Association of the TLR4-MyD88-JNK signaling pathway with inflammatory response in intracranial hemorrhage rats and its effect on neuronal apoptosis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of Toll-like receptor 4-myeloid differential protein-88- c-Jun N-terminal kinase (TLR4-MyD88-JNK) signaling pathway with inflammatory response in intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) rats and its effect on neuronal apoptosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The autologous blood was drawn and injected into the brain to establish the rat model of ICH (model group), and the control group was set up. The neurological behavior Longa score was given. The blood and brain tissues of rats were then collected to detect the serum indexes, including glucose (GLU), creatinine (CR), K+ and Na+, and the content of interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-1ß and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in each group. The neuronal apoptosis of brain tissues was detected via terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining. Moreover, the expressions of apoptosis- and TLR4-MyD88-JNK pathway-related genes and proteins were detected via Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting. Finally, the association of TLR4-MyD88-JNK signaling pathway with the inflammatory response in ICH rats and its effect on neuronal apoptosis were completely observed. RESULTS: MiR-23b was dramatically down-regulated in CC and the low miR-23b expressions were associated with the poor prognosis and worse OS of CC patients. Additionally, the functional assays demonstrated that miR-23b overexpression obviously repressed CC cell proliferation, invasion and migration abilities through the regulation of the AKT/mTOR pathway and the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) progress. Moreover, the luciferase reporter assay indicated that six1 was one functional target for miR-23b in CC cells, indicating that the inhibitory functions of miR-23b in CC cells were partially regulated by six1. Moreover, miR-23b restoration could prominently repress tumor growth in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: The TLR4-MyD88-JNK signaling pathway can facilitate the inflammatory response in ICH rats, thereby promoting the neuronal apoptosis.

[Research of the Epworth sleepiness scale based on ruzzy comprehensive evaluation].

Objective:This research explores the effect of Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) items on domestic patients. Method:Four thousand six hundred and thirty-three suspected OSAHS patients with snoring were selected from respiratory sleep center in the first people's hospital, Yunnan province, between January 2006 and December 2012. These patients filled in the ESS before PSG test. Firstly, these questionnaires were preprocessed, and the null and incorrect ones were deleted. Then, the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation was applied for the value of each item in ESS. Finally, the reliability was compared between before and after the removal of the lowest values.Result:Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation results show that the total value is 1.016, the item value of Sitting and talking to someone and In a car, while stopped for a few minutes in traffic is the lowest, which is 0.131. The result of reliability analysis shows that the value increases 0.2% after the two items being deleted.Conclusion:Some items of ESS are not suitable for Chinese patients, and they need to be deleted or modified to improve the screening efficiency.

Bioinformatic identification of IGF1 as a hub gene in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and in-vitro analysis of the chemosensitizing effect of miR-379 via suppressing the IGF1/IGF1R signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the interactions among the dysregulated genes in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and identified the hub genes in the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. Also, we also investigated the regulative effect of miR-379 on the IGF1/IGF1R signaling pathway and chemoresistance in HCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Raw data of a microarray that compared transcriptional gene profile between 3-paired HCC tissue samples and adjacent normal tissues were downloaded from Expression Atlas (E-GEOD-33006). The raw data was reanalyzed to identify the significantly dysregulated genes, which were further used for PPI network and KEGG pathway analysis. The regulative effect of miR-379 on IGF1R expression was studied by dual luciferase assay and Western blotting. The functional role of miR-379 in chemosensitivity of HCC cells was studied by drug sensitivity and flow cytometric assay. RESULTS: IGF1 is a hub gene that is mostly upregulated in HCC and it is an important player in the p53 signaling pathway. Knockdown of IGF1R significantly decreased IC50 of 5-FU, paclitaxel (PTX) and Doxorubicin (DOX) in Huh7 and HepG2 cells. MiR-379 could directly bind to the 3'UTR of IGF1R and suppress IGF1R expression. MiR-379 overexpression sensitized Huh7 and HepG2 cells to 5-FU, PTX and DOX and also enhanced DOX-induced cell apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: IGF1 is a hub gene in HCC and is also one of the most upregulated genes in HCC tissues compared to normal tissues. It is involved in the p53 signaling pathway regulation. MiR-379 can sensitize HCC cells to chemotherapeutic reagents via targeting IGF1R and suppressing its expression.

