Antioxidative, cytoprotective and whitening activities of fragrant pear fruits at different growth stages.

Pear is one of the most popular fruits in the world. With the fruit ripening, a series of physiological changes have taken place in fragrant pear, but up to now, the research on the metabolism and biological activity of phenolic compounds in different growth stages of fragrant pear is still lacking. In this study, four kinds of Xinjiang pears were selected as research objects, and the changes of phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, cell protection and whitening activity during fruit development were analyzed. The results showed that the phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of four pear varieties presented a decreasing trend throughout the developmental stages. The phenolic content and antioxidant activity of the four pears in the young fruit stage were the highest, and the active ingredients of the Nanguo pear were higher than the other three pear fruits. Pear extract could protect cells by eliminating excessive ROS in cells, especially in young fruit stage. The western blot results showed that the extract of fragrant pear in the young fruit stage could inhibit the expression of TYR, TYR1 and MITF in B16 cells, and it was speculated that the extract of fragrant pear in the young fruit stage might have good whitening activity. Therefore, the findings suggest that young pear display a good antioxidant potential and could have a good application prospect in food preservation and health product industry.

Chloroquine increases the anti-cancer activity of epirubicin in A549 lung cancer cells.

The present study investigated whether the autophagy inhibitor chloroquine (CQ) can improve the sensitivity of the A549 lung cancer cell line to epirubicin (EPI). The Cell Counting Kit 8 (CCK8) assay was used to determine the EPI IC50 in A549 cells treated for 72 h. A549 cells were treated with Western blot analysis was performed to detect the expression level of the autophagy-associated protein, microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3 ß (LC3B), and apoptosis-associated proteins such as cleaved caspase-9 and cleaved caspase-3. CCK8, colony formation, wound healing and Transwell assays were performed to analyze cell proliferation, migration and invasion capacity. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to analyze the mRNA expression levels of LC3B and beclin-1, and the apoptosis rate was analyzed by flow cytometry. The IC50 of EPI was 0.03 µg/ml. The CCK8 results demonstrated that the cell survival rate was lower in CQ + EPI-treated cells when compared with the individual treatment groups. The colony formation results revealed that the number of clones in the EPI + CQ-treated group was reduced compared with EPI or CQ treatment alone. The wound healing assay revealed that migration was reduced in the EPI + CQ-treated group compared with the other treatment groups, and the Transwell results indicated that the number of cells passing through the Matrigel and membrane was lowest in the CQ + EPI treatment group. The mRNA expression levels of LC3B and beclin-1 were increased in the CQ + EPI group by 51.5 and 61.2%, respectively, when compared with the control group. The results indicated that LC3B protein expression was enhanced by EPI in a concentration-dependent manner, and the protein levels of cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-9 were higher in the combination group than in the EPI alone group. The flow cytometry results demonstrated that the apoptosis rate was highest in the EPI + CQ group. In conclusion, the autophagy inhibitor CQ increased the sensitivity of A549 cells to EPI, and the underlying mechanism of action may be associated with the activation of apoptosis.

The status of proton pump inhibitor use: a prescription survey of 45 hospitals in China

Background: proton pump inhibitors (PPI) have been widely used in the clinic but inappropriate prescribing has also increased dramatically. Objective: to describe the prescribing patterns and assess the appropriateness of the prescribed PPI use in 45 hospitals in China. Materials and methods: PPI prescriptions for non-hospitalized patients were collected from hospitals in Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Hangzhou of China over a 40-day period in 2016. These data were analyzed using the prescription number, proportion and economic indicators (defined daily dose system [DDD], defined daily cost [DDC] and drug utilization index [DUI]). The evaluation criteria of PPI use was based on Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference, New Materia Medica and drug instructions. Results: in total, 357,687 prescriptions using oral PPI and 38,216 prescriptions using injectable PPI were assessed. The average age of PPI users was 53 years. The most commonly used oral PPI was rabeprazole, while the most common injectable PPI was pantoprazole. The DDD of oral rabeprazole and DDC of injectable rabeprazole were the highest. Meanwhile, only the DUI values of oral rabeprazole, lansoprazole and ilaprazole were less than 1.0. The clinical diagnosis of some users included well identified risky comorbidities such as kidney disease (2.9%). Furthermore, between 32.6% and 56.8% of the PPI prescriptions were used for inappropriate indications. Conclusion: this survey demonstrated that PPI use was accompanied by unapproved indications and excessive dosages. Comprehensive measures are urgently needed to improve PPI use and reduce unnecessary drug costs

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Screening miRNAs associated with resistance gemcitabine from exosomes in A549 lung cancer cells.

PURPOSE: To establish a gemcitabine-resistant lung adenocarcinoma cell line, A549/G+, and to screen the differences of miRNA expression in exosomes from A549 and A549/G+ cells. METHODS: A549 cells were exposed in gemcitabine until they were resistant to gemcitabine, and extracted exosomes from A549 and A549/G+. The RNAs from exosomes were subjected to miRNA expression microarray experiments. RESULTS: After 39 weeks of continuous induction, we induced drug resistance in A549 cells. The resistance index was 6. Via GeneChip miRNA 4.0 analysis, there were 446 differential miRNAs between A549 and A549/G+. Target gene prediction and pathway analysis discovered the microRNAs in the intersections may participate in drug resistance. CONCLUSION: These differential miRNAs help to do in-depth research to elucidate the mechanism of resistance to gemcitabine in non-small cell lung cancer.

