Differential expression of microRNAs in postoperative radiotherapy sensitive and resistant patients with glioblastoma multiforme.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most malignant primary brain tumor and more resistant to radiotherapy. However, hetero-radiosensitivity occurs in different patients. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in the initiation and progression of a multitude of tumors. The study aims to examine the different microRNAs expression profiles of postoperative radiotherapy sensitive and resistant patients with GBM, to make an inquiry about their potential role and discover a certain set of radio-sensitivity markers. Three paired samples from six GBM patients who had only been treated with postoperative radiotherapy were selected, and then, they were divided into radiotherapy sensitive group and resistant group according to their overall survivals, local recurrence rates, and Karnofsky Performance Scale scores. Expression profiles of miRNAs in these two groups were determined by the method of microarray assay. Comparing with resistant patients, 13 miRNAs were significantly upregulated and 10 miRNAs were greatly downregulated in sensitive group. Among them, four miRNAs were validated by quantitative RT-PCR. The differentially expressed miRNAs and their putative target genes were revealed by bioformatic analysis to play a role in cell signaling, proliferation, aging, and death. High-enrichment pathway analysis identified that some classical pathways participated in numerous metabolic processes, especially in cell cycle regulation, such as mTOR, MAPK, TGF-beta, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways. Our research will contribute to identifying clinical diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets in the treatment of GBM by postoperative radiotherapy.

The effect of thalassemia on erythrocyte reference intervals in a representative Han Chinese adult population.

BACKGROUND: The data from apparently healthy individuals with thalassemia has been demonstrated to have an effect on the reference intervals for the erythrocyte indices in areas with a high incidence of thalassemia. METHODS: Six clinical centers screened apparently healthy individuals using a questionnaire and a physical examination. Then, the qualified reference individuals were selected by hematological indices and a genotypic thalassemia diagnosis. Statistical comparisons were conducted for the erythrocyte reference intervals in the Chinese population with and without thalassemia. The constituent ratios and the mean (SD) of erythrocyte indices according to the thalassemia genotype were calculated. The relationship between the MCV values and the thalassemia genotype was also estimated. RESULTS: 4,636 reference individuals were included using hematological indices and genotypic thalassemia screening. The results of the erythrocyte reference intervals for individuals in Guangzhou with thalassemia demonstrated that the RBC, MCV, and MCH values significantly differed by gender compared with other regions (p < 0.01). In contrast, for individuals without thalassemia, the results tended to be similar and clinically acceptable. In addition, the results of the erythrocyte indices revealed significant differences among α-thalassemia patients, ß-thalassemia patients, and the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Apparently healthy individuals with thalassemia in the high prevalence zone of thalassemia could not be excluded by the questionnaire, physical examination or laboratory indices (Fe < 6 µmol/L, Hb < 90 g/L). The screening of genotypic thalassemia based on the MCV or MCH values to exclude unqualified individuals is the most effective way to obtain accurate and reliable reference intervals for the erythrocyte indices.

Diagnostic accuracy of intracellular mycobacterium tuberculosis detection for tuberculous meningitis.

RATIONALE: Early diagnosis and treatment of tuberculous meningitis saves lives, but current laboratory diagnostic tests lack sensitivity. OBJECTIVES: We investigated whether the detection of intracellular bacteria by a modified Ziehl-Neelsen stain and early secretory antigen target (ESAT)-6 in cerebrospinal fluid leukocytes improves tuberculous meningitis diagnosis. METHODS: Cerebrospinal fluid specimens from patients with suspected tuberculous meningitis were stained by conventional Ziehl-Neelsen stain, a modified Ziehl-Neelsen stain involving cytospin slides with Triton processing, and an ESAT-6 immunocytochemical stain. Acid-fast bacteria and ESAT-6-expressing leukocytes were detected by microscopy. All tests were performed prospectively in a central laboratory by experienced technicians masked to the patients' final diagnosis. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Two hundred and eighty patients with suspected tuberculous meningitis were enrolled. Thirty-seven had Mycobacterium tuberculosis cultured from cerebrospinal fluid; 40 had a microbiologically confirmed alternative diagnosis; the rest had probable or possible tuberculous meningitis according to published criteria. Against a clinical diagnostic gold standard the sensitivity of conventional Ziehl-Neelsen stain was 3.3% (95% confidence interval, 1.6-6.7%), compared with 82.9% (95% confidence interval, 77.4-87.3%) for modified Ziehl-Neelsen stain and 75.1% (95% confidence interval, 68.8-80.6%) for ESAT-6 immunostain. Intracellular bacteria were seen in 87.8% of the slides positive by the modified Ziehl-Neelsen stain. The specificity of modified Ziehl-Neelsen and ESAT-6 stain was 85.0% (95% confidence interval, 69.4-93.8%) and 90.0% (95% confidence interval, 75.4-96.7%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Enhanced bacterial detection by simple modification of the Ziehl-Neelsen stain and an ESAT-6 intracellular stain improve the laboratory diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis.

