Analysis of complication risk factors in preoperative computed tomography-guided hookwire location of pulmonary nodules.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to explore the efficacy of hookwire for computed tomography (CT)-guided pulmonary nodule (PN) localization before video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) resection and determine the risk factors for localization-related complications. METHODS: We enrolled 193 patients who underwent preoperative CT-guided PN hookwire localization. The patients were categorized into groups A (103 patients had no complications) and B (90 patients had complications) according to CT and VATS. Uni- and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify risk factors for localization-related complications. A numerical rating scale was used to evaluate hookwire localization-induced pain. RESULTS: We successfully performed localization in 173 (89.6%) patients. Pneumothorax was the main complication in 82 patients (42.5%). Patient gender, age, body mass index, tumor diameter, consolidation tumor ratio, pathologic diagnosis, position adjustment during location, lesion location, waiting time for surgery, and pleural adhesions were not significantly different between the two groups. The number of nodules, number of punctures, scapular rest position, and depth of insertion within the lung parenchyma were significant factors for successful localization. Multivariate regression analysis further validated the number of nodules, scapular rest position, and depth of insertion within the lung parenchyma as risk factors for hookwire-localization-related complications. Hookwire localization-induced pain is mainly mild or moderate pre- and postoperatively, and some patients still experience pain 7 days postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: Hookwire preoperative PN localization has a high success rate, but some complications remain. Thus, clinicians should be vigilant and look forward to further improvement.

Comparative Transcriptome and Proteome Analysis Provides New Insights Into the Mechanism of Protein Synthesis in Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) Leaves.

Given the rising domestic demand and increasing global prices of corn and soybean, China is looking for alternatives for these imports to produce animal fodder. Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) has great potential as a new forage source, due to abundant proteins, phenols and flavonoids in its leaves. However, few studies have evaluated the mechanism of protein synthesis in kenaf leaves. In the current work, compared with kenaf material "L332," the percentage of crude protein content in leaves of material "Q303" increased by 6.13%; combined with transcriptome and proteome data, the kenaf samples were systematically studied to obtain mRNA-protein correlation. Then, the genes/proteins related to protein synthesis in the kenaf leaves were obtained. Moreover, this work detected mRNA expression of 20 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Meanwhile, 20 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) related to protein synthesis were performed parallel reaction monitoring. Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBP), nitrite reductase (NirA), prolyl tRNA synthase (PARS) and glycine dehydrogenase (GLDC) presented increased mRNA and protein levels within kenaf leaves with high protein content. Based on the obtained findings, FBP, NirA, PARS, and GLDC genes may exert a vital function in the protein synthesis of kenaf leaves. The results provide a new idea for further studying the potential genes affecting the quality trait of protein content in kenaf leaves and provide gene resources and a theoretical foundation for further cultivating high protein kenaf varieties.

Case Report: Adjuvant Crizotinib Therapy Exerted Favorable Survival Benefit in a Resectable Stage IIIA NSCLC Patient With Novel LDLR-ROS1 Fusion.

Novel adjuvant strategies are needed to optimize outcomes after complete surgical resection in patients with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The adjuvant treatment of ROS Proto-Oncogene 1 (ROS1) fusion-positive resected NSCLC is challenging because there is no curative confirmed randomized controlled trial. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining were performed on the biopsy sample. In this case, we identified a novel LDLR-ROS1 fusion in a resectable stage IIIA NSCLC patient. The patient received crizotinib as adjuvant treatment and achieved recurrence-free survival (RFS) for 29 months, without significant symptoms of toxicity. In this case, we report a novel LDLR-ROS1 fusion responding to crizotinib in a patient with lung adenocarcinoma, supporting the use of adjuvant treatment with the ROS1 inhibitor exerting clinical survival benefit in ROS1 fusion-positive resected NSCLC.

Erratum: Author Correction: Advancing COVID-19 diagnosis with privacy-preserving collaboration in artificial intelligence.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/s42256-021-00421-z.].

Advancing COVID-19 Diagnosis with Privacy-Preserving Collaboration in Artificial Intelligence.