[Association between obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome and type 2 diabetes in Chinese:a Meta analysis].

Objective:The aim of this study is to assess the association between obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome and type 2 diabetes (T2DM).Method:Databases such as Chinese Biomedical Literature Database,PubMed,Chinese Academic Journals full-text database,Wanfang Resource Database and Chongqing VIP have been searched to collect literatures about the relationship between OSAHS and type 2 diabetes.The papers and unpublished articles were also manually retrieved.Randomized controlled trial conformed to the condition were evaluated according to the standards of literature assessment,and the data has been extracted.The RevMan5.3 software was applied to carry out Meta-analysis.Result:Thirty studies are includedin the Meta-analysis.The fasting glucose content of OSAHS patients with T2DM is significantly higher than T2DM patients[WMD=1.01,95%CI(0.55,1.46), P<0.01];OSAHS with T2DM patients' apnea hypopnea index is significantly higher than OSAHS patients[WMD=3.78,95%CI(1.69,5.87),P<0.01];the fasting glucose content of OSAHS patients is also significantly higher than normal [WMD=1.16,95CI%(0.88,1.44),P<0.01];When stratified by rhe grades of OSAHS,we found fasting glucose content of all OSAHS patients is significantly higher than normal[WMD=1.09,95CI% (0.97,1.21),P<0.01];the funnel flot appeared to be symmetrical with little bias.Conclusion:The experimental results indicate that OSAHS is significantly related with T2DM ,and they may be the risk factorof each other.

Analysis of Factors Affecting the Length of Hospital Stay for Patients with Diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: The sharp rise in health expenditure of diabetes has become a huge financial and medical burden. A retrospective study was conducted to investigate the length of hospitalization for patients with diabetes and the control methods of the length of hospitalization, so as to improve the social and economic benefits of the hospital. METHODS: Data of patients with diabetes who were admitted in the Guangdong Shantou Central Hospital from 2011 to 2013 were collected. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were used to explore the factors influencing the length of hospitalization for patients with diabetes such as sociological factors, disease factors, and clinical factors. RESULTS: Univariate analysis results indicated that there were factors influencing the length of hospitalization for patients with diabetes, which were as follows: sociological factors including age (P<0.001), occupation (P=0.001), payment method (P<0.001), and the number of hospitalizations (P<0.001); disease factors including comorbidity (P<0.001) and initial glycated hemoglobin levels (P<0.001); and clinical factors including hospital-acquired infection (P<0.001), surgery (P<0.001), diagnoses within 3 days (P<0.001), department transfers (P=0.007), and treatment efficacy (P=0.003). In logistic regression analysis, 7 factors including surgery, hospital-acquired infections, comorbidities, age, payment methods, number of hospitalizations, and treatment efficacy had significant impacts on the length hospitalization for patients with diabetes. CONCLUSION: The results of this study will be provided as a reference for a reasonable length of hospitalization of patients with diabetes.

Lean mass index, body fat and survival in Chinese patients with coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND: 'Obesity paradox' was not consistently observed in Asians with coronary artery disease (CAD). AIM: The study investigated the association between body composition and outcomes in Chinese patients with CAD. DESIGN: Cohort study. METHOD: A total of 3280 patients with angiographically validated CAD were consecutively included. Body fat (BF) percentage and lean mass index (LMI) were evaluated using the Clínica Universidad de Navarra-Body Adiposity Estimator. The rate of mortality from any cause was compared across groups classified by the quartiles of LMI. RESULTS: During a median period of 24 months, 288 (8.8%) participants died. There was a close association between increasing LMI and reducing mortality rate. However, univariate analyses did not find protective effect of BF on survival. After adjusting for age, sex, diabetes, current smoking, systolic blood pressure, creatinine, white blood cell count, haemoglobin and medication, Cox regression analyses showed that the significant relation between higher quartiles (Q) of LMI and survival benefit (Q4, hazard ratio 0.58 (95% confidence interval: 0.36-0.94) vs. Q3, 0.60 (0.39-0.91) vs. Q2, 0.60 (0.41-0.88) vs. Q1, reference) remained. CONCLUSION: Low LMI but not BF predicts all-cause mortality in Chinese patients with CAD.

