[The correlation study between PM2.5 and the life quality in patients with allergic rhinitis].

Objective:This study aims to research the relationship betweeen allergic rhinitis (AR) patients life quality and the PM2.5 concentration. Method:Fifty-two patients with clinically diagnosed AR were enrolled in this study. Patients were asked to fill in the questionnaire about the quality of life of rhinoconjunctivitis (RQLQ) continuously. The concentrations of PM2.5 in their living environment were continuously tested for one month (31 days) and SPSS 19.0 software was used to analyze data through descriptive statistical method, Spearman correlation analysis and nonparametric test. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result:There were significant association between PM2.5 and nasal symptoms (r=0.121, P<0.01), daily activities (r=0.146, P<0.01) and practical problems (r=0.099, P<0.01). However, sleep (r=0.059, P=0.051), non-hay fever symptoms (r=0.042, P=0.169), emotion (r=0.042, P=0.168), eye symptoms (r=0.087, P=0.274) and PM2.5 had no statistical significance. AR patients have faced notable differences in genders. The scores of activities, non hay fever symptoms and emotions also showed the difference. Female AR patients have demonstrated the statistical significance with the concentration of PM2.5 among the activity, non hay fever symptoms, practical problems, nasal symptoms and emotions. While the male AR patients existed a statistical significance in the concentration of PM2.5 only between the activity and nasal symptoms. Conclusion:PM2.5 concentration is negatively associated with the life quality of AR patients. The higher concentration of PM2.5, the lower AR patients quality of life they got.

SET8 expression is associated with overall survival in gastric cancer.

SET8, a member of the SET domain-containing methyl-transferase, has been implicated in various biological processes. In this study, SET8 was immunostained in 100 samples of gastric cancer tissues and semi-quantified using the HSCORE method to determine the predictive value of SET8 expression levels for gastric cancer outcome. The relationship between SET8 expression and the 5-year survival rate of gastric cancer patients was assessed. High expression of SET8 was associated with a shorter survival time in gastric cancer patients, and the level of SET8 expression was found to be an independent predictor of gastric cancer outcome (relative risk = 1.939; 95% confidence interval = 1.025-3.668; P = 0.042). Analysis of SET8 levels may help in the identification of patient subgroups that are at high risk for poor disease outcomes.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the mitochondrial displacement loop and age-at-onset of non-small cell lung cancer.

The associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the displacement loop (D-loop) of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and cancer risk and disease outcome have been extensively analyzed. We investigated the association between age-at-onset and SNPs in the mitochondrial D-loop using a population-based series of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The D-loop region of mtDNA from NSCLC patients was amplified and sequenced. The age-at-onset curve of NSCLC patients was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method at each SNP site and values were compared using the log-rank test. The SNP sites of nucleotides 200G/A and 16362T/C were identified to determine their association with age-at-onset of NSCLC using the log-rank test. The nucleotide 207G/A was identified for its association with age-at-onset at a borderline significance level (P = 0.060). We found that genetic polymorphisms in the D-loop were predictive markers for age-at-onset in NSCLC patients. Accordingly, the analysis of genetic polymorphisms in the mitochondrial D-loop can be used to identify NSCLC patient subgroups at high risk of early onset.

Assessing the interactions between the associations of common genetic variants on 2q35 and 16q12 with breast cancer risk.

