Effects of the Neuropeptides Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase Activating Polypeptide and Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide in Male Fertility.

Background and Objectives: The neuroendocrine system plays a crucial role in regulating various bodily functions, including reproduction, with evidence suggesting its significant involvement in male fertility and sperm development. Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) are expressed in both male and female reproductive tissues, influencing penile erection and regulating steroidogenesis in males. Therefore, our study aimed to compare the protein levels of VIP and PACAP in seminal plasma between healthy controls and sub-fertile patients. Additionally, we sought to correlate the levels of these biomarkers with clinical, functional, and laboratory findings in the participants. Materials and Methods: The study included a total of 163 male participants for analysis. The participants were further stratified into subgroups of fertile and sub-fertile men of four subgroups according to the 2021 WHO guidelines. Seminal plasma concentrations of the neuropeptides VIP and PACAP were measured using human enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique. Results: The findings showed statistically significant differences in total sperm count, sperm concentration, total motility, and vitality (p < 0.001) between the fertile group and the sub-fertile group. Specifically, significant differences found between healthy males and oligoasthenospermic patients (p = 0.002), and between asthenospermic and oligoasthenospermic patients (p = 0.039). An ROC analysis showed associated sensitivity and specificity values of 62.2% and 55.6%, respectively, to PACAP seminal levels differentiated between sub-fertile patients from fertile males (p = 0.028). No significant difference in seminal levels of VIP was found between the sub-fertile and fertile groups. Conclusions: Previous research leads to the point of PACAP active involvement in spermatogenesis. In accordance to our study, in human semen samples, we have seen a significance change in PACAP levels amongst patients with low sperm count or with both low sperm count and low motility, hinting at its contribution and acting as a possible factor in this complex process. Thus, alterations in the levels or actions of these neuropeptides have been associated with certain reproductive disorders in males.

GRP78 is Overexpressed in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Tissues and is Associated with High VEGF Expression in Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: Neovascularization is essential for the growth and progression of tumor tissues. GRP78 is frequently overexpressed in various cancers and has been suggested as a proangiogenic factor. PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the expression levels of GRP78 and to test for significant relationships with the angiogenic markers, VEGF, and CD31. METHODS: In this study, paraffin-embedded NSCLC tissue samples (71 adenocarcinomas and 23 squamous cell carcinoma) were retrospectively collected from 94 patients with NSCLC. The expressions of VEGF, CD31, and GRP78 were determined by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: High expression levels of VEGF and GRP78 were observed in 65 and 74 cases, respectively. Thirty-six patients expressed high CD31 levels. Adenocarcinomas expressed higher levels of the three proteins than squamous cell carcinomas (p-value < 0.05). Moreover, a statistically significant association was found between the expression levels of VEGF and CD31 (p-value = 0.001) and VEGF and GRP78 (p-value=0.028). CONCLUSION: GRP78 overexpression was revealed in most of the investigated samples. The positive association between VEGF and GRP78 may indicate the proangiogenic role of GRP78 in lung cancer. Moreover, the positive association between VEGF and CD31 expression levels suggests that VEGF may cooperate with CD31 to promote angiogenesis in NSCLC.

Evaluation of serum VIP and aCGRP during pulmonary exacerbation in cystic fibrosis: A longitudinal pilot study of patients undergoing antibiotic therapy.

BACKGROUND: Objective monitoring of improvement during treatment of pulmonary exacerbation can be difficulty in children when pulmonary function testing cannot be obtained. Thus, the identification of predictive biomarkers to determine the efficacy of drug treatments is of high priority. The major aim of the current study was to investigate the serum levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and alpha calcitonin gene related peptide (aCGRP) of cystic fibrosis pediatric patients during pulmonary exacerbation and post-antibiotic therapy, and possible associations of their levels with different clinicopathological parameters. METHODS: 21 patients with cystic fibrosis were recruited at onset of pulmonary exacerbation. Serum was collected at time of admission, three days post-antibiotic therapy, and two weeks post-antibiotic therapy (end of antibiotic therapy). Serum VIP and aCGRP levels were measured using ELISA. RESULTS: Overall least square means of serum aCGRP level but not VIP changed from time of exacerbation to completion of antibiotic therapy (p = 0.005). Serum VIP was significantly associated with the presence of diabetes mellitus (p = 0.026) and other comorbidities (p = 0.013), and with type of antibiotic therapy (p = 0.019). Serum aCGRP level was significantly associated with type of antibiotic therapy (p = 0.012) and positive Staphylococcus aureus microbiology test (p = 0.046). CONCLUSION: This study could only show significant changes in serum aCGRP levels following treatment of pulmonary exacerbations. Future studies with larger sample size are required to investigate the clinical importance of VIP and aCGRP in cystic fibrosis patients.