Clinical application and evaluation of Sysmex XE-5000 analyser for detecting nucleated red blood cells in peripheral blood.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the performance of Sysmex XE-5000 analyser for detecting nucleated red blood cells (NRBCs) in peripheral blood and investigate the clinical application of this analyser. METHODS: The absolute NRBC counts (NRBC#) and percentage (NRBC%) of 137 blood specimens (NRBC-positive according to the DIFF channel of the analyser) were determined in the NRBC channel of the analyser. The intra-assay imprecision, carryover rate, and linear range of the analyser were evaluated. The NRBC% of the blood sample was detected with a microscope, and the difference between two methods was analysed. RESULTS: The intra-assay imprecision of the analyser for detecting NRBC# in specimens with high, moderate, and low Q-flag values were 2.10%, 3.26%, and 11.62%, respectively, and the imprecision for detecting NRBC% were 3.79%, 5.80%, and 13.33%, respectively. The carryover rates of the analyser for detecting NRBC# and NRBC% were 0.51% and 0.26%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Sysmex XE-5000 analyser had good linearity in NRBC# (i.e., 0/L to 18 x 10(9)/L). The NRBC%s of the two methods did not significantly differ (p = 0.716). The analyser can completely replace the traditional microscope for clinically classifying and counting NRBCs.

A highly efficient Ziehl-Neelsen stain: identifying de novo intracellular Mycobacterium tuberculosis and improving detection of extracellular M. tuberculosis in cerebrospinal fluid.

Tuberculous meningitis leads to a devastating outcome, and early diagnosis and rapid chemotherapy are vital to reduce morbidity and mortality. Since Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a kind of cytozoic pathogen and its numbers are very few in cerebrospinal fluid, detecting M. tuberculosis in cerebrospinal fluid from tuberculous meningitis patients is still a challenge for clinicians. Ziehl-Neelsen stain, the current feasible microbiological method for the diagnosis of tuberculosis, often needs a large amount of cerebrospinal fluid specimen but shows a low detection rate of M. tuberculosis. Here, we developed a modified Ziehl-Neelsen stain, involving cytospin slides with Triton processing, in which only 0.5 ml of cerebrospinal fluid specimens was required. This method not only improved the detection rate of extracellular M. tuberculosis significantly but also identified intracellular M. tuberculosis in the neutrophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes clearly. Thus, our modified method is more effective and sensitive than the conventional Ziehl-Neelsen stain, providing clinicians a convenient yet powerful tool for rapidly diagnosing tuberculous meningitis.

[Transcriptional activities of tumor-specific survivin promoter and PSMA promoter and enhancer in human prostate cancer: evaluation and comparison].

OBJECTIVE: To detect and compare the transcriptional activities of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) promoter and enhancer and survivin promoter in different human prostate cancer cell lines, and to search for some evidence for the targeting gene therapy of human prostate cancer. METHODS: The fragments of the PSMA promoter and enhancer and survivin promoter were amplified by PCR and inserted into pGL3-Basic. The recombinant plasmids were transiently transfected into human prostate cancer cell lines and normal Chang liver cells, and, their transcriptional activities in various cells were determined by measuring the expression of luciferase. RESULTS: The survivin promoter exhibited a higher transcriptional activity than PSMA promoter and enhancer in tumor cell lines, and the S2pro promoter showed the highest activity, reaching one third of that of the CMV promoter. CONCLUSION: The survivin promoter is highly activated in prostate cancer cell lines and may serve as a new tool for the transcriptional targeting gene therapy of prostate cancer.

