Effectiveness of lumbar braces after lumbar surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically analyze the effectiveness of lumbar braces in patients after lumbar spine surgery. METHODS: The databases, including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), were searched to identify the randomized controlled trials (RCTs), case-series or case-control studies on the use of lumbar braces after lumbar spine surgery. The two authors independently assessed the quality of the included study and extracted the data. The statistical analysis was performed using Revman 5.4 software. RESULTS: 9 English papers and 1 Chinese paper were included in the present work, involving a total of 2646 patients (2181 in the experimental group and 465 in the control group). The differences in preoperative VAS, postoperative VAS, preoperative ODI, postoperative ODI, length of hospital stay, postoperative complications, and surgical comparison were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). However, postoperative surgical site infection incidence was lower in the lumbar brace group than those without lumbar brace (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Whether or not the use of lumbar braces after lumbar fixation has a negligible impact on clinical outcomes was studied. Subsequent studies could further demonstrate whether the use of lumbar braces after lumbar surgery could reduce the incidence of surgical site infections.

Transcriptional Profiling and Transposon Mutagenesis Study of the Endophyte Pantoea eucalypti FBS135 Adapting to Nitrogen Starvation.

The research on plant endophytes has been drawing a lot of attention in recent years. Pantoea belongs to a group of endophytes with plant growth-promoting activity and has been widely used in agricultural fields. In our earlier studies, Pantoea eucalypti FBS135 was isolated from healthy-growing Pinus massoniana and was able to promote pine growth. P. eucalypti FBS135 can grow under extremely low nitrogen conditions. To understand the mechanism of the low-nitrogen tolerance of this bacterium, the transcriptome of FBS135 in the absence of nitrogen was examined in this study. We found that FBS135 actively regulates its gene expression in response to nitrogen deficiency. Nearly half of the number (4475) of genes in FBS135 were differentially expressed under this condition, mostly downregulated, while it significantly upregulated many transportation-associated genes and some nitrogen metabolism-related genes. In the downregulated genes, the ribosome pathway-related ones were significantly enriched. Meanwhile, we constructed a Tn5 transposon library of FBS135, from which four genes involved in low-nitrogen tolerance were screened out, including the gene for the host-specific protein J, RNA polymerase σ factor RpoS, phosphoribosamine-glycine ligase, and serine acetyltransferase. Functional analysis of the genes revealed their potential roles in the adaptation to nitrogen limitation. The results obtained in this work shed light on the mechanism of endophytes represented by P. eucalypti FBS135, at the overall transcriptional level, to an environmentally limited nitrogen supply and provided a basis for further investigation on this topic.

Probiotic Bacillus subtilis contributes to the modulation of gut microbiota and blood metabolic profile of hosts.

Probiotic Bacillus subtilis has beneficial efficacy on host's health. The microbiota-gut-blood system (MGBS) plays a crucial role in maintaining the homeostasis of hosts. However, the mechanism by which the probiotic B. subtilis positively acts on the MGBS of hosts remains unclear. Herein, we used an interspecies animal model to explore the causal associations between this bacterium and the micro-ecology balance and circulatory homeostasis of hosts. Results showed that the body weight of hosts significantly increased after probiotic B. subtilis supplementation (P < 0.05). Enterococcus was found to be the most important microbial marker causing the intergroup differences observed herein, and its relative abundance remarkably increased after B. subtilis supplementation. In addition, the supplementation of B. subtilis induced significant alterations in the levels of circulating metabolites, such as serine, arginine, adenine, uric acid, and pyridoxal (P < 0.05), indicating that B. subtilis modulated the metabolic profile of blood circulation in the host. The metabolisms of amino acids, purine, and vitamin B were the primary pathways modulated by B. subtilis. In conclusion, probiotic B. subtilis substantially introduced subtle but positive changes in the host's gut microbiome, and it promoted the physiological activity of the host by modulating circulating metabolites. The study provides a theoretical reference for the application of probiotic B. subtilis to improve the health state of specific populations.

Analysis of Risk Factors for Epilepsy after Combined Re-Vascularization in Adult Patients with Moyamoya Disease.

