Determining the optimal timing of adjuvant chemotherapy initiation after concurrent chemoradiotherapy in locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Studies on several malignancies have suggested that the time to commencement of adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) is associated with survival outcomes. There have, however, been no relevant reports of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: This clinical study examined newly diagnosed patients between April 2017 and December 2020. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). Inverse probability of treatment weighting was used to control for confounding factors. Cox models with restricted cubic splines, Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank tests were used to evaluate the relationship between AC timing and survival. RESULTS: A total of 551 patients were identified [median age, 45 years (interquartile range 36-52 years); 383 (69.5%) male]. Restricted cubic splines demonstrated that the timing of AC initiation had a U-shaped association with PFS. The risk of disease progression decreased within 37 days and subsequently increased. From 37 to 90 days, each additional 7-day delay conferred worse PFS of 1.32 months {hazard ratio (HR): 1.14 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.28], P = 0.04}. The cut-off value of the receiver operating characteristic curve for initiation was 69.5 days. At a median follow-up of 48 months, the PFS was significantly better in patients initiated within 69.5 days [HR: 2.18 (95% CI 1.17-4.06), log-rank P = 0.009], with a higher 3-year rate [78.8% (95% CI 75.1% to 82.7%) versus 59.0% (95% CI 42.2% to 82.5%)] than beyond 69.5 days. Positive results were also observed in secondary endpoints. The initiation group was an independent prognostic factor [HR: 2.28 (95% CI 1.42-3.66), P < 0.001]. CONCLUSIONS: The optimal timing of AC initiation is ∼37 days after concurrent chemoradiotherapy in patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. A delay beyond 69.5 days is associated with compromised survival. Efforts should be made to address the reasons for delays and ensure the timely initiation of AC.

[Effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on circRNA expression profiles in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells HepG2].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) on the expression profile of circular ribonucleic acid (circRNA) in human hepatocytes through in vitro cell experiments, and to attempt to understand the potential mechanism of hepatotoxicity through bioinformatics analysis. METHODS: TiO2 NPs were characterized from the aspects of particle size, shape and agglomeration state. The cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) was used to detect the cytotoxicity of TiO2 NPs against human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) after exposure to 0, 1.56, 3.13, 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg/L TiO2 NPs for 24 h or 48 h. The cells were treated at doses of 0 mg/L TiO2 NPs (control group) and 100 mg/L TiO2 NPs (treatment group), and collected after exposure for 48 h, and then RNA from the extracted cell samples was collected and sequenced. The differential circRNAs between the control and the TiO2 NPs treatment groups were screened, and then the enrichment pathway of the differential circRNA target gene was analyzed by multivariate statistics. According to the sequencing results, significantly altered genes and important genes in the significant enrichment pathways were screened, and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR) was performed to verify the results. RESULTS: TiO2 NPs were spherical anatase with a hydrated particle size of (323.50±85.44) nm and a Zeta potential of (-21.00±0.72) mV in a serum-free medium. The results of the CCK8 cytotoxicity assay showed that with the increase of TiO2 NPs concentration, cell viability gradually decreased. A total of 11 478 circRNAs were found by RNA sequencing. Compared with the control groups, TiO2 NPs treatment groups (100 mg/L) had a total of 89 differential circRNAs, of which 59 were up-regulated and 30 were down-regulated. Analysis of the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway showed that the targeted genes of differential circRNAs were mainly enriched in fatty acid degradation, Fanconi anemia pathway, and fatty acid metabolism. The expression levels of circRNA.6730, circRNA.3650 and circRNA.4321 were significantly different between the TiO2 NPs treatment group and the control group, which were consistent with the sequencing results. CONCLUSION: TiO2 NPs can induce changes in circRNA expression profile, and epigenetics may play an important role in the mechanism of hepatotoxicity.

ASIC1a involves the acid-mediated activation of pancreatic stellate cells associated with autophagy induction.

