Vitamin E intake is inversely associated with NAFLD measured by liver ultrasound transient elastography.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common chronic liver diseases, whose severe form is associated with oxidative stress. Vitamin E as an antioxidant has a protective potential in NAFLD. Whether dietary intake of vitamin E, supplementary vitamin E use, and total vitamin E have a preventive effect on NAFLD requires investigation. A cross-sectional study used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2017-2020) was conducted. Vitamin E intake, including dietary vitamin E, supplementary vitamin E use, and total vitamin E, was obtained from the average of two 24-h dietary recall interviews. The extent of hepatic steatosis was measured by liver ultrasound transient elastography and presented as controlled attenuated parameter (CAP) scores. Participants were diagnosed with NAFLD based on CAP threshold values of 288 dB/m and 263 dB/m. The statistical software R and survey-weighted statistical models were used to examine the association between vitamin E intake and hepatic steatosis and NAFLD. Overall, 6122 participants were included for NAFLD analysis. After adjusting for age, gender, race, poverty level index, alcohol consumption, smoking status, vigorous recreational activity, body mass index, abdominal circumference, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, and supplementary vitamin E use, dietary vitamin E was inversely associated with NAFLD. The corresponding odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of NAFLD for dietary vitamin E intake as continuous and the highest quartile were 0.9592 (0.9340-0.9851, P = 0.0039) and 0.5983 (0.4136-0.8654, P = 0.0091) (Ptrend = 0.0056). Supplementary vitamin E was significantly inversely associated with NAFLD (fully adjusted model: OR = 0.6565 95% CI 0.4569-0.9432, P = 0.0249). A marginal improvement in total vitamin E for NAFLD was identified. The ORs (95% CIs, P) for the total vitamin E intake as continuous and the highest quartile in the fully adjusted model were 0.9669 (0.9471-0.9871, P = 0.0029) and 0.6743 (0.4515-1.0071, P = 0.0538). Sensitivity analysis indicated these findings were robust. The protective effects of vitamin E significantly differed in the stratum of hyperlipidemia (Pinteraction < 0.05). However, no statistically significant results were identified when the threshold value was set as 263 dB/m. Vitamin E intake, encompassing both dietary and supplemental forms, as well as total vitamin E intake, demonstrated a protective association with NAFLD. Augmenting dietary intake of vitamin E proves advantageous in the prevention of NAFLD, particularly among individuals devoid of hyperlipidemia.

Cuproptosis-Related Signature Predicts the Prognosis, Tumor Microenvironment, and Drug Sensitivity of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background: Copper (Cu) metabolism is strongly associated with liver disease. Cuproptosis is a novel format of cell death, and cuproptosis-related genes (CRGs) were identified. However, the role of CRGs in Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) remains unknown. Method: The mRNA transcriptome profiling data, somatic mutation data, and copy number gene level data of The Cancer Genome Atlas-Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma project (TCGA-LIHC) were downloaded for subsequent analysis. Molecular characterization analysis of CRGs, including differential gene expression analysis, mutation analysis, copy number variation (CNV) analysis, Kaplan-Meier analysis, and immune regulator prioritization analysis, was implemented. The nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) approach was used to identify the CRG-related molecular subtypes. Principal component analysis was adopted to verify the robustness and reliability of the molecular subtype. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression analysis was performed to construct the prognostic signature based on differentially expressed genes between molecular subtypes. The survival characteristics of the molecular subtype and the signature were analyzed. The Gene Set Variation Analysis was performed for functional annotation. The immune landscape analysis, including immune checkpoint gene analysis, single sample gene set enrichment analysis, tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) analysis, immune infiltration cell, and tumor mutation burden analysis (TMB), was conducted. The ability of the signature to predict conventional anti-HCC agent responses was evaluated. The signature was validated in the LIRI-JP cohort and the IMvigor210 cohort. Result: A total of 13 CRGs are differentially expressed between the tumor and normal samples, while the mutation of CRGs in HCC is infrequent. The expression of CRGs is associated with the CNV level. Fourteen CRGs are associated with the prognosis of HCC. Two clusters were identified and HCC patients were divided into 2 groups with a cutoff risk score value of 1.570. HCC patients in the C1 cluster and high-risk have a worse prognosis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for predicting 1-, 2-, and 3-year overall survival is 0.775, 0.768, and 0.757 in the TCGA-LIHC cohort, and 0.811, 0.741, and 0.775 in the LIRI-JP cohort. Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicates that the signature is an independent prognostic factor. Pathways involved in metabolism and gene stability and immune infiltration cells are significantly enriched. Immune checkpoint genes are highly expressed in the C1 cluster. TMB is positively correlated with the risk score. HCC patients in the high-risk group are more likely to benefit from conventional anti-HCC agents and immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies. Conclusion: The molecular characterization of CRGs in HCC is presented in this study, and a successful prognostic signature for HCC based on the cuproptosis-related molecular subtype was constructed.

