Correlation between nutritional status and oral health quality of life, self-efficacy of older inpatients and the influencing factors.

OBJECTIVE: This study explores the relationship between nutritional status and oral health quality of life, the self-efficacy of older inpatients and the correlative factors. METHODS: In this study, the convenience sampling method was used to select 307 older inpatients in the southern section of the Renji Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from October to December 2020 as the main research participants. A mini nutritional assessment questionnaire was used to assess nutritional status, and the Chinese version of a geriatric oral health assessment index questionnaire was used to determine the oral health quality of life. Self-efficacy was assessed by a general self-efficacy scale questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse data using the SPSS 22.0 software. Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression analysis were applied to explore the correlation between variables and factors concerned with nutritional status, respectively. RESULTS: The results of this study showed that the self-efficacy and oral health quality of life of older inpatients were at a moderate level. Among the patients, 263 had one or more tooth defects, and only 128 had oral restorations or wore dentures. The risk of malnutrition in hospitalised older patients was 37.1%, and the incidence of malnutrition was 13.4%. The risk factors of nutritional status of older patients were age, oral-related quality of life, prealbumin index, self-efficacy, chronic disease, monthly income and tooth defect (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The incidence of malnutrition and malnutrition risk in hospitalised older patients is relatively high. The main associated factors include age, tooth defect, oral health quality of life, self-efficacy, chronic disease status and monthly income. Therefore, older inpatients, especially those with prosthodontic problems, should carry out nutritional assessments, intervention and graded management as soon as possible to improve their self-efficacy, improve their nutrition and health status and reduce the incidence of a poor prognosis.

Galectin-1 reduction and changes in T regulatory cells may play crucial roles in patients with unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion.

To investigate the changes of Galectin-1 and T-lymphocyte phenotypes in unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA). Totally 60 participants were recruited and divided into 3 groups in average: pregnant patients with URSA (URSA group), normal early pregnant women with induced abortion (IA group) and normal non-pregnant women (control group). After the tissue and blood sample were collected, Galectin-1 was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Then the proportion of T regulatory cells was determined by flow cytometry. The expression levels of Galectin-1 in IA group and URSA group was significantly higher than that in the control group (24.30 ± 3.06 and 6.23 ± 2.41 vs. 1.30 ± 0.66, P < 0.05). Besides, the expression level of Galectin-1 in URSA group was lower than that in IA group (P < 0.05). The percentage of CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) Tregs was lower in URSA group than IA group (0.77 ± 0.31 vs. 1.00 ± 0.35, P < 0.05) and the ratio of CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+)/CD4(+) in URSA group was also obviously lower than that in IA and control group (P < 0.05). Galectin-1 and CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) may play essential roles in maintaining a normal pregnancy and their reduction may involve in the pathogenesis of URSA.

Isoalantolactone inhibits UM-SCC-10A cell growth via cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction.

Isoalantolactone is a sesquiterpene lactone compound isolated from the roots of Inula helenium L. Previous studies have demonstrated that isoalantolactone possesses antifungal, anti-bacterial, anti-helminthic and anti-proliferative properties in a variety of cells, but there are no studies concerning its effects on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). In the present study, an MTT assay demonstrated that isoalantolactone has anti-proliferative activity against the HNSCC cell line (UM-SCC-10A). Immunostaining identified that this compound induced UM-SCC-10A cell apoptosis but not necrosis. To explain the molecular mechanisms underlying its effects, flow cytometry and western blot analysis showed that the apoptosis was associated with cell cycle arrest during the G1 phase, up-regulation of p53 and p21, and down-regulation of cyclin D. Furthermore, our results revealed that induction of apoptosis through a mitochondrial pathway led to up-regulation of pro-apoptotic protein expression (Bax), down-regulation of anti-apoptotic protein expression (Bcl-2), mitochondrial release of cytochrome c (Cyto c), reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and activation of caspase-3 (Casp-3). Involvement of the caspase apoptosis pathway was confirmed using caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK pretreatment. Together, our findings suggest that isoalantolactone induced caspase-dependent apoptosis via a mitochondrial pathway and was associated with cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase in UM-SCC-10A cells. Therefore, isoalantolactone may become a potential drug for treating HNSCC.