Prevalence and risk factors of otitis media with effusion in children with obstructive sleep apnea.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and otitis media with effusion (OME) in Chinese children and identify risk factors for OME to support the development of standardized diagnostic and treatment methods. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Clinical data of 1,021 children with OSA admitted to our hospital between January 2019 and December 2020 were collected. The prevalence of OME was assessed based on age groups and different grades of adenoid hypertrophy (AH). Multivariate logistic regression was performed to determine risk factors for OME in this population. RESULTS: Among the patients, only 73 (6.15%) reported hearing loss as the main complaint, while 178 (17.43%) were diagnosed with OME after the examination. Acoustic immittance showed higher detection rates for OME compared to those of otoscopy and pure tone audiometry. In addition, the incidence of OME did not increase with AH grade but was higher in children with OSA with AH grade IV. Multivariate regression analysis showed that the younger age group (2-5 years), AH grade IV, nasal inflammatory disease, and passive smoking were significant risk factors for OSA and OME. However, sex, age of 6-12 years, and presence of chronic tonsillitis/tonsillar hypertrophy had no significant impact on the prevalence of OME. CONCLUSIONS: OME is highly prevalent in children with OSA. Clinicians should be vigilant in diagnosing OME, should conduct routine audiological examinations, and actively screen for middle ear fluid in all children with OSA, especially in younger children (2-5 years) with nasal mucosa inflammation and a history of passive smoking. This will help improve the detection rate of OME, as early intervention is paramount for preventing complications.

[Discrepancy between behavioral-indicated and perceived candidacy for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis among men who have sex with men in Chengdu, China].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the discrepancy between behavioral-indicated candidacy and perceived candidacy (behavioral-perceived gap) and its associated factors of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among men who have sex with men (MSM), so as to identify the focus population of PrEP interventions and to design and implement targeted interventions. METHODS: We recruited a sample of 622 HIV-negative MSM who were regular clients of a community-based organization located in Chengdu, China, from November to December 2021. A cross-sectional questionnaire was used to collect the participants' information on social demographics, PrEP-related knowledge and cognitions, and risk behaviors. In this study, behaviorally eligible for PrEP was defined as performing at least one type of high-risk behavior in the past six months, including inconsistent condom use, sex with an HIV-positive partner, confirmed sexual transmitted infections (STI) diagnosis, substance use, and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) experience. Logistic regression models were fitted, and multivariate analyses were adjusted for social demographics. RESULTS: Among the 622 eligible participants, 52.6% (327/622) were classified as behaviorally eligible for PrEP. Only 37.9% (124/327) of the participants perceived themselves as appropriate candidates for PrEP and 62.1% (203/207) had discrepancy between behavioral-indicated and perceived candidacy. 85.9% (281/327) had heard of PrEP, and 14.2% (40/281) accessed PrEP information through health care providers. Of the 327 participants eligible for behavior-indicated PrEP use, about half (47.1%) knew how to obtain PrEP medication and 33.0% had a professional PrEP counseling experience. The majority (93.3%) had no or few friends using PrEP. 54.1% scored eight or above in PrEP knowledge level. 66.7% reported having two or more sexual partners in the past six months. After adjusting for age and recruitment channel, we found six factors that were associated with perceived candidacy for PrEP, including PEP use [adjusted odds ratio (ORA)=2.20; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.33-3.63], PrEP availability (ORA=1.69; 95%CI: 1.06-2.68), a greater number of PrEP-using friends (ORA=4.92; 95%CI: 1.77-13.65), PrEP know-ledge (ORA=2.21; 95%CI: 1.38-3.56), multiple sexual partnership (ORA=1.77; 95%CI: 1.07-2.94), and perceiving a higher risk of HIV infection (ORA=4.02; 95%CI: 1.73-9.32). Substance use during sex and PrEP information channel were not statistically associated with this beha-vioral-perceived gap. CONCLUSION: We observed a high discrepancy between behavioral-indicated and perceived candidacy for PrEP among Chengdu MSM in China. Future PrEP implementation efforts should be made in skills training in assessing HIV infection risk, increasing PrEP knowledge, providing professional PrEP counselling, and fostering PrEP support environment.