Identification of Urinary Exosomal miRNAs for the Non-Invasive Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Novel and non-invasive biomarkers with higher sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa) is urgently needed. In this study, we used next-generation sequencing (NGS) to characterize the genome-wide exosomal miRNA expression profiling in urine specimens and explored the diagnostic potential of urinary exosomal miRNAs for PCa. METHODS: Urinary exosomal microRNA expression profiling was performed by next-generation sequencing (NGS) and then validated by quantitative real-time PCR. RESULTS: Significant downregulation of urinary exosomal miR-375 was observed in PCa patients compared with healthy controls, while the expression levels of urinary exosomal miR-451a, miR-486-3p and miR-486-5p were found to be significantly up-regulated in the PCa patients. Furthermore, the expression level of urinary exosomal miR-375 showed a significant correlation with the clinical T-stage and bone metastasis of patients with PCa (P<0.05). Receiver operator characteristic curve demonstrated that the urinary exosomal miR-375, miR-451a, miR-486-3p and miR-486-5p levels can be used to differentiate PCa patients from healthy controls, with area under the curves (AUCs) of 0.788, 0.757, 0.704 and 0.796, respectively. The urinary exosomal miR-375 was found to be superior in discriminating between localized and metastatic PCa with an AUC of 0.806. Moreover, PCa patients can be distinguished from patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia by using a panel combining urinary exosomal miR-375 and miR-451a with an AUC of 0.726. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate that the urinary exosomal miRNAs can serve as novel and non-invasive biomarkers for diagnosing and predicting the progression of PCa.

Anti-HCV reactive volunteer blood donors distribution character and genotypes switch in Xi'an, China.

HCV is prevailed in the world as well as in China. Blood transfusion is one of the most common transmission pathways of this pathogen. Although data of HCV infection character were reported during the past years, anti-HCV reactive profile of China donors was not fully clear yet. Furthermore, infection progress was found related to the HCV genotype. Different genotype led to different efficacy when interferon was introduced into HCV therapy. Here we provided character data of HCV infection in China blood donors from the year of 2000 to 2009. The infection rate in local donors was lower than general population and descended from 0.80% to 0.40% or so in recent years. About 83% HCV strains were categorized into genotypes 1b and 2a. But 1b subtype cases climbed and 2a subtype cases decreased. The current study threw more light on HCV infection of blood donors in China, at least in the Northern region.

Prevalences and characteristics of cultivable nasal bacteria isolated from preclinical medical students.

OBJECTIVES: Commensal bacteria in the nasal cavity may act as opportunistic pathogens that cause infections under certain conditions. Screening for commensal bacteria in the nasal cavity may aid in understanding their roles in microbiota balance and preventing potential infections. METHODS: Nasal samples were collected from healthy preclinical medical students and used to inoculate various bacterial culture media, by means of the WaspLab microbiology automated system. Bacterial colonies were then identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. Antibiotic resistance phenotypes of Staphylococcus aureus were determined by antibiotic susceptibility tests. RESULTS: In total, 549 bacterial strains were isolated from 161 participants. These strains included the following genera: Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Corynebacterium, Dolosigranulum, Bacillus, Micrococcus, Haemophilus, Neisseria, Moraxella, Pseudomonas, and members of Enterobacteriaceae (e.g., Escherichia, Klebsiella, Citrobacter, Enterobacter, and Serratia). Approximately 25.5% of students were carriers of S. aureus; most S. aureus isolates were resistant to penicillin, erythromycin, and clindamycin. The prevalence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus in nasal samples was 4.3%. CONCLUSIONS: A diverse group of nasal commensal bacteria inhabited our population of healthy volunteers. These data can improve comprehension of the potential roles of these nasal commensal bacteria in regulating microbiota balance and promoting or mitigating potential future infections.

