The association between circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D and pancreatic cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.

PURPOSE: The relationship between circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and pancreatic cancer has been well studied but remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the association between circulating 25(OH)D and pancreatic cancer by using a meta-analytic approach. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, and Wed of Science databases were searched through October 15, 2022. A random or fixed-effects model was used to estimate the pooled odds ratio (OR), risk ratio (RR), hazard ratio (HR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: A total of 16 studies including 529,917 participants met the inclusion criteria, of which 10 reported incidence and 6 reported mortality. For the highest versus lowest categories of circulating 25(OH)D, the pooled OR of pancreatic cancer incidence in case-control studies was 0.98 (95% CI 0.69-1.27), and the pooled HRs of pancreatic cancer mortality in cohort and case-control studies were 0.64 (95% CI 0.45-0.82) and 0.78 (95% CI 0.62-0.95), respectively. The leave-one-out sensitivity analyses found no outliers and Galbraith plots indicated no substantial heterogeneity. CONCLUSION: Evidence from this meta-analysis suggested that high circulating 25(OH)D levels may be associated with decreased mortality but not incidence of pancreatic cancer. Our findings may provide some clues for the treatment of pancreatic cancer and remind us to be cautious about widespread vitamin D supplementation for the prevention of pancreatic cancer.

Portfolio Targeting Strategy To Realize the Assembly and Membrane Fusion-Mediated Delivery of Gold Nanoparticles to Mitochondria for Enhanced NIR Photothermal Therapies.

Targeting mitochondria has always been a challenging goal for therapeutic nanoparticle agents due to their heterotypic features and size, which usually lead to a lysosome/endosome endocytosis pathway. To overcome this limitation, in this work, a portfolio targeting strategy combining a small targeting molecule with a biomembrane was developed. Modification of small targeting molecule H2N-TPP on gold nanoparticles (GNPs) could not only facilitate the mitochondrial targeting but could also induce gold nanoparticle assembly. Therefore, the GNPs were endowed with good absorption and photothermal conversion abilities in the near-infrared (NIR) region. Meanwhile, a biomimetic strategy was adopted by wrapping the gold nanoparticle assembly (GNA) with cancer cell membranes (CCMs), which helped the GNA enter the prostatic cancer cell via a homotypic membrane-fusion process to avoid being trapped in endosomes/lysosomes. Thereafter, the GNA remaining in the cytoplasm could reach mitochondria more efficiently via guidance from H2N-TPP molecules. This "biomembrane-small molecule" combination targeting process was evidenced by fluorescence microscopy, and the highly efficient photothermal ablation of prostatic tumors in vivo was demonstrated. This portfolio targeting strategy could be extended to various nanodrugs/agents to realize an accurate subcellular targeting efficiency for cancer treatments or cell detections.

Elongated Nanoparticle Aggregates in Cancer Cells for Mechanical Destruction with Low Frequency Rotating Magnetic Field.

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) functionalized with targeting moieties can recognize specific cell components and induce mechanical actuation under magnetic field. Their size is adequate for reaching tumors and targeting cancer cells. However, due to the nanometric size, the force generated by MNPs is smaller than the force required for largely disrupting key components of cells. Here, we show the magnetic assembly process of the nanoparticles inside the cells, to form elongated aggregates with the size required to produce elevated mechanical forces. We synthesized iron oxide nanoparticles doped with zinc, to obtain high magnetization, and functionalized with the epidermal growth factor (EGF) peptide for targeting cancer cells. Under a low frequency rotating magnetic field at 15 Hz and 40 mT, the internalized EGF-MNPs formed elongated aggregates and generated hundreds of pN to dramatically damage the plasma and lysosomal membranes. The physical disruption, including leakage of lysosomal hydrolases into the cytosol, led to programmed cell death and necrosis. Our work provides a novel strategy of designing magnetic nanomedicines for mechanical destruction of cancer cells.

[Changes of SOD, GSH and MDA in renal tissues of diabetic hyperlipidemia rats].

OBJECTIVE: To study the changes of SOD, GSH and MDA in the renal tissues of diabetes rat models through the comparison of their metabolic features. METHODS: Two types of diabetes rat models were established by feeding high-lipid food along with small dose injecting of streptozotocin (STZ) (model group 1) and repeated small dose injecting of STZ with complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) (model group 2). And changes of the following were observed: body weight, urine volume, blood sugar, blood lipid, serum insulin, insulin sensitive index (ISI),superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) of the renal tissues. RESULTS: The body weight of the two model groups of rats decreased, while the urine volume and the blood sugar increased predominantly. These indexes of the two model groups were significantly different from those of the normal group (P<0.05). The renal tissue MDA level increased while the SOD and GSH level decreased in both model group 1 and model group 2, but the changes in model group 1 were more obvious than those in the model group 2. The serum insulin level which decreased in model group 2 did not decrease significantly in model group 1, but the ISI in model group 1 decreased more significantly than that in model group 2 (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The antioxidase activity decreased in renal tissues of diabetes rats and hyperlipidemia was the main cause of the corresponding oxidations.

[Effect and mechanism of Tangshenning Recipe on micro-albuminuria in rats with early diabetic nephropathy].

OBJECTIVE: To study the modifying effect and mechanism of Tangshenning Recipe on micro-albuminuria in rats with early diabetic nephropathy (DN). METHODS: Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into the normal group (n=8) and model group (n=24). Intraperitoneal injecting of streptozotocin (STZ) plus complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) was applied once a week for 3 times to induce the DN rats model. Three weeks later, the model group rats were randomly divided into pathologic group (n=8), monopril group (n=8) and Tangshenning Recipe group(n=8) according to the 24 h U-Alb. Each group's renal hemodynamics index and SOD, GSH, MDA in renal tissue were determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA) and colorimetric method respectively. RESULTS: The levels of plasmatic TXB(2), the ratio of TXB(2) and 6-keto-PGF1alpha, and the CGRP in pathologic group were significantly higher than those in normal group. The levels of plasmatic ET decreased obviously, SOD decreased and MDA increased significantly in the rats' renal tissue of pathologic group. The levels of plasmatic TXB(2), the ratio of TXB(2) and 6-keto-PGF1alpha decreased significantly in both Tangshenning Recipe group and monopril group, and the therapeutic effect of Tangshenning Recipe group was better than that of monopril group. SOD was higher and MDA was lower in Tangshenning Recipe group than that in pathologic group. CONCLUSION: The results indicates that Tangshenning Recipe can lower the micro-albuminuria in early DN rats, the mechanism of which probably lies in the modification of glycometabolism, the ratio of TXB(2) and 6-keto-PGF1alpha, the plasmatic CGRP and the renal lipid preoxidation.