Correlation of PKM2 Expression With HER2/neu and Additional Breast Cancer Biomarkers and its Prognostic Significance.

BACKGROUND: Pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) has a central role in both tumor development and metastasis, and it has increasingly become a valuable subject for many cancer studies due to its important prognostic value in various tumor types. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the impact of PKM2 expression level on breast cancer prognosis and survival rates and its association with various clinicopathologic characteristics and tumor markers in breast cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included sample tissues from patients with breast cancer who did not receive chemotherapy or radiotherapy before surgery. Expression levels of PKM2, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and Ki-67 were analyzed using tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: A total of 164 patients were included with an age range from 28 to 82 years. High PKM2 was observed in 48.8% of cases (80/164). A significant association was found between PKM2 expression and breast cancer molecular subtype and HER2 status ( P <0.001). In HER2-negative tumors, there was a significant association between PKM2 expression and tumor grade, TNM stage, pN stage, lymphovascular invasion, and estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor status. Survival analysis revealed that high PKM2 expression levels were associated with decreased overall survival rate in HER2-positive cases with high Ki-67 index. Moreover, in the HER2-positive group, low PKM2 expression level impacted the survival outcome of metastasis ( P =0.002). CONCLUSIONS: PKM2 is a valuable prognostic and a potential diagnostic and predictive marker in breast cancer. Moreover, the combination of PKM2 with Ki-67 provides excellent prognostic accuracy in HER2-positive tumors.

Expression of substance P, neurokinin 1 receptor, Ki-67 and pyruvate kinase M2 in hormone receptor negative breast cancer and evaluation of impact on overall survival.

BACKGROUND: Chronic inflammation is a hallmark of cancer, and it can be stimulated by many factors. Substance P (SP), through binding to neurokinin 1 receptor (NK1R), and pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) play critical roles in cancer development and progression via modulating the tumor microenvironment. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic significance of SP and PKM2 in combination with NK1R and Ki-67 in hormone receptor negative (HR-ve) breast cancer. METHODS: Immunohistochemical expression levels of SP, NK1R, PKM2, and Ki-67 were measured in 144 paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissues (77 h -ve and 67 h + ve). SP, NK1R, and PKM2 were scored semiquantitatively, while Ki-67 was obtained by the percentage of total number of tumor cells with nuclear staining. The optimal cutoff value for SP, NK1R, PKM2, and Ki-67 were assessed by Cutoff Finder. RESULTS: High SP expression in HR -ve breast cancer was associated with TNM stage (p = 0.020), pT stage (p = 0.035), pN stage (p = 0.002), axillary lymph node metastasis (p = 0.003), and NK1R expression level (p = 0.010). In HR + ve breast cancer, SP expression was associated with HER2 status (p = 0.001) and PKM2 expression level (p = 0.012). Regarding PKM2 expression level, it significantly associated with HER2 status (p = 0.001) and history of DCIS (p = 0.046) in HR-ve tumors, and with HER2 status (p < 0.001) and SP expression level (p = 0.012) in HR + ve tumors. Survival analysis revealed that high SP level negatively impacted overall survival in HR-ve tumors that had low NK1R level (p = 0.021). Moreover, high SP negatively impacted overall survival in HR-ve tumors that had low Ki-67 level (p = 0.005). High PKM2 negatively impacted overall survival in HR-ve cases with low SP (p = 0.047). CONCLUSION: Combined expression levels of SP with NK1R or Ki-67, and PKM2 with SP could be used to predict survival in breast cancer patients with HR-ve tumors. Our findings suggest a role of SP/NK1R pathway and PKM2 in HR-ve breast cancer pathogenesis which should be further investigated to unveil the underlying molecular mechanisms.

Medication adherence to disease-modifying therapies among a cohort of Jordanian patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a multicentre cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate medication adherence to oral and parenteral disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) and to explore factors associated with medication non-adherence in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS: A cross-sectional multicentre study was conducted among patients with MS. Patients who attended outpatient clinics of neurology departments from three major referral centres were invited to participate in the study. Medication adherence was measured using the Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Adherence Questionnaire. KEY FINDINGS: A total of 319 patients with MS on DMT were included in the final analyses, their average age was 35 years and more than two-thirds (72.1%) of them were women. The adherent group comprised 46.7% of patients. The results of association analyses showed that factors that were associated with adherence level were female gender (P = 0.034), non-smoking/x-smoking (P = 0.007), school education (P = 0.019), unemployment (P = 0.006), history of previous DMT (P = 0.020), longer previous treatment duration (P = 0.008), and type of current DMT (P = 0.020). Among the non-adherent patients, there were significant differences between oral and parenteral DMT users in the importance of barriers to adherence (P < 0.001). Additionally, the degree of treatment satisfaction was higher in oral users than in parenteral users (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The adherence level was quite low. Gender, smoking status, education, employment status, history of previous DMT, previous treatment duration and type of current DMT were associated with medication non-adherence in our patients with MS. These factors should be considered when evaluating medication adherence, and the modifiable factors may represent potential targets for interventions to improve pharmaceutical care planning in patients with MS.

