The Role of H. pylori CagA in Regulating Hormones of Functional Dyspepsia Patients.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori, Hp) colonizes the stomachs of approximately 20%-80% of humans throughout the world. The Word Healthy Organization (WHO) classified H. pylori as a group 1 carcinogenic factor in 1994. Recently, an increasing number of studies has shown an association between H. pylori infection and various extragastric diseases. Functional dyspepsia (FD) is considered a biopsychosocial disorder with multifactorial pathogenesis, and studies have shown that infection with CagA-positive H. pylori strains could explain some of the symptoms of functional dyspepsia. Moreover, CagA-positive H. pylori strains have been shown to affect the secretion of several hormones, including 5-HT, ghrelin, dopamine, and gastrin, and altered levels of these hormones might be the cause of the psychological disorders of functional dyspepsia patients. This review describes the mutual effects of H. pylori and hormones in functional dyspepsia and provides new insight into the pathogenesis of functional dyspepsia.

Adipose-derived stem cells: A candidate for liver regeneration.

The scarcity of donor livers and the impracticality of hepatocyte transplantation represent the biggest obstacles for the treatment of liver failure. Adipose-derived stem cells, with their ability to differentiate into the hepatic lineage, provide a reliable alternative cell source with clear ethical and practical advantages. Moreover, adipose-derived stem cells can effectively repair liver damage by the dominant indirect pattern and increase the number of hepatocytes by the secondary direct pattern. In recent years, the development of the indirect pattern, which mainly includes immunomodulatory and trophic effects, has become a hot topic in the field of cell engineering. Therefore, adipose-derived stem cells are considered to be ideal therapeutic stem cells for human liver regeneration. In this article, we reviewed the advantages of adipose-derived stem cells in liver regeneration, and explore their underlying mechanisms.

Glucocorticoids can increase the survival rate of patients with severe viral hepatitis B: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Severe viral hepatitis B is a disease associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Clinical controlled trials show that the efficacy of treatment of severe viral hepatitis B with glucocorticoids remains debatable. Therefore, we carried out this meta-analysis to evaluate the safety, efficacy, and side effects of glucocorticoid therapy for severe viral hepatitis B. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar for randomized-controlled trials published before April 2012 in which glucocorticoid therapy was compared with routine treatment for severe viral hepatitis B. The primary outcome was the survival rate of the two groups. RESULTS: We selected eight controlled clinical trials, which included 597 patients. We recorded a benefit of glucocorticoid treatment on the survival rate of patients with severe viral hepatitis B (597 patients) [risk ratio (RR)=1.188, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.030-1.369, P=0.018]. The benefit was most noticeable in patients at the stage of preliver failure (409 patients) (RR=1.275, 95% CI 1.077-1.510, P=0.005), whereas there was no efficacy for patients with liver failure (188 patients) (RR=1.008, 95% CI 0.774-1.312, P=0.955). Glucocorticoid treatment was not associated with the development of secondary infection and bleeding. CONCLUSION: Treatment with glucocorticoids can significantly increase the survival rate of patients with severe hepatitis B. The benefit was most noticeable in patients at the stage of preliver failure. However, the incidence of secondary infection and bleeding did not change significantly. This finding suggests that prompt and timely glucocorticoid treatment is crucial.

Prognostic role of telomerase activity in gastric adenocarcinoma: A meta-analysis.

Activation of telomerase is involved in carcinogenesis in most types of cancers. However, the prognostic value of telomerase activity (TA) in patients with gastric carcinoma (GC) remains controversial. We conducted a meta-analysis to assess the relationship between TA and the clinical outcome of GC. A meta-analysis of 18 studies (886 patients) was performed to evaluate the association between TA and metastasis-related parameters in GC patients by searching databases, including PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science databases, Cochrane Library and the Chinese Biomedical Literature database (CBM) (last search updated in October 2011). We used the odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to assess the strength of the association between TA and metastasis of GC. Our analysis results indicated that high telomerase activity expression tended to be associated with the presence of lymph node metastasis (866 patients) (OR=2.03, 95% CI 1.21-3.39, p=0.007), the depth of invasion (886 patients) (OR=1.87, 95% CI 1.30-2.70, p=0.0007), distant metastasis (407 patients) (OR=2.71, 95% CI 1.59-4.63, p=0.0002), tumor size (466 patients) (OR=2.14, 95% CI 1.31-3.50, p=0.002) and TNM stage (711 patients) (OR=2.39, 95% CI 1.30-4.41, p=0.005). However, high TA expression was not associated with the presence of histologic differentiation (791 patients) (OR=1.51, 95% CI 0.73-3.11, p=0.26). In conclusion, telomerase overexpression not only plays a key role in primary initiation, but also promotes invasion and metastatic progression of GC. These findings raise the possibility of using TA to screen for the prognosis of gastric cancer.

Effects of constructed wetland system on the removal of dibutyl phthalate (DBP).

Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) have become widely diffused in the environment via the manufacturing process. Numerous experiments have shown that the bioaccumulation of PAEs occurred in the aquatic and terrestrial food chain; meanwhile, it was found that some of PAEs were considered as potential carcinogens, teratogens and mutagens. In this research, two vertical/reverse-vertical flow constructed wetland systems were set up to study its removal efficiency of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) pollution. The results showed that the constructed wetland system could remove DBP effectively, and the removal rates reached nearly 100%. Substrate microorganism and enzymatic activities probably played key roles during DBP removal, and the removal of DBP probably mainly took place in the upper layer of chamber A in the constructed wetland systems.