Artificial intelligence (AI) provides a promising substitution for streamlining COVID-19 diagnoses. However, concerns surrounding security and trustworthiness impede the collection of large-scale representative medical data, posing a considerable challenge for training a well-generalised model in clinical practices. To address this, we launch the Unified CT-COVID AI Diagnostic Initiative (UCADI), where the AI model can be distributedly trained and independently executed at each host institution under a federated learning framework (FL) without data sharing. Here we show that our FL model outperformed all the local models by a large yield (test sensitivity /specificity in China: 0.973/0.951, in the UK: 0.730/0.942), achieving comparable performance with a panel of professional radiologists. We further evaluated the model on the hold-out (collected from another two hospitals leaving out the FL) and heterogeneous (acquired with contrast materials) data, provided visual explanations for decisions made by the model, and analysed the trade-offs between the model performance and the communication costs in the federated training process. Our study is based on 9,573 chest computed tomography scans (CTs) from 3,336 patients collected from 23 hospitals located in China and the UK. Collectively, our work advanced the prospects of utilising federated learning for privacy-preserving AI in digital health.

Polysaccharides, Total Phenolic, and Flavonoid Content from Different Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) Genotypes and Their Antioxidants and Antibacterial Properties.

Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) is a valuable plant with a potential health benefit because of its extensive bioactive compounds. Leaf extracts of 33 kenaf genotypes were investigated for their polysaccharide, total phenolic, and flavonoid content. The antioxidant properties were evaluated by 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), and ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) assays. Antimicrobial capacity was also assessed against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli using a disc diffusion assay. The polysaccharide content varied from 6.45-16.12 mg glucose per g DW. Total phenolic and flavonoid content ranged from 6.03-21.15 mg GAE/g DW and 1.55-9.24 mg RE/g DW, respectively. Similarly, varied values in the range 20.55-79.99% of inhibition by DPPH, 56.28-88.30% of inhibition by ABTS and 1.26-5.08 mmol Fe2+/g DW by FRAP assays were obtained for antioxidants of the genotype extracts. Extracts from CS4 and CS2 genotypes had the highest antioxidant activities. Kenaf leaves exhibited antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Strong correlation was found between antioxidant activity with polysaccharide (DPPH, r = 0.893; ABTS, r = 0.819; FRAP, r = 0.864) and total phenolic content (DPPH, r = 0.850; ABTS, r = 0.959; FRAP, r = 0.953). The results suggested that the kenaf leaves could be used as a natural antioxidants and antimicrobial in food industries.

Genome-wide development of insertion-deletion (InDel) markers for Cannabis and its uses in genetic structure analysis of Chinese germplasm and sex-linked marker identification.

BACKGROUND: Cannabis sativa L., a dioecious plant derived from China, demonstrates important medicinal properties and economic value worldwide. Cannabis properties have been usually harnessed depending on the sex of the plant. To analyse the genetic structure of Chinese Cannabis and identify sex-linked makers, genome-wide insertion-deletion (InDel) markers were designed and used. RESULTS: In this study, a genome-wide analysis of insertion-deletion (InDel) polymorphisms was performed based on the recent genome sequences. In total, 47,558 InDels were detected between the two varieties, and the length of InDels ranged from 4 bp to 87 bp. The most common InDels were tetranucleotides, followed by pentanucleotides. Chromosome 5 exhibited the highest number of InDels among the Cannabis chromosomes, while chromosome 10 exhibited the lowest number. Additionally, 31,802 non-redundant InDel markers were designed, and 84 primers evenly distributed in the Cannabis genome were chosen for polymorphism analysis. A total of 38 primers exhibited polymorphisms among three accessions, and of the polymorphism primers, 14 biallelic primers were further used to analyse the genetic structure. A total of 39 fragments were detected, and the PIC value ranged from 0.1209 to 0.6351. According to the InDel markers and the flowering time, the 115 Chinese germplasms were divided into two subgroups, mainly composed of cultivars obtained from the northernmost and southernmost regions, respectively. Additional two markers, "Cs-I1-10" and "Cs-I1-15", were found to amplify two bands (398 bp and 251 bp; 293 bp and 141 bp) in the male plants, while 389-bp or 293-bp bands were amplified in female plants. Using the two markers, the feminized and dioecious varieties could also be distinguished. CONCLUSION: Based on the findings obtained herein, we believe that this study will facilitate the genetic improvement and germplasm conservation of Cannabis in China, and the sex-linked InDel markers will provide accurate sex identification strategies for Cannabis breeding and production.