[Comparison of Efficacy between Thrombelastography and Conventional Coagulation Tests and Analysis of Their Correlation for Patients with Abnormal Coagulation Function].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the coagulation state of patients with abnormal coagulation function by thrombelastography (TEG) and conventional coagulation tests (CCT) and to estimate their correlations in determining the blood coagulation. METHODS: A total of 150 patients with abnormal coagulation function were enrolled, standard coagulation tests were assessed for the patients. At the same time, the thrombelastographic test was performed with TEG after sample recalcification with kaolin activator. RESULTS: There were correlations between the TEG and CCT. PT and APTT positively correlated with the R time (r=0.296, r=0.369, P＜0.01), the R time negatively correlated with the Fib (r=-0.257, P＜0.01), K negatively correlated with the Fib (r=0.509, P＜0.01), K positively correlated with the TT (r=0.318, P＜0.01), Angle positively correlated with the Fib (r=0.506, P＜0.01) and negatively correlated with the TT (r=-0.237, P＜0.05). CI negatively correlated with the PT (r=-0.236, P＜0.05). The sensitivity to detect hypocoagulable state estimated with TEG parameter R was higher than that with PT and Fib (P＜0.01), respectively. The sensitivity to hypocoagulable state estimated with K and Angle was higher than that with Fib and TT, respectively (P＜0.01). CONCLUSION: There are significant correlation between some parameters of the TEG and conventionnal coagulation tests, however, the consistency and sensitivity of the two methods are poor, two methods can not be replaced by each other.

[Detection of transcriptional activities of tumor-specific survivin promoter in human prostatic carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To clone DNA sequence of the survivin promoter and study is transcriptional activities in human prostate cancer cells and normal Chang liver cells. METHODS: The fragment of the survivin promoter was acquired by PCR amplification and inserted into pPRIME vectors to reconstruct a recombinant plasmid named pPRIME-S1pro and pPRIME-S2pro. Then the reconstructed plasmid was transiently transfected into human prostate cancer cells lines LNCaP and normal Chang liver cells. The transcriptional activities of the survivin promoter in various cells was determined by measuring the expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP). RESULTS: The survivin promoter had transcriptional activities in LNCaP cells and the transcriptional activity of the S2pro was much higher that of the S1pro, reaching a level of 39% of the transcriptional activity of the CMV promoter. CONCLUSION: The survivin promoter cloned in the therapy for prostate cancer.

Exosomal miR-141-3p regulates osteoblast activity to promote the osteoblastic metastasis of prostate cancer.

Exosomes from cancer cells, which contain microRNA and reach metastasis loci prior to cancer cells, stimulate the formation of a metastatic microenvironment. Previous studies have shown that exosomal miR-141-3p is associated with metastatic prostate cancer (PCa). However, the role and regulatory mechanism of miR-141-3p in the microenvironment of bone metastases require further study. In this study, we performed a series of experiments in vivo and in vitro to determine whether exosomal miR-141-3p from MDA PCa 2b cells regulates osteoblast activity to promote osteoblastic metastasis. We demonstrate that extracts obtained from cell culture supernatants contained exosomes and that miR-141-3p levels were significantly higher in MDA PCa 2b cell exosomes. Via confocal imaging, numerous MDA PCa 2b exosomes were observed to enter osteoblasts, and miR-141-3p was transferred to osteoblasts through MDA PCa 2b exosomes in vitro. Exosomal miR-141-3p from MDA PCa 2b promoted osteoblast activity and increased osteoprotegerin OPG expression. miR-141-3p suppressed the protein levels of the target gene DLC1, indicating its functional significance in activating the p38MAPK pathway. In animal experiments, exosomal miR-141-3p had bone-target specificity and promoted osteoblast activity. Mice injected with miR-141-3p-mimics exosomes developed apparent osteoblastic bone metastasis. Exosomal miR-141-3p from MDA PCa 2b cells promoted osteoblast activity and regulated the microenvironment of bone metastases, which plays an important role in the formation of bone metastases and osteogenesis damage in PCa. Clarifying the specific mechanism of bone metastasis will help generate new possibilities for the treatment of PCa.

