Platelet Volume Is Reduced In Metastasing Breast Cancer: Blood Profiles Reveal Significant Shifts.

BACKGROUND: Platelets play a crucial role in breast cancer (BC) progression and metastases. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is an indicator of platelet activation. The aim of the present study was to assess whether there is a difference in MPV between patients with metastatic BC with liver metastases and those with BC without liver metastases. METHODS: Between January 2014 and December 2017, 211 metastatic BC patients with synchronous liver metastases and 215 BC patients without metastases were retrospectively analyzed. Patients' clinicopathological characteristics data were collected. RESULTS: MPV levels were reduced in patients with liver metastases compared with those in patients without liver metastases. There were significant differences in MPV levels according to liver metastases status both in premenopausal and in postmenopausal non-TNBC or non-HER2+ patients. Moreover, in postmenopausal HER2+ or TNBC patients, MPV levels were lower in patients with liver metastases compared with those in patients without liver metastases. In the group with non-liver metastasis, platelet distribution width was significantly associated with tumor N stage. In addition, the prevalence of BC liver metastases decreased as MPV quartiles increased. After adjusting for other risk factors, the odds ratios for liver metastases according to MPV quartiles were 1.000, 0.267 (0.134-0.530), 0.072 (0.034-0.152), and 0.137 (0.066-0.281), respectively. CONCLUSION: MPV is reduced in BC patients with liver metastases compared with that in BC patients without metastases. Moreover, MPV is independently associated with the presence of liver metastases.

Decreased platelet distribution width predicts a worse prognosis in patients undergoing surgical resection for hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common malignant tumor and second most common cause of tumor-related deaths worldwide. Activated platelets play a prominent role in tumor. Platelet distribution width (PDW) indicates platelets activation and is altered in malignancies. The aim of this study was to explore the prognostic value of PDW for overall survival (OS) in HCC patients. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 273 HCC patients at a single institution from 2010 to 2014. The relationship between PDW and clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed. Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate the relationship of PDW with OS. RESULTS: Low PDW levels were observed in 127 (46.5%) out of 273 patients. A significant correlation was found between PDW and liver cirrhosis. Median follow-up was 36 months, survival curves revealed that the patients with increased PDW had significantly shorter survival time than those with normal PDW (p= 0.001). Cox regression analysis demonstrated that PDW was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (hazard ratio, 2.464; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.402-4.330, p= 0.001). CONCLUSION: PDW is significantly associated with OS in HCC. This result suggests activated platelet may affect clinical outcome and warrant continued investigation.

Serum Zonulin in HBV-Associated Chronic Hepatitis, Liver Cirrhosis, and Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The gut microbiota is involved in the occurrence and development of chronic liver diseases. Zonulin is considered a marker of intestinal permeability. The purpose of this study was to assess zonulin levels in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), HBV-associated liver cirrhosis (LC), and HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population consisted of 90 HBV-associated HCC patients, 90 HBV-associated LC patients, 90 CHB patients, and 90 healthy subjects. Serum levels of zonulin and AFP were determined. The diagnostic accuracy of each marker was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis (AUC). RESULTS: Serum zonulin levels were significantly higher in patients with HCC than in patients with LC or CHB or healthy subjects (p < 0.001). Moreover, the zonulin levels were increased in the advanced stage of LC and HCC. ROC curve analysis revealed that serum zonulin could be used to differentiate CHB from cirrhosis. In addition, the combination of zonulin and AFP exhibited a significantly larger AUC compared with zonulin or AFP alone. CONCLUSIONS: Serum zonulin levels were significantly increased both in LC and in HCC and correlated with the advanced stage of LC and HCC. Moreover, the combination of zonulin and AFP confers significant benefit to diagnostic accuracy in differentiating LC from HCC.

Percentage and function of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells in patients with hyperthyroidism.