Disease-related surgery in patients with distant metastatic breast cancer.

INTRODUCTION: This study evaluates the frequency of and indications for disease-related surgical procedures in the palliative breast cancer (BC) situation. PATIENTS & METHODS: Based on a cohort of women who were treated for newly diagnosed BC during a 20-year period (1990-2009), we analyzed 340 patients who developed distant metastatic disease (DMD) until 2011 and died (i.e. still ongoing palliative disease courses were not included). RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-seven surgical procedures were performed in 100 patients (29.4% of all patients with metastatic disease). The most common site for surgery was breast (n = 60, 47.2%). The primary tumor was removed at first diagnosis of DMD in 43 patients (33.9%); sixteen operations (12.6%) were performed for local recurrence. In 37 patients, 50 surgical procedures (39.4%) were necessary to stabilize osseous structures due to metastases. Procedures were rarely performed on other common metastatic sites: lung: n = 1 (0.8%); liver: n = 1 (0.8%), brain: n = 4 (3.1%). When excluding surgery for primary breast tumors at initial diagnosis of DMD from analysis, 34 of 84 surgeries (40.4%) were performed in the first third of survival follow-up (i.e. period of metastatic disease survival); operations in the last two-thirds each totaled 29.8% (n = 25). The median survival after surgery was 16 months (range: 0.5-89 months). CONCLUSIONS: In a cohort of BC patients who had primary or developed secondary DMD, nearly one third of the patients received disease-related surgical procedures during their palliative disease course. This high rate of operations shows that surgery has a clearly established role in the palliative therapy concept.

Metastatic involvement of the urinary tract in patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma: lessons from the autopsy for an interdisciplinary treatment approach.

PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION: Frequency and extent of metastases in urologic organs found at autopsy of ovarian carcinoma patients were evaluated. METHODS: Autopsy reports from 170 patients who died of advanced ovarian carcinoma between 1975 and 2005 were studied. The distribution of abdominal metastatic sites with particular attention to the involvement of the urologic organs, and hydronephrosis was analyzed. RESULTS: The distribution of metastatic sites was as follows: kidney (n = 6, 3.5%), urinary bladder (n = 38, 22.4%), and ureter (n = 20, 11.8%). In 36 patients, hydronephrosis was observed (21.2%); of these patients, 20 (55.6%) also had ureteral involvement. All patients with ureteral involvement had hydronephrosis. CONCLUSION: Hydronephrosis in late stages of ovarian carcinoma, usually attributed to extrinsic compression of the ureter by an abdominal tumor, may also be explained by ureteral metastases. This fact must be considered in the clinical management of these patients, particularly in the restoration of luminal patency through an endoscopically placed internal ureteral stent.

Histopathological alterations in gills of white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone) after acute exposure to cadmium and zinc.

White shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, a globally important cultured prawn species, is an ideal animal for studying the impairment caused by the effects of heavy metals that are often detected in coastal areas. In this present study, we detected the acute toxicity of cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) to L. vannamei. Medium lethal time (LT50) values of Cd and Zn on L. vannamei were estimated. Furthermore, we also demonstrated that acute exposure to high concentrations of Cd and Zn resulted in morphological alterations in gills of L. vannamei in this present study.

Target and reality of adjuvant endocrine therapy in postmenopausal patients with invasive breast cancer.

