To identify the association between dietary vitamin D intake and serum levels and risk or prognostic factors for melanoma-systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of serum vitamin D levels and dietary intake with melanoma risk and prognostic factors. METHODS: Two independent investigators systematically searched PubMed, Embase and ISI Web of Knowledge (Thomson Scientific Technical Support, New York) databases for eligible studies published between January 1992 and September 2020 using the following combinations of search terms: (vitamin D, or 25-hydroxyvitamin D) AND (melanoma, malignant melanoma, cutaneous melanoma, or cutaneous malignant melanoma). Articles not written in English but with English titles and abstracts were also checked. We obtained the full text of all potentially eligible articles, and reference lists of all studies retrieved at the first stage were also checked to identify other eligible papers. Review articles not reporting original data were excluded, but their reference lists were inspected. RESULTS: Six studies including 212 723 cases reported the association between dietary intake of 25(OH) D serum levels and melanoma risk. The total relative risk for the comparison between the highest and lowest quantiles of the distribution of vitamin D intake was 1.10 (95% CI 0.96 to 1.26) with I 2=56%. Another six studies including 12 297 cases evaluated the association between serum vitamin D levels and melanoma risk. The total relative risk for the comparison of serum vitamin D levels between the highest and lowest quantiles was 1.12 (95% CI 0.53 to 2.35) with I 2=91%. Four studies with 2105 cases investigated the association between serum 25(OH)D (nmol/L) and Breslow thickness, three of which found an inverse association between serum 25(OH)D (nmol/L) and melanoma thickness. CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D intake and serum 25(OH)D levels were not closely related with melanoma risk, but an inverse association between serum 25(OH)D levels with melanoma thickness was discovered. As the positive correlation between melanoma thickness and melanoma mortality has been recognised, hence it is concluded that a moderate dietary vitamin D supplement to avoid the serum 25(OH)D deficient might be beneficial to the long-term survival of patients with melanoma.

[Preadmission follow-up condition of neonates hospitalized due to severe hyperbilirubinemia after discharge from the department of obstetrics and influencing factors for follow-up compliance: a multicenter investigation]. / äº§ç§‘å‡ºé™¢åŽå› ä¸¥é‡é«˜èƒ†çº¢ç´ è¡€ç—‡ä½é™¢æ–°ç”Ÿå„¿å ¥é™¢å‰éšè®¿æƒ å†µåŠéšè®¿ä¾ä»Žæ€§å½±å“å› ç´ çš„å¤šä¸­å¿ƒè°ƒæŸ¥.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the preadmission follow-up condition of neonates hospitalized due to severe hyperbilirubinemia after discharge from the department of obstetrics and the influencing factors for follow-up compliance. METHODS: A multicenter retrospective case-control study was performed for the cases from the multicenter clinical database of 12 units in the Quality Improvement Clinical Research Cooperative Group of Neonatal Severe Hyperbilirubinemia in Jiangsu Province of China from January 2019 to April 2021. According to whether the follow-up of neonatal jaundice was conducted on time after discharge from the department of obstetrics, the neonates were divided into two groups: good follow-up compliance and poor follow-up compliance. The multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify the influencing factors for follow-up compliance of the neonates before admission. RESULTS: A total of 545 neonates with severe hyperbilirubinemia were included in the study, with 156 neonates (28.6%) in the good follow-up compliance group and 389 (71.4%) in the poor follow-up compliance group. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that low gestational age at birth, ≥10% reduction in body weight on admission compared with birth weight, history of phototherapy of siblings, history of exchange transfusion of siblings, Rh(-) blood type of the mother, a higher educational level of the mother, the use of WeChat official account by medical staff to remind of follow-up before discharge from the department of obstetrics, and the method of telephone notification to remind of follow-up after discharge were associated with the increase in follow-up compliance (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Poor follow-up compliance is observed for the neonates with severe hyperbilirubinemia after discharge from the department of obstetrics, which suggests that it is necessary to further strengthen the education of jaundice to parents before discharge and improve the awareness of jaundice follow-up. It is recommended to remind parents to follow up on time by phone or WeChat official account.