The acidic tumor microenvironment (TME) of pancreatic cancer affects the physiological function of pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs), which in turn promotes cancer progression. Acid-sensing ion channel 1a (ASIC1a) is responsible for acidosis-related physiopathological processes. In this study, we investigated the effect of acid exposure on the activation and autophagy of PSCs, and the role of ASIC1a in these events. The results showed that acidic medium upregulated the expression of ASIC1a, induced PSCs activation and autophagy, which can be suppressed by inhibiting ASIC1a using PcTx1 or ASIC1a knockdown, suggesting that ASIC1a involves these two processes. In addition, the acid-induced activation of PSCs was impaired after the application of autophagy inhibitor alone or in combination with ASIC1a siRNA, meaning a connection between autophagy and activation. Collectively, our study provides evidence for the involvement of ASIC1a in the acid-caused PSCs activation, which may be associated with autophagy induction.

[Study of the effects of long-term outcomes of autologous peripheral blood stem cell reinfusion in patients with decompensated cirrhosis].

Objective: Autologous peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) derived from bone marrow can promote liver regeneration and improve the liver function of patients, but there are few studies on its effect on the long-term outcomes in patients with decompensated cirrhosis. Based on previous work, this study observed the clinical outcomes of PBSC treatment in patients with decompensated cirrhosis for 10 years, in order to provide more data support for the safety and efficacy of stem cells in clinical applications. Methods: Data of patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis who completed PBSC treatment in the Department of Gastroenterology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Military Medical University from August 2005 to February 2012 were included. The follow-up endpoint was death or liver transplantation, and patients who did not reach the follow-up endpoint were followed-up for at least 10 years. The patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis who met the conditions for PBSC treatment but did not receive PBSC treatment in our hospital during the same period were used as controls. Results: A total of 287 cases with decompensated liver cirrhosis had completed PBSC treatment, and 90 cases were lost to follow-up within 10 years after surgery. A total of 151 cases with complete survival follow-up data were included in the control group. There were no statistically significant differences in baseline information such as gender, age, etiological composition and liver function score between the two groups. The 10-year survival rate was higher in PBSC than control group (37.56% vs. 26.49%, P<0.05). Cholinesterase, albumin, international normalized ratio, Child-Turcotte-Pugh score, model for end-stage liver disease score, and other indicators were gradually recovered within 3 months to 1 year after PBSC treatment, and stabilized at a more desirable level in the long-term after follow-up for up to 10 years. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of liver cancer between the two groups (25.22% vs.31.85%, P=0.267). The age of onset of hepatocellular carcinoma was later in PBSC than control group [(56.66±7.21) years vs. (52.69±8.42) years, P<0.05]. Conclusions: This long-term observational follow-up study of more than ten years confirms that PBSC treatment can bring long-term benefits to patients with decompensated cirrhosis, with good long-term safety, thus providing more data support on the safety and efficacy of stem cells for clinical applications.

[Research progress of micronucleus visualization analysis and artificial intelligence detection strategy].

The micronucleomics test can comprehensively display a variety of harmful endpoints, such as DNA damage and repair, chromosome breakage or loss and cell growth inhibition, with fast, simple and economical feature. Micronucleomics is not only widely used in the comprehensive assessment of the types and modes of genetic action of exogenous chemicals (such as drugs, food additives, cosmetics, environmental pollutants, etc.), but also plays an important role in the screening and risk assessment of cancer population at high risk. However, the traditional micronucleomics image counting method has the characteristics of time-consuming, low accuracy, and high cost, which cannot meet the current analysis requirements of large-scale, multi-index, rapidity, high precision and visualization. In recent years, with the rapid development of the era of precision medicine based on big data, visualized analysis of new micronucleomics based on machine learning and detection strategies based on deep learning have shown a good application prospect. This review, based on the application value of micronucleomics, systematically compares the traditional and new artificial intelligence counting of micronucleus images, and discusses the future direction of micronucleus image detection.

Astragalus membranaceus root supplementation improves average daily gain, rumen fermentation, serum immunity and antioxidant indices of Tibetan sheep.