[Analysis on the status quo of the awareness rate of core knowledge of cancer prevention and treatment and its influencing factors among residents in Liaoning Province in 2021].

Objective: To analyze the status quo of the knowledge and related factors of cancer prevention and treatment among residents in Liaoning Province in 2021. Methods: From August to November 2021, through network sampling method, 17 474 permanent residents aged 15-69 years in Liaoning Province were surveyed. The WeChat public account was used to collect information such as demographic characteristics and core knowledge of cancer prevention and treatment. The Chi-square test was used to compare the difference of the level of the cancer prevention and treatment knowledge among different groups. The multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the related factors. Results: Among the 17 474 subjects, 43.1% (7 528) were male and 58.7% (10 262) were urban residents. The overall awareness rate was 72.3%, and the awareness rate of cancer cognition, prevention, early diagnosis and treatment, cancer management and rehabilitation were 71.4%, 67.6%, 72.7%, 83.4% and 63.5%, respectively. The multivariate logistic regression model showed that the residents who were man (OR: 0.850, 95%CI: 0.781-0.925), in rural areas (OR: 0.753, 95%CI: 0.694-0.817), 55-59 years old (OR: 0.851, 95%CI: 0.751-0.963), quitters (OR: 0.721, 95%CI: 0.640-0.813) and smoker (OR: 0.724, 95%CI: 0.654-0.801) had lower awareness rates, while the residents who were 35-54 years old (OR: 1.312, 95%CI: 1.202-1.432), with an educational level of junior high school/senior high school/college degree or above (OR: 1.834-5.130, 95%CI: 1.575-6.047), technical personnel (OR: 1.592, 95%CI: 1.367-1.854), civil servant/institution staff (OR: 1.282, 95%CI: 1.094-1.503), enterprise/business/service staff (OR: 1.218, 95%CI: 1.071-1.385), retired (OR: 1.324, 95%CI: 1.114-1.573) and with family history of cancer (OR: 1.369, 95%CI: 1.266-1.481) had higher awareness rates. Conclusion: The level of the awareness of core knowledge of cancer prevention and treatment among residents in Liaoning Province has met the requirements of the Healthy China Action. Region, gender, education level, age, family history of cancer and smoking are relevant factors.

Preoperative prediction of mediastinal lymph node metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer based on 18F-FDG PET/CT radiomics.

AIM: To establish and verify a 2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG) positron-emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT)-based radiomics nomogram to predict mediastinal lymph node metastasis (LNM) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients preoperatively. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study enrolled 155 NSCLC patients (primary cohort, n=93; validation cohort, n=62). For each patient, 2,704 radiomic features were extracted from the primary lung cancer regions. Four procedures including the Mann-Whitney U-test, Spearman's correlation analysis, minimum redundancy-maximum relevance (mRMR), and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) binary logistic regression were utilised for determining essential features and establishing a radiomics signature. After that, a nomogram was established. The nomogram's potential was assessed based on its discrimination, calibration, and clinical usefulness. The radiomics signature and nomogram predictive performances were evaluated with respect to the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), specificity, accuracy, and sensitivity. RESULTS: The radiomics signature composed of eight selected features had good discriminatory performance of LNM versus non-LNM groups an AUC of 0.851 and 0.826 in primary and validation cohorts, respectively. The nomogram also indicated good discrimination with an AUC of 0.869 and 0.847 in the primary and validation cohorts, respectively. Furthermore, good calibration was demonstrated utilising the nomogram. CONCLUSIONS: An 18F-FDG PET/CT-based radiomics nomogram that integrates the radiomics signature and age was promoted to predict mediastinal LNM within NSCLC patients, which could potentially facilitate individualised therapy for mediastinal LNM before treatment. The nomogram was beneficial in clinical practice, as illustrated by decision curve analysis.