The Prognostic Potential of Neurokinin 1 Receptor in Breast Cancer and Its Relationship with Ki-67 Index.

Background: Neurokinin 1 receptor (NK1R) is a promising biomarker and therapeutic target in breast cancer. This study was aimed at investigating the expression level of NK1R in breast cancer tissues and its relationship with proliferation index as measured by Ki-67, clinicopathological characteristics of patients, and overall survival rate. Methods: Immunohistochemical expression of NK1R and Ki-67 was measured in 164 paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissues of four molecular subtypes (42 HER2-enriched, 40 luminal A, 42 luminal B, and 40 triple negative). NK1R was scored semiquantitatively, while Ki-67 was obtained by the percentage of total number of tumor cells with nuclear staining. The optimal cutoff values for NK1R and Ki-67 were assessed by Cutoff Finder. Pearson's Chi-square (χ 2) and Fisher's exact tests were used to compare the staining scores between groups. The Kaplan-Meier method with log-rank test was used for survival analysis. ANOVA and Student's t-test were used to compare group means. Results: A total of 164 patients were included in the study which represented females with invasive ductal carcinoma. NK1R was expressed at high levels in about 34% of investigated cases. The mean Ki-67 level was about 27% and 41.5% of sample had high Ki-67 (expression level > 22%). NK1R expression levels were associated with higher tumor grade (p = 0.021) and high Ki-67 (p = 0.012). NK1R expression negatively impacted overall survival in grade II tumors (p = 0.027). Conclusion: NK1R contributes to cellular proliferation and is associated with negative prognosis in breast cancer. These findings suggest the potential role of NK1R as a therapeutic target in breast cancer.

Significance of serum VIP and PACAP in multiple sclerosis: an exploratory case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system. Vasoactive and intestinal peptide (VIP) and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide (PACAP) are neuropeptides that play roles in anti-inflammation and neuroprotection in MS. In this study, we aimed to determine the serum levels of VIP and PACAP in MS patients versus healthy controls and to correlate them with demographics and clinical characteristics. METHODS: Serum samples were collected from MS patients (n = 145) and healthy controls (n = 73) to measure serum levels VIP and PACAP. RESULTS: VIP serum levels were lower in MS patients than healthy controls (p < 0.001). Serum PACAP levels were the same among the two groups. Gender-based analysis showed that VIP levels were lower in healthy females (1238.840 pg/ml) than healthy males (3300.105 pg/ml; p < 0.001), and PACAP serum levels were significantly lower in male MS patients (48,516.214 fg/ml) than female MS patients (62,466.400 fg/ml; p = 0.029). ROC curve suggested that serum VIP level can discriminate patients with MS from healthy controls. Relapsing-remitting MS, progressive-MS, and clinically isolated syndrome groups were different in age, MS disease duration, EDSS score, and VIP levels (p < 0.05). MS disease type and history of previous relapses in the preceding 24 months predicted serum VIP levels, while gender predicted PACAP levels. CONCLUSION: VIP serum levels are decreased in MS patients and can be used to differentiate between MS patients and healthy controls. Further studies with larger sample sizes are required to investigate VIP as a marker to reflect MS disease progression.

Immunohistochemical expression of substance P in breast cancer and its association with prognostic parameters and Ki-67 index.

BACKGROUND: The neuropeptide substance P is a potential biomarker and therapeutic target in cancer. The main objectives of this study were to investigate the expression level of substance P in different breast cancer molecular subtypes and identify its association with clinicopathological parameters of patients and with Ki-67 index. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed for a total of 164 paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissue samples [42 Her2/neu-enriched, 40 luminal A, 42 luminal B (triple-positive) and 40 triple negative subtypes]. The tissue microarray slides containing specimens were used to determine the expression of substance p and Ki-67 by immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: The mean age of the cohort was 51.35 years. Twenty two percent of cases had low substance P expression levels (TS ≤ 5), while 78% had high expression levels (TS > 5). A significant association was found between SP expression level and breast cancer molecular subtype (p = 0.002), TNM stage (p = 0.034), pN stage (p = 0.013), axillary lymph node metastasis (p = 0.004), ER and PR statuses (p<0.001) and history of DCIS (p = 0.009). The average percentage of Ki-67 expression was 27.05%. When analyzed as a continuous variable, significant differences were observed between the mean Ki-67 scores and molecular subtype (p = 0.001), grade (p = 0.003), pN stage (p = 0.007), axillary lymph node metastasis (p = 0.001), and ER and PR statuses (p <0.001). CONCLUSION: SP is overexpressed in most of the analyzed tissues and has a negative prognostic value in the breast cancer patients. Besides substance P is a potential therapeutic target in breast cancer.