The use of antibiotics as supplements in animal feed is restricted due to possible health hazards associated with them. Consequently, there is increasing interest in exploiting natural products to improve health and production of livestock with no detrimental side effects. In this study, we examined the effect of Astragalus membranaceus root (AMT) supplementation on DM intake, growth performance, rumen fermentation and immunity of Tibetan sheep. Twenty-four male Tibetan sheep (31 ±â€¯1.4 kg; 9 months old) were assigned randomly to one of four dietary treatments with different levels of AMT: 0, 20, 50 and 80 g/kg DM (A0, A2, A5 and A8, respectively) in addition to their basal diets. A0 acted as a control group, and measurements were recorded over a 56-d feeding period. Sheep fed with AMT had a higher average daily gain and a lower feed:gain ratio than controls (P < 0.001). Rumen concentrations of NH3-N (P < 0.001), total volatile fatty acids (P = 0.028), acetate (P = 0.017) and propionate (P = 0.031) in A5 and A8 were higher than those in A0. The addition of AMT in the feed significantly increased serum antioxidant and immunity factors of the sheep and increased the concentrations of serum interleukin, immunoglobulin and tumour necrosis factor-α (P = 0.010). We concluded that AMT can be used as a feed additive to improve growth performance and rumen fermentation and enhance the immunity of Tibetan sheep. Some responses exhibited a dose-dependent response, whereas other did not exhibit a pattern, with an increase in AMT. The addition of 50 and 80 g/kg AMT of total DM intake showed the most promising results.

[Influence of oxidative/antioxidative biomarkers and inflammatory cytokines on rats after sub-acute orally administration of titanium dioxide nanoparticles].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the sub-acute oral effect of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles on the oxidation/antioxidation biomarkers and inflammatory cytokines in blood, liver, intestine, and colon in rats. METHODS: Twenty four 4-week-old clean-grade Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly devided into 4 groups by body weight (n=6, control, low, middle, and high), in which the rats were orally exposed to TiO2 nanoparticles at doses of 0, 2, 10 and 50 mg/kg body weight/day for 28 consecutive days separately. Food intake, body weight and abnormal behaviors during the experiment were recorded. The rats were euthanized on the 29th day. The blood was collected via abdominal aortic method and centrifuged to collect the serum. Tissues from liver, intestine and colon were collected and homogenated. Then enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and microwell plate methods were used to detect oxidation/antioxidation biomarkers including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), total mercapto (T-SH), glutathione disulfide (GSSG), malomdialdehvde (MDA) and inflammatory cytokines including interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in the serum, liver, intestine and colon in the rats. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, no significant differences in body weight, food intake and organ coefficients were observed in all the three groups after TiO2 gavage. No significant changes in GSH, GSH-Px, T-SH, and IL-6 were observed. Compared with the control group, significant increase of SOD activity in serum in high dose group, signi-ficant increase of GSSG concentration in intestine in middle and high dose group and significant increase of MDA concentration in liver in low and high dose group were observed. Compared with the control group, a significant increase of TNF-α in liver in middle and high dose group was observed. CONCLUSION: TiO2 nanoparticle can increase antioxidant enzymes activities in blood, increase oxidative biomarkers in liver and intestine, increase inflammatory cytokines in liver in rats after a 28-day sub-acute orally administration. Among blood, liver, intestine, and colon, liver is most sensitive to the toxicity induced by TiO2 nanoparticles, followed by intestine, blood, and colon in sequence.

Oral cancer-associated tertiary lymphoid structures: gene expression profile and prognostic value.

Tertiary lymphoid structure (TLS) provides a local and critical microenvironment for both cellular and humoral immunity and supports effective antigen presentation and lymphocyte activation. However, the gene expression profile and prognostic significance of TLS in oral cancer remain largely unrevealed. In this study, we found the presence of both intratumoral and peritumoral TLSs in a series of 65 patients with oral cancer treated by surgical resection, with positive detection rates of 33.8 and 75.4%, respectively. The presence of intratumoral TLSs, but not peritumoral TLSs, was significantly associated with decreased P53 and Ki67 scores (P = 0·027 and 0·047, respectively). The survival analyses revealed that oral cancer patients with higher grades of TLSs was associated with improved disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) (P = 0·037 and 0·031, respectively). Gene expression profiling analysis of the cytokines and chemokines responsible for lymph-node neogenesis identified a three-up-regulated-gene set, i.e. IL7, LTB and CXCL13, which was shown to be correlated with human oral cancer-associated TLSs. This study provides a framework for better understanding of oral cancer-associated TLSs and for delineating future innovative prognostic biomarkers and immune therapeutic strategies for oral cancer.

