Pre-mixed nitrous oxide/oxygen mixture treatment of pain induced by postoperative dressing change for perianal abscess: Study protocol for a randomized, controlled trial.

AIM: This study aims to evaluate the safety and analgesic efficacy of pre-mixed nitrous oxide/oxygen mixture treatment of pain induced by dressing change for perianal abscess. DESIGN: This protocol is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. METHODS: This study will be implemented in the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Subjects enrolled in this study are hospitalized patients who suffered from moderate to severe pain due to dressing change after incision and drainage. Two hundred patients will be selected and randomly assigned to either an intervention or a control group. The intervention group will get routine pain treatment plus pre-mixed nitrous oxide/oxygen mixture treatment and the control group will be treated with routine pain management plus medical air treatment. All these patients, medical staff and investigators are blind to the nature of the gas in each cylinder, which is randomized. Data will be collected at baseline (T0), 5 min (T1) after the starting of intervention and 5 min post intervention (T2) for each group. The primary outcome is the level of pain relief at T1 and T2. The secondary outcomes cover physiological parameters, adverse events, satisfaction of patients and health professionals and the acceptance from patients. DISCUSSION: Results of this study will be discussed and the safety and effect of nitrous oxide/oxygen treatment of pain induced by dressing change will be proven. IMPACT: When the finding of this study has an active effect on the treatment of pain caused by dressing change, it may provide more options for nursing staff to choose nurse-led analgesia techniques and then improving the level and quality of pain care as well as patients' overall satisfaction with the Anorectal Department in China.

Nicotine stimulated dendritic cells could achieve anti-tumor effects in mouse lung and liver cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Our previous studies have revealed that nicotine-treated immature dendritic cells (imDCs) have anti-tumor effects in murine lymphoma models. The present study is to explore the preventive and therapeutic anti-tumor effects of nicotine-treated imDCs in murine lung and liver cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To address this objection, bone marrow-derived imDCs were firstly stimulated by nicotine in vitro and the expressions of CD80, CD86, CD40, CD11b, MHC class I and II were determined by flow cytometry. Then, DCs-dependent tumor-lysate-specific T cell proliferation, IL-12(p40+p70) secretion were determined by BrdU cell proliferation assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. The anti-tumor effects of such imDCs were further explored by intraperitoneal transfer against tumor challenge or implantation. By using kinase inhibitors, the mechanism of nicotine upregulating CD80 was finally explored by flow cytometry. RESULTS: The results showed that: firstly, nicotine could upregulate the expressions of CD80, CD86, CD40,CD11b, MHC class I and II molecules in imDCs. Secondly, nicotine could promote imDCs-dependent T cell priming and IL-12 secretion. Most importantly, systemic transfer of ex vivo nicotine-stimulated imDCs, which enhanced CD80 expression through PI3K activation, could reveal preventive and effectively therapeutic effects on tumor development. CONCLUSIONS: Ex vivo nicotine stimulation can significantly improve imDCs efficacy for adaptive therapy of cancer. Nicotine-treated imDCs might be considered as a potential candidate for therapeutic tumor immunotherapy for lung and liver cancer.

Obesity promotes gastric cancer metastasis via diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2-dependent lipid droplets accumulation and redox homeostasis.

Experimental and molecular epidemiological studies indicate important roles for adipose tissue or high-fat diet (HFD) in tumor growth and metastasis. Gastric cancer (GC) possesses a metastatic predilection for the adipocyte-rich peritoneum. However, the precise molecular relevance of HFD in the peritoneal metastasis of GC remains unclear. Here, we showed that HFD causes obvious fat accumulation and promotes peritoneal dissemination of GC in vivo. Peritoneum-derived adipocytes induces robust lipid droplet (LD) accumulation and fatty acid oxidation in GC cells through transcriptional upregulation of DGAT2 in a C/EBPα-dependent manner and prevents anoikis during peritoneal dissemination. Treatment of GC cells with FAs or coculture with adipocytes induces intracellular formation of LDs and production of NADPH to overcome oxidative stress in vitro. Importantly, overexpression of DGAT2 was identified as an independent predictor of poor survival that promotes lung and peritoneal metastasis of GC, and genetic or pharmacological inhibition of DGAT2, via disruption of lipid droplet formation in a lipid-rich environment, enhances the sensitivity of GC to anoikis in vitro and inhibits peritoneal metastasis in vivo. Overall, our findings highlight the notion that DGAT2 may be a promising therapeutic target in GC with peritoneal implantation and provide some evidence for uncovering the link between obesity and tumor metastasis.