[Inhibition of survivin gene expression in PC-3 cells by RNAi].

OBJECTIVE: To construct eukaryotic expression vectors by using the pSilencer3. 1-H1 neo vector for inhibiting human survivin gene by RNA interference, and to detect the effect of the silenced survivin gene on PC-3 cells. METHODS: Three target gene segments were synthesized and cloned into the pSilencer3. 1-H1 neo vector respectively to construct three recombinant eukaryotic expression vectors: pSilencer3. 1-SVV1, pSilencer3. 1-SVV2 and pSilencer3. 1-SVV3, which were identified by enzyme digestion analysis and DNA sequencing. Then the PC-3 cells were transfected with the recombinant vectors and the interference effect detected by RT-PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemical staining. The apoptosis index of the PC-3 cells was detected by flow cytometry and their proliferation detected by MTT method. RESULTS: Enzyme digestion analysis and DNA sequencing showed that three target segments were cloned into pSilencer3. 1-H1-neo vectors. The results of RT-PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemical staining indicated that pSilencer3. 1-SVV2 and pSilencer3. 1-SVV3 vectors could knock down the transcription and expression of survivin gene. After transfected with pSilencer3. 1-SVV2 and pSilencer3. 1-SVV3 vectors, the apoptosis index of the PC-3 cells was increased by 10% - 15% and their growth obviously slowly down. CONCLUSION: The transcription and expression of survivin gene were inhibited effectively by the recombinant eukaryotic expression vectors (pSilencer3. 1-SVV2 and pSilencer3. 1-SVV3) in the prostate cancer cell line PC-3. After transfected with pSilencer3. 1-SVV2 and pSilencer3. 1-SVV3 vectors, the apoptosis index of the PC-3 cells was increased and their growth inhibited.

[Sexual hormone levels in semen and germ cell apoptosis].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between sexual hormones in semen and germ cell apoptosis in male population. METHODS: Sixty-six infertile patients and thirty fertile males were selected randomly. The levels of folicle stimulating hormone ( FSH), prolactin (PRL), luteinizing hormone (LH), and testosterone (T) in semen were measured by ELISA. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated UTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) was used for the detection of germ cell apoptosis. RESULTS: The levels of FSH, LH, PRL, T in thirty fertile men were (1.63 +/- 0.15) U/L, (2.18 +/- 0.21) U/L, (6.34 +/- 0.30) nmol/L, (1.85 +/- 0.11) nmol/L, respectively, and germ cell apoptosis rate was (4.61 +/- 1.23)%. FSH, LH, PRL, T levels in infertile group were (1.25 +/- 0.18) U/L, (1.76 +/- 0.32) U/L, (5.86 +/- 0.13) nmol/l, (1.45 +/- 0.13) nmol/, respectively, and germ cell apoptosis rate was (18.36 +/- 2.04)%. There were significant differences in all parameters between infertile group and fertile group. The levels of FSH, LH, PRL, T were negatively correlated with germ cell apoptosis rates( r = -0.88, -0.93, -0.90, -0.98). The volume of apoptotic germ cell decreased, and chromatin was compacted to form cell-membrane blebs and apoptotic bodies. CONCLUSION: Low concentration of sexual hormones may increase the apoptosis of germ cells, which can induce male infertility.

Exosomal microRNA-141 is upregulated in the serum of prostate cancer patients.