Improved antibacterial activity of hemp fibre by covalent grafting of quaternary ammonium groups.

In this study, a novel antibacterial hemp fibre grafted with quaternary ammonium groups (HF-GTA), were prepared by alkalization, oxidation, amination and quaternization multistage reactions. The chemical structure and micromorphology of the fibre were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and X-ray diffraction. The grafting and reaction mechanism proved to be successful, which indicated that the grafting reaction primarily occurred on the hydroxyl group of cellulose and hemicellulose in the hemp fibre, where it retained good fibrous morphology, thermal stability and hygroscopicity. HF-GTA exhibited the best antibacterial activity, where the antibacterial ratios against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were 95.41% and 99.64%, respectively. Even after washing 30 times, the antibacterial activity was retained at 89.78% and 91.12%, indicating that HF-GTA was endowed with good washing resistance. The antibacterial activity was owing to the electrostatic reaction reducing the electrochemical potential on the cell membrane, leading to the release of cytoplasmic substances and the dissolution of cells. This study is significantly important for guaranteeing textile quality and preventing disease transmission.

Genome-wide identification, expression, and sequence analysis of CONSTANS-like gene family in cannabis reveals a potential role in plant flowering time regulation.

BACKGROUND: Cannabis, an important industrial crop, has a high sensitivity to photoperiods. The flowering time of cannabis is one of its important agronomic traits, and has a significant effect on its yield and quality. The CONSTANS-like (COL) gene plays a key role in the regulation of flowering in this plant. However, the specific roles of the COL gene family in cannabis are still unknown. RESULTS: In this study, 13 CsCOL genes were identified in the cannabis genome. Phylogenetic analysis implied that the CsCOL proteins were divided into three subgroups, and each subgroup included conserved intron/exon structures and motifs. Chromosome distribution analysis showed that 13 CsCOL genes were unevenly distributed on 7 chromosomes, with chromosome 10 having the most CsCOL members. Collinearity analysis showed that two syntenic gene pairs of CsCOL4 and CsCOL11 were found in both rice and Gossypium raimondii. Of the 13 CsCOL genes, CsCOL6 and CsCOL12 were a pair of tandem duplicated genes, whereas CsCOL8 and CsCOL11 may have resulted from segmental duplication. Furthermore, tissue-specific expression showed that 10 CsCOL genes were preferentially expressed in the leaves, 1 CsCOL in the stem, and 2 CsCOL in the female flower. Most CsCOL exhibited a diurnal oscillation pattern under different light treatment. Additionally, sequence analysis showed that CsCOL3 and CsCOL7 exhibited amino acid differences among the early-flowering and late flowering cultivars. CONCLUSION: This study provided insight into the potential functions of CsCOL genes, and highlighted their roles in the regulation of flowering time in cannabis. Our results laid a foundation for the further elucidation of the functions of COL genes in cannabis.

Advancing COVID-19 diagnosis with privacy-preserving collaboration in artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence provides a promising solution for streamlining COVID-19 diagnoses; however, concerns surrounding security and trustworthiness impede the collection of large-scale representative medical data, posing a considerable challenge for training a well-generalized model in clinical practices. To address this, we launch the Unified CT-COVID AI Diagnostic Initiative (UCADI), where the artificial intelligence (AI) model can be distributedly trained and independently executed at each host institution under a federated learning framework without data sharing. Here we show that our federated learning framework model considerably outperformed all of the local models (with a test sensitivity/specificity of 0.973/0.951 in China and 0.730/0.942 in the United Kingdom), achieving comparable performance with a panel of professional radiologists. We further evaluated the model on the hold-out (collected from another two hospitals without the federated learning framework) and heterogeneous (acquired with contrast materials) data, provided visual explanations for decisions made by the model, and analysed the trade-offs between the model performance and the communication costs in the federated training process. Our study is based on 9,573 chest computed tomography scans from 3,336 patients collected from 23 hospitals located in China and the United Kingdom. Collectively, our work advanced the prospects of utilizing federated learning for privacy-preserving AI in digital health.

