Association between urinary 2-hydroxyethyl mercapturic acid and dyslexia among school-aged children.

Ethylene oxide is commonly used in industrial synthesis and medical disinfection. It is a known human carcinogen and has neurotoxicity. However, the association between ethylene oxide exposure and neurodevelopmental disorders remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the association between urinary concentrations of 2-hydroxyethyl mercapturic acid (HEMA; metabolite of ethylene oxide) and dyslexia among school-aged children. A total of 355 dyslexic children and 390 controls from three cities in China were enrolled in this case-control study from November 2017 to December 2020. Urinary HEMA was detected in 100% of the urine samples, suggesting widespread exposure to ethylene oxide in the children. Notably, the children with dyslexia had higher concentrations of urinary HEMA compared to the controls (geometric mean: 2.92 vs. 2.47 ng/mL) (P = 0.004). In the multivariable-adjusted model, urinary concentrations of HEMA were significantly associated with dyslexia risk. The individuals within the highest HEMA concentration demonstrated a 1.97-fold increased odds of dyslexia compared to those within the lowest quartile (95% confidence interval: 1.20-3.23). Thus, these findings suggested the possible link between HEMA levels and the risk of dyslexia. Further studies are warranted to validate this finding and illustrate the underlying mechanism.

Association between urinary propylene oxide metabolite and the risk of dyslexia.

Although it is a probable human carcinogen, propylene oxide is widely applied in industry and daily life. However, data on neurodevelopmental effects of propylene oxide exposure among children are extremely limited. We aimed to determine the urinary concentrations of propylene oxide metabolite among school-aged children and evaluate the potential association of propylene oxide exposure with risk of dyslexia. A total of 355 dyslexic children and 390 controls were recruited from three cities (Jining, Wuhan, and Hangzhou) in China, between 2017 and 2020. Urinary N-acetyl-S-(2-hydroxypropyl)-L-cysteine (i.e., 2-hydroxypropyl mercapturic acid; 2-HPMA) was measured as the biomarker of propylene oxide exposure. The detection frequency of 2-HPMA was 100%. After adjusting for potential confounders, the odds ratio (OR) for dyslexia per 2-fold increase in urinary 2-HPMA was 1.19 [95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.01, 1.40, P = 0.042]. Compared with the lowest quartile of urinary 2-HPMA concentrations, children with the highest quartile of 2-HPMA had a 1.63-fold (95% CI: 1.03, 2.56, P = 0.036) significantly increased risk of dyslexia, with a dose-response relationship (P-trend = 0.047). This study provides epidemiological data on the potential association between propylene oxide exposure and the risk of dyslexia in children. Further studies are warranted to confirm the findings and reveal the underlying biological mechanisms.

Real-time monitoring of extracellular pH using a pH-potentiometric sensing SECM dual-microelectrode.

Extracellular pH can indicate the variation in organelle function and cell state. It is important to measure extracellular pH (pHe) with a controllable distance. In this work, a potentiometric SECM dual-microelectrode was developed to monitor the pHe of MCF-7 cells under electrical stimulation. The distance between the dual-microelectrode and the cells was determined first with a gold microelectrode by recording the approaching curve, and the pH was determined using an open-circuit potential (OCP) technique with a polyaniline-modified Pt microelectrode. The pH microelectrode showed a response slope of 53.0 ± 0.4 mV/pH and good reversibility from pH 4 to pH 8, fast response within 10 s, and a potential drift of 1.13% for 3 h, and thus was employed to monitor the pHe of stimulated cells. The value of pHe decreased with the decrease in the distance to cells, likely due to the release of H+. With an increase in the stimulation potential or time, the pHe value decreased, as the cell membrane became more permeable, which was verified by fluorescence staining of calcein-AM/PI (propidium iodide). Based on these results, this method can be widely applied for determining the species released by biosystems at a controllable position.

Bladder neck preservation improves time to continence after radical prostatectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Bladder neck preservation (BNP) during radical prostatectomy (RP) may improve postoperative urinary continence, although its overall effectiveness remains controversial. We systematically searched PubMed, Ovid Medline, Embase, CBM and the Cochrane Library to identify studies published before February 2016 that assessed associations between BNP and post-RP urinary continence. Thirteen trials (1130 cases and 1154 controls) assessing BNP versus noBNP (or with bladder neck reconstruction, BNR) were considered suitable for meta-analysis, including two randomized controlled trials (RCT), six prospective and five retrospective studies. Meta-analysis demonstrated that BNP improved early urinary continence rates (6 mo, OR = 1.66; 95% CI, 1.21-2.27; P = 0.001) and long-term urinary continence outcomes (>12 mo, OR = 3.99; 95% CI, 1.94-8.21; P = 0.0002). Patients with BNP also had lower bladder neck stricture frequencies (OR = 0.49; 95% CI, 0.29-0.81; P = 0.006). Anastomotic leak rates, positive surgical margins and biochemical failure rates were comparable between the two groups (P>0.05). There were no differences in baseline characteristics except for a smaller average prostate volume (WMD = -2.24 ml; 95% CI, -4.27 to -0.22; P = 0.03) in BNP patients. Our analyses indicated that BNP during RP improved early recovery and overall long-term (1 year) urinary continence and decreased bladder neck stricture rates without compromising oncologic control.