Adhesion to pharyngeal epithelium and modulation of immune response: Lactobacillus salivarius AR809, a potential probiotic strain isolated from the human oral cavity.

Microbiome modulators such as probiotics are known to modulate oral diseases. Very few probiotics are commercially available for use in the oral cavity. In this context, we selected human-origin Lactobacillus salivarius AR809 as a promising oropharyngeal probiotic and characterized its functional and immunomodulatory properties. Results demonstrated that AR809 could efficiently adhere to pharyngeal epithelial FaDu cells, antagonize Staphylococcus aureus, adapt to the oral environment, and modulate host innate immunity by inducing potentially protective effects. Particularly, AR809 diminished proinflammatory activity by enhancing the production of IL10 and inhibiting the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α, IL1B, inducible nitric oxide synthase, and RELA. Finally, we observed that AR809 grew efficiently when cultured in milk, suggesting that the preparation of a fermented milk product containing AR809 could be a practical way to administer this probiotic to humans. In conclusion, AR809 has high potential to adhere to the pharyngeal mucosa and could be applied in novel milk-based probiotic fermented food products.

[Early effects of low-level long-term occupational chromate exposure on workers'health].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of low-level long-term occupational exposure to chromate on the health of workers, and the potential biomarkers of early health effects in terms of lung function, immune toxicity and genetic damage. METHODS: A total of 22 chromate contact workers and 44 non-chromate contact workers from an electroplating enterprise with long-term occupational environment monitoring in line with the national standards in Inner Mongolia were investigated. The questionnaire survey was conducted to collect the basic situation, the history of smoking, drinking, diseases and so on. The portable lung function instrument, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus test were performed to measure the chromate contact workers'lung function, whole blood Cr (WB-Cr) and micronuclei frequency (MNF) of peripheral blood lymphocytes respectively. The cytometric bead array was used to detect the levels of IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12P70 and TNFα in the serum among the two groups. The effects of chromate exposure on the above-mentioned indexes involved biological exposure, lung function, immune response and genetic damage, and their correlation were analyzed with different statistical methods. RESULTS: (1) the average length of service for chromate contact workers was 31 years, and their concentration of WB-Cr was 1.11-4.19 µg/L. They were divided into high and low exposure groups according to the median of 1.72 µg/L. The WB-Cr in the high exposure group (2.17 µg/L) was higher than that in the low exposure group (1.58 µg/L) as well as the reference value of the healthy population (1.74 µg/L, P<0.05); (2) the lung function test showed 10 (45.45%) chromate exposure workers had single or multiple abnormal lung function indexes, among which large airway injury index PEF, and small airway injury indexes MVV and FEF25%-75% were all negatively correlated with WB-Cr (r=-0.53, P<0.05; r=-0.52, P<0.05; r=-0.44, P<0.05); (3) IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-8 and TNFα in the serum of chromate contact workers were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05), and there was a positive correlation between TNFα and WB-Cr, and among these cytokines (P<0.05); (4) the average lymphocyte MNF in chromate contact workers was 1.341%, higher than the reference value of the general population (0.436%, P<0.01). Poisson regression analysis showed MNF in thehigh exposure group was higher than that in the low exposure group, OR (95%CI) =1.323 (1.049, 1.669); (5) multiple linear regression analysis showed that the lung function index FEF25%-75% decreased with the increase of TNFα (P<0.05), no significant correlation was found between other cytokines, MNF and lung function indexes. CONCLUSION: Long-term low-level occupational exposure to chromate can cause the decline of lung function, immune inflammatory reaction and genetic damage in workers, in which local or systemic inflammatory response is associated with decreased lung function. Lung function indexes PEF, FEF25%-75% and MVV, serum cytokines IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-8, and TNFα, and peripheral blood lymphocyte MNF may be used as early health effects biomarkers of chromate exposure.

[Application of adaptie statistical iterative reconstruction technology combined with low tube voltage in three phase enhanced low dose liver scanning].