Theaflavin protects against oxalate calcium-induced kidney oxidative stress injury via upregulation of SIRT1.

Renal tubular cell injury induced by calcium oxalate (CaOx) is a critical initial stage of kidney stone formation. Theaflavin (TF) has been known for its strong antioxidative capacity; however, the effect and molecular mechanism of TF against oxidative stress and injury caused by CaOx crystal exposure in kidneys remains unknown. To explore the potential function of TF on renal crystal deposition and its underlying mechanisms, experiments were conducted using a CaOx nephrocalcinosis mouse model established by glyoxylate intraperitoneal injection, and HK-2 cells were subjected to calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) crystals, with or without the treatment of TF. We discovered that TF treatment remarkably protected against CaOx-induced kidney oxidative stress injury and reduced crystal deposition. Additionally, miR-128-3p expression was decreased and negatively correlated with SIRT1 level in mouse CaOx nephrocalcinosis model following TF treatment. Moreover, TF suppressed miR-128-3p expression and further abolished its inhibition on SIRT1 to attenuate oxidative stress in vitro. Mechanistically, TF interacted with miR-128-3p and suppressed its expression. In addition, miR-128-3p inhibited SIRT1 expression by directly binding its 3'-untranslated region (UTR). Furthermore, miR-128-3p activation partially reversed the acceerative effect of TF on SIRT1 expression. Taken together, TF exhibits a strong nephroprotective ability to suppress CaOx-induced kidney damage through the recovery of the antioxidant defense system regulated by miR-128-3p/SIRT1 axis. These findings provide novel insights for the prevention and treatment of renal calculus.

[Effectiveness of Saccharomyces boulardii combined with phototherapy in the treatment of hyperbilirubinemia in neonates: a prospective randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effectiveness of Saccharomyces boulardii combined with phototherapy in the treatment of hyperbilirubinemia in neonates. METHODS: The neonates with hyperbilirubinemia who were hospitalized from January to December 2018 were enrolled and randomly divided into an observation group (n=61) and a control group (n=63). The neonates in the observation group were treated with phototherapy combined with Saccharomyces boulardii, and those in the control group were treated with phototherapy combined with placebo. Treatment outcomes were compared between the two groups. Fecal samples were collected 72 hours after treatment and 16s rRNA high-throughput sequencing was used to compare the features of gut microbiota between the two groups. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the total serum bilirubin level between the two groups before treatment (P>0.05). At 24, 48, and 72 hours after treatment, the observation group had a significantly lower level of total serum bilirubin than the control group (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the observation group had a significantly lower proportion of neonates requiring phototherapy again [20% (12/61) vs 75% (47/63), P<0.05]. Compared with the control group, the observation group had a significantly higher abundance of Bacteroides (P<0.05) and a significantly lower abundance of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus in the intestine at 72 hours after treatment (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In neonates with hyperbilirubinemia, phototherapy combined with Saccharomyces boulardii can effectively reduce bilirubin level and prevent the recurrence of jaundice. Saccharomyces boulardii can favour the treatment outcome by regulating the gut microbiota of neonates.

Triple stimuli-responsive ZnO quantum dots-conjugated hollow mesoporous carbon nanoplatform for NIR-induced dual model antitumor therapy.

