinoma tissues and normal adjacent tissues from 45 patients with PAAD. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis were performed using Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID). Moreover, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was also constructed to help us screen the top 20 hub genes in this profile and demonstrated the underlying interactions among them. The Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) was further performed in order to valid the mRNA levels of top5 up-regulated and top5 down-regualted DEGs, apart from exploring their association with survival rate as well as tumor stage. Finally, Q-PCR was further employed to valid the top5 up-regulated and top5 down-regulated genes in patients with PAAD. In our study, there were a total of 444 DEGs captured (271 up-regulated genes and 173 down-regulated genes). Among these DEGs, the top5 up-regulated genes were CEACAM5, SLC6A14, LAMC2, GALNT5 and TSPAN1 while the top5 down-regulated genes were GP2, CTRC, IAPP, PNLIPRP2 and PNLIPRP1. GO analysis disclosed that the DEGs were predominantly enriched in cell adhesion, lipid metabolism, integrin binding, proteolysis and calcium ion binding. KEGG analysis disclosed that the enriched pathway included pancreatic secretion, protein digestion and absorption, fat digestion and absorption, ECM-receptor interaction, focal adhesion and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Survival analysis unveiled that the high expression levels of SLC6A14, GALNT5 and TSPAN1 may correlate with the poor prognosis while high expression levels of IAPP may contribute to a better prognosis in patients with PAAD. Additionally, the levels of CEACAM5, SLC6A14, LAMC2 and GALNT5 were also associated with tumor stage. Furthermore, according to the connectivity degree of these DEGs, we selected the top20 hub genes, namely ALB, FN1, EGF, MMP9, COL1A1, COL3A1, FBN1, CXCL12, POSTIN, BGN, VCAN, THBS2, KRT19, MET, MMP14, COL5A2, GCG, MUC1, MMP1 and CPB1, which were expected to be promising therapeutic targets in PAAD. Collectively, our bioinformatics analysis showed that DEGs and hub genes may be defined as new biomarkers for diagnosis and for guiding the therapeutic strategies of PAAD.

A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of the Wenyang Huoxue method in treating diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy and safety of the Wenyang Huoxue method for patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed using 7 databases: PUBMED, EMBASE, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, Chinese BioMedical, and the VIP Chinese Science and Technique Journals. The publication time was from the start of each database up to November 2018. Review Manager 5.3 software was used for assessing potential bias, data synthesis, and the subgroup analysis. Begg and Egger tests were used to assess funnel plot symmetries using Stata 14.0 software. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system was used to assess the quality of evidence. RESULTS: A total of 22 trials involving 1835 participants were eligible. There were significant differences in a total effective rate between the Wenyang Huoxue method combined with Western medicine and Western medicine alone (RR = 1.33, 95% CI 1.26-1.41; P < .00001). As for the sensory conduction velocity (SCV) of the peroneal nerve, the Wenyang Huoxue method combined with Western medicine compared with Western medicine alone had a significant increase (weighted mean difference [WMD] = 5.00, 95% CI 3.42-6.57; P < .00001). Also, the Wenyang Huoxue method combined with Western medicine had significant increases in motor conduction velocity (MCV) of the peroneal nerve (WMD = 4.48, 95% CI 3.78-5.19; P < .00001), tibial nerve SCV (WMD = 3.47, 95% CI 2.66-4.28; P < .00001), tibial nerve MCV (4.87, 95% CI 3.21-6.53; P < .00001), median nerve SCV (WMD = 3.78, 95% CI 3.07-4.50; P < .00001), and median nerve MCV (WMD = 4.50, 95% CI 3.40-5.59; P < .00001). However, the effect of the Wenyang Huoxue method on fasting blood glucose, 2-h postprandial blood glucose, and glycosylated hemoglobin was not statistically significant. Egger's test results showed that there was no publication bias (P = .0008), but the trim and filling method showed steady results. An influence analysis showed that no single study affected the overall result. The GRADE quality of the evidence was low to moderate across the different outcomes. CONCLUSION: Despite of the apparently positive findings, the quality of GRADE is not high, suggesting that the Wenyang Huoxue method can improve nerve conduction velocity to a certain extent, but more rigorous literature is needed to support this evidence.

The Association of Serum IL-33 and sST2 with Breast Cancer.

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant diseases in women. The main cause of death from breast cancer is its metastases at distant sites in the body. Interleukin-33 (IL-33) is a cytokine of the IL-1 family and found overexpressed in various cancers. The aim of the present study was to explore the association of serum IL-33 and sST2 with breast cancer. Here, the serum levels of Interleukin-33 (IL-33) and sST2 were found significantly higher in breast cancer patients than in healthy volunteers. Serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), metalloproteinase-11 (MMP-11), and platelet-derived growth factor-C (PDGF-C) were also greater in breast cancer patients compared to healthy volunteers. We found that serum levels of IL-33 or sST2 were positively correlated with the serum levels of VEGF, MMP-11, and PDGF-C. Moreover, breast cancer dataset downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas showed that patients with higher level of MMP-11 or PDGF-C expression had shorter survival time than those with lower level of these proteins. In conclusion, IL-33 and sST2 may serve as noninvasive diagnosis markers for breast cancer. IL-33 and sST2 were significantly associated with MMP-11 or PDGF-C which indicated poor prognosis of breast cancer patients.

SCYL1BP1 has tumor-suppressive functions in human lung squamous carcinoma cells by regulating degradation of MDM2.

SCY1-like 1-binding protein 1 (SCYL1BP1) is a newly identified transcriptional activator domain containing protein with many unknown biological functions. Recently emerging evidence has revealed that it is a novel regulator of the p53 pathway, which is very important for the development of human cancer. However, the effects of SCYL1BP1 on human lung squamous carcinoma cell biological behavior remain poorly understood. In this study, we present evidence that SCYL1BP1 can promote the degradation of MDM2 protein and further inhibit the G1/S transition of lung squamous carcinoma cell lines. Functional assays found that reintroduction of SCYL1BP1 into lung squamous carcinoma cell lines significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration, invasion and tumor formation in nude mice, suggesting strong tumor suppressive function of SCYL1BP1 in lung squamous carcinoma. Taken together, our data suggest that the interaction of SCYL1BP1/MDM2 could accelerate MDM2 degradation, and may function as an important tumor suppressor in lung squamous carcinomas.