The status of proton pump inhibitor use: a prescription survey of 45 hospitals in China.

BACKGROUND: proton pump inhibitors (PPI) have been widely used in the clinic but inappropriate prescribing has also increased dramatically. OBJECTIVE: to describe the prescribing patterns and assess the appropriateness of the prescribed PPI use in 45 hospitals in China. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PPI prescriptions for non-hospitalized patients were collected from hospitals in Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Hangzhou of China over a 40-day period in 2016. These data were analyzed using the prescription number, proportion and economic indicators (defined daily dose system [DDD], defined daily cost [DDC] and drug utilization index [DUI]). The evaluation criteria of PPI use was based on Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference, New Materia Medica and drug instructions. RESULTS: in total, 357,687 prescriptions using oral PPI and 38,216 prescriptions using injectable PPI were assessed. The average age of PPI users was 53 years. The most commonly used oral PPI was rabeprazole, while the most common injectable PPI was pantoprazole. The DDD of oral rabeprazole and DDC of injectable rabeprazole were the highest. Meanwhile, only the DUI values of oral rabeprazole, lansoprazole and ilaprazole were less than 1.0. The clinical diagnosis of some users included well identified risky comorbidities such as kidney disease (2.9%). Furthermore, between 32.6% and 56.8% of the PPI prescriptions were used for inappropriate indications. CONCLUSION: this survey demonstrated that PPI use was accompanied by unapproved indications and excessive dosages. Comprehensive measures are urgently needed to improve PPI use and reduce unnecessary drug costs.

MiRNA-10b sponge: An anti-breast cancer study in vitro.

Breast cancer is a malignant tumor with the highest incidence among women. Breast cancer metastasis is the major cause of treatment failure and mortality among such patients. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small molecular non-coding regulatory RNAs, which act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors in breast cancer. miRNA-10b has been found to exhibit a high expression level in advanced and metastatic breast cancer, and is closely related to breast cancer metastasis. An miRNA sponge is an mRNA with several repeated sequences of complete or incomplete complementarity to the natural miRNA in its 3' non-translating region. It acts as a sponge adsorbing miRNAs and ensures their separation from their targets and inhibits their function. The present study designed a sponge plasmid against miRNA-10b and transiently transfected it into high and low metastatic human breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7, and analyzed the effects of the miRNA-10b sponge on the growth and proliferation, migration and invasion in these cell lines. qRT-PCR results found that the sponge plasmid effectively inhibited the expression of miRNA-10b, and upregulated the expression of the miRNA­10b target protein HOXD-10. The results from the CCK-8 assay found that the miRNA-10b sponge inhibited the growth of breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7. Results of the plate cloning experiments indicated that the miRNA-10b sponge suppressed the colony formation of the MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells. The results of wound healing and Transwell assays showed that the miRNA-10b sponge inhibited the migration and invasion of the breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7. Our results demonstrated that the miRNA-10b sponge effectively inhibited the growth and proliferation of breast cancer MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells. In addition, it also restrained the migration and invasion of human highly metastatic breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells.

Tubulocystic oncocytoma of the kidney: a case study and review of literature with focus on implications for differential diagnosis.

Renal oncocytoma (RO) can rarely present with a multilocular or tubulocystic growth pattern that may cause significant diagnostic difficulties with a variety of cystic renal cell carcinomas (RCC). Distinguishing these RO variants from their many RCC mimickers is critical because of its typical benign clinical course. Herein, we report a case of RO with extensive tubulocystic architectures on a 42-year-old female patient and discuss the clinicopathologic characterizations of this unusual RO variant with an emphasis on the wide spectrum of differential diagnoses of a variety of primary or secondary renal tumors that are featuring of both oncocytic cell changes and tubulocystic growth patterns.

Immunophenotype and increased presence of CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), cancer of the white blood cells, is a heterogeneous disease that mainly occurs due to the malignant cloning of original and naive lymphocytes. The aim of this study was to explore the immunophenotype, the percentage of CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) and the expression of cytokines interleukin (IL)-2, IL-10 and TGF-ß in patients with ALL. The immunophenotype and levels of CD4(+)CD25(+) Tregs were detected using flow cytometry in the peripheral blood of 35 ALL patients, with 18 healthy individuals being selected as controls. The results suggested that 22 patients had B cell ALL (B-ALL) and 13 had T cell ALL (T-ALL) among the 35 ALL patients. In B-ALL patients, the surface antigen CD19 was most commonly expressed; in T-ALL patients, CD7 was most common. Furthermore, the percentage of CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg cells in the peripheral blood of B-ALL and T-ALL patients was higher compared to that of healthy individuals (P<0.05). Additionally, IL-10 and TGF-ß levels in cell culture supernatants from B-ALL and T-ALL patients were higher compared to those in the controls (P<0.05); IL-2 levels were lower in ALL patients. No significant differences were observed in the levels of CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg cells, IL-2, IL-10 or TGF-ß in B-ALL versus T-ALL patients. The authors concluded that CD19 and CD7 may serve as diagnostic markers of B-ALL and T-ALL, respectively. The increased presence of CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg cells and the altered levels of secreted cytokines are indicative of an immunosuppressive mechanism in the pathogenesis of ALL.