Aiming at the inefficiency and toxicity in traditional antitumor therapy, a novel multifunctional nanoplatform was constructed based on hollow mesoporous carbon (HMC) to achieve triple stimuli response and dual model antitumor therapy via chemo-photothermal synergistic effect. HMC was used as an ideal nanovehicle with a high drug loading efficiency as well as a near-infrared (NIR) photothermal conversion agent for photothermal therapy. Acid-dissoluble, luminescent ZnO quantum dots (QDs) were used as the proper sealing agents for the mesopores of HMC, conjugated to HMC via disulfide linkage to prevent drug (doxorubicin, abbreviated as Dox) premature release from Dox/HMC-SS-ZnO. After cellular endocytosis, the Dox was released in a pH, GSH and NIR laser triple stimuli-responsive manner to realize accurate drug delivery. Moreover, the local hyperthermia effect induced by NIR irradiation could promote the drug release, enhance cell sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents, and also directly kill cancer cells. As expected, Dox/HMC-SS-ZnO exhibited a high drug loading capacity of 43%, well response to triple stimuli and excellent photothermal conversion efficiency η of 29.7%. The therapeutic efficacy in 4T1 cells and multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTSs) demonstrated that Dox/HMC-SS-ZnO + NIR had satisfactory chemo-photothermal synergistic effect with a combination index (CI) of 0.532. The cell apoptosis rate of the combined treatment group was more than 95%. The biodistribution and pharmacodynamics studies showed its biosecurity to normal tissues and synergistic inhibition effect to tumor cells. These distinguished results indicated that the Dox/HMC-SS-ZnO nanoplatform is potential to realize efficient triple stimuli-responsive drug delivery and dual model chemo-photothermal synergistic antitumor therapy.

Potential mechanisms mediating the protective effects of a peptide from walnut (Juglans mandshurica Maxim.) against hydrogen peroxide induced neurotoxicity in PC12 cells.

Amelioration of oxidative stress has been the main approach to improve neurodegenerative disorders. In the present study, a walnut peptide with a strong capacity of scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) was purified and identified as EVSGPGLSPN by SEC, RP-HPLC, and HPLC-MS/MS. Treatment with EVSGPGLSPN could significantly (P < 0.05) reduce ROS generation, and increase cell viability, and superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px) activities in a dose-dependent manner in hydrogen peroxide induced PC12 cells. Western blot and immunofluorescence analysis showed that EVSGPGLSPN suppressed the expression of IKKß and p65 to inhibit NF-κB pathway activation, attenuating the neurotoxic cascade by overexpression of IL-1ß and TNF-α. Moreover, EVSGPGLSPN inhibited apoptosis by suppressing the expression of cytochrome C, caspase-9, caspase-3, and PARP. Additionally, it also up-regulated the expression of p-CREB and synaptophysin in oxidatively damaged PC12 cells. Thus, EVSGPGLSPN may protect against hydrogen peroxide induced neurotoxicity by enhancing the activity of antioxidant enzymes and blocking the NF-κB/caspase pathways.

Zinc suppressed the airway inflammation in asthmatic rats: effects of zinc on generation of eotaxin, MCP-1, IL-8, IL-4, and IFN-γ.

Airway epithelium is rich in labile zinc (Zn), which may have an important protective role in the airway epithelium. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of Zn on the airway inflammation and the generation of eotaxin, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-4 (IL-4), and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) in rat models of ovalbumin (OVA)-induced allergic airway inflammation. For this purpose, animal model of asthma was established by OVA challenge and zinc-deficient and zinc-supplemented diets were given. Thirty-two Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups: zinc-deficient diet with OVA treatment group, zinc-supplemented diet with OVA treatment group, zinc-normal diet with OVA treatment group, and zinc-normal diet with saline treatment group. Twenty-four hours after asthma was induced, lung histomorphological changes, cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), contents of eotaxin, MCP-1, and IL-8 in BALF, and the expression of IFN-γ and IL-4 mRNAs were observed. Compared with the group of zinc-normal diet with OVA challenge rats, the group of zinc-deficient rats had higher numbers of eosinophils, neutrophils, and monocytes in BALF, as well as higher contents of eotaxin and MCP-1 in BALF and lower expression of lung IFN-γ mRNA. Conversely, Zn supplementation would decrease the numbers of eosinophils, neutrophils, and monocytes in BALF; suppress eotaxin and MCP-1 protein secretion; and increase lung IFN-γ mRNA expression. No significant difference was observed in IL-8 and IL-4 among OVA-challenged rats with different zinc diets. These studies suggested that Zn may be an important anti-inflammatory mediator of airway inflammation.