UNLABELLED: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified 2q35 and 16q12 as breast cancer (BC) susceptibility loci. However, the association between the two polymorphisms and BC remains controversial and inconsistent. We therefore performed a more precise estimation of these relationships by meta-analysing the currently available evidence from the literature. The PubMed, Ovid, Medline and Web of Science databases were searched. Crude odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strengths of the associations. Thirty studies, including 106,312 cases and 140,939 controls, were identified. Overall, significantly elevated breast cancer risk was associated with the A allele of 2q35 rs13387042 when all studies were pooled into the meta-analysis (OR 1.11, 95%CI 1.07-1.15). Additionally, the T allele of 16q12 rs3803662 was associated with significantly increased breast cancer risk (OR 1.20, 95%CI 1.16-1.24). When stratifying for ethnicity, significantly increased risks were found among Caucasians, Asians and mixed ethnicities for both rs13387042 and rs3803662. For rs13387042, an association was observed for both oestrogen receptor-positive (ER+) (OR 1.14, 95%CI 1.11-1.17) and ER-negative (ER-) disease (OR 1.05, 95%CI 1.01-1.09) and for progesterone receptor-positive (PR+) (OR 1.16, 95%CI 1.12-1.19) and PR-negative (PR-) disease (OR 1.07, 95%CI 1.03-1.12). Similarly, a stronger association was observed for rs3803662 with ER+ tumors (OR 1.23, 95%CI 1.13-1.32) compared with ER- tumors (OR 1.08, 95%CI 0.97-1.20), and the same condition occurred for the polymorphism with PR+ tumors (OR 1.26, 95%CI 1.02-1.55) versus with PR- tumors (OR 1.15, 95%CI 0.90-1.46). When stratified by BRCA mutation status, a stronger association was observed with BRCA2 carriers (OR 1.23, 95%CI 1.05-1.44) than BRCA1 carriers (OR 1.09, 95%CI 1.04-1.15). In conclusion, this meta-analysis demonstrated that the A allele of 2q35 rs13387042 and the T allele of 16q12 rs3803662 are risk factors associated with increased breast cancer susceptibility. KEYWORDS: rs13387042, rs3803662, oestrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, breast cancer, meta-analysis.

Fetal fibronectin detection for preterm birth prediction.

To study preterm birth prediction based on fetal fibronectin (fFN) in pregnant women, we randomly selected 124 patients. Vaginal posterior fornix secretions were analyzed using fFN quick test strips. Leucorrhea routine samples were collected to detect bacterial vaginosis, mycoplasma, and chlamydia. Delivery data at 7 days, 14 days, 34 weeks, and 37 weeks were documented and the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were analyzed. Of the 124 cases, we found 2, 4, 10, and 18 cases of maternity within 7 days, 14 days, 34 weeks, and 37 weeks, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were as follows: 100, 77.8, 6.9, and 100% for 7 days; 75, 78.3, 10.3, and 98.9% for 14 days; 50.0, 78.9, 17.2, and 94.7% for 34 weeks; 33.3, 78.3, 20.7, and 87.4% for 37 weeks, respectively. Except for 18 preterm births, 23 cases were fFN-positive, 17 cases had lower genital tract infection. Eighty-three cases were fFN-negative, of which 18 cases had the lower genital tract infections. This difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Eighteen cases (14.5% of the pregnant women) had preterm birth. Ten cases delivered within 34 weeks. The negative predictive value and recent predictive value of fFN testing were higher; the positive predictive value was limited due to the impact of lower genital tract infection. The fFN-positive patients need timely clinical processing. During the pregnancy, monitoring of fFN changes and early detection of abnormalities help to reduce perinatal morbidity and mortality.

Advanced glycation end products upregulate C-reactive protein synthesis by human hepatocytes through stimulation of monocyte IL-6 and IL-1 beta production.

Patients with chronic renal failure are characterized by increased plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and advanced glycation end products (AGE). AGE have been identified as a class of proinflammator mediators. To investigate whether AGE can stimulate hepatocytes to produce CRP, primary human fetal hepatocytes (HFH) were incubated with AGE-modified human serum albumin (AGE-HSA) or conditioned medium from AGE-HSA-stimulated monocytes (AGE-MCM). CRP concentrations in the supernatants were determined by an ELISA and CRP mRNA levels were determined by a quantitative RT-PCR. Exposure of HFH with AGE-HSA for 12-72 h did not change CRP concentrations in the supernatants. CRP protein and mRNA expression were significantly upregulated in a time- and dose-dependent manner when HFH were incubated with AGE-MCM. This stimulating effect was partially inhibited when AGE-MCM were preincubated with antibodies against interleukin-6 (anti-IL-6), interleukin-1 beta (anti-IL-1 beta), or soluble IL-1 receptor and was completely inhibited when AGE-MCM were preincubated with anti-IL-6 and anti-IL-1 beta simultaneously. The inhibiting effect did not occur when AGE-MCM was preincubated with antibody of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (anti-TNF-alpha) and soluble TNF receptor. Exposure of HFH with exogenous IL-6 and IL-1 beta, at the same concentrations as contained in AGE-MCM, also increased CRP production, but exogenous TNF-alpha had no effect. These results suggest that AGE cannot directly stimulate hepatocytes to produce CRP, but rather indirectly enhance CRP expression via stimulation of IL-6 and IL-1 beta production by human monocytes.

