Combined anterior and posterior approach in treatment of ankylosing spondylitis-associated cervical fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Cervical fractures with ankylosing spondylitis (CAS) are a specific type of spinal fracture with poor stability, low healing rate, and high disability rate. Its treatment is mainly surgical, predominantly through the anterior approach, posterior approach, and the anterior-posterior approach. Although many clinical studies have been conducted on various surgical approaches, controversy still exists concerning the choice of these surgical approaches by surgeons. The authors present here a systematic evaluation and meta-analysis exploring the utility of the anterior-posterior approach versus the anterior approach and the posterior approach. METHODS: After a comprehensive literature search of PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Embase databases, 12 clinical studies were included in the final qualitative analysis and 8 in the final quantitative analysis. Of these studies, 11 conducted a comparison between the anterior-posterior approach and the anterior approach and posterior approaches, while one examined only the anterior-posterior approach. Where appropriate, statistical advantage ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. RESULTS: The present meta-analysis of postoperative neurological improvement showed no statistical difference in the overall neurological improvement rate between the anterior-posterior approach and anterior approach (OR 1.70, 95% CI 0.61 to 4.75; p = 0.31). However, the mean change in postoperative neurological function was lower in patients who received the anterior approach than in those who received the anterior-posterior approach (MD 0.17, 95% CI -0.02 to 0.36; p = 0.08). There was an identical trend between the anterior-posterior approach and posterior approach, with no statistically significant difference in the overall rate of neurological improvement (OR 1.37, 95% CI 0.70 to 2.56; p = 0.38). Nevertheless, the mean change in neurological function was smaller in patients receiving the anterior-posterior approach compared with the posterior approach, but there was no statistically significant difference between the two (MD 0.17, 95% CI -0.02 to 0.36; p = 0.08). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this review and meta-analysis suggest that the benefits of the anterior-posterior approach are different from those of the anterior and posterior approaches in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis-related cervical fractures. In a word, there is no significant difference between the cervical surgical approach and the neurological functional improvement. Therefore, surgeons should pay more attention to the type of cervical fracture, the displacement degree of cervical fracture, the spinal cord injury, the balance of cervical spine and other aspects to comprehensively consider the selection of appropriate surgical methods.

Forecast of Winter Precipitation Type Based on Machine Learning Method.

A winter precipitation-type prediction is a challenging problem due to the complexity in the physical mechanisms and computability in numerical modeling. In this study, we introduce a new method of precipitation-type prediction based on the machine learning approach LightGBM. The precipitation-type records of the in situ observations collected from 32 national weather stations in northern China during 1997-2018 are used as the labels. The features are selected from the conventional meteorological data of the corresponding hourly reanalysis data ERA5. The evaluation results of the model performance reflect that randomly sampled validation data will lead to an illusion of a better model performance. Extreme climate background conditions will reduce the prediction accuracy of the predictive model. A feature importance analysis illustrates that the features of the surrounding area with a -12 h offset time have a higher impact on the ground precipitation types. The exploration of the predictability of our model reveals the feasibility of using the analysis data to predict future precipitation types. We use the ECMWF precipitation-type (ECPT) forecast products as the benchmark to compare with our machine learning precipitation-type (MLPT) predictions. The overall accuracy (ACC) and Heidke skill score (HSS) of the MLPT are 0.83 and 0.69, respectively, which are considerably higher than the 0.78 and 0.59 of the ECPT. For stations at elevations below 800 m, the overall performance of the MLPT is even better.

Intestinal microbiota score could predict survival following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Intestinal microbiota is an important prognostic factor for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), but its role in predicting survival has not been determined. Here, stool samples at day 15 ± 1 posttransplant were obtained from 209 patients at two centers. Microbiota was examined using 16S rRNA sequencing. The microbiota diversity and abundance of specific bacteria (including Lachnospiraceae, Ruminococcaceae, Erysipelotrichaceae, and Enterobacteriaceae) were assigned a value of 0 or 1 depending on whether they were positive or negative associated with survival, respectively. An accumulated intestinal microbiota (AIM) score was generated, and patients were divided into low- and high-score groups. A low score was associated with a better 3-year cumulative overall survival (OS) as well as lower mortality than a high score (88.5 vs. 43.9% and 7.1 vs. 35.8%, respectively; both P < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, a high score was found to be an independent risk factor for OS and transplant-related mortality (hazard ratio = 5.68 and 3.92, respectively; P < 0.001 and 0.003, respectively). Furthermore, the AIM score could serve as a predictor for survival (area under receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.836, P < 0.001). Therefore, the intestinal microbiota score at neutrophil recovery could predict survival following allo-HSCT.