Previous research evaluating the use of adjuvant endocrine therapy among postmenopausal breast cancer patients showed with 15-50% wide ranges of non-adherence rates. We evaluated this issue by analysing an unselected study group comprising of 325 postmenopausal women, diagnosed from 1997 to 2003 with hormonal receptor-positive invasive breast cancer. The different clinical situations that led to the discontinuation of adjuvant endocrine therapy were clearly defined and differentiated: non-adherence was not simply the act of stopping medication, but rather the manifestation of an intentional behaviour of the patient. Of the 287 patients who initiated endocrine therapy, 191 (66.6%) fully completed this treatment. Thirty-one patients (10.8%) showed non-adherence to therapy. Patients who had follow-up with a general practitioner, rather than in an oncologic unit, were more likely to be non-adherent (P=0.0088). Of 25 patients who changed medication due to therapy-related adverse effects, 20 (80%) patients fully completed the therapy after drug change. In adjuvant endocrine therapy, a lowering of the non-adherence rate to 10.8%, the lowest reported in the literature, is realistic when patients are cared for by a specialised oncologic unit focusing on the individual needs of the patients.

Cell transplantation with a catheter-based approach: an efficient method for the treatment of heart failure with multiple lesions.

Cell transplantation is emerging as a potential therapeutic approach for the treatment of heart failure. At present, popular methods of cell delivery may not be efficient in perfusing cells through the whole myocardium. We have developed a novel catheter-based method for global transplantation of cells. Heart failure was induced in rabbit by intravenous administration of doxorubicin. Autologous bone marrow mononuclear cells were transplanted into failing hearts via the root of the aorta. Bilateral sinus aortae and coronary arteries were visualized by angiography during the cell transplantation procedure; there was no intraprocedural death. Four weeks after cell transplantation, there was an improvement in the mean left ventricular ejection fraction from baseline 72.13% to 81.54% (P = 0.034). Transplanted cells were observed throughout the cardiac layers of left and right ventricles. In conclusion, cell transplantation through the root of the aorta is a useful approach to globally supply cells into the heart.

Four classes of salicylate-induced tobacco genes.

We have identified and characterized fragments of 15 salicylic acid (SA) early response genes. The kinetics of induction and response to cycloheximide (CHX) treatment allowed classification of genes into four groups. Classes I-III are characterized by immediate-early responses, showing increased accumulation of mRNA within 30 min of SA treatment. Moreover, CHX did not block induction of these genes, indicating that latent cellular factors mediate the SA response. Class IV genes were induced more slowly, but still within 2 to 3 h of SA treatment, and required protein synthesis for expression. Although identified in this study as SA-responsive genes, several could also be induced by other compounds. Two genes were characterized in more detail, including isolation of cDNA sequences and additional analysis of gene expression. Sequence analysis revealed that the class I gene, C18-1, is the previously identified ethylene response element binding protein 1 (EREBP1), an ethylene-induced transcription factor for basic pathogenesis-related (PR) genes, whereas the class III gene, G8-1, is a novel sequence. G8-1 was found to be strongly induced only by SA and its active analogs and was exquisitely sensitive to low SA concentrations. These and other genes were found to be activated at early times following tobacco mosaic virus infection of resistant tobacco genotypes.

Epithelioid sarcoma of the penis.

A rare case of penile epithelioid sarcoma in a 26-year-old white man is presented. The patient had a firm, slow growing, painless mass associated with penile deviation on erection, which was initially misdiagnosed as Peyronie's disease 5 years previously. With the onset of decreased urinary stream the lesion was biopsied, with a resultant diagnosis of epithelioid sarcoma. The patient underwent radical penectomy and perineal urethrostomy, and received 6,000 cGy. external beam radiotherapy postoperatively. Two years postoperatively the patient remained free of clinical disease. We review the pathophysiology, clinical characteristics and treatment of penile epithelioid sarcoma.

Adenosine triphosphate liposomes: encapsulation and distribution studies.

Four methods for encapsulating adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in liposomes were evaluated. Optimum entrapment required emulsifying ATP with the lipids used to form the liposome membrane in a high-speed homogenizer followed by evaporating the organic solvent with vigorous stirring. Under these optimum conditions ATP entrapment was 38.9%; i.e., the dosage form contained 38.9 g of ATP per 100 g of lipid. The distribution of positively charged liposomes loaded with ATP was studied in dogs with experimentally induced myocardial infarction. Intravenous injection of positively charged ATP liposomes caused accumulation of ATP in myocardial infarct tissue. Myocardial infarct tissue has reduced blood flow; since positively charged liposomes accumulated in infarct tissue, liposomes may be a drug delivery system for this disease state.