[Minimally invasive enucleation for benign and low-grade malignant pancreatic tumors: an analysis of 60 cases].

Objective: To investigate the safety and feasibility of minimally invasive pancreatic tumor enucleation. Methods: The clinicopathological data of 60 patients with minimally invasive pancreatic tumor enucleation admitted to the Department of Pancreatic Surgery of Fudan University Cancer Center from November 2019 to August 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 17 males and 43 females,with age of (50.0±13.2)years(range: 23 to 73 years). Tumors were located in the head of pancreas in 40 cases(66.7%),neck and tail of pancreas in 20 cases(33.3%). Patients were divided into robotic group(n=25) and laparoscopic group(n=35) according to surgical methods. The measurement data were compared by t-test or Mann-Whitney U test, and the categorical data were compared by χ2 test or Fisher exact probability method. The influencing factors of postoperative pancreatic fistula were analyzed by univariate and multivariate Logistic regression. Results: All patients successfully completed tumor enucleation without conversion to laparotomy. The operation time was (183.5±67.3)minutes(range:90 to 410 minutes). Twelve patients(20.0%) underwent stent placement and pancreatic duct repair during operation. The removal time of abdominal drainage tube after operation was (24.7±22.9)days(range:2 to 113 days). The tumor diameter in the robotic group was larger than that in the laparoscopic group((3.5±0.9)cm vs. (2.9±0.7)cm,t=-2.825,P=0.006). The incidences of postoperative biochemical fistula and grade B pancreatic fistula were 20.0%,22.9% and 36.0%,51.4%,respectively(χ²=2.289,P=0.318). There were no grade C pancreatic fistula,lymphatic fistula,biliary fistula,delayed gastric emptying,secondary operation and perioperative death in both groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed on the occurrence of clinically related pancreatic fistula(above grade B). The results showed that the increase of body mass index(OR=1.285,95%CI:1.053 to 1.569,P=0.014),the larger diameter of the tumor(OR=3.703,95%CI:1.465 to 9.360,P=0.006) and intraoperative pancreatic duct repair(OR=7.889,95%CI:1.471 to 42.296,P=0.016) were independent risk factors,whereas robotic surgery(OR=0.168,95%CI:0.036 to 0.796,P=0.025) was a protective factor. No case of pancreatin dependent dyspepsia and new onset diabetes mellitus was observed. Conclusions: Minimally invasive tumor enucleation is feasible in the treatment of benign and low-grade pancreatic tumors. The incidence of pancreatic fistula is high in the short term after operation,but serious complications are rare. The robot assisted system can reduce the risk of postoperative pancreatic fistula and has more advantages in dealing with larger diameter tumors because of clearer surgical vision and more accurate operation.

[Annual review of bronchiectasis in 2021].

Bronchiectasis, a common chronic respiratory disease, is characterized by irreversible and abnormal bronchial dilatation due to multiple causes. In 2021, a series of significant research progress have been made in bronchiectasis, focusing on the mechanism, diagnosis, clinical phenotypes, treatment, comorbidities, etc. Several studies have shown that many mediators are involved in the pathogenesis of bronchiectasis, such as lipids, platelets, and respiratory microorganisms, providing new insights into the development of prevention and therapy targets of bronchiectasis. At the same time, an international expert consensus proposed radiological and clinical diagnosis criteria for inclusion of bronchiectasis patients in clinical trials. Moreover, the proposal of new phenotype, measurement tools and predictors on bronchiectasis, promote the process of individualized therapy for patients. Regarding the clinical trials on bronchiectasis, several important studies have been published, including tobramycin inhalation powder, airway clearance techniques, tiotropium bromide and so forth. In addition, researches on bronchiectasis comorbidities also have new findings. This review summarized the recent published literatures in order to help clinicians better understand bronchiectasis.

[Effect of laparoscopic surgery for pancreatic cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy].

