Acidic Electrolyzed Water Maintains the Storage Quality of Postharvest Wampee Fruit by Activating the Disease Resistance.

Harvested wampee fruit is susceptible to disease, resulting in postharvest losses. Acidic electrolyzed water (AEW), a safe and innovative sterilization technology, plays a role in enhancing disease resistance in harvested produce. In this study, the efficacy of AEW in delaying wampee disease development was assessed, along with its association with disease resistance metabolism. Wampee fruit was treated with AEW (pH 2.5) at different available chlorine concentrations (ACCs) (20, 40, 60, and 80 mg/L) and subsequently stored at 25 °C for 8 days. Results revealed that 40 mg/L ACC in AEW (pH 2.5) was most effective in improving the postharvest quality of wampee fruit. Compared with control wampee fruit, those treated with 40 mg/L ACC in AEW exhibited lower incidence of fruit disease, higher pericarp lignin content, and higher activities of pericarp disease resistance enzymes (DREs), such as cinnamate-4-hydroxylase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, chitinase, ß-1,3-glucanase, polyphenol oxidase, 4-coumarate CoA ligase, and cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase. These results suggested that AEW elevated DRE activities, promoted lignin accumulation, and ultimately enhanced disease resistance, suppressed disease development, and improved storage quality in harvested wampee fruit. Consequently, AEW emerged as a safe technology to mitigate the disease development and enhance the storage quality of harvested wampee fruit.

Impact of body mass index in therapeutic response for HER2 positive breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant targeted therapy: a multi-center study and meta-analysis.

While overweight/obesity has become a major public health issue worldwide, any association between body mass index (BMI) and therapeutic response in neoadjuvant targeted therapy treated HER2 positive breast cancer patients remain unclear. The information from a total of four-hundred and ninety-one neoadjuvant targeted therapy treated HER2 positive breast cancer patients from four institutions were retrospectively collected. Univariate and multivariate logistic analysis was developed to determine the association between BMI and therapeutic response. A meta-analysis of published literature was then conducted to confirm the effect of overweight/obesity on pCR for patients treated with neoadjuvant targeted therapy. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) adjusted for confounding factors demonstrated a decrease pCR with increasing BMI (OR = 0.937, P = 0.045). Patients were then categorized into under/normal weight (n = 299) and overweight/obesity (n = 192). Overweight/obese patients were independently associated with a poor therapeutic response. In the subgroup analysis, a significant negative impact of overweight/obesity on pCR can be observed both in single-targeted (OR = 0.556; P = 0.02) and dual-targeted (OR = 0.392; P = 0.021) populations. Six eligible studies involving 984 neoadjuvant targeted therapy treated HER2 positive breast cancer patients were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis also demonstrated that overweight/obesity was significantly associated with a poor response to neoadjuvant anti-HER2 therapy (OR = 0.68; P = 0.007). Our result show that overweight and obese HER2 positive breast cancer patients are less likely to achieve pCR after neoadjuvant targeted therapy.

Comprehensive analyses of membrane lipids and phenolics metabolisms reveal the developments of chilling injury and browning in Chinese olives during cold storage.

The impacts of chilling injury (CI) temperature (2 °C) and non-CI temperature (8 °C) on the CI development, browning occurrence, and its underlying mechanism in Chinese olives were investigated. The results showed that, 2 °C induced higher levels of CI index, browning degree, chromaticity a* and b* values, but lower values of h°, chlorophyll and carotenoid contents in Chinese olives as compared to 8 °C. Furthermore, 2 °C raised cell membrane permeability, increased the activities of phospholipase D, lipase and lipoxygenase, accelerated the hydrolyses of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylinositol to phosphatidic acid, and promoted the conversions of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids in Chinese olives. Moreover, 2 °C-stored Chinese olives showed higher activities of peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase, but lower contents of tanin, flavonoid and phenolics. These findings demonstrated that the CI and browning developments in Chinese olives were closely associated with the metabolisms of membrane lipid and phenolics.

Acidic electrolyzed water treatment suppresses Phomopsis longanae Chi-induced the decreased storability and quality properties of fresh longans through modulating energy metabolism.