Objective: To explore the application value of adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) combined with low tube voltage in three-stage enhanced low-dose scan of liver. Methods: From March 2017 to November 2017, two groups which each group included 50 patients were randomly selected at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University with different stages of arterial phase, delayed phase and portal vein scanning. GE Discovery CT 750 HD Liver CT Ⅲ was used during enhanced scanning. A total of 100 patients included 56 males and 44 females, aged 27-73 years old and 42 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, 44 patients with hepatic hemangioma, and 14 patients with other diseases. The arterial and delayed period of group A patients were scanned with a low dose of 100 kV+ASIR, and the portal vein phase was conventional. Dosage scanning was 120 kV+FPP; the arterial and delayed period of group B was normal dose scanning, 120 kV+FPP, and the portal vein phase was low dose scanning, 100 kV+ASIR. At the same time, FBP reconstruction was used for all low-dose scanning phases to obtain low-dose images under normal reconstruction mode. The objective evaluation index of image quality was analyzed by completely randomized design analysis of variance, and Dunnett-t test was used to compare the two groups. For the subjective evaluation part, the rank sum test of multiple groups was used. Results: ASIR combined with low tube voltage enhanced low dose scanning in the third phase of the liver, and the radiation dose decreased by 37% in the low dose group compared with the normal dose group. There was no statistically significant difference between the low dose group (100 kV+ASIR) and the normal dose group (120 kV+FPP) in subjective image quality evaluation (P>0.05); objective evaluation of image quality except for low dose(100 kV+ASIR) portal stage noise slightly worse than conventional dose group (120 kV+FBP) (low dose 10.86±1.98, conventional dose 9.40±2.12, P<0.05), the other indexes in each period were superior or indifferent to the normal dose group. Conclusion: ASIR technique combined with low tube voltage can be used in the third phase of liver enhanced low-dose scanning and the image quality is improved.

MicroRNA-791 is an independent prognostic factor of papillary thyroid carcinoma and inhibits the proliferation of PTC cells.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the significance and possible mechanism of miR-791 in the pathogenesis of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The expression of miR-791 in 80 cases of thyroid carcinoma tissues and 80 cases of paracancerous tissues was detected by quantitative Real-time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). After miR-791 mimics were transfected into thyroid cancer cells by liposome method, the cell proliferation was detected by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EDU), respectively. Cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry. RESULTS: The expression of miR-791 in thyroid cancer tissue was significantly lower than that of normal thyroid. The mir-719 expression is positively correlated with the prognosis of thyroid carcinoma. After transfection of miR-791 mimics, the proliferation ability of TPC-1 and HTH83 cells was weakened, and the cell cycle was blocked in the G0/G1 phase. Further study on the underlying mechanism found that after overexpression of miR-791, the expressions of Cyclin D1, CKD6 and CDK4 decreased significantly, while the expression of cyclin inhibitor P21 increased significantly. CONCLUSIONS: MiR-791 is lowly expressed in thyroid cancer. MiR-791 may inhibit thyroid cancer cell proliferation by blocking thyroid cancer cells in G0/G1 phase, thus participating in the impediment of thyroid cancer development.

The oral microbiota - a mechanistic role for systemic diseases.

Human oral microbiota is the ecological community of commensal, symbiotic, and pathogenic microorganisms found in the oral cavity. Oral microbiota generally exists in the form of a biofilm and plays a crucial role in maintaining oral homeostasis, protecting the oral cavity and preventing disease development. Human oral microbiota has recently become a new focus research for promoting the progress of disease diagnosis, assisting disease treatment, and developing personalised medicines. In this review, the scientific evidence supporting the association that endogenous and exogenous factors (diet, smoking, drinking, socioeconomic status, antibiotics use and pregnancy) modulate oral microbiota. It provides insights into the mechanistic role in which oral microbiota may influence systemic diseases, and summarises the challenges of clinical diagnosis and treatment based on the microbial community information. It provides information for noninvasive diagnosis and helps develop a new paradigm of personalised medicine. All these benefit human health in the post-metagenomics era.

Effects of spermine on the antioxidant status and gene expression of antioxidant-related signaling molecules in the liver and longissimus dorsi of piglets.