Objective: To evaluate the safety and feasibility of laparoscopic surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. Methods: Clinical data of 8 patients underwent laparoscopic surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center from September 2019 to June 2020 were reviewed retrospectively. There were 5 males and 3 females,aged from 47 to 72 years old. All patients underwent abdominal enhanced CT and PET-CT before operation to accurately evaluate the tumor stage and exclude distant metastasis. Results: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with AG regimen(gemcitabine 1 000 mg/m2 and albumin bound paclitaxel 125 mg/m2) was received for 2 to 6 cycles before surgery. All 8 patients successfully completed the operation,including 5 cases of pancreaticoduodenectomy,2 cases of radical antegrade modular pancreatosplenectomy(RAMPS),and 1 case of total pancreatectomy. No conversion to laparotomy or laparoscopic assisted surgery. The operation time was 240 to 450 minutes,the blood loss was 100 to 500 ml,the postoperative length of stay was 10 to 16 days. During the follow-up period up to December 31, 2020, there was 1 case suffered grade B pancreatic leakage and abdominal infection. The numbers of resected lymph nodes were 9 to 31. All patients received R0 resection. The follow-up times were 4.5 to 9.5 months. One patient underwent RAMPS was diagnosed as liver metastasis after 2 months of the operation,and the other 7 patients still survived without tumor recurrence. Conclusion: Minimally invasive surgery of pancreatic cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy is safe and feasible in experienced pancreatic minimally invasive centers.

[The accuracy and influencing factors of sleep staging based on single-channel EEG via a deep neural network].

Objective: To investigate theaccuracy of artificial intelligence sleep staging model in patients with habitual snoring and obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) based on single-channel EEG collected from different locations of the head. Methods: The clinical data of 114 adults with habitual snoring and OSAHS who visited to the Sleep Medicine Center of Beijing Tongren Hospital from September 2020 to March of 2021 were analyzed retrospectively, including 93 males and 21 females, aging from 20 to 64 years old. Eighty-five adults with OSAHS and 29 subjects with habitual snoring were included. Sleep staging analysis was performed on the single lead EEG signals of different locations (FP2-M1, C4-M1, F3-M2, ROG-M1, O1-M2) using the deep learning segmentation model trained by previous data. Manual scoring results were used as the gold standard to analyze the consistency rate of results and the influence of different categories of disease. Results: EEG data in 124 747 30-second epochs were taken as the testing dataset. The model accuracy of distinguishing wake/sleep was 92.3%,92.6%,93.5%,89.2% and 83.0% respectively,based on EEG channel Fp2-M1, C4-M1, F3-M2, REOG-M1 or O1-M2. The mode accuracy of distinguishing wake/REM/NREM and wake/REM/N1-2/SWS , was 84.7% and 80.1% respectively based on channel Fp2-M1, which located in forehead skin. The AHI calculated based on total sleep time derived from the model and gold standard were 13.6[4.30,42.5] and 14.2[4.8,42.7], respectively (Z=-2.477, P=0.013), and the kappa coefficient was 0.977. Conclusions: The autonomic sleep staging via a deep neural network model based on forehead single-channel EEG (Fp2-M1) has a good consistency in the identification sleep stage in a population with habitual snoring and OSAHS with different categories. The AHI calculated based on this model has high consistency with manual scoring.

[Effect of hyperandrogenism on obstetric complications of singleton pregnancy from in vitro fertilization in women with polycystic ovary syndrome].