Longan fruit loses its market value rapidly due to postharvest pathogenic infestation and quality deterioration. Here, we hypothesized that acidic electrolyzed water (AEW) could maintain higher quality of P. longanae-inoculated longans via regulating energy metabolism. Results indicated that AEW reduced fruit disease index and decay incidence. Significantly, AEW treatment retained higher levels of ATP, ADP, and energy charge, and higher activities of Ca2+-ATPase, Mg2+-ATPase, and H+-ATPase in the membranes of plasma, vacuole, and mitochondria, which maintained the structural and functional integrity of cell membrane. Furthermore, indirectly sustaining cell membrane function via AEW treatment could maintain the storability and quality properties of longans, including keeping higher values of color chromaticity (L*, a*, and b*), higher amounts of vitamin C, total soluble solids, sucrose, and total soluble sugars, lower titratable acid and reducing sugar contents. This work elucidated the potential regulation of AEW on the balance of energy metabolism and fruit quality.

DNP and ATP modulate the developments of pulp softening and breakdown in Phomopsis longanae Chi-infected fresh longan through regulating the cell wall polysaccharides metabolism.

Compared with P. longanae-infected longan, 2, 4-dinitrophenol (DNP) treatment for P. longanae-infected longan displayed the lower levels of pulp firmness, cell wall materials, ionic-soluble pectin, covalent-soluble pectin, hemicellulose, or cellulose, but the higher amount of water-soluble pectin, the higher activities of cell wall-degrading enzymes (CWDEs) (PG, ß-Gal, PME, Cx, and XET), and the higher transcript levels of CWDEs-related genes (DlPG1, DlPG2, Dlß-Gal1, DlPME1, DlPME2, DlPME3, DlCx1, and DlXET30). On the contrary, ATP treatment for P. longanae-infected longan exhibited opposite effects. The above results imply that DNP accelerated P. longanae-induced pulp softening and breakdown of fresh longan, which was because DNP up-regulated the transcript levels of CWDEs-related genes, enhanced the CWDEs activities, and accelerated the degradation of cell wall polysaccharides (CWP). However, ATP suppressed longan pulp softening and breakdown caused by P. longanae, because ATP down-regulated the transcript levels of CWDEs-related genes, lowered the CWDEs activities, and reduced the CWP degradation.

DNP and ATP regulate the pulp breakdown development in Phomopsis longanae Chi-infected longan fruit through modulating the ROS metabolism.

Compared with the P. longanae-infected longan, the DNP-treated P. longanae-infected fruit represented a higher pulp breakdown index, a higher O2 -. production rate, and a higher MDA content, but the lower activities of APX, SOD and CAT, the lower transcript levels of DlAPX6, DlSOD1, DlSOD2, DlSOD3 and DlCAT1, the lower values of AsA, GSH, flavonoid and total phenolics, a lower scavenging ability of DPPH radical, and a lower value of reducing power. Whereas, the ATP-treated P. longanae-infected samples showed the contrary results. The above findings indicated that the DNP-promoted the pulp breakdown in P. longanae-infected longan was because DNP weakened the capacity of scavenging ROS, raised the O2 -. level, and accelerated the membrane lipids peroxidation. However, the ATP-suppressed the pulp breakdown in P. longanae-infected longan was because ATP improved the capacity of scavenging ROS, reduced the O2 -. level, and reduced the membrane lipids peroxidation.

[Construction and application of an appraisement system of oral surgery difficulty by Delphi method].

PURPOSE: To build an appraisement system of oral surgery difficulty by Delphi method in order to provide basis for evaluation of oral surgery level and performance appraisal methods. METHODS: Delphi method was used to perform two rounds of expert selection, combination of critical value method and synthetical index method was used to select the index, and the weight of the index system was determined by superiority chart. RESULTS: The final evaluation index system of oral surgery difficulty included 4 first-level indexes and 20 second-level indexes. Index evaluation, index meaning and index weight were included in the index system. CONCLUSIONS: The evaluation index system of oral surgery difficulty has its particularity compared with traditional operation index system.

Effect of roasting and in vitro digestion on phenolic profiles and antioxidant activity of water-soluble extracts from sesame.