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Cannabis Based on the Genome-Wide Development of Simple Sequence Repeat Markers.

Cannabis has been used as a source of nutrition, medicine, and fiber. However, lack of genomic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers had limited the genetic research on Cannabis species. In the present study, 92,409 motifs were identified, and 63,707 complementary SSR primer pairs were developed. The most abundant SSR motifs had six repeat units (36.60%). The most abundant type of motif was dinucleotides (70.90%), followed by trinucleotides, tetranucleotides, and pentanucleotides. We randomly selected 80 pairs of genomic SSR markers, of which 69 (86.25%) were amplified successfully; 59 (73.75%) of these were polymorphic. Genetic diversity and population structure were estimated using the 59 (72 loci) validated polymorphic SSRs and three phenotypic markers. Three hundred ten alleles were identified, and the major allele frequency ranged from 0.26 to 0.85 (average: 0.56), Nei's genetic diversity ranged from 0.28 to 0.82 (average: 0.56), and the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.28 to 0.81 (average: 0.56). The polymorphism information content ranged from 0.25 to 0.79 (average: 0.50), the observed number of alleles ranged from 2 to 8 (average: 4.13), and the effective number of alleles ranged from 0.28 to 0.81 (average: 0.5). The Cannabis population did not show mutation-drift equilibrium following analysis via the infinite allele model. A cluster analysis was performed using the unweighted pair group method using arithmetic means based on genetic distances. Population structure analysis was used to divide the germplasms into two subgroups. These results provide guidance for the molecular breeding and further investigation of Cannabis.

Preparation of polyacrylonitrile-based fibres with chelated Ag ions for antibacterial applications.

The need for an excellent antibacterial material that is sufficiently powerful to never develop bacterial resistance is urgent. In this study, a series of novel polyacrylonitrile-based fibres with chelated Ag ions (referred to as Ag-SH-PANF) were prepared by a two-step chemical modification process: grafting and chelating. The properties of the as-prepared Ag-SH-PANF were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The antibacterial activities of Ag-SH-PANF were examined against pathogenic bacteria, and an antibacterial mechanism was explicated based on the release of Ag ions from the fibres' surfaces. The results showed that, although chelation occurred between the Ag ions and the grafted amino, sulfhydryl and disulfide groups, Ag-SH-PANF retained its fine microstructure and thermal stability. Moreover, Ag-SH-PANF displayed excellent antibacterial ability against pathogenic bacteria as well as good washing durability. In terms of the antibacterial mechanism, Ag ions are the main bactericidal agents in the role of catalysts and are not consumed in the antibacterial process. Nonetheless, a relatively higher concentration of Ag ions can accelerate the bactericidal process.

Antidepressant-like effect of flaxseed in rats exposed to chronic unpredictable stress.

INTRODUCTION: Depression is a serious mental illness. However, a significant proportion of patients with depression fail to achieve remission with antidepressant therapies. This study was conducted to explore the antidepressant-like effect of flaxseed oil and flour in an animal model with depression-like behaviors induced by chronic unpredictable stress (CUS). METHODS: Rats were randomly divided into five groups: normal control (Sham-Sham), CUS plus saline (S-SN), CUS plus escitalopram (S-Esc), CUS plus flaxseeds oil (S-FO), and CUS plus flaxseed flour (S-FF). Behaviors were tested using sucrose preference test and forced swimming test. The serum BDNF concentration, hippocampal BDNF mRNA, and protein expression were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, real-time PCR, and Western blot, respectively. RESULTS: The sucrose preference rate was significantly higher in S-FO and S-FF rats than in S-SN and S-Esc rats (p < .01), and lower in S-Esc rats than in Sham-Sham rats (p < .01). The immobility time was significantly shorter in S-FO and S-FF rats than in S-SN rats (p < .01), and shorter in S-Esc rats than in S-SN rats (p < .01). Plasma BDNF concentrations were significantly lower in S-FO, S-FF, and S-Esc rats than in Sham-Sham rats (p < .01); BDNF was lower in S-FO, S-FF, and S-SN rats than in S-Esc rats. The hippocampal BDNF protein expression was significantly higher in S-Esc rats than in S-SN rats (p < .05). The hippocampal BDNF mRNA expression was significantly higher in S-Esc rats than in S-SN rats (p < .01). The BDNF gene expression in plasma and the hippocampus negatively correlated with the immobility time (p < .05), but BDNF gene expression in the hippocampus positively correlated with the sucrose preference rate (p < .05). CONCLUSION: Flaxseed oil and flaxseed flour exert antidepressant-like effect in rats exposed to chronic stress. Flaxseed may have a therapeutic effect on depression.