Performance of tPSA and f/tPSA for prostate cancer in Chinese. A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Performing a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the total prostate-specific antigen (tPSA) tests for diagnosis of prostate cancer among Chinese. Literatures related to diagnosis of prostate cancer by tPSA and the ratio of free to total PSA (f/tPSA) being retrieved in five electronic databases. Sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were pooled using random effects models. Summary receiver operating characteristic curves (SROC) used to summarize overall test performance. In total 10 studies meeting the inclusion criteria, 2256 patients were included. Among them 423 were patients of prostate cancer compared to 1833 were patients of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). The pooled sensitivity and specificity of tPSA>4.0 ng/ml, tPSA>10.0 ng/ml and f/tPSA<0.15 as threshold for the diagnosis of prostate cancer were heterogeneity. The areas under SROC (AUC) were 80, 85 and 87%, respectively (P<0.05). The pooled DOR were 8.44(95%CI: 4.45 approximately 16.00), 9.94(95%CI: 4.15 approximately 23.77) and 13.75(95%CI: 6.35 approximately 29.76), respectively (P<0.05). chi(2) test used for testing the heterogeneity. tPSA and f/tPSA made an important performance for diagnosis of prostate cancer in decade among Chinese. The use of f/tPSA<0.15 as threshold maintain a high prognostic accuracy for prostate cancer.

Characterization of Helicoverpa armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus orf33 that encodes a novel budded virion derived protein, BV-e31.

Homologues of Helicoverpa armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus (HearSNPV) orf33 are found in all 22 completely sequenced members of the lepidopteran nucleopolyhedroviruses and granuloviruses, but so far their functions are unknown. In this report, we describe the characterization of HearSNPV orf33 (ha33). Northern blot analysis showed a single transcript of ha33 of approximately 0.7 kb was transcribed beginning at 3 h post-infection in infected Helicoverpa zea cells (HzAM1) and the gene product could be detected as early as 6 h post-infection by western blot analysis using a rabbit derived polyclonal antibody, suggesting it was an early gene. Western blot analysis also demonstrated the ha33 protein in infected cells was a 31 kDa protein, larger than the theoretical size of 28.4 kDa, and located in the envelope fraction of budded virions (BVs). The results suggested that HearSNPV ha33 gene is a functional gene that encodes a novel structural protein of baculovirus BVs, BV-e31.

[Effects of calcium blockers and calmodulin inhibitors on the proliferation of fibroblast in alveolar macrophage condition medium].

Alveolar macrophages (AM phi) play a key role in the process of fibrosis in many lung diseases. We investigated the effects of AM phi on the proliferation of fibroblast(FB) in various lung diseases and the influence of calcium and CaM inhibitors on those effects. AM phi conditioned media were prepared from 17 patients with interstitial lung diseases (ILD) and 13 patients with bronchogenic carcinoma (BC). In ILD group, conditioned media have stimulating effect on the proliferation of FB (P < 0.05), this effect was inhibited markedly by calcium channel blocker verapamil (2.5 x 10(-2)mg/ml, 2.5 x 10(-4)mg/ml), diltiazem (5 x 10(-2)mg/ml) and partially by CaM inhibitor chlorpromazine (2.5 x 10(-4)mg/ml). Whereas in BC group, only conditioned media from AM phi in the presence of stimulant have marked stimulating effect on the proliferation of FB, and this effect was markedly inhibited both by Ca++ channel blocker verapamil (2.5 x 10(-4)mg/ml), diltiazem (5 x 10(-4)mg/ml) and CaM inhibitor chlorpromazine (1.25 x 10(-2)mg/ml, 2.5 x 10(-4)mg/ml). We conclude that AM phi are activated in patients with ILD, but not in those with BC. The stimulating effect of cytokines secreted by activated AM phi can be inhibited by Ca blocker and CaM inhibitor. Using Ca++ and CaM blockers may be a new and promising approach in the treatment of ILD.