The effects of roasting and in vitro digestion on total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), phenolic profiles, and antioxidant activity of water-soluble extracts from six varieties of sesame were investigated in this study. Our results showed that the major phenolic compounds in raw, roasted and digested sesame were gallic acid (GA), protocatechuic acid (PA), 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (4 HBA), ferulic acid (FA) and quercetin (Quer). Roasting significantly increased the TPC, pinoresinol diglucoside (PD), sesamol, as well as the content of phenolic compounds (especially GA, PA, 4 HBA and Quer) in sesame, but kept or reduced the TFC, sesamin and sesamolin. After roasting, the antioxidant potency composite index (ACI) of six varieties of sesame was significantly increased by 29.8%-216.6%. Additionally, the ACI of gastric digestion was significantly higher than that of oral and intestinal digestion during the in vitro digestion of the roasted-sesame, except for the varieties of Ganzhi 9 and Ganzhi 17. This study showed that five phenolic compounds (GA, PA, 4 HBA, p-coumaric acid, Quer) and sesamol of the water-soluble extracts contributed to the antioxidant activities of the digestive products of sesame.

Effects of thermal preparation and in vitro digestion on lignan profiles and antioxidant activity in defatted-sesame meal.

Defatted-sesame meal (DSM), a byproduct of sesame oil, has attracted considerable interest in the food industry because of its strong antioxidant activity. The aim of this study was to measure the content and distribution of lignans in DSM and evaluate their antioxidant activity after thermal processing and in vitro digestion. The results showed that the sesame lignans (SL) content and antioxidant activity were significantly influenced by the temperature and time during thermal preparation, and the maximum antioxidant potency composite index (ACI) was obtained after roasting the samples at 240 °C for 20 min. As sesame seed was processed with longer time and higher temperature, more pinoresinol diglucoside (PD) and sesamol were measured in DSM. According to the correlation matrix under thermal preparation, a significant contribution to the antioxidant potency of DSM was discovered. After in vitro digestion, the release amount of lignans increased by 19.6%, and the values of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and ACI gradually declined after digestion, with a 40% decrease in both the DPPH radical scavenging activity and the ACI from oral to intestinal phase. These results could be used to help improve the bioavailability of SL and obtaining high quality sesame byproducts.

Evaluation of antioxidant activities of ethanol extract from Ligusticum subjected to in-vitro gastrointestinal digestion.

The Rhizome of Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort, a traditional Chinese medicine, is widely used to treat cardiovascular diseases and attenuate oxidative stress. The main bioactive compounds including tetramethylpyrazine (TMP), polyphenols, ferulic acid have been reported to be responsible for these effects. This study was to evaluate the influence of Ligusticum chuanxiong extraction (LCE) in mimic gastrointestinal tract on antioxidant activity. The effects of gastric digestion group metabolic liquid on free radical scavenging followed as DPPH > ·O2- > ·OH, while the clearance effects of intestine digestion group expressed as ·O2-> ·OH > DPPH. Furthermore, the digested extraction promoted lower cellular antioxidant activity (CAA) with dose-response correlations. Gastrointestinal digestion increased the release of bound ferulic acids and polyphenols. Content of ferulic acid in gastric and intestinal metabolic solution increased from 6.07 mg/g to 9.33 mg/g and 14.17 mg/g. The free phenolic before and after digestion were 177.38 mg/g, 179.69 mg/g and 194.99 mg/g, respectively. The simulated gastrointestinal digestion of LCE promoted a significant increase in the free phenolic acids content, antioxidant activity and CAA.

Evaluating the benefits and adverse effects of an enthracycline-taxane-capecitabine combined regimen in patients with early breast cancer.

Capecitabine in addition to anthracycline-taxane based regimens for patients with early breast cancer (EBC) has been reported in previous clinical trials, but the reported efficacy of this regimen remained inconsistent. In order to clarify the survival benefit of this regimen, a meta-analysis was performed. The systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, the Cochrane library and Google scholar. The hazard ratios (HRs) were used to evaluate the efficacy and adverse events. The result indicated that capecitabine combine with an anthracycline-taxane based regimen would significantly improve DFS (HR = 0.87, 95% CI 0.77-0.97) and OS (HR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.66-0.91) compared with the controls. In subgroup analysis, we found that capecitabine improved the DFS in hormone receptor negative (HR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.53-0.92) and triple negative (HR = 0.67, 95% CI 0.49-0.86) EBC patients. However, adding capecitabine might also increase the occurrence of some side-effects, such as hand-foot syndrome, stomatitis and diarrhea. Capecitabine combined with an anthracycline-taxane based regimen maybe effective and well-tolerated by patients with EBC, especially for triple negative breast cancer, and might be a good clinical choice.