Background and Objective: Re-vascularization is an effective treatment for moyamoya disease (MMD) patients, including direct re-vascularization, indirect re-vascularization and combined re-vascularization, in which combined re-vascularization is particularly widely used. At present, there are few reports on the analysis of epilepsy after combined re-vascularization surgery. To analysis the risk factors of epilepsy in adult MMD patients after combined re-vascularization. Material and Methods: Patients with MMD who underwent combined re-vascularization in the Department of Neurosurgery of the First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province from January 2015 to June 2020 were included. Their pre-operative and post-operative complication-related indicators were collected. Finally, logistic regression was used to analyze the clinical risk factors of epilepsy in MMD patients after operation. Results: The incidence of epilepsy after combined re-vascularization was 15.5%. Univariate analysis showed that pre-operative ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, pre-operative epilepsy, pre-operative history of diabetes, the location of the bypass recipient artery (frontal or temporal lobe), post-operative new cerebral infarction, hyper-perfusion syndrome, and post-operative intra-cranial hemorrhage were the clinical risk factors of epilepsy in MMD patients (all P < 0.05). Multi-variate logistic regression analysis showed that pre-operative epilepsy, the location of the bypass recipient artery, new cerebral infarction, hyper-perfusion syndrome, and post-operative intra-cranial hemorrhage (all P < 0.05) were independent risk factors for post-operative epilepsy in MMD patients. Conclusions: Pre-operative epilepsy, the location of the bypass recipient artery, new cerebral infarction, hyper-perfusion syndrome, and intra-cranial hemorrhage may have a causal relationship with epilepsy in adult MMD patients. It is suggested that some risk factors could be intervened to reduce the incidence of post-operative epilepsy in MMD patients.

Effects of proteins on emulsion stability: The role of proteins at the oil-water interface.

To obtain a stable protein-added emulsion system, researchers have focused on the design of the oil-water interface. This review discussed the updated details of protein adsorption behavior at the oil-water interface. We evaluated methods of monitoring interfacial proteins as well as their strengths and limitations. Based on the effects of structure on protein adsorption, we summarized the contribution of pre-changing methods to adsorption. In addition, the interaction of proteins and other surface-active molecules at the interface had been emphasized. Results showed that protein adsorption is affected by conformation, oil polarity and aqueous environments. The monitoring of interfacial proteins through spectroscopic properties in actual emulsion systems is an emerging trend. Pre-changing could improve the protein adsorption and the purpose of pre-changing of proteins is similar. In the interaction with other surface-active molecules, co-adsorption is desirable. By co-adsorption, the respective advantages can be exploited to obtain a more stable emulsion system.

Study on the antioxidative mechanism of tocopherol loaded ethyl cellulose particles in thermal-oxidized soybean oil.

Our previous study proposed preparation method of tocopherol (Toc) loaded ethyl cellulose (EC) particles as antioxidant due to instability of Toc under high temperature. The present study aimed to explore the antioxidant mechanism of loaded particles. Results showed that loaded particles prepared by EC of different viscosities (EC9, EC70, EC200) had antioxidative effect, and the antioxidant activity increased with EC viscosity. Fourier transform infrared analysis demonstrated that the interaction between EC and tocopherol was mainly hydrogen bond. Loaded particles retained effectively the thermal degradation of Toc and thus enhanced the antioxidant activity. Further investigation into thermal oxidation of EC inferred the possible antioxidative mechanism included two aspects. One was that Toc was fixed in the network structure of loaded particles formed by EC to provide a barrier for avoiding degradation. Another was that EC and Toc acted on different stages of lipid oxidation, playing the antioxidative effect together.

Complex Age- and Cancer-Related Changes in Human Blood Transcriptome-Implications for Pan-Cancer Diagnostics.