Efficacy of Disitamab Vedotin in a heavily pre-treated HER2 positive lung adenocarcinoma patient: case report and literature review.

Cancer therapies targeting human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) have been attracting increasing attention worldwide, especially in lung adenocarcinoma. Disitamab vedotin is an antibody-drug conjugate designed for targeting HER2 that has been approved for urothelial carcinoma and gastric cancer. However, there is still a lack of clinical evidence for applying Disitamab vedotin in lung adenocarcinoma. Herein, we reported a case of a 52-year-old man with advanced lung adenocarcinoma carrying HER2 amplification as well as HER2 immunohistochemistry (IHC) 2 + who underwent treatment with Disitamab vedotin after disease progression. The patient was treated with chemotherapy, anti-angiogenesis therapy, and immunotherapy as first-line therapy, achieving a remarkable progression-free survival of 16 months. After the disease continued to continuous progress, the patient was administrated with Disitamab vedotin, which resulted in improvement of both the lung lesions and the brain lesions. Our findings provide a valuable reference for the utilization of Disitamab Vedotin in HER2 IHC2+ lung adenocarcinoma.

Genetic variations in the fusion protein of respiratory syncytial virus isolated from children hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia in China.

To identify the variations in fusion (F) protein gene of RSV in China, a molecular epidemiological study was conducted. A total of 553 RSV positive specimens were collected from 2338 pediatric patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia during a multi-center study conducted during 2014-2016. A total of 252 samples (183 RSV A, 69 RSV B) were selected for F gene sequencing, and analyzed together with 142 F gene sequences downloaded from GenBank. The result showed that all the Chinese RSV A and RSV B strains could be divided respectively into three branches. Compared with RSV A/B prototype sequences respectively, there were significant amino acid (AA) mutations at multiple antigenic sites. For RSV A, changes were found at AA residues 122, 124, 125, 276 and 384, and for RSV B at AA residues 45, 116, 125, 172, 173 and 202. Variations in human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen-restricted CTL epitopes were also observed. In total, 56 amino acid differences for the complete F protein were found between the RSV A and B groups in China, while several mutations were only found in the RSV B strains during 2015-2016. The RSV F gene is relatively conserved in China, however, limited mutations are still occurring with time.

[Variations in Serum CEA and CYFRA21-1 Levels Before and After Surgery Facilitate Prognosis of Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and the soluble fragment of cytokeratin 19 (CYFRA21-1) are important tumor markers (TMs) in the preoperative examination of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the prognostic role of these markers in NSCLC patients remains controversial. The aim of the study was to investigate the clinical significance of serum CEA variances and CYFRA21-1 levels for the prognosis of NSCLC patients following surgery. METHODS: This retrospective study investigated the clinical records and follow-up sessions of 175 patients with NSCLC who accepted surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. Patients were subdivided into groups based on serum CEA and CYFRA21-1 levels. Survival analysis was conducted using Kaplan-Meier method for each group. The prognostic factor was evaluated using Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: The overall survival (OS) of patients with high preoperative CEA or CYFRA21-1 levels was lower than that of patients with normal preoperative CEA or CYFRA21-1 levels. The OS displayed a significant difference (P=0.001) between groups with high and normal preoperative CYFRA21-1. Compared with groups exhibiting normal preoperative and postoperative levels of CEA or CYFRA21-1, the OS was shorter for groups with high preoperative and postoperative levels of CEA or CYFRA21-1. The difference of the paired groups was significant (P<0.05). Compared with the groups with normal preoperative and postoperative levels of CEA and CYFRA21-1, the OS was lower for the groups with high preoperative and postoperative levels of CEA and CYFRA21-1, which indicated a significant difference (P<0.001). The CEACYFRA211 (HHHH), CEACYFRA211 (NNHH), CYFRA21-1 (HH), CEA (HH), and male gender were identified as independent prognostic factors (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested that the prognosis of NSCLC patients was not significantly satisfactory if preoperative and postoperative level of serum CEA or CYFRA21-1 was higher than standard value, especially if the preoperative and postoperative levels of CYFRA21-1 and CEA were higher than the standard values. The measurement of preoperative and postoperative levels of CYFRA21-1 and CEA proved helpful for the prognosis of patients with NSCLC.
.