PURPOSE: Novel biomarkers for the diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa) are urgently required. Increasing evidence suggests that exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) in serum may be potential noninvasive biomarkers for certain diseases. The objective of the present study was to investigate and assess whether exosomal miR-141 is an effective biomarker for human PCa. METHODS: In the present study, exosomes were isolated from the serum of patients with PCa, patients with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), and healthy volunteers. The total RNA was extracted from the exosomes and the level of miR-141 was analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The expression levels of miR-141 were compared between the whole serum and the serum exosomes of the three groups. Subsequently, the relevance of the exosomal expression of miR-141 to the clinicopathological factors in PCa was investigated. RESULTS: The expression of miR-141 was higher in exosomes compared with whole serum (control group, P=0.0003; BPH group, P=0.0016; PCa group, P<0.0001). The level of serum exosomal miR-141 was significantly higher in the patients with PCa compared with the patients with BPH and the healthy controls (3.85-fold, P=0.0007 and 4.06-fold, P=0.0005, respectively). In addition, the expression levels were significantly higher in metastatic PCa compared with localized PCa (P<0.0001). Receiver-operating characteristic curve revealed that the serum exosomal miR-141 yielded an area under the curve of 0.8694, with 80% sensitivity and 87.1% specificity in discriminating patients with metastatic PCa from the patients with localized PCa. CONCLUSION: Serum exosomes may serve as a more suitable material compared with the whole serum for measuring circulating miR-141 levels in patients with PCa. Exosomal miR-141 is upregulated in the serum from patients with PCa compared with patients with BPH or the healthy volunteers, and it may be a useful potential biomarker for the diagnosis of metastatic PCa.

The role of CD147 expression in prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: There are a number of studies which show that expression of CD147 is increased significantly in prostate cancer (PCa). However, conflicting conclusions have also been reported by other researchers lately. In order to arrive at a clear conclusion, a meta-analysis of eligible studies was conducted. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases to identify all the published case-control studies on the relationship between the expression of CD147 and PCa until February 2016. In the end, a total of 930 patients in eight studies were included in the meta-analysis. RESULTS: CD147 expression in the PCa patients increased significantly (odds ratio [OR], 4.65; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.52-6.14; Z=10.79; P<0.05), but there was obvious heterogeneity between studies (I (2)=92.9%, P<0.05). Subgroup analysis showed that positive expression of CD147 was associated with PCa among the Asian population (OR, 21.01; 95% CI, 12.88-34.28; Z=12.19; P<0.05). Furthermore, it was significantly related to TNM stage (OR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.17-0.35; Z=7.74; P<0.05), Gleason score (OR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.31-0.56; Z=5.62; P<0.05), differentiation grade (OR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.13-0.56; Z=3.47; P<0.05), and pretreatment serum prostate-specific antigen level (OR, 0.07; 95% CI, 0.03-0.16; Z=6.47; P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Positive expression of CD147 was related to PCa, significant heterogeneity was not found between Asian studies, and the result became more significant. The positive expression of CD147 was significantly related to the clinicopathological characteristics of PCa. This suggests that CD147 plays an essential role in poor prognosis and recurrence prediction.

Multiple Effect of APOE Genotype on Clinical and Neuroimaging Biomarkers Across Alzheimer's Disease Spectrum.

The apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOE ε4) allele is the most important genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, the underlying mechanisms responsible for it remain controversial. We used the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database to examine the influence of APOE ε4 dose on clinical and neuroimaging biomarkers across the AD spectrum (from cognitive normal to AD patients with severe cognitive impairment). A total of 1718 participants from the ADNI cohort were selected, and we evaluated the impact of ε4 dose on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels' Abeta1-42 (Aß1-42), tau, and phosphorylated-tau (p-tau); cortical amyloid deposition (Florbetapir-PET-AV45); brain atrophy (MRI); brain metabolism (FDG-PET); hippocampal metabolism; and cognitive declines, through different cognitive subgroups. We found that (1) ε4 was associated with decreased CSF beta-amyloid (Aß1-42) and increased cerebral Aß deposition across the AD spectrum; (2) increased CSF tau, P-tau and cerebral hypometabolism, hippocampal atrophy, and cognition decline were all associated with APOE ε4 in prodromal AD stage; (3) increased CSF tau, P-tau and cerebral hypometabolism appear to begin earlier than hippocampal atrophy and cognitive decline. We hypothesized that APOE ε4 increases cerebral amyloid-ß (Aß) deposition in all the stages of AD development, and also influences Aß-initiated cascade of downstream neurodegenerative effects, thereby increasing the risk of AD.