The effect of combined treatment with sodium phenylbutyrate and cisplatin, erlotinib, or gefitinib on resistant NSCLC cells.

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy resistance is the main cause of the marginal clinical benefit of platinum-based chemotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitors in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Thus, the identification of new therapeutic agents that can enhance the sensitivity of these drugs is of clinical importance. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs) are emerging as new promising agents with strong antiproliferative effects against different types of cancers. This study investigates the synergistic potential of sodium phenylbutyrate (NaPB) added on top of standard chemotherapy used against NSCLC. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of NaPB to overcome the resistance of NSCLC cell lines to cisplatin, gefitinib, and erlotinib. METHODS: MTT cell proliferation assay was used to measure the anticancer effects of cisplatin, erlotinib, or gefitinib alone or combined with various concentrations of NaPB against A549, Calu1, and H1650 NSCLC cell lines. Synergism was estimated by measuring synergy value (R), which is equal to the ratio of IC50 of each primary drug alone divided by combination IC50s. Student's t-test analysis was used to evaluate the potential differences between IC50 values. ANOVA followed by Tukey's post hoc was used to evaluate the potential differences among monotherapy and combination treatment groups. Analyses were performed using R 3.3.2 software. P-value <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: NaPB was shown to inhibit the growth of A549, Calu1, and H1650 cell lines in a dose-dependent manner (IC50 10, 8.53, and 4.53 mM, respectively). Furthermore, the addition of NaPB along with cisplatin, erlotinib, or gefitinib to A549, Calu1, and H1650 cell lines resulted in a synergistic antiproliferative effect against the three NSCLC cell lines (R>1.6, P-value <0.05), thus suggesting that NaPB can potentiate the effect of cisplatin, erlotinib, and gefitinib on A549, Calu1, and H1650 cell lines. CONCLUSION: Current results suggest a potential role of NaPB as a sensitizing agent in NSCLC.

Pramlintide, an antidiabetic, is antineoplastic in colorectal cancer and synergizes with conventional chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Approximately 90% of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer fail therapy mainly due to resistance. Taking advantage of currently approved agents for treatment of disease conditions other than cancer for the identification of new adjuvant anticancer therapies is highly encouraged. Pramlintide is a parenteral antidiabetic agent that is currently approved for treatment of types 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus. OBJECTIVES: To address the antineoplastic potential of pramlintide in colorectal cancer and to evaluate the ability of pramlintide to enhance the cytotoxicity of 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan against colorectal cancer cell lines expressing wild-type and mutant p53. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The antiproliferative effect of pramlintide alone or in combination with 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, or irinotecan in HCT-116 and HT-29 colorectal cancer cell lines was investigated using MTT cell proliferation assay. IC50 values were calculated using Compusyn software 1.0. Synergy values (R) were calculated using the ratio of IC50 of each primary drug alone divided by combination IC50s. For each two pairs of experiments, Student's t-test was used for analysis. For combination studies, one-way analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc testing was performed using R 3.3.2 software. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Pramlintide inhibited the growth of HCT-116 and HT-29 in a dose-dependent manner, with higher efficacy against the latter (IC50s; 48.67 and 9.10 µg/mL, respectively; p-value =0.013). Moreover, the addition of 5, 10, and 20 µg/mL of pramlintide to HCT-116 and HT-29 with 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, or irinotecan induced the antiproliferative effect synergistically (R>1.6, p-value <0.05). CONCLUSION: Pramlintide enhances the cytotoxicity of conventional chemotherapy against colorectal cancer cell lines harboring wild-type or mutant p53. Thus, pramlintide is a promising potential adjuvant chemotherapy in colorectal cancer.

Potential of Phenylbutyrate as Adjuvant Chemotherapy: An Overview of Cellular and Molecular Anticancer Mechanisms.