Objective: To compare the difference in risks of obstetric complications of singleton pregnancy between women with hyperandrogenic polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and women with normoandrogenic PCOS. Methods: Prospective cohort study. This study was a secondary analysis of data collected during a multicenter randomized controlled clinical trial. Women who got clinical singleton pregnancy were grouped according to whether they were diagnosed with hyperandrogenism at baseline. There were 118 women with hyperandrogenism and 366 women without hyperandrogenism. The incidences of obstetric complications and birth weight were compared between the two groups. Results: Women with hyperandrogenic PCOS had a significantly higher risk of preterm delivery than women with normoandrogenic PCOS [12.7% (15/118) versus 3.6% (13/366); OR=3.94, 95%CI: 1.82-8.56]. After adjustment of age, duration of infertility, body mass index, and fresh or frozen embryo transfer group, hyperandrogenism was still associated with an increased risk of preterm delivery (OR=3.67, 95%CI: 1.67-8.07). Compared with women with normoandrogenic PCOS, women with hyperandrogenic PCOS had similar risks of pregnancy loss, gestational diabetes mellitus, pre-eclampsia, placenta previa, and postpartum hemorrhage (all P>0.05). Birth weight as well as the risks of being small for gestational age and large for gestational age were also comparable between the two groups (all P>0.05). Conclusion: In women with PCOS and singleton pregnancy, those with preconceptional hyperandrogenism have a higher risk of preterm delivery than those without hyperandrogenism.

Upregulation of miR-522 is associated with poor outcome of hepatocellular carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to explore the clinicopathologic and prognostic significance of miR-522 expression in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The expression of miR-522 in 161 HCC tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues was examined using quantitative real-time-PCR. The association of miR-522 expression with clinicopathological features and the prognosis of HCC patients were also analyzed. The overall survival (OS) was analyzed by log-rank test. Cox regression models were fitted to analyze the effect of prognostic factors on OS. RESULTS: The relative level of miR-522 was significantly higher in HCC tissues compared to the adjacent normal liver tissues. In addition, miR-522 upregulation more frequently occurred in HCC specimens with lymph node metastasis (p = 0.000), and tumor grade (p = 0.002). Moreover, the level of miR-522 expression was markedly correlated with the HCC patients' overall survival (p < 0.000). In the Cox proportional hazard model, the results showed that miR-522 overexpression was an independent prognostic factor for OS CONCLUSIONS: Overexpression of miR-522 functions as an unfavorable prognostic biomarker in HCC patients.

Evaluation of deformable image registration for contour propagation between CT and cone-beam CT images in adaptive head and neck radiotherapy.

Deformable image registration (DIR) is a critical technic in adaptive radiotherapy (ART) to propagate contours between planning computerized tomography (CT) images and treatment CT/Cone-beam CT (CBCT) image to account for organ deformation for treatment re-planning. To validate the ability and accuracy of DIR algorithms in organ at risk (OAR) contours mapping, seven intensity-based DIR strategies are tested on the planning CT and weekly CBCT images from six Head & Neck cancer patients who underwent a 6 ∼ 7 weeks intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Three similarity metrics, i.e. the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), the percentage error (PE) and the Hausdorff distance (HD), are employed to measure the agreement between the propagated contours and the physician delineated ground truths. It is found that the performance of all the evaluated DIR algorithms declines as the treatment proceeds. No statistically significant performance difference is observed between different DIR algorithms (p> 0.05), except for the double force demons (DFD) which yields the worst result in terms of DSC and PE. For the metric HD, all the DIR algorithms behaved unsatisfactorily with no statistically significant performance difference (p= 0.273). These findings suggested that special care should be taken when utilizing the intensity-based DIR algorithms involved in this study to deform OAR contours between CT and CBCT, especially for those organs with low contrast.

Mitochondrial DNA haplogroups and somatic mutations are associated with lung cancer in patients from Southwest China.

Mitochondrial DNA mutations play crucial roles in the pathogenesis and progression of human malignancies. Therefore, to determine whether maternal background or mitochondrial DNA somatic mutations were essential cofactors in the lung cancer of Chinese patients as well, the complete mitochondrial DNA displacement loop of the primary cancerous, matched para-cancerous normal and distant normal tissues for 79 Chinese patients with lung cancer were analyzed in this study. Our results indicated that the higher detected frequency of haplogroups prevalent in southern East Asia (53.16%; 42/79) versus those of northern East Asia in the studied population supported the southern East Asian characteristics of the Chinese lung cancer group. Further statistical analysis revealed that the haplogroups F* and G* contributed to the susceptibility to lung cancer in Chinese patients. In addition, by comparing sequences from different tissues of the same patients, a total of eight somatic mutations from six patients were detected. Combined with the fourteen somatic mutations identified in our previous study, the somatic mutation spectrum of the 79 Chinese patients with lung cancer was 25.32% (20/79). Our results suggest that mitochondrial DNA haplogroups and somatic mutations are associated with lung cancer in patients from Yunnan, Southwest China, and that somatic mitochondrial DNA mutations in the displacement loop can serve as potential biomarkers for clinical utility.