Bridging Integrator 1 (BIN1) Genotypes Mediate Alzheimer's Disease Risk by Altering Neuronal Degeneration.

BACKGROUND: Bridging integrator 1 (BIN1) has been identified as one of the most associated loci for Alzheimer's disease (AD), and recently was reported to modulate tau pathology to mediate AD in vitro. However, the effects of BIN1 on the AD related biomarkers in AD continuum were not specifically assessed. OBJECTIVE: We explored the effects of BIN1 loci on AD specific biomarkers (CSF proteins, brain structures, glucose and amyloid-ß (Aß) metabolisms) to investigate the role BIN1 in AD pathogenesis. METHODS: We calculated the associations of BIN1 loci with these markers at baseline and follow-up in multiple linear models in 812 ADNI subjects. RESULTS: BIN1 loci were significantly associated with the levels of T-tau (rs744373: pc = 0.047, rs13031703: pc = 0.042) and P-tau (rs744373: pc = 0.044, rs13031703: pc = 0.019), but not with Aß in CSF test. BIN1 genotypes were strongly related to atrophy of hippocampus (rs7561528: pc = 0.011), CA1 (rs1469980: pc = 0.029) and parahippocampus (rs72838284, pc = 0.017) on MRI, and to glucose metabolism on FDG-PET, but not to Aß deposition on AV45-PET imaging. Furthermore, haplotype and subgroup analysis confirmed these significant findings. In addition, the loci associated with these markers were also identified to influence the risk for AD in the meta-analysis of 74 046 European individuals. CONCLUSION: This study supported that BIN1 contributes to the risk of AD by altering neural degeneration (abnormal tau, brain atrophy and glucose metabolism) but not Aß pathology.

ABCA7 Genotypes Confer Alzheimer's Disease Risk by Modulating Amyloid-ß Pathology.

ABCA7 gene has been identified as a strong genetic locus for Alzheimer's disease (AD) susceptibility in genome wide association studies (GWAS). However, the possible roles of ABCA7 variants in AD pathology were not specifically assessed. Using tagger methods, we extracted 15 targeted ABCA7 loci to investigate their associations with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and neuroimaging markers in Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) dataset. Finally, although we did not detect any significant associations of previously published GWAS SNPs (rs3764650 and rs78117248) with all the CSF (Aß1 - 42, T-tau, and P-tau) and neuroimaging markers, three other variants (rs3752242, rs3752240, and rs4147912) at ABCA7 loci were detected to show significant associations with amyloid deposition on AV-45 PET in brain. Moreover, haplotype and subgroup analysis confirmed these significant findings. Furthermore, there were no remarkable correlations between ABCA7 variants and neuronal degeneration biomarkers (elevated CSF tau, brain structure atrophy, and hypometabolism on imaging) in this study. Thus, our study suggested that ABCA7 genotypes contribute to the AD risk through involvement in amyloid-ß deposition on in vivo imaging, but not in tau pathology, brain atrophy, or decreased glucose metabolism.

[Sodium nitroprusside facilitates human sperm capacitation and acrosome reaction].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of nitric oxide (NO) on human sperm capacitation and acrosome reaction (AR). METHODS: Different concentrations of sodium nitroprusside (SNP) were added to the sperm suspension from 48 healthy fertile men, and the suspension was incubated in 1 x Earle at 37 degrees C for 1 hour. Progesterone was used to induce AR for 15, 30, 45 and 60 min, and then acid phosphatase (ACP) activity in the suspension before and after capacitation and at different time of AR was measured by p-nitrophenyl sodium phosphate assay. In the meantime, sperm motile parameters were assayed by CASA to observe sperm capacitation and AR. RESULTS: ACP activity and sperm motile parameters increased in the 50 approximately 100 nmol/L NO concentration group, showed no significant variation in the 150 approximately 200 nmol/L group, and decreased in the 250 approximately 300 nmol/L group. CONCLUSION: NO can facilitate sperm capacitation, AR and sperm motile parameters in low concentration and suppress them in high concentration. ACP activity assay of sperm is an objective and reliable method to evaluate sperm capacitation and AR in whole sperm population.