RNA-seq for comparative transcript profiling of kenaf under salinity stress.

Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) is an economically important global natural fiber crop. As a consequence of the increased demand for food crops and the reduction of available arable land, kenaf cultivation has increasingly shifted to saline and alkaline land. To investigate the molecular mechanism of salinity tolerance in kenaf, we performed Illumina high-throughput RNA sequencing on shoot tips of kenaf and identified 71,318 unigenes, which were annotated using four different protein databases. In total, 2,384 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between the salt-stressed and the control plants, 1,702 of these transcripts were up-regulated and 683 transcripts were down-regulated. Thirty-seven transcripts belonging to 15 transcription-factor families that respond to salt stress were identified. Gene ontology function enrichment analysis revealed that the genes encoding antioxidant enzymes were up-regulated. The amino acid metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism pathways were highly enriched among these DEGs under salt stress conditions. In order to confirm the RNA-seq data, we randomly selected 20 unigenes for analysis using a quntitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Our study not only provided the large-scale assessment of transcriptome resources of kenaf but also guidelines for understanding the mechanism underlying salt stress responses in kenaf.

Characterization of the Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) Global Transcriptome Using Illumina Paired-End Sequencing and Development of EST-SSR Markers.

Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) is an economically important natural fiber crop grown worldwide. However, only 20 expressed tag sequences (ESTs) for kenaf are available in public databases. The aim of this study was to develop large-scale simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to lay a solid foundation for the construction of genetic linkage maps and marker-assisted breeding in kenaf. We used Illumina paired-end sequencing technology to generate new EST-simple sequences and MISA software to mine SSR markers. We identified 71,318 unigenes with an average length of 1143 nt and annotated these unigenes using four different protein databases. Overall, 9324 complementary pairs were designated as EST-SSR markers, and their quality was validated using 100 randomly selected SSR markers. In total, 72 primer pairs reproducibly amplified target amplicons, and 61 of these primer pairs detected significant polymorphism among 28 kenaf accessions. Thus, in this study, we have developed large-scale SSR markers for kenaf, and this new resource will facilitate construction of genetic linkage maps, investigation of fiber growth and development in kenaf, and also be of value to novel gene discovery and functional genomic studies.

Endoscopic Management of Early Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding After Minimally Invasive Ivor-Lewis Esophagectomy.

Minimally invasive esophagectomy is now accepted as a regular treatment modality for esophageal cancer. Upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is a common postoperative adverse event of esophagectomy. However, there are very few reports in the literature on endoscopic management of early upper GI bleeding after an esophagectomy. Here, we report the successful management of such an early case of GI bleeding after thoracolaparoscopic esophagectomy by the use of endoscopic intrathoracic anastomosis.

Effects of dietary supplementation of probiotic, Clostridium butyricum, on growth performance, immune response, intestinal barrier function, and digestive enzyme activity in broiler chickens challenged with Escherichia coli K88.

