De Ritis Ratio: a Potent Marker in Cancer.

BACKGROUND: The role of conventional liver function clinical laboratory marker De Ritis Ratio in evaluating the prognosis, assisting diagnosis, and monitoring therapeutic efficacy of cancer is gaining increasing attention, especially in the last decade. According to the most recent articles, the De Ritis Ratio functions have progressed, which indicates that the De Ritis Ratio appears to be a promising tumor marker. The aim of this review was to evaluate the clinical importance from studies made on this subject. METHODS: Using the search words "De Ritis Ratio", "aspartate transaminase/alanine transaminase", "aspartate transaminase", "alanine transaminase", "cancer", "prognostic significance", "diagnostic significance", and "predictive significance", a search was carried out on PubMed. Exclusion criteria were articles never published in English and articles evaluating tumor markers in cancer not involving the De Ritis Ratio. RESULTS: As a predictor of prognosis, the De Ritis Ratio is strongly associated with prognostic risk factors and can be used to assess therapeutic efficacy. As a predictor of incidence, the De Ritis Ratio could promote the prediction of the disease progression. As a biomarker, the De Ritis Ratio is more likely to improve diagnostics by being combined with other biomarkers. Therefore, since it is easily accessible, involves no additional laborious efforts, and is a relatively inexpensive marker, the De Ritis Ratio is emerging as an attractive and clinically valuable marker in cancer. CONCLUSIONS: In the review, we explore the possible mechanisms of the De Ritis Ratio related to cancer and summarize the clinical importance of the De Ritis Ratio as a promising marker for cancer.

Urinary Biomarkers for the Noninvasive Detection of Gastric Cancer.

Gastric cancer (GC) is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Thus, early diagnosis is important to improve disease prognosis. Endoscopic assessment represents the most reliable imaging method for GC diagnosis; however, it is semi-invasive and costly and heavily depends on the skills of the endoscopist, which limit its clinical applicability. Therefore, the search for new sensitive biomarkers for the early detection of GC using noninvasive sampling collection methods has attracted much attention among scientists. Urine is considered an ideal biofluid, as it is readily accessible, less complex, and relatively stable than plasma and serum. Over the years, substantial progress has been made in screening for potential urinary biomarkers for GC. This review explores the possible applications and limitations of urinary biomarkers in GC detection and diagnosis.

Endothelial Aquaporin-1 (AQP1) Expression Is Regulated by Transcription Factor Mef2c.

Aquaporin 1 (AQP1) is expressed in most microvasculature endothelial cells and forms water channels that play major roles in a variety of physiologic processes. This study aimed to delineate the transcriptional regulation of AQP1 by Mef2c in endothelial cells. Mef2c cooperated with Sp1 to activate human AQP1 transcription by binding to its proximal promoter in human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). Over-expression of Mef2c, Sp1, or Mef2c/Sp1 increased HUVEC migration and tube-forming ability, which can be abolished AQP1 knockdown. These data indicate that AQP1 is a direct target of Mef2c in regulating angiogenesis and vasculogenesis of endothelial cells.