Early cancer detection is the key to a positive clinical outcome. While a number of early diagnostics methods exist in clinics today, they tend to be invasive and limited to a few cancer types. Thus, a clear need exists for non-invasive diagnostics methods that can be used to detect the presence of cancer of any type. Liquid biopsy based on analysis of molecular components of peripheral blood has shown significant promise in such pan-cancer diagnostics; however, existing methods based on this approach require improvements, especially in sensitivity of early-stage cancer detection. The improvement would likely require diagnostics assays based on multiple different types of biomarkers and, thus, calls for identification of novel types of cancer-related biomarkers that can be used in liquid biopsy. Whole-blood transcriptome, especially its non-coding component, represents an obvious yet under-explored biomarker for pan-cancer detection. In this study, we show that whole transcriptome analysis using RNA-seq could indeed serve as a viable biomarker for pan-cancer detection. Furthermore, a class of long non-coding (lnc) RNAs, very long intergenic non-coding (vlinc) RNAs, demonstrated superior performance compared with protein-coding mRNAs. Finally, we show that age and presence of non-blood cancers change transcriptome in similar, yet not identical, directions and explore implications of this observation for pan-cancer diagnostics.

Application of Artificial Neural Network Based on Traditional Detection and GC-MS in Prediction of Free Radicals in Thermal Oxidation of Vegetable Oil.

In this study, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques were applied to reveal the variation of lipid free radicals and oxidized volatile products of four oils in the thermal process. The EPR results showed the signal intensities of linseed oil (LO) were the highest, followed by sunflower oil (SO), rapeseed oil (RO), and palm oil (PO). Moreover, the signal intensities of the four oils increased with heating time. GC-MS results showed that (E)-2-decenal, (E,E)-2,4-decadienal, and 2-undecenal were the main volatile compounds of oxidized oil. Besides, the oxidized PO and LO contained the highest and lowest contents of volatiles, respectively. According to the oil characteristics, an artificial neural network (ANN) intelligent evaluation model of free radicals was established. The coefficients of determination (R2) of ANN models were more than 0.97, and the difference between the true and predicted values was small, which indicated that oil profiles combined with chemometrics can accurately predict the free radical of thermal oxidized oil.

The lncRNA PTTG3P promotes the progression of CRPC via upregulating PTTG1.

BACKGROUND: Overexpression of certain long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) promotes the progression of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). The significance and potential role of the lncRNA designated pituitary tumour-transforming 3, pseudogene (PTTG3P) in CRPC is unknown. METHODS: We detected PTTG3P expression by qPCR. Upregulated PTTG3P expression was performed to explore the role of PTTG3P in PCa cells resistant to ADT (androgen deprivation therapy). The relationship among PTTG3P, mir-146a-3p and PTTG1 were validated by qPCR, western blot and luciferase assay. RESULTS: PTTG3P levels were significantly increased in the androgen-independent PC cell lines, as well as in CRPC tissues compared with those of the androgen-dependent prostate cancer cell line LNCaP and tumour tissues of patients with hormone-naive prostate cancers. Enforced expression of PTTG3P in androgen-deprived LNCaP cells significantly enhanced survival, clonogenicity, and tumorigenicity. Further, PTTG3P acted as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA, natural miRNA sponge) to upregulate PTTG1 expression by competing for mir-146a-3p in the progression to CRPC. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that PTTG3P promotes the resistance of prostate cancer cells to androgen-deprivation therapy via upregulating PTTG1. PTTG3P may therefore represent a potential target for therapy of CRPC.

ETS1-activated SNHG10 exerts oncogenic functions in glioma via targeting miR-532-3p/FBXL19 axis.

BACKGROUND: In past few years, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to play regulatory roles during cancer progression. LncRNA SNHG10 has been explored in several sorts of cancers. However, its detailed role and mechanism are still not well understood in glioma. METHODS: Expression levels of genes were evaluated by RT-qPCR. EdU, TUNEL, sphere formation, wound healing and transwell assays appraised the effect of SNHG10 on glioma cellular processes. The interaction between molecules was examined by ChIP, RIP, RNA pull down and luciferase reporter assays. RESULTS: High level of SNHG10 was detected in glioma cells. Functional assay confirmed that SNHG10 promoted the proliferation, migration, invasion and stemness of glioma cells. Moreover, miR-532-3p was validated to bind with SNHG10 and expressed at a low level in glioma cells. Importantly, miR-532-3p exerted inhibitory functions in glioma. Furthermore, it was found that FBXL19 targeted by miR-532-3p facilitated cell growth and stemness in glioma, and that SNHG10 worked in glioma by increasing FBXL19 expression through sequestering miR-532-3p. More importantly, ETS1 promoted the transcription of SNHG10 and it mediated contribution to the malignant behaviors of glioma cells by SNHG10/miR-532-3p/FBXL19 signaling. CONCLUSION: SNHG10 was transcriptionally activated by ETS1 and played an oncogenic role in glioma by sponging miR-532-3p and up-regulating FBXL19.

Decreased hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channels are involved in bladder dysfunction associated with spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to bereft voluntary control of bladder, but the possible role of spontaneous excited system in bladder of SCI patients is poorly understood. Hyper-polarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels are deemed to regulate the spontaneous contraction of bladder, our study explored the functional role of HCN channels in SCI induced neurogenic bladder. Sixty female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into control, sham and SCI groups. Rat models subjected to SCI at S2 levels were successfully established and were assessed using hematoxylin and eosin staining and cystometry. In SCI rats, the mRNA and protein expression levels of HCN channels and the Ih density were significantly reduced, and expression levels of several bladder HCN1 channel regulatory proteins were also significantly changed. The effects of 50 µM forskolin and 50 µM 8-bromoadenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate on [Ca2+]i of isolated bladder interstitial cells of Cajal-like cells were significantly decreased in SCI rats. The spontaneous contractions in detrusor strips from SCI rats were significantly weakened. Furthermore, detrusor strips from SCI rats exhibited decreased tolerance to two doses of ZD7288 (10 and 50 µM). Taken together, our results indicate that the decreased bladder HCN channel expression and function induced by altered regulatory proteins are involved in the pathological process of SCI induced neurogenic bladder, which present HCN channels as valid therapeutic targets for treating this disease.

Interleukin-6/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 promotes prostate cancer resistance to androgen deprivation therapy via regulating pituitary tumor transforming gene 1 expression.

Prostate cancer can progress from androgen dependence to androgen deprivation resistance with some unknown mechanisms. The current study aims to explore the possible role of pituitary tumor transforming gene1 (PTTG1) in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Initially, we found that PTTG1 expression was significantly increased in androgen-independent prostate cancer cell lines PC3, DU145 and CRPC specimens compared with that in androgen-dependent prostate cancer cell line LNCaP and initial prostate cancer specimens. PTTG1 overexpression significantly enhanced the cell survival rate, clonality and tumorigenicity in LNCaP cells upon androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT). While knockdown of PTTG1 expression significantly elevated the sensitivity of DU145 cells to ADT. The effects of PTTG1 overexpression on LNCaP cells may be ascribed to the induced EMT and increased CD44+ CD24- cancer stem cell population. Furthermore, we detected that PTTG1 expression was regulated by interleukin-6 via activated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) directly binding to the region -500 to +1 of PTTG1 promoter in LNCaP cells. In conclusion, our results elucidate that interleukin-6/STAT3 activation can increase PTTG1 expression and, consequently, promote the resistance to ADT in CRPC by inducing EMT and increasing the cancer stem cell population, suggesting that PTTG1 may be a novel therapeutic target for CRPC.

PTTG1, A novel androgen responsive gene is required for androgen-induced prostate cancer cell growth and invasion.

Androgens (AR) play an important role in initiation and progression of prostate cancer. It has been shown that AR exert their effects mainly through the androgen-activated AR which binds to androgen response elements (AREs) in the regulatory regions of target genes to regulate the transcription of androgen-responsive genes, thus, identification of AR downstream target gene is critical to understand androgen function in prostate cancer. In this study, our results showed that androgen treatment of LNCaP cells induced PTTG1 expression, which was blocked by the androgen receptor antagonist, Casodex. Bioinformatics analysis and experiments using PTTG1 promoter deletion mutants showed that the PTTG1 promoter contains a putative androgen response element (ARE), which localizes in the -851 to -836 region of the promoter. Androgen activated androgen receptor (AR) binding to this ARE was confirmed by Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay. Furthermore, Knockdown of PTTG1 expression using short hairpin RNA significantly reduced androgen-induced LNCaP cell growth and invasion. In addition, we showed PTTG1 is highly expressed in metastasis prostate cancer tissue. These results suggest that PTTG1 is a novel downstream target gene of androgen receptor and take part in prostate cancer proliferation and metastasis.