BACKGROUND: Colibacillosis caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) results in economic losses in the poultry industry. Antibiotics are usually used to control colibacillosis, however, E. coli has varying degrees of resistance to different antibiotics. Therefore the use of probiotics is becoming accepted as an alternative to antibiotics. In this study, we evaluated the effects of Clostridium butyricum (C. butyricum) on growth performance, immune response, intestinal barrier function, and digestive enzyme activity in broiler chickens challenged with Escherichia coli (E. coli) K88. METHODS: The chickens were randomly divided into four treatment groups for 28 days. Negative control treatment (NC) consisted of birds fed a basal diet without E. coli K88 challenge and positive control treatment (PC) consisted of birds fed a basal diet and challenged with E. coli K88. C. butyricum probiotic treatment (CB) consisted of birds fed a diet containing 2 × 10(7) cfu C. butyricum/kg of diet and challenged with E. coli K88. Colistin sulfate antibiotic treatment (CS) consisted of birds fed a diet containing 20 mg colistin sulfate/kg of diet and challenged with E. coli K88. RESULTS: The body weight (BW) and average day gain (ADG) in the broilers of CB group were higher (P < 0.05) than the broilers in the PC group overall except the ADG in the 14-21 d post-challenge. The birds in CB treatment had higher (P < 0.05) concentration of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) at 3 and 7 d post-challenge, and higher (P < 0.05) concentration of interleukin-4 (IL-4) at 14 d post-challenge than those in the PC treatment group. The concentration of serum endotoxin in CB birds was lower (P < 0.05) at 21 d post-challenge, and the concentrations of serum diamine oxidase in CB birds were lower (P < 0.05) at 14 and 21 d post-challenge than in PC birds. Birds in CB treatment group had higher (P < 0.05) jejunum villi height than those in PC, NC, or CS treatment at 7, 14, and 21 d post-challenge. In comparison to PC birds, the CB birds had lower (P < 0.05) jejunum crypt depth during the whole experiment. The birds in CB or CS treatment group had higher (P < 0.05) activities of amylase and protease at 3, 7, and 14 d post-challenge, and higher (P < 0.05) activity of lipase at 3, 7 d post-challenge than PC birds. CONCLUSIONS: In all, these results indicate that dietary supplementation with C. butyricum promotes immune response, improves intestinal barrier function, and digestive enzyme activities in broiler chickens challenged with E. coli K88. There is no significant difference between the C. butyricum probiotic treatment and the colistin sulfate antibiotic treatment. Therefore, the C. butyricum probiotic may be an alternative to antibiotic for broiler chickens.

Plasma and tissue free amino acid profiles and their concentration correlation in patients with lung cancer.

Variation of plasma free amino acids (PFAAs) is an essential feature of protein metabolic abnormalities in cancer patients. But there still little data about the cancer tissue free amino acid (TFAAs) profiles, including their patterns and correlations with PFAAs. To evaluate the variation in PFAAs and cancer TFAAs in patients with lung cancer, including their patterns and correlations, we investigated the concentrations of free amino acids in lung cancer tissues (n=27), paired lung paracarcinomous tissues (n=27) and plasma (n=27) using an automatic amino acid analyzer after pre-treatment. Within the PFAAs, the concentrations of five amino acids (tryptophan, glycine, citrulline, ornithine and proline) were significantly decreased, while that of phenylalanine was markedly increased compared with control subjects. Within the TFAAs, the concentrations of three amino acids (taurine, glutamic acid and glycine) were increased, while the concentrations of two amino acids (lysine and ornithine) were decreased significantly in lung cancer tissues compared with the paracarcinomous tissues. The amino acid patterns in PFAAs and TFAAs had similar trends, but percentage variations were diverse. Additionally, the concentrations of five amino acids (lysine, phenylalanine, threonine, serine, and alanine) in PFAAs correlated with those in lung cancer TFAAs, but no amino acids in PFAAs were correlated with those in lung paracarcinomous TFAAs. Thus, PFAA profiles may reflect the status of cancer tissues, which may provide more information about the metabolic statuses and prognoses of patients with lung cancer.

Potential health risks of heavy metals in cultivated topsoil and grain, including correlations with human primary liver, lung and gastric cancer, in Anhui province, Eastern China.

Environmental exposure to heavy metals is a well-known risk factor for cancers. To evaluate potential health risks of heavy metals (Cr, Cd, Pb, As and Hg) and Se in cultivated topsoil and grains, we investigated the concentrations of Hg, As and Se using atomic fluorescence spectrometry and Cr, Cd and Pb using inductive coupled plasma emