Diagnostic and economic value of carcinoembryonic antigen, carbohydrate antigen 19-9, and carbohydrate antigen 72-4 in gastrointestinal cancers.

BACKGROUND: The diagnostic and economic value of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) and CA72-4 for gastrointestinal malignant tumors lacked evaluation in a larger scale. AIM: To reassess the diagnostic and economic value of the three tumor biomarkers. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of all 32857 subjects who underwent CEA, CA19-9, CA72-4, gastroscopy and colonoscopy from October 2006 to May 2018 was conducted. Then, we assessed the discrimination and clinical usefulness. Total cost, cost per capita and cost-effectiveness ratios were used to evaluate the economic value of two schemes (gastrointestinal endoscopy for all people without blood tests vs both gastroscopy and colonoscopy when blood tests were positive). RESULTS: The analysis of 32857 subjects showed that CEA was a qualified biomarker for colorectal cancer (CRC), while the diagnostic efficiencies of CA72-4 were catastrophic for all gastrointestinal cancers (GICs). Regarding early diagnosis, only CEA could be used for early CRC. The combination of biomarkers didn't greatly increase the area under the curve. The economic indicators of CEA were superior to those of CA19-9, CA72-4 and any combination. At the threshold of 1.8 µg/L to 10.4 µg/L, all four indicators of CEA were lower than those in the scheme that conducted gas-trointestinal endoscopy only. Subgroup analysis implied that the health checkup of CEA for people above 65 years old was economically valuable. CONCLUSION: CEA had qualified diagnostic value for CRC and superior economic value for GICs, especially for elderly health checkup subjects. CA72-4 was not suitable as a diagnostic biomarker.

Assessment on the binding affinity between ritonavir with model transport protein: a combined multi-spectroscopic approaches with computer simulation.

The binding affinity between ritonavir (RTV) and model transport protein, BSA was assessed through multi-spectroscopic approaches and computer simulation. The findings revealed RTV statically quenched the fluorescence of BSA and formed the 1:1 RTV-BSA complex with the binding constant (Kb) of 1.06 × 103 ∼ 5.08 × 103 M-1 under the studied temperatures (298 ∼ 310 K). During the interaction of RTV with BSA, the hydrogen bonds and van der Waals forces acted as predominant function while the hydrophobicity played an assistant function. Molecular modeling further verified the result obtained from the competitive binding experiments, RTV preferentially fit into in the sub-domain IIIA of BSA. The perturbation in the secondary structures of BSA upon acting with RTV was observed from IR results, whereas synchronous and 3D fluorescence spectral findings unraveled the slight change in the hydrophobicity surrounding Tyr and Trp residues.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Viability assessment of primo-node slices from organ surface primo-vascular tissues in rats.

The primo-vascular system is a novel thread-like structure which is recently rediscovered, but its cellular properties are largely unknown. In this study, a slice preparation for primo-nodes was developed to facilitate study of the cellular properties of primo-node cells in vitro. Slices (4-8 slices; 200 µm thick) were sectioned from single primo-nodes collected from the abdominal organ surface of rats and incubated in oxygenated Krebs solution at 25°C or 31°C for up to 7 hours. Trypan blue staining and whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were performed to estimate the viability of cells in the slices. Viability was largely maintained during the first 3 hours, but subsequently decreased (from 80% to 21%, p < 0.001). In addition, the viability of slices incubated at 31°C was higher than those incubated at 25°C (80%vs. 47%, p < 0.001). In whole-cell patch-clamp experiments, high resistance seals readily formed and primo-node cells showed a mean resting membrane potential (-38 mV) comparable to that recorded with sharp electrodes and outwardly-rectifying current-voltage relationships. The results show that the primo-node slices developed in this study maintained viability for up to 4 hours in vitro.