The Prognostic Significance of Pontine-White Matter Score in Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma Patients.

BACKGROUND: Limited data exist on the significance of PET imaging and quantitative PET parameters in primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma due to its relative rarity. This study was conducted to investigate the prognostic value of a novel internal standardization indicator, the pontine-white matter (PW) score, in primary CNS lymphoma patients undergoing post-treatment 18F-FDG PET/CT and PET/MR imaging. METHODS: From January 2014 to December 2022, eligible patients with primary CNS lymphoma who underwent post-treatment PET imaging were enrolled. Using the FDG uptake of the pons and white matter as an internal reference, the PW score was graded based on the metabolism of the post-therapeutic lesion for each patient, and its associations with patients' prognosis were investigated. RESULTS: In total, 41 patients with post-treatment PET/CT and 49 patients with post-treatment PET/MR imaging were enrolled. ROC curve analysis indicated that the PW score possessed robust discriminative ability in distinguishing patients with worse outcomes. Furthermore, a higher PW score was significantly correlated with and identified as an independent prognostic indicator for, worse prognosis in both the PET/CT and PET/MR cohorts. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated that the PW score was an effective prognostic indicator for identifying post-treatment primary CNS lymphoma patients with worse outcomes.

Substituting Fish Meal with Tubiechong (Eupolyphaga sinensis) By-Product in the Diets of Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides): Effects on Growth, Meat Quality, and Liver Health.

A feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of replacing 0% (control), 10% (T10), 20% (T20), 30% (T30), and 40% (T40) fish meal with a Tubiechong (Eupolyphaga sinensis) by-product in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). Triplicate groups of 30 fish (5.36 ± 0.01 g) were fed two times daily to apparent satiation for 60 days. The experimental results showed that the Tubiechong by-product could improve the growth performance of largemouth bass by increasing the FBW, WGR, and SGR until the replacement ratio was 40%. The quadratic regression analysis showed that the proportion of the Tubiechong by-product was 20.79% and 20.91%, respectively, when WGR and SGR were the best. Concurrently, the meat quality in the replacement groups was higher, specifically, the lightness and white values were higher, and the water loss rates were lower (P < 0.05) than that in the control group. Moreover, the changes of the activities of CAT and GSH in the liver and T-AOC and GSH in serum could reveal the antioxidant capacity improvement of fish by the Tubiechong by-product. In the study, the replacement groups had lower T-CHO and HDL-C in serum (P < 0.05), indicating that the Tubiechong by-product had an active role in improving blood lipid and regulating lipid metabolism. Simultaneously, the replacement groups had a normal structure with central hepatocytes' nuclei and deviated from the center partly, while most of the hepatocytes were swollen in the control group with nuclear degeneration. The results showed that the Tubiechong by-product had a positive effect on the liver health of fish. Conclusively, the present study indicated that the partial dietary replacement of fish meal using the Tubiechong by-product (for up to 40% replacement level) in the diet of largemouth bass not only caused no adverse effects on fish health but also improved the growth performance, meat quality, antioxidant capacity, and hepatic health and is conducive to supplying nutritious, high-quality, and healthy aquatic products.

Potential of Chinese Yam (Dioscorea polystachya Turczaninow) By-Product as a Feed Additive in Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides): Turning Waste into Valuable Resources.

Chinese yam (Dioscorea polystachya Turczaninow) by-product produced in the water extraction process is commonly directly discarded resulting in a waste of resources and environmental pollution. However, the value of Chinese yam by-product which still contains effective ingredients is far from being fully realized; hence, it has the potential to be a safe and effective feed additive in aquaculture. To investigate the impacts of Chinese yam by-product on growth performance, antioxidant ability, histomorphology, and intestinal microbiota of Micropterus salmoides, juvenile fish (initial weight 13.16 ± 0.05 g) were fed diets supplemented with 0% (control), 0.1% (S1), 0.4% (S2), and 1.6% (S3) of Chinese yam by-product for 60 days. The results showed that no significant difference was found in weight gain, specific growth rate, and survival among all the experimental groups (P > 0.05). Feed conversion ratios of the S1 and S3 groups were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). SOD activity of the S3 group and GSH contents of Chinese yam by-product groups were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). MDA levels of the S2 and S3 groups were significantly lower than those in the control group and the S1 group (P < 0.05). Besides, Chinese yam by-product could protect liver and intestine health, as well as increase the abundance of beneficial bacteria and decrease the abundance of potential pathogens. This study suggests that Chinese yam by-product has the potential to be used as a functional feed additive in aquaculture, providing a reference for efficient recovery and utilization of by-products from plant sources during processing and culturing high-quality aquatic products.