Establishment of a dual-color fluorescence tracing orthotopic transplantation model of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Different experimental models of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been used to investigate the biological mechanisms of hepatocarcinogenesis and its progression. However, previous studies have highlighted the difficulty of distinguishing between the tumor cells and stroma in experimental models of HCC. Therefore the aim of the present study was to establish a red­green dual­color fluorescence tracing orthotopic transplantation model of HCC, and investigate its practical values. Stable high red fluorescent protein (RFP)­expressing HepG2 human hepatoma cells and Hepa1­6 mice hepatoma cells were injected into the right liver lobe of green fluorescent protein­expressing nude mice. The growth and metastasis of the tumors were visualized using a whole­body in vivo fluorescence imaging system in real time. HCC tissues were extracted from tumor­bearing mice, and cut into 5­µm serial frozen slices. The organizational structure of the transplanted tumors was observed under a microscope. A dual­color fluorescence tracing orthotopic transplantation tumor model of HCC was successfully established with a success rate of 100%. The growth and metastasis of the tumors were visualized at each stage of development in the tumor­bearing mice. Tumor cells with red fluorescence and host cells with green fluorescence were identified to merge in the reconstruction region of tumor tissue. The invasion, migration, and cell fusion between tumor and host cells was observed clearly. The dual­color fluorescence tracing orthotopic transplantation model of HCC was determined to be a stable and reliable method for tracking tumor progression. Mutual interactions between hepatoma cells and host tissues may be observed directly using this model, further elucidating the development of the tumor microenvironment.

Dietary mushroom intake may reduce the risk of breast cancer: evidence from a meta-analysis of observational studies.

Epidemiological studies have investigated the potential anticancer effects of mushroom intake. This review aims to clarify the evidence on the association of dietary mushroom intake with breast cancer risk and to quantify its dose-response relationship. Relevant studies were identified by a search of PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar up to December 31, 2013. Observational studies with relative risks (RRs) or hazard ratios (HRs) or odd ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of breast cancer for three or more categories of mushroom intake were eligible. The quality of included studies was assessed by using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. A dose-response meta-analysis was performed by utilizing generalized least squares trend estimation. Eight case-control studies and two cohort studies with a total of 6890 cases were ultimately included. For dose-response analysis, there was no evidence of non-linear association between mushroom consumption and breast cancer risk (P = 0.337) and a 1 g/d increment in mushroom intake conferred an RR of 0.97 (95% CI: 0.96-0.98) for breast cancer risk, with moderate heterogeneity (I(2) = 56.3%, P = 0.015). Besides, available menopause data extracted from included studies were used to evaluate the influence of menopausal statues. The summary RRs of mushroom consumption on breast cancer were 0.96 (95% CI: 0.91-1.00) for premenopausal women and 0.94 (95% CI: 0.91-0.97) for postmenopausal women, respectively. Our findings demonstrated that mushroom intake may be inversely associated with risk of breast cancer, which need to be confirmed with large-scale prospective studies further.

Association between polymorphisms within the susceptibility region 8q24 and breast cancer in a Chinese population.

Recent publications have found associations between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 8q24 and the risk of breast cancer (BC) in some populations, but the conclusions are inconsistent. In order to further investigate the association between variants in this region and BC risk in Chinese population, we conducted an independent hospital-based case-control study to discern the effects of these SNPs on BC risk. We genotyped three 8q24 SNPs (rs13281615, rs6983267, and rs9642880) in 485 cases and 530 cancer-free controls. The results indicated that the rs13281615 G allele significantly increased BC risk, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.23 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.03-1.46) under the allelic model. Besides, stratification analysis reported that the significant association remained in the estrogen receptor (ER)+/progesterone receptor (PR)+ subgroup with a P value of 0.007 under the allelic model (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.08-1.63). For the rs9642880 variant, only a feeble association was observed for the GT genotype compared with the GG genotype (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.01-1.74). In addition, there was a negligible association between rs6983267 and BC risk in the ER-/PR- subgroup. However, no significant finding was observed in the overall participants. The findings suggested that polymorphisms in 8q24 may contribute to susceptibility to BC risk. However, functional studies are warranted to further elucidate the mechanisms of the association.

Functional polymorphisms in FAS/FASL system increase the risk of neuroblastoma in Chinese population.

The FAS and FASL system plays a substantial role in apoptosis and immune escape of cells. Three polymorphisms located in the promoter regions of FAS (-1377G/A and -670A/G) and FASL (-844T/C) have been shown to alter the transcriptional activity of the genes, respectively. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of these polymorphisms on the susceptibility of neuroblastoma in the Chinese population. A total of 203 patients with neuroblastoma and 411 controls were recruited in this case-control study. Polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was applied for genotyping. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate cancer risk by calculating odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). It was observed that significantly increased risks of neuroblastoma associated with FAS -1377G/A and FASL -844T/C polymorphisms, with ORs equal to 1.55 (95% CI, 1.10-2.20) for FAS -1377 A allele and 2.90 (95% CI, 2.04-4.12) for FASL -844CC genotype carriers compared with non-carriers, respectively. However, no association was found between the polymorphisms of FAS -670A/G and risk of neuroblastoma. In addition, the cumulative effect of FAS and FASL polymorphisms on risk of neuroblastoma was observed (P for trend = 2.502×10(-10)), with OR for the carriers of both FAS -1377A allele and FASL -844CC genotypes equaled to 3.95 (95% CI, 2.40-6.51). This work reveals that polymorphisms of FAS -1377G/A and FASL -844T/C but not FAS -670A/G are associated with risk of neuroblastoma in Chinese. These findings support the hypothesis that genetic polymorphism in FAS/FASL death system may influence individual susceptibility to neuroblastoma.