Deciphering the spectrum of somatic mutations in the entire mitochondrial DNA genome.

The mitochondrion is a crucial intracellular organelle responsible for regulating cellular energy metabolism, producing free radicals, initiating and executing the apoptotic pathways. Previous studies have shown that somatic mutations in mitochondrial DNA are associated with various tumors, which may be involved during carcinogenesis and tumor progression. To examine the mutation pattern in cancer, 625 reported somatic mutations in the mitochondrial DNA genome were analyzed. We found that, except for deletions and insertions, most somatic mutations were point mutations, accounting for 89.44% of somatic mutations. Transition was the predominant form of somatic mutation in the entire mitochondrial DNA genome, accounting for 87.12% of point mutations, most of which were homoplastic. Frequency statistics analysis of point mutations indicated that, except for 3 tRNA genes, the mutations were distributed on all resting genes and in the D-loop region, with the latter showing the highest frequency of somatic mutation (19.34%), followed by the tRNA leucine 2 gene and non-coding regions between base pairs 5892 and 5903, while 13 coding-region genes and 2 rRNA genes showed a relatively lower frequency of somatic point mutations. Nonsynonymous mutations and terminal amino acid changes were the primary point somatic mutations detected from 13 coding-region genes, which may cause mitochondrial dysfunction in cancer cells. We found that the somatic mutations may affect the mitochondrial DNA genome; the non-coding region should be examined to identify somatic mutations as potential diagnostic biomarkers for early detection of cancer.

Analysis of protein-protein interaction network in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a growing cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. The purpose of our study was to uncover biomarkers and explore its pathogenic mechanisms at the molecular level. The gene expression profiles of COPD samples and normal controls were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus. Matlab was used for data preprocessing and SAM4.0 was applied to determine the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Furthermore, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by mapping the DEGs into PPI data, and functional analysis of the network was conducted with BiNGO. A total of 348 DEGs and 765 interactive genes were identified. The hub genes were mainly involved in metabolic processes and ribosome biogenesis. Several genes related to COPD in the PPI network were found, including CAMK1D, ALB, KIT, and DDX3Y. In conclusion, CAMK1D, ALB, KIT, and DDX3Y were chosen as candidate genes, which have the potential to be biomarkers or candidate target molecules to apply in clinical diagnosis and treatment of COPD.

4-1BB ligand-mediated imbalance of helper 17 T cells and regulatory T cells in patients with allergic asthma.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the presence of 4-1BB ligand (4-1BBL) in the peripheral blood of patients with allergic asthma and evaluate its role in controlling the balance between helper 17 T (T(h)17) and regulatory T (T(reg)) cells. METHODS: Soluble 4-1BBL (s4-1BBL) was quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in plasma from patients with asthma (n = 45) and from healthy control subjects (n = 35). The proportion of monocytes positive for membrane-bound 4-1BBL (m4-1BBL) was determined by flow cytometry. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with asthma were incubated with anti-4-1BB monoclonal antibody in vitro. Concentrations of interleukin (IL)-17 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß(1) in the culture supernatant were analysed. RESULTS: Plasma s4-1BBL concentrations and the proportion of m4-1BBL-positive monocytes were significantly lower in patients with asthma than in control subjects. The culture supernatant concentration of TGF-ß(1) was increased and that of IL-17 was decreased by incubation with anti-4-1BB monoclonal antibody. CONCLUSIONS: Both soluble and membrane-bound 4-1BBL were reduced in patients with allergic asthma compared with control subjects. 4-1BBL/4-1BB signalling may play an important role in allergic asthma by regulating the T(h)17/T(reg) balance.