Previous studies showed that spermine could protect the organism from oxidative damage in vivo. However, in vivo information on the antioxidant-related underlying molecular mechanism of spermine is limited. In this experiment, we further evaluated the effects of spermine supplementation and extended spermine administration on the antioxidant status and antioxidant-related signaling molecules gene expression in the liver and longissimus dorsi of piglets. A total of 80 piglets were randomly distributed to two groups, that is, those with adequate nutrient intake administrated with spermine (0.4 mmol/kg BW) or those with restricted nutrient intake supplemented by saline. The piglets were fed in pairs for 7 h or 3, 6, or 9 days. The results are as follows: (1) spermine can promote the antioxidant capacity by increasing enzymatic antioxidant capacity, glutathione content and clearance of oxygen radicals; (2) spermine significantly increased the mRNA levels of enzymatic antioxidant substances, NF-E2-related nuclear factor 2, Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1, and the mammalian target of rapamycin but decreased the mRNA levels of ribosomal p70 S6 kinase in the liver and longissimus dorsi of the piglets.

Roles of spermine in modulating the antioxidant status and Nrf2 signalling molecules expression in the thymus and spleen of suckling piglets-new insight.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of spermine and extended spermine administration on the antioxidant status and expression of NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) signalling molecules in the thymus and spleen in suckling piglets. One half of eighty 12-day-old suckling piglets obtained sufficient nutrient intake supplemented with spermine (0.4 mmol/kg body weight), and another half received restricted nutrient intake supplemented with physiological saline in equal doses once a day for 7 hr or 3, 6 or 9 days in pairs. Spermine supplementation and its extended duration significantly decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) and protein carbonyl (PC) contents (p < .05), but markedly improved antisuperoxide anion (ASA), antihydroxyl radical (AHR), catalase (CAT), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activities (p < .05) and glutathione (GSH) content (p < .05) in the thymus and spleen. Additionally, real-time PCR analysis showed that spermine administration and extended spermine intake reduced Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) gene transcription and enhanced SOD1, GPx1, CAT, glutathione reductase (GR) and Nrf2 mRNA levels of the thymus and spleen (p < .05), and also improved GST gene expression in the thymus (p < .05). Notably, the spermine-supplemented time for the optimal effects of suckling piglet was determined to be 6 days. Collectively, the current study suggested that spermine supplementation and extended spermine administration could protect the health of the thymus and spleen from early weaning by enhancing the antioxidant status and regulating the expression of antioxidant-related signalling molecules.

[Analysis of related factors for primary hepatic carcinoma caused by chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C].

Objective: To explore the related factors for primary hepatic carcinoma (PHC) caused by chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and hepatitis C (CHC). Methods: According to the principle of cross-sectional study, a cluster random sample method was used, a total of 366 chronic hepatitis patients in hospitals were recruited from three provincial tertiary hospitals in Shanxi, Henan and Jilin between July 2016 and October 2016, respectively. Using a self-designed unified questionnaire, face-to-face interviews was conducted on subjects, including sex, age, alcohol consumption, coffee consumption, green tea consumption, fish consumption, smoking, HBV/HCV diagnosis and treatment, diabetes mellitus, family history of PHC (whether PHC in first-degree relatives), etc. Multivariate unconditional logistic regression were performed to identify the related factors for PHC with CHB and CHC. According to the clinical diagnosis the patients were divided into a chronic hepatitis group (not developing to PHC) and a PHC group. Results: Among 366 cases patients, 287 (78.4%) cases were male, 79 cases were female (21.6%), average age was (52.7±9.3) years. 202 cases were chronic hepatitis group, 164 cases were PHC group. Multivariate unconditional logistics regression analysis indicated that alcohol consumption (odds ratio (OR)=2.11, 95%CI: 1.18-3.75), family history of PHC (OR=5.12, 95%CI: 2.60-10.08) were positively correlated with the development of PHC in chronic b, green tea consumption (OR=0.45, 95%CI: 0.23-0.88), antiviral treatment (OR=0.19, 95%CI: 0.11-0.32) were negatively correlated. Alcohol consumption (OR=3.98, 95%CI: 1.14-13.85) was positively correlated with the development of PHC in chronic c, antiviral treatment (OR=0.14, 95%CI: 0.04-0.50) was negatively correlated. Conclusion: Alcohol consumption, family history of PHC, green tea consumption and antiviral treatment were the related factors for the development of PHC in chronic hepatitis b. Alcohol consumption and antiviral treatment were the related factors for the development of PHC in chronic hepatitis c.

MR Imaging Grading System for Skull Base Chordoma.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Skull base chordoma has been widely studied in recent years, however, imaging characteristics of this tumor have not been well elaborated. The purpose of this study was to establish an MR imaging grading system for skull base chordoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, 156 patients with skull base chordomas were retrospectively assessed. Tumor-to-pons signal intensity ratios were calculated from pretreatment MR images RT1 (ratio of tumor to pons signal intensity in T1 FLAIR sequence), RT2 (ratio of tumor to pons signal intensity in T2 sequence) and REN (ratio of tumor to pons signal intensity in enhanced T1 FLAIR sequence), and significant ratios for overall survival and progression-free survival were selected to establish a grading system. Clinical variables among different MR imaging grades were then analyzed to evaluate the usefulness of the grading system. RESULTS: RT2 (P < .001) and REN (P = .04) were identified as significant variables affecting progression-free survival. After analysis, the classification criteria were set as follows: MR grade I, RT2 > 2.49 and REN ≤ 0.77; MR grade II, RT2 > 2.49 and REN > 0.77, or RT2 ≤ 2.49 and REN ≤ 0.77; and MR grade III, RT2 ≤ 2.49 and REN > 0.77. MR grade III tumors had a more abundant tumor blood supply than MR grade I tumors (P < .001), and the intraoperative blood loss of MR grade III tumors was higher than that of MR grade I tumors (P = .002). Additionally, skull base chordoma progression risk increased by 2.071 times for every single MR grade increase (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: A higher RT2 value was a negative indicator of tumor progression, whereas a higher REN value was a positive risk factor of tumor progression. MR grade III tumors showed a more abundant blood supply than MR grade I tumors, and the risk of skull base chordoma progression increased with every single MR grade increase.

[Effects on human peripheral erythrocytes of long-term occupational contact with chromate].

Objective: To investigate the effects on human peripheral blood erythrocytes of long-term occupational contact with chromate. Methods: A dynamic cohort study was conducted of chromate-exposed workers (343 cases) and non-chromate-exposed workers (73 cases) at a chromate production enterprise who were selected according to specific inclusion and exclusion criteria from 2010 to 2015. Personal information and chromate exposure information were obtained by questionnaire. A generalized estimating equation was employed to analyze the effects on human peripheral blood erythrocytes of long-term occupational contact with chromate, controlling for age, gender, smoking, alcohol consumption and body mass index. Results: The mean ages and working ages of those entering the cohort study were 36.67 ±6.78 and 38.47 ± 7.18, respectively, for the exposure group and 8.39 ± 6.02 and 12.86 ± 8.34, respectively, for the control group. The erythrocyte content [(4.73±0.46), (4.81±0.53), (4.41±0.45)]×1012/L in the peripheral blood in the chromate exposure group was lower than that [(4.76±0.42), (4.95±0.45), (4.47±0.39)]×1012/L in the control group for the years 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014 (t values were 0.38, 1.96, 0.92 and 1.21; P values were 0.703, 0.051, 0.358 and 0.227, respectively). The correlations between the years 2010 and 2011, 2011 and 2012, 2012 and 2014, and 2014 and 2015 were 0.667, 0.464,-0.070 and 0.020, respectively (P<0.001). The RR for males and those that consumed alcohol were 0.661 (95% CI: 0.616-0.709) and 0.910 (95% CI: 0.811- 1.201), respectively. Compared with the control group, the risk of reduced erythrocyte levels in the peripheral blood was increased by 0.915 (95% CI: 0.852- 0.982) in the chromate-exposed group. Conclusions: The erythrocyte content of peripheral blood was reduced after long-term exposure to chromate. Maleness and alcohol consumption were factors that increased the risk of reduced peripheral blood erythrocytes in the chromate-exposed population.