The reverse-mode NCX1 activity inhibitor KB-R7943 promotes prostate cancer cell death by activating the JNK pathway and blocking autophagic flux.

We explored the effects of KB-R7943, an inhibitor of reverse-mode NCX1 activity, in prostate cancer (PCa). NCX1 was overexpressed in PCa tissues and cell lines, and higher NCX1 levels were associated higher PCa grades. At concentrations greater than 10 µM, KB-R7943 dose-dependently decreased PC3 and LNCaP cell viability. KB-R7943 also increased cell cycle G1/S phase arrest and induced apoptosis in PC3 cells. KB-R7943 increased autophagosome accumulation in PCa cells as indicated by increases in LC3-II levels and eGFP-LC3 puncta. Combined treatment with chloroquine (CQ) and KB-R7943 decreased P62 and increased LC3-II protein levels in PC3 cells, indicating that KB-R7943 blocked autophagic flux. KB-R7943 induced autophagosome accumulation mainly by downregulating the PI3K/AKT/m-TOR pathway and upregulating the JNK pathway. In xenograft experiments, KB-R7943 inhibited tumor growth. Combined treatment with KB-R7943 and an autophagy inhibitor inhibited growth and increased apoptosis. These results indicate that KB-R7943 promotes cell death in PCa by activating the JNK signaling pathway and blocking autophagic flux.

Urethral tissue regeneration using collagen scaffold modified with collagen binding VEGF in a beagle model.

Extensive urethral defects have a serious impact on quality of life, and treatment is challenging. A shortage of material for reconstruction is a key limitation. Improving the properties of biomaterials and making them suitable for urethral reconstruction will be helpful. Previously, we constructed a fusion protein, collagen-binding VEGF (CBD-VEGF), which can bind to collagen scaffold, stimulate cell proliferation, and promote angiogenesis and tissue regeneration. We proposed that CBD-VEGF could improve the performance of collagen in reconstruction of extensive urethral defects. Our results showed that collagen scaffolds modified with CBD-VEGF could promote urethral tissue regeneration and improve the function of the neo-urethra in a beagle extensive urethral defect model. Thus, modifying biomaterials with bioactive factors provides an alternative strategy for the production of suitable biomaterials for urethral reconstruction.

PTTG1 inhibits SMAD3 in prostate cancer cells to promote their proliferation.

Increased expression of pituitary tumor-transforming gene 1 (PTTG1) occurs during mitosis-related sister chromatid segregation, and characterizes various tumor cells, including prostate cancer. Whereas the mechanism remains unclarified. Here, the PTTG1 levels in a prostate cancer cell line, PC3, were modulated by the expression of PTTG1 transgene or shRNA, showing that the PTTG1 levels affected the proliferation of prostate cancer cells, in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, a significant decrease in mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 3 (SMAD3), a key component of transforming growth factor ß (TGFß) signaling pathway, was induced by PTTG1 overexpression. Since SMAD3 is a ubiquitous cell-cycle inhibitor, our data suggest that PTTG1 may promote the proliferation of prostate cancer cells by inhibiting SMAD3-mediated TGFß signaling. To identify a causal link, we expressed SMAD3 in PTTG1-overexpressing PC3 cells and found that SMAD3 expression inhibited the augmented cancer cell proliferation by PTTG1 overexpression. Furthermore, SMAD3 inhibition by short hairpin RNA (ShRNA) completely rescued the cancer cell proliferation in PTTG1 ShRNA-treated PC3 cells. Taken together, our data suggest that PTTG1 promotes the proliferation of prostate cancer cells via the inhibition of SMAD3. SMAD3 thus appears to be a novel therapeutic target for suppressing the growth of prostate cancer.