Genetic variants in long noncoding RNA H19 contribute to the risk of breast cancer in a southeast China Han population.

The long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) H19 is a maternally expressed imprinted gene that plays important roles in tumorigenesis, progression, and metastasis. However, the association between polymorphisms on H19 and breast cancer (BC) susceptibility has remained obscure. In this case-control study, we assessed the interaction between two lncRNA H19 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs217727 C>T, rs2839698 C>T) and the risk of BC in a Chinese Han population. In total, 1,005 BC cases and 1,020 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Correlations between genotypes and BC risk were evaluated by multivariate logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). False-positive report probability calculation was also utilized to identify false-positive associations. We observed that the rs217727 T variant was consistently significantly associated with an increased risk of BC in both codominant and dominant models (CT vs CC, OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.03-1.51; TT vs CC, OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.15-2.09; CT + TT vs CC, OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.09-1.57), and all associations remained significant after Bonferroni correction (P<0.025). Subsequent stratified analyses also revealed that associations between BC risk and rs217727 genotypes were more profound in patients with estrogen receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative, and hormone receptor-positive-HER2-negative molecular subtypes (all passed the threshold for Bonferroni correction, P<0.005). These findings extend available data on the association of H19 polymorphisms and BC susceptibility. Based on these results, we encourage further large-scale studies and functional research to confirm our findings and better elucidate the underlying biological mechanisms.

The precision relationships between eight GWAS-identified genetic variants and breast cancer in a Chinese population.

Some of the new breast cancer susceptibility loci discovered in recent Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have not been confirmed in Chinese populations. To determine whether eight novel Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) have associations with breast cancer risk in women from southeast China, we conducted a case-control study of 1,156 breast cancer patients and 1,256 healthy controls. We first validated that the SNPs rs12922061, rs2290203, and rs2981578 were associated with overall breast cancer risk in southeast Chinese women, with the per-allele OR of 1.209 (95%CI: 1.064-1.372), 1.176 (95%CI: 1.048-1.320), and 0.852 (95%CI: 0.759-0.956), respectively. Rs12922061 and rs2290203 even passed the threshold for Bonferroni correction (P value: 0.00625). In stratified analysis, we found another three SNPs were significantly associated within different subgroups. However, after Bonferroni correction (P value: 0.000446), there were no statistically significant was observed. In gene-environment interaction analysis, we observed gene-environment interactions played a potential role of in the risk of breast cancer. These findings provide new insight into the associations between the genetic susceptibility and fine classifications of breast cancer. Based on these results, we encourage further large series studies and functional research to confirm these finding.

Evaluating the Survival Benefit Following Ovarian Function Suppression in Premenopausal Patients with Hormone Receptor Positive Early Breast Cancer.

There are divergent opinions regarding the use of ovarian function suppression or ablation (hereafter, OFS) in hormone receptor positive early breast cancer patients. In order to clarify the survival benefit of OFS, a meta-analysis was performed. The result is that use of OFS was more effective than no OFS on DFS (the pooled relative risk (pRR) = 0.86; 95% CI: 0.75-0.96) and on OS (pRR = 0.79; 95% CI: 0.70-0.89). In subgroup analysis, we found that increased DFS was positively associated with patients who had received chemotherapy (pRR = 0.85; 95% CI: 0.74-0.96), who were lymph node negative (pRR = 0.74; 95% CI: 0.61-0.91) and were less than 40 years old (pRR = 0.71; 95% CI: 0.59-0.83). There was a significant difference in OS between the groups receiving chemotherapy (pRR = 0.73; 95% CI: 0.58-0.89) or for patients less than 40 years old (pRR = 0.52; 95% CI: 0.18-0.87). The use of OFS also produces statistical differences in the occurrence of the side-effects; severe hot flashes (pRR = 2.32; 95% CI: 1.36-3.97), and hypertension (pRR = 1.54; 95% CI: 1.12-2.12). In general, OFS should be considered as one treatment for hormone receptor positive premenopausal early breast cancer patients who have received chemotherapy and are less than 40 years old. We also should pay attention to the side-effects and weigh the advantages and disadvantages before deciding on using OFS.