Octreotide is the favorable alternative for cisplatin resistance reversal of ovarian cancer in vitro and in nude mice in vivo.

This study aimed to observe the effects of octreotide (OCT) on cisplatin resistance reversal of cancer cells in vitro and in nude mice in vivo. MTT method and flow cytometry were used to investigate the effect of cisplatin, OCT or the combination of these two compounds on the proliferation and apoptosis of SKOV3-DDP cells. The size and weight of xenograft tumors from the nude mice model were measured. Real-time PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of SSTR2, MDR1, MRP2, GST-pi and EGFR in SKOV3/DDP cells following the different treatment. At the concentration of 2.5-20 g/ml, OCT significantly reduced IC50 (p < 0.05) and promoted apoptosis (p < 0.05) of SKOV3-DDP cells' response to cisplatin. Unchanged expression was found in SSTR2 on the SKOV3/DDP cell in vitro after OCT treatment, but increased expression in vivo (p < 0.05). OCT increased GST-pi expression (p < 0.05) and reduced MRP2 and EGFR expression (p < 0.05) in a dose-dependent manner. The similar results were obtained in mice in vivo experiment, except the reduced expression of GST-pi. It is suggested that OCT could inhibit ovarian cancer proliferation and promote apoptosis, via the cell surface SSTR2, and reverse cisplatin resistance through inhibition of MRP2, EGFR, and even GST-pi expressions.

Prokaryotic expression, purification, and refolding of leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2 and its effect on gene expression of head kidney-derived macrophages of a teleost fish, ayu (Plecoglossus altivelis).

Leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2 (LECT2) is reported to be an immunorelevant protein in ayu (Plecoglossus altivelis). In this study, ayu LECT2 mature peptide (aLECT2m) was expressed as insoluble inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli. The denatured recombinant aLECT2m (raLECT2m) was refolded by a size-exclusion chromatography refolding process achieved by using arginine-containing mobile phase and a decreasing urea gradient. The in vitro chemotactic activity assay showed that the refolded raLECT2m had the bioactivity. By using suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) method, we further identified up-regulated genes in ayu macrophages treated with refolded raLECT2m. These genes were tightly involved in endocytosis, hydrolysis, transcriptional regulation, signal transduction, and so on. Moreover, real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) results confirmed that selected 10 genes expression was significantly up-regulated in refolded raLECT2m-treated ayu macrophages. This study provides a basis for further studies of the mechanism of cytokine LECT2 in fish immune responses.

Cardiovascular and metabolic characteristics of infertile Chinese women with PCOS diagnosed according to the Rotterdam consensus criteria.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is strongly associated with metabolic abnormalities in Western women. However, data from other populations and geographical regions are scarce. This study evaluated cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors in Chinese infertile women diagnosed with PCOS using the 2003 Rotterdam consensus criteria. A total of 615 women representing the four PCOS phenotypes (oligo- or anovulation (AO)+hyperandrogenism (HA)+polycystic ovaries (PCO), AO+HA, AO+PCO and HA+PCO) underwent standardized metabolic screening including a 75g oral glucose tolerance test. All groups presented with similar reproductive characteristics, with the only difference being a significantly higher Ferriman-Gallwey score for hirsutism (P=0.01) in the subgroup characterized by HA+PCO. Overall, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 6.4%, with no difference among the four groups (range of 2.3-12.2%). Metabolic syndrome was associated with body mass index (P<0.001), waist/hip ratio (P=0.002), index of insulin resistance (P=0.005) and fasting insulin (P=0.009) in multivariate analysis. Compared with Caucasians and Chinese women in Westernized societies, mainland Chinese women with PCOS have a low risk of metabolic syndrome and its presence does not vary across the specific PCOS phenotypes.