The current study observed the percentage of peripheral blood (PB) CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) and the influence of CD4+CD25+ Tregs on the proliferation of naïve CD4 T cells in patients with hyperthyroidism. Furthermore, preliminary discussions are presented on the action mechanism of CD4+CD25+ Tregs on hyperthyroidism attacks. The present study identified that compared with the percentage of PB CD4+CD25+ Tregs in healthy control subjects, no significant changes were observed in the percentage of PB CD4+CD25+ Tregs in patients with hyperthyroidism (P>0.05). For patients with hyperthyroidism, CD4+CD25+ Tregs exhibited significantly reduced inhibition of the proliferation of naïve CD4 T cells and decreased secretion capacity on the cytokines of CD4 T cells, compared with those of healthy control subjects (P<0.05). In addition, it was demonstrated that thyroid function of patients with hyperthyroidism was significantly improved (P<0.05) subsequent to receiving medication. Compared with the percentage of PB CD4+CD25+ Tregs in patients with hyperthyroidism before treatment, no significant changes were observed in the percentage of PB CD4+CD25+ Tregs in hyperthyroidism patients following treatment (P>0.05). In the patients with hyperthyroidism, following treatment, CD4+CD25+ Tregs exhibited significantly increased inhibition of the proliferation of naïve CD4 T cells and increased secretion capacity of CD4 T cell cytokines, compared with those of the patients with hyperthyroidism prior to treatment (P<0.05). PB CD4+CD25+ Tregs function was decreased in patients with hyperthyroidism, and its non­proportional decrease may be closely associated with the occurrence and progression of hyperthyroidism.

WITHDRAWN: Correlations of CTLA-4 exon-1 rs231775A>G and promoter region rs5742909C>T polymorphisms with the therapeutic efficacy of 131I radionuclide in Graves' disease.

The Accepted Manuscript version of this article (published on 6 June 2017) was withdrawn on 16 November 2017 at the request of the authors.

Corpus callosum atrophy associated with the degree of cognitive decline in patients with Alzheimer's dementia or mild cognitive impairment: a meta-analysis of the region of interest structural imaging studies.

Individual structural neuroimaging studies of the corpus callosum (CC) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with the region of interest (ROI) analysis have yielded inconsistent findings. The aim of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis of structural imaging studies using ROI technique to measure the CC midsagittal area changes in patients with AD or MCI. Databases of PubMed, the Cochrane Library, the ISI Web of Science, and Science Direct from inception to June 2014 were searched with key words "corpus callosum" or "callosal", plus "Alzheimer's disease" or "mild cognitive impairment". Twenty-three studies with 603 patients with AD, 146 with MCI, and 638 healthy controls were included in this meta-analysis. Effect size was used to measure the difference between patients with AD or MCI and healthy controls. Significant callosal atrophy was found in MCI patients with an effect size of -0.36 (95% CI, -0.57 to -0.14; P = 0.001). The degree of the CC atrophy in mild AD was less severe than that in moderate AD with a mean effect size -0.69 (95% CI, -0.89 to -0.49) versus -0.92 (95% CI, -1.16 to -0.69), respectively. Comparing with healthy controls, patients with MCI had atrophy in the anterior portion of the CC (i.e., rostrum and genu). In contrast, patients with AD had atrophy in both anterior and posterior portions (i.e., splenium). These results suggest that callosal atrophy may be related to the degree of cognitive decline in patients with MCI and AD, and it may be used as a biomarker for patients with cognitive deficit even before meeting the criteria for AD.

Perihematomal pathological changes in neurons and astrocytes following acute cerebral hemorrhage.

We aim to investigate the pathological temporospatial characteristics of brain cell injury in the perihematomal areas. Brain autopsy samples from 44 consecutive cases of intracerebral hemorrhage were processed and analyzed following immunohistochemical staining for neurofilament (NF) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). NF and GFAP positive cells were scored and graded according to the distance from the hematoma and the time from the onset of hematoma formation. The tissues from the same region on the contralateral side of the brain were used as controls. Neurons in the perihematomal areas exhibited pyknosis or swollen necrosis, while astrocytes were swollen. Morphological abnormalities pertaining to NF appearance were attenuated with increasing distance from the hematoma wall, but were exacerbated with prolonged bleeding time. The level of NF staining abnormality was positively correlated with time from the onset of hematoma within 7 days of intracerebral hemorrhage. In contrast, the intensity of GFAP staining was negatively correlated with time from the onset of hematoma formation. This immunoreactivity was significantly higher closer to hematoma. Taken together, these data indicate that pathological alterations in neurons and astrocytes in the perihematomal area change with time from the onset of hematoma formation.