Endonasopharyngeal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging features of recurrent retropharyngeal nodes in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients: A radiologic-histopathologic study.

BACKGROUND: The imaging criteria of malignant retropharyngeal lymph node (RLN) in nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) have yet to be fully elucidated. This study aimed to establish predictive models based on ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance (MR) characteristics for identifying malignant RLN in NPC patients after radiotherapy. METHODS: 81 post-radiotherapy NPC patients with abnormal enlargement of RLN underwent endonasopharyngeal ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspirations (EPUS-FNA) to access the nature of RLN. The following features were assessed on US and MR: size, margin, vascular signal, echogenicity, enhancement signal and accompany with suspicious cervical nodes or not. A multivariate analysis was performed to screen out high-risk imaging features for recurrent RLN (RRLN), and models for the diagnosis of RRLN was constructed and tested with internal verification. We evaluated the clinical usefulness of the models through comparison of C-index and decision curve analysis. RESULTS: High-risk features of RRLN were heterogeneous echo (p < 0.01), vascular signal (p < 0.01) on EPUS, heterogeneous enhancement (p < 0.01) and minimum axis diameter > 10 mm (p < 0.01) on MR. The models based on the US and MR features showed good discrimination (AUC of 0.76 in the US model, 0.74 in the MR model and 0.77 in the US + MR model) and good net benefit in the validation group. CONCLUSION: Prediction models based on the US and MR features show good diagnostic performance for RRLN after radiotherapy in NPC patients. The combination of EPUS and MR may be constructed to provide prompt and reliable guidance to manage RLN.

Microplastics as Contaminants in Water Bodies and Their Threat to the Aquatic Animals: A Mini-Review.

Microplastics (MPs), which are particles with a diameter of less than 5 mm, have been extensively studied due to their serious global pollution. Typically, MPs in water originate from terrestrial input. A number of studies have reported the presence of MPs as a stressor in water environments worldwide, and their potential threat to the aquatic animals, affecting the growth, oxidative stress responses, body composition, histopathology, intestinal flora, and immune and reproduction systems. During the plastic degradation process, a large variety of toxic substances are released. MPs have been proposed to be the carriers of toxic chemicals and harmful microorganisms. A study of the literature on MP pollution and stress on the aquatic animals associated with MPs was carried out.

Efficacy and safety of probiotics in the induction and maintenance of inflammatory bowel disease remission: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Probiotics have been widely used in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) due to their special conditioning effects on the intestinal flora, but their efficacy in inducing and maintaining remission is still controversial. In the present study, we analyzed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the treatment of probiotics in IBD to systematically evaluate the efficacy of probiotics on the induction and maintenance of remission of IBD. METHODS: PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, Web of Science, Chinese Journal Full-text Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Wanfang, and Weipu databases were searched for RCTs on the treatment of probiotics in IBD induction and/or maintenance of remission. Two researchers independently extracted literature data and cross-checked the extracted data. The Cochrane bias risk assessment tool and the Jadad score were used to evaluate the quality of the literature. RevMan 5.20 software was used for the meta-analysis. RESULTS: A total of ten RCTs were included, which included 777 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). Meta-analysis showed that there was no significant difference between the clinical recurrence rate of probiotics in the CD remission phase and the control group [relative risk (RR): 0.80, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.61-1.06, P=0.12]. The clinical recurrence rate of UC in remission phase, the efficacy of probiotics compared with control group were not significantly different (RR: 1.07, 95% CI: 0.80-1.42, P=0.65). The induction remission rate of UC during the active phase, the efficacy of probiotics is better than that of the control group (RR: 1.47, 95% CI: 1.09-1.98, P=0.01). DISCUSSION: In the present study, a systematic analysis of the efficacy of probiotics in CD and UC found that probiotics can induce remission during the active period of UC, but have no obvious therapeutic advantage in maintaining CD and UC remission.

Downregulation of hsa_circ_0006220 and its correlation with clinicopathological factors in human breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Circular ribonucleic acids (circRNAs) are highly stable and conserved forms of RNAs present in all eukaryotes. They can modulate the expression of genes by sponging specific micro RNAs (miRNAs), thereby affecting various disease processes. However, their expression pattern in human breast cancer has not been elucidated. METHODS: In this study, differentially expressed circRNAs in breast cancer tissues and paired noncancerous tissues were analyzed using an Arraystar Human circRNA Microarray, and hsa_circ_0006220 was selected for its 27-fold downregulation in breast cancer tissues. Its expression was also verified in 50 breast cancer and paired noncancerous tissues using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). An analysis of the expression of hsa_circ_0006220 and the clinicopathological factors in breast cancer was conducted. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of hsa_circ_0006220 was constructed. The interaction between hsa_circ_0006220 and five possible target miRNAs was predicted, and their expression were verified when overexpressing hsa_circ_0006220 by RT-PCR. RESULTS: Hsa_circ_0006220 was found to be significantly downregulated in breast cancer tissues compared to the paired noncancerous tissues by microarray and RT-PCR. The expression of hsa_circ_0006220 was significantly inversely correlated with histological type (P=0.0028) and lymph node metastasis (P=0.0341). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.706. Five miRNAs that might be sponged by hsa_circ_0006220 were predicted. MiR-197-5p was significantly downregulated after overexpression of hsa_circ_0006220. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that hsa_circ_0006220 may play a role in human breast cancer and might be a potential tumor marker for breast cancer screening.