Despite the advancement in cancer therapy, a high number of patients fail treatment because of drug resistance. Several preclinical in vitro data suggest that phenylbutyrate has antiproliferative, antiangiogenic, antimetastatic, immunomodulatory, and differentiating properties. Moreover, phenylbutyrate administration in vivo provided an oncoprotective effect. However, the results of clinical trials indicate that the antineoplastic potential of phenylbutyrate is hindered by its pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties. Thus, understanding the exact mechanisms of the anticancer effect of phenylbutyrate could assist in the selection of patients who will best benefit from this drug. The present review discusses the proposed mechanisms of antineoplastic effect of phenylbutyrate and the preclinical and clinical evidence suggesting its potential role as anticancer in different types of cancer.

NOTCH3 is a prognostic factor that promotes glioma cell proliferation, migration and invasion via activation of CCND1 and EGFR.

Using a GWA analysis of a comprehensive glioma specimen population, we identified whole gain of chromosome 19 as one of the major chromosomal aberrations that correlates to patients' outcomes. Our analysis of significant loci revealed for the first time NOTCH3 as one of the most significant amplification. NOTCH3 amplification is associated with worse outcome compared to tumors with non-amplified locus. NOTCH receptors (NOTCH1-4) are key positive regulators of cell-cell interactions, angiogenesis, cell adhesion and stem cell niche development which have been shown to play critical roles in several human cancers. Our objective is to determine the molecular roles of NOTCH3 in glioma pathogenesis and aggressiveness. Here we show for the first time that NOTCH3 plays a major role in glioma cell proliferation, cell migration, invasion and apoptosis. Therefore, our study uncovers the prognostic value and the oncogenic function of NOTCH3 in gliomagenesis and supports NOTCH3 as a promising target of therapy in high grade glioma. Our studies allowed the identification of a subset of population that may benefit from GSI- or anti-NOTCH3- based therapies. This may lead to the design of novel strategies to improve therapeutic outcome of patients with glioma by establishing medical and scientific basis for personalized chemotherapies.

Tumor derived mutations of protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type k affect its function and alter sensitivity to chemotherapeutics in glioma.

Poor prognosis and resistance to therapy in malignant gliomas is mainly due to the highly dispersive nature of glioma cells. This dispersive characteristic results from genetic alterations in key regulators of cell migration and diffusion. A better understanding of these regulatory signals holds promise to improve overall survival and response to therapy. Using mapping arrays to screen for genomic alterations in gliomas, we recently identified alterations of the protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type kappa gene (PTPRK) that correlate to patient outcomes. These PTPRK alterations are very relevant to glioma biology as PTPRK can directly sense cell-cell contact and is a dephosphorylation regulator of tyrosine phosphorylation signaling, which is a major driving force behind tumor development and progression. Subsequent sequencing of the full length PTPRK transcripts revealed novel PTPRK gene deletion and missense mutations in numerous glioma biopsies. PTPRK mutations were cloned and expressed in PTPRK-null malignant glioma cells. The effect of these mutations on PTPRK anti-oncogenic function and their association with response to anti-glioma therapeutics, such as temozolomide and tyrosine kinase inhibitors, was subsequently analyzed using in vitro cell-based assays. These genetic variations altered PTPRK activity and its post-translational processing. Reconstitution of wild-type PTPRK in malignant glioma cell lines suppressed cell growth and migration by inhibiting EGFR and ß-catenin signaling and improved the effect of conventional therapies for glioma. However, PTPRK mutations abrogated tumor suppressive effects of wild-type PTPRK and altered sensitivity of glioma cells to chemotherapy.

Enhancing diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic outcome prediction of gliomas using genomics.

Malignant gliomas are the most frequent type of primary brain tumors. Patients' outcome has not improved despite new therapeutics, thus underscoring the need for a better understanding of their genetics and a fresh approach to treatment. The lack of reproducibility in the classification of many gliomas presents an opportunity where genomics may be paramount for accurate diagnosis and therefore best for therapeutic decisions. The aim of this work is to identify large and focal copy number abnormalities (CNA) and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) events in a malignant glioma population. We hypothesized that these explorations will allow discovery of genetic markers that may improve diagnosis and predict outcome. DNA from glioma specimens were subjected to CNA and LOH analyses. Our studies revealed more than 4000 CNA and several LOH loci. Losses of chromosomes 1p and/or 19q, 10, 13, 14, and 22 and gains of 7, 19, and 20 were found. Several of these alterations correlated significantly with histology and grade. Further, LOH was detected at numerous chromosomes. Interestingly, several of these loci harbor genes with potential or reported tumor suppressor properties. These novel genetic signatures may lead to critical insights into diagnosis, classification, prognosis, and design of individualized therapies.