Pancreatic head cryosurgery: safety and efficiency in vivo--a pilot study.

OBJECTIVES: Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death. Cryosurgery has emerged as a promising new technique for treatment. Although 80% of pancreatic cancers are located in the pancreatic head, no research has been conducted on the safety and efficacy of cryosurgery for these tumors. METHODS: Two groups of Tibetan miniature pigs (n = 4 per group) underwent cryosurgery to the pancreatic head with either the deep freezing protocol (100% argon output) or shallow freezing protocol (10% argon output), and compared to sham-operated pigs. RESULTS: Serum inflammatory factors and amylase increased during the 5 days after cryoablation in both groups but acute pancreatitis did not occur. Adhesions were observed between the pancreatic head and adjacent organs, and only minor trauma was caused to the stomach, duodenum, small intestine, and liver. Ice balls with a radius of 0.5 cm beyond the tumor edge were sufficient to cause complete necrosis of the pancreatic tissue, and decreased the degree of cold injury to surrounding tissues. CONCLUSIONS: Shallow freezing protocol seemed to be safer than, and just as effective as, the deep freezing protocol. This preliminary study suggests that cryosurgery could potentially be an effective treatment of cancer of the pancreatic head.

Antioxidant activities of five polysaccharides from Inonotus obliquus.

Five polysaccharides (IOP1b, IOP2a, IOP2c, IOP3a and IOP4) were isolated and purified from Inonotus obliquus by DEAE-Sepharose fast flow and SepharoseCL-6B column chromatography. Their chemical and physical characteristics were determined and antioxidant activities were investigated on the basis of hydroxyl radical assay, superoxide radical assay and ferric-reducing antioxidant power assay. The results showed that five polysaccharides exhibited antioxidant activities, and the higher content of uronic acid and proteinous substances, the stronger antioxidant activities of polysaccharides. Besides, molecular weights of polysaccharides also influence their antioxidant activities. IOP3a and IOP4 showed higher antioxidant properties than IOP1b, IOP2a and IOP2c.

Collagen triple helix repeat containing 1 promotes melanoma cell adhesion and survival.

BACKGROUND: The extracellular protein collagen triple helix repeat containing 1 (CTHRC1) is aberrantly upregulated in melanoma and most human solid cancers. However, its role in cancer remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we investigated the functional impact of CTHRC1 on melanoma cells in vitro. METHODS: Stable clones of cultured melanoma cells expressing different amounts of CTHRC1 protein were generated and evaluated to characterize their growth, survival, and attachment ability as well as their sensitivity to chemotherapy. RESULTS: In cultured MMAN and MMRU melanoma cells, increased expression of CTHRC1 protein resulted in morphologic cell changes, enhanced cell adhesion to culture surfaces, increased cell proliferation, and decreased apoptosis. Furthermore, decreased CTHRC1 expression through antisense inhibition enhanced temozolomide sensitivity. CONCLUSION: CTHRC1 expression influences cellular processes, including cell adhesion and survival. Additionally, CTHRC1 inhibition may represent a potential method for decreasing melanoma resistance to conventional chemotherapy.

Purification and structural characterization of a new water-soluble neutral polysaccharide GLP-F1-1 from Ganoderma lucidum.

A water-soluble neutral polysaccharide (GLP-F1-1) was isolated from the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma lucidum by DEAE Sepharose Fast Flow and Sephacryl S-500 High Resolution Chromatography. The neutral polysaccharide had an average molecular weight (Mw) of approximately 2.5×10(6) kDa. GC analysis showed that this polysaccharide was mainly composed of glucose and galactose in the molar ratio of 34:1. 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy in combination with GC-MS technique indicated that the new polysaccharide had a backbone chain of 1,4-disubstituted-ß-glucoseopyranose and 1,4,6-trisubstituted-ß-glucoseopyranosyl, while the branched chains were mainly composed of 1,6-disubstituted-ß-glucopyranosyl and 1,4-disubstituted-ß-galactoseopyranosyl residues.