[Relationship of Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator Expression with Clinical Features and Prognosis in Patients with Acute Leukemia].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein in patients with acute leukemia and its relationship to clinical features and prognosis of acute leukemia. METHODS: A total of115 patients with acute leukemia were enrolled in the experimental group and 20 healthy individuals were used as control. Peripheral blood or bone marrow samples were collected, and mononuclear cells were isolated. The expression of CFTR protein was detected by Western blot. The relationships of CFTR protein expression to clinical features and prognosis was analyzed. RESULTS: The expression of CFTR protein was not detected in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of normal control, while it was positive in more than half of acute leukemias including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), but negative in the patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (M3). In the patients with AML, there was no difference in peripheral white blood cells (WBC), peripheral blast cells, platelet and hemoglobin (HGB) between CFTR-positive and CFTR-negative patients. There was no relationship between the expression of CFTR protein and gene mutations such as NPM1, CEBPA, FLT3-ITD, and C-Kit. Complete remission (CR) rate after two course in CFTR-negative patients was slightly higher than that in positive patients. The survival time of CFTR-negative patients was little longer than that of positive patients, but the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The expression of CFTR protein seems not associated with clinical features, treatment response and prognosis in the patients with acute leukemia.

Catechins and Their Therapeutic Benefits to Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Catechins are natural polyphenolic phytochemicals that exist in food and medicinal plants, such as tea, legume and rubiaceae. An increasing number of studies have associated the intake of catechins-rich foods with the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases in humans, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Some studies have demonstrated that catechins could significantly inhibit the excessive oxidative stress through direct or indirect antioxidant effects and promote the activation of the antioxidative substances such as glutathione peroxidases (GPO) and glutathione (GSH), reducing the oxidative damages to the colon. In addition, catechins can also regulate the infiltration and proliferation of immune related-cells, such as neutrophils, colonic epithelial cells, macrophages, and T lymphocytes, helping reduce the inflammatory relations and provide benefits to IBD. Perhaps catechins can further inhibit the deterioration of intestinal lesions through regulating the cell gap junctions. Furthermore, catechins can exert their significant anti-inflammatory properties by regulating the activation or deactivation of inflammation-related oxidative stress-related cell signaling pathways, such as nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs), transcription factor nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2), signal transducer and the activator of transcription 1/3 (STAT1/3) pathways. Finally, catechins can also stabilize the structure of the gastrointestinal micro-ecological environment via promoting the proliferation of beneficial intestinal bacteria and regulating the balance of intestinal flora, so as to relieve the IBD. Furthermore, catechins may regulate the tight junctions (TJ) in the epithelium. This paper elaborates the currently known possible molecular mechanisms of catechins in favor of IBD.

Voluntary exercise prevents colonic inflammation in high-fat diet-induced obese mice by up-regulating PPAR-γ activity.

Obesity is associated with increased colonic inflammation, which elevates the risk of colon cancer. Although exercise exerts anti-inflammatory actions in multiple chronic diseases associated with inflammation, it is unknown whether this strategy prevents colonic inflammation in obesity. We hypothesized that voluntary exercise would suppress colonic inflammation in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity by modulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ. Male C57Bl/6J mice fed either a control diet (6.5% fat, CON) or a high-fat diet (24% fat, HFD) were divided into sedentary, voluntary exercise or voluntary exercise with PPAR-γ antagonist GW9662 (10 mg/kg/day). All interventions took place for 12 weeks. Compared with CON-sedentary group, HFD-sedentary mice gained significantly more body weight and exhibited metabolic disorders. Molecular studies revealed that HFD-sedentary mice had increased expression of inflammatory mediators and activation of nuclear factor (NF)-κB in the colons, which were associated with decreased expression and activity of PPAR-γ. Voluntary exercise markedly attenuated body weight gain, improved metabolic disorders, and normalized the expression of inflammatory mediators and activation of NF-κB in the colons in HFD-mice while having no effects in CON-animals. Moreover, voluntary exercise significantly increased expression and activity of PPAR-γ in the colons in both HFD- and CON-animals. However, all of these beneficial effects induced by voluntary exercise were abolished by GW9662, which inhibited expression and activity of PPAR-γ. The results suggest that decreased PPAR-γ activity in the colon of HFD-induced obesity may facilitate the inflammatory response and colon carcinogenesis. Voluntary exercise prevents colonic inflammation in HFD-induced obesity by up-regulating PPAR-γ activity.

Aminophenylboronic-acid-conjugated polyacrylic acid-Mn-doped ZnS quantum dot for highly sensitive discrimination of glycoproteins.

Discrimination of glycoproteins with different glycans is a significant but difficult issue. We presented here a new strategy for strengthening the discrimination of glycoproteins by introducing a new signaling channel, fluorescence polarization (FP), into a "single probe with three signaling channels" sensor array. The single probe was aminophenylboronic-acid-conjugated poly(acrylic acid)-Mn-doped ZnS quantum dots, and the three signaling channels were FP, room temperature phosphorescence and light scattering. Ten glycoproteins, including ovalbumin, fibrinogen, transferrin, horseradish peroxidase, vascular endothelial growth factor, immunoglobulin G, avidin, hyaluronidase, cellulase R-10, and glucose oxidase, were involved for evaluating the discriminating capability. The introduction of the FP signaling channel improved the discriminating power of the sensor array, so that the 10 glycoproteins at 0.15 µM could be well discriminated both in PBS buffer and in the presence of human serum sample. The identification accuracy of the unknown samples was 96.25% (77 out of 80) at the 0.15 µM level and 97.50% (78 out of 80) at the 0.2 µM level. The integration of the signaling patterns with different responsive principles was demonstrated as the promising way to enhance the discrimination power of the single-probe-based sensor arrays.

[Estrogen reduced myocardial damage by regulating Gαs-cAMP pathway in isoprenaline injured rats].

The aim of the present study is to explore the mechanism of estrogen on regulating cardiac function disorder by adjusting the stimulating adenylate cyclase G α protein (Gαs)-cycle adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signal pathway. Adult female rats were randomly divided into five groups: sham group, ovariectomized group (OVX), OVX and 17ß-estradiol given group (OVX+E2), OVX and isoprenaline injected group (OVX+ISO), OVX and 17ß-estradiol, isoprenaline injected group (OVX+E2+ISO). Rats were ovariectomized, and two weeks later, OVX+E2group was injected with E2, OVX+ISO group was injected with ISO, OVX+E2+ISO group was injected with E2and ISO. Another four weeks later, the hemodynamic parameters were monitored by carotid artery intubation: left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP), left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), maximal differentials of left ventricular developed pressure (+dp/dt(max)), and minimal differentials of left ventricular developed pressure (-dp/dt(max)). Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and cAMP concentration in plasma were determined; Gα(s) protein expression in myocardium was determined. The results showed that the hemodynamic parameters, the concentration of BNP and cAMP in plasma had no significant changes after ovariectomy compared with sham group. But after isoprenaline injection in ovariectomized rats, LVSP and +dp/dt(max) declined (P < 0.01), LVEDP and -dp/dt(max) elevated (P < 0.01); plasma BNP concentration increased (P < 0.01); plasma cAMP concentration decreased (P < 0.01), compared with OVX group. Further estrogen supplements improved the heart function treated by isoprenaline: LVSP and +dp/dt(max) elevated (P < 0.01), LVEDP and -dp/dtmax declined (P < 0.05, P < 0.01); the plasma BNP concentration decreased (P < 0.01); the plasma cAMP concentration increased (P < 0.01). Estrogen had no significant influence on Gαs protein expression. The results suggest that estrogen can alleviate myocardial injury and regulate cardiac function disorder by increasing cAMP level, finally improved the excessive suppression of myocardium.

Gastric microbiota transplantation as a potential treatment for immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated gastritis.

Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are complications of the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). ICI-associated gastritis is one of the main irAEs. The gastric microbiota is often related to the occurrence and development of many gastric diseases. Gastric microbiota adjustment may be used to treat gastric disorders in the future. Faecal microbiota transplantation can alter the gut microbiota of patients and has been used for treating ICI-associated colitis. Therefore, we propose gastric microbiota transplantation as a supplementary treatment for patients with ICI-associated gastritis who do not respond well to conventional therapy.

Gut microbiota and female health.

The gut microbiota is recognized as an endocrine organ with the capacity to influence distant organs and associated biological pathways. Recent advancements underscore the critical role of gut microbial homeostasis in female health; with dysbiosis potentially leading to diseases among women such as polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis, breast cancer, cervical cancer, and ovarian cancer etc. Despite this, there has been limited discussion on the underlying mechanisms. This editorial explores the three potential mechanisms through which gut microbiota dysbiosis may impact the development of diseases among women, namely, the immune system, the gut microbiota-estrogen axis, and the metabolite pathway. We focused on approaches for treating diseases in women by addressing gut microbiota imbalances through probiotics, prebiotics supplementation, and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). Future studies should focus on determining the molecular mechanisms underlying associations between dysbiosis of gut microbiota and female diseases to realize precision medicine, with FMT emerging as a promising intervention.

Use of curcumin and its nanopreparations in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a nonspecific inflammatory disease of the intestine that includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Because IBD is difficult to heal and easily relapses, it could worsen patient quality of life and increase economic burdens. Curcumin (CUR) is a bioactive component derived from the rhizome of turmeric (Curcuma longa). Many basic and clinical studies have shown that CUR can efficiently treat IBD by decreasing the activity of proinflammatory cytokines by communicating with transcription factors and signaling molecules. However, due to the limitations of being almost insoluble in aqueous solutions and having low oral bioavailability, it is important to select appropriate pharmaceutical preparations.

Multiparametric MRI-based radiomic nomogram for predicting HER-2 2+ status of breast cancer.

Objective: To explore the application of multiparametric MRI-based radiomic nomogram for assessing HER-2 2+ status of breast cancer (BC). Methods: Patients with pathology-proven HER-2 2+ invasive BC, who underwent preoperative MRI were divided into training (72 patients, 21 HER-2-positive and 51 HER-2-negative) and validation (32 patients, 9 HER-2-positive and 23 HER-2-negative) sets by randomization. All were classified as HER-2 2+ FISH-positive (HER-2-positive) or -negative (HER-2-negative) according to IHC and FISH. The 3D VOI was drawn on MR images by two radiologists. ADC, T2WI, and DCE images were analyzed separately to extract features (n = 1906). L1 regularization, F-test, and other methods were used to reduce dimensionality. Binary radiomics prediction models using features from single or combined imaging sequences were constructed using logistic regression (LR) classifier then and validated on a validation dataset. To build a radiomics nomogram, multivariate LR analysis was conducted to identify independent indicators. An evaluation of the model's predictive efficacy was made using AUC. Results: On the basis of combined ADC, T2WI, and DCE images, ten radiomic features were extracted following feature dimensionality reduction. There was superior diagnostic efficiency of radiomic signature using all three sequences compared to either one or two sequences (AUC for training group: 0.883; AUC for validation group: 0.816). Based on multivariate LR analysis, radiomic signature and peritumoral edema were independent predictors for identifying HER-2 2 +. In both training and validation datasets, nomograms combining peritumoral edema and radiomics signature demonstrated an effective discrimination (AUCs were respectively 0.966 and 0. 884). Conclusion: The nomogram that incorporated peritumoral edema and multiparametric MRI-based radiomic signature can be used to effectively predict the HER-2 2+ status of BC.

The novel HLA-DPA1*02:117 allele, identified by Sanger dideoxy nucleotide sequencing in a Chinese individual.

HLA-DPA1*02:117 differs from HLA-DPA1*02:02:02:01 by one nucleotide in exon 2.

A meta-analysis: elucidating diagnostic thresholds of peak systolic flow velocities in thyroid arteries for the discrimination of Graves' disease and destructive thyrotoxicosis.

Objective: This meta-analysis examines peak systolic velocities (PSVs) in thyroid arteries as potential biomarkers for thyroid disorders, which includes treated and untreated Graves' disease(GD) and destructive thyrotoxicosis(DT). Methods: A search across databases including PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, and Web of Science identified studies assessing peak systolic flow velocity in the inferior thyroid artery (ITA-PSV) and superior thyroid artery (STA-PSV) diagnostic efficacy in GD and DT.And the search was restricted to publications in the English language.The analysis compared STA-PSV and ITA-PSV across patient groups, evaluating intra-group variances and synthesizing sensitivity and specificity data. Results: The analysis covered 18 studies with 1276 GD, 564 DT patients, and 544 controls. The difference of STA-PSV between GD group, DT group and normal group and the difference of ITA-PSV were analyzed in subgroups, and there was no statistical significance between subgroups when comparing any two groups. Normal subjects displayed intra-group ITA-PSV and STA-PSV differences with established cut-off values of 20.33 cm/s (95% CI, 17.48-23.18) for ITA-PSV and 25.61 cm/s (95% CI, 20.37-30.85) for STA-PSV. However, no significant intra-group differences were observed in the STA-PSV and ITA-PSV cut-off values among groups with GD or DT. The combined cut-off values for these patient groups and normal subjects were 68.63 cm/s (95% CI, 59.12-78.13), 32.08 cm/s (95% CI, 25.90-38.27), and 23.18 cm/s (95% CI, 20.09-26.28), respectively. The diagnostic odds ratio(DOR) for these values was 35.86 (95% CI, 18.21-70.60), and the area under the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was 0.91, with a sensitivity estimate of 0.842 (95% CI, 0.772-0.866). Conclusion: PSVs in thyroid arteries are useful diagnostic tools in distinguishing DT from GD. A PSV above 68.63 cm/s significantly improves GD diagnosis with up to 91% efficacy. No notable differences were found between superior and inferior thyroid arteries in these conditions.

Bibliometric and visualized analysis of reporting and data systems from 2000 to 2022: research situation, global trends, and hotspots.

Background: The reporting and data system (RADS) has been researched across the world since it was first developed. This study used bibliometrics to analyze the research trends and current status of this field over the past almost 23 years and explored possible future research hotspots. Methods: We searched the Web of Science (WOS) literature on RADSs from January 1, 2000, to November 1, 2022, and evaluated the findings visually with VOSviewer (1.6.18), CiteSpace (6.1.3), and the "bibliometrix" package in R version 4.2.1. Results: We included 6,239 publications from 88 countries and regions. The number of published has shown an overall growth trend, especially since 2016. The United States was the country with the highest number of publications and citations. The top 10 most productive institutions in RADS research were mainly from South Korea and the United States. Kim EK was the most published author, and Turkbey B had the most cited publication. European Radiology had the most publications on the subject, while Radiology was the most influential journal. Magnetic resonance imaging, carcinoma, ultrasound, RADS, mammography, breast neoplasms, and diagnosis were the most common keywords. Artificial intelligence (AI) appears to be an emerging hotspot in the research of RADS. Conclusions: This study provides an overview of the development status of research into RADSs over the past 23 years. Research into RADSs has included various systems of the body, with the most studied being the breast, prostate, liver, and thyroid. In terms of auxiliary diagnosis, there is an increasing amount of research into the application of AI in RADSs, which along with the interpretability of AI, will be a hotspot of research in the following years.

Trends and Hotspots in Global Radiomics Research: A Bibliometric Analysis.

Objectives: The purpose of this research is to summarize the structure of radiomics-based knowledge and to explore potential trends and priorities by using bibliometric analysis. Methods: Select radiomics-related publications from 2012 to October 2022 from the Science Core Collection Web site. Use VOSviewer (version 1.6.18), CiteSpace (version 6.1.3), Tableau (version 2022), Microsoft Excel and Rstudio's free online platforms (http://bibliometric.com) for co-writing, co-citing, and co-occurrence analysis of countries, institutions, authors, references, and keywords in the field. The visual analysis is also carried out on it. Results: The study included 6428 articles. Since 2012, there has been an increase in research papers based on radiomics. Judging by publications, China has made the largest contribution in this area. We identify the most productive institutions and authors as Fudan University and Tianjie. The top three magazines with the most publications are《FRONTIERS IN ONCOLOGY》, 《EUROPEAN RADIOLOGY》, and 《CANCERS》. According to the results of reference and keyword analysis, "deep learning, nomogram, ultrasound, f-18-fdg, machine learning, covid-19, radiogenomics" has been determined as the main research direction in the future. Conclusion: Radiomics is in a phase of vigorous development with broad prospects. Cross-border cooperation between countries and institutions should be strengthened in the future. It can be predicted that the development of deep learning-based models and multimodal fusion models will be the focus of future research. Advances in knowledge: This study explores the current state of research and hot spots in the field of radiomics from multiple perspectives, comprehensively, and objectively reflecting the evolving trends in imaging-related research and providing a reference for future research.

VSL#3 probiotics exerts the anti-inflammatory activity via PI3k/Akt and NF-κB pathway in rat model of DSS-induced colitis.

VSL#3 probiotics can be effective on induction and maintenance of the remission of clinical ulcerative colitis. However, the mechanisms are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of VSL#3 probiotics on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in rats. Acute colitis was induced by administration of DSS 3.5 % for 7 days in rats. Rats in two groups were treated with either 15 mg VSL#3 or placebo via gastric tube once daily after induction of colitis; rats in other two groups were treated with either the wortmannin (1 mg/kg) via intraperitoneal injection or the wortmannin + VSL#3 after induction of colitis. Anti-inflammatory activity was assessed by myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity. Expression of inflammatory related mediators (iNOS, COX-2, NF-κB, Akt, and p-Akt) and cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10) in colonic tissue were assessed. TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10 serum levels were also measured. Our results demonstrated that VSL#3 and wortmannin have anti-inflammatory properties by the reduced disease activity index and MPO activity. In addition, administration of VSL#3 and wortmannin for 7 days resulted in a decrease of iNOS, COX-2, NF-κB, TNF-α, IL-6, and p-Akt and an increase of IL-10 expression in colonic tissue. At the same time, administration of VSL#3 and wortmannin resulted in a decrease of TNF-α and IL-6 and an increase of IL-10 serum levels. VSL#3 probiotics therapy exerts the anti-inflammatory activity in rat model of DSS-induced colitis by inhibiting PI3K/Akt and NF-κB pathway.

Green tea consumption and risk of esophageal cancer: a meta-analysis of published epidemiological studies.

We performed a meta-analysis to analyze the association of various levels of green tea consumption with risk of esophageal cancer. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library for studies of green tea consumption and esophageal cancer and identified 12 observational studies. For esophageal cancer, the pooled relative risk (RR) was 1.09 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.76-1.55] for greatest vs. non/least green tea consumption; however, there was significant heterogeneity across studies (P = 0.00, I(2) = 75.5%). Compared with subjects who drank no/least green tea, the pooled RR was 1.14 (95% CI = 0.97-1.35) for moderate drinkers, 0.94 (95% CI = 0.77-1.13) for those who drank little, and 0.97 (95% CI = 0.77-1.22) for all subjects who had ever drunk green tea. Subgroup analysis showed that the RR was 0.46 (95% CI = 0.29-0.73) for female subjects. The results of the present meta-analysis are that any association between green tea and risk of esophageal cancer remains unclear. Subgroup analyses indicated that greater consumption of green tea might reduce the risk of esophageal cancer in female subjects. However, the results are based on limited research. Further research is needed to confirm the results and clarify the likely biological mechanisms.

Consumption of coffee associated with reduced risk of liver cancer: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies have reported inconsistent results regarding coffee consumption and the risk of liver cancer. We performed a meta-analysis of published case-control and cohort studies to investigate the association between coffee consumption and liver cancer. METHODS: We searched Medline, EMBASE, ISI Web of Science and the Cochrane library for studies published up to May 2012. We performed a meta-analysis of nine case-control studies and seven cohort studies. RESULTS: The summary odds ratio (OR) for high vs no/almost never drinkers was 0.50 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.42-0.59), with no significant heterogeneity across studies (Q = 16.71; P = 0.337; I2 = 10.2%). The ORs were 0.50 (95% CI: 0.40-0.63) for case-control studies and 0.48 (95% CI: 0.38-0.62) for cohort studies. The OR was 0.38 (95% CI: 0.25-0.56) in males and 0.60 (95% CI: 0.33-1.10) in females. The OR was 0.45 (95% CI: 0.36-0.56) in Asian studies and 0.57 (95% CI: 0.44-0.75) in European studies. The OR was 0.39 (95% CI: 0.28-0.54) with no adjustment for a history of liver disease and 0.54 (95% CI: 0.46-0.66) after adjustment for a history of liver disease. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this meta-analysis suggested an inverse association between coffee consumption and liver cancer. Because of the small number of studies, further prospective studies are needed.

Heat-killed VSL#3 ameliorates dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced acute experimental colitis in rats.

To determine the effects of heat-killed VSL#3 (B. breve, B. longum and B. infantis; L. plantarum, L. bulgaricus, L. casei and L. acidophilus; S. salivarius subsp. thermophilus) therapy in the dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced acute experimental colitis in rats. Acute experimental colitis was induced in rats by 5% DSS and freely drink for seven days. Beginning on Day 8, rats underwent gavage once daily for seven days with heat-killed probiotic VSL#3 (0.6 g/kg/day), colonic damage was evaluated histologically and biochemically seven days after gavage. Expression of inflammatory related mediators (STAT3, P-STAT3) and cytokines (IL-6, IL-23, TGFß) in colonic tissue were detected. The results revealed that heat-killed and live VSL#3 have identical anti-inflammatory properties by the assessed DAI (disease activity index), colon length, histological tissue and MPO activity. Heat-killed and live VSL#3 results in reduced IL-6, IL-23, TGFß, STAT3 and P-STAT3 expression in colonic tissue. Heat-killed and live VSL#3 have showed the similar anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting IL-6/STAT3 pathway in the DSS-induced acute experimental colitis in rats.