An increase in prostate cancer diagnosis during inflammatory bowel disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, some studies showed that inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) might be associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer (PC), whereas some other studies indicated that IBD was not associated with the increased risk of PC. In the present study, we aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the association of IBD and PC risk. METHODS: Web of Science and PubMed were systematically searched on for link of PC risk and IBD published from January 1976 to February 2019. The pooled multivariate odd ratio (OR) or relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were obtained by the use of STATA 12.0 software. RESULTS: The meta-analysis indicated that IBD showed a 78% increase in PC risk (95% CI: 1.32-2.41). Sensitivity analyses showed no changes in the direction of effect after excluding any one study (supplementary figure 1). A significant heterogeneity was detected between different studies (Q test, P<0.001). Moreover, Begg's test, Egger's tests and funnel plots indicated no significant publication bias between included studies [Begg's test (P=0.371); Egger's test (p=0.100)]. CONCLUSION: The present meta-analysis demonstrated that IBD was associated with an increased diagnosis of PC. In addition, large scale prospective studies are essential to determine whether IBD increase the PC risk.

Dietary miR-451 protects erythroid cells from oxidative stress via increasing the activity of Foxo3 pathway.

One fundamental issue in public health is the safety of food products derived from plants and animals. A recent study raised a concern that microRNAs, which widely exist in everyday foods, may alter consumers' functions. However, some studies have strongly questioned the likelihood of dietary uptake of functional microRNAs in mammals. Here we use a microRNA gene knockout animal model to show that miR-144/451 null mice can orally uptake miR-451 from a daily chow diet, and ingestion of wild type blood, that contains abundant miR-451, also enhances the level of miR-451 in the circulating blood of knockout mice. Moreover, reducing miR-451 level in miR-144/451 knockout blood by consuming food lacking miR-451 reduces the anti-oxidant capacity of miR-144/451 null red blood cells by targeting the 14-3-3ζ/Foxo3 pathway, while increasing miR-451 level via gavage-feeding of wild type blood increases the anti-oxidant capacity of miR-144/451 null red blood cells. We conclude that 1) some miRNAs in food can pass through the gastrointestinal tract into the blood to affect consumers' function and 2) microRNA knockout animals such as miR-144/451 null mice can acquire the deleted genetic information from daily foods, which might alter the results and conclusions from the studies using such animals.

Modulation of radiation-induced tumour necrosis factor-α and transforming growth factor ß1 expression in the lung tissue by Shengqi Fuzheng injection.

Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is one of the most common and severe side effects of thoracic radiotherapy. Therefore, novel therapeutic approaches to improve the effectiveness of RILI treatment are required. The present study was designed to determine the effectiveness of a traditional Chinese medicine regimen, Shenqi Fuzheng injection (SFI), in the treatment of RILI. SFI is composed of extracts from codonopsis pilosula and radix astragali. Here, we determined the protective effects of SFI on RILI with a single-dose irradiation (RT) of 12 Gy in C57BL/6 8-week-old mice. The mice were divided into four groups treated with i) phosphate-buffered saline (PBS; pH 7.4, 20 ml/kg/day) alone as normal a control; ii) SFI only (20 ml/kg/day); iii) RT + PBS (20 ml/kg/day); and iv) RT + SFI (20 ml/kg/day). SFI and PBS were administered via intraperitoneal injection 1 week before and 2 weeks after RT. The pathology of RILI and any clinical signs of toxicity were monitored. The expression of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α and transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß1 in the lungs was analyzed by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. TNF-α and TGF-ß1 expression was increased by RT, but was reversed by SFI treatment during the radiation pneumonic and fibrotic phases (P<0.05). Lung histology at 24 weeks revealed a significant decrease in structural damage and collagen deposition in the RT + SFI group compared to the RT + PBS group. In conclusion, TNF-α and TGF-ß1 are key mediators for the pathogenesis of RILI, and SFI reduces TNF-α and TGF-ß1 expression after RT. This may be a key mechanism behind the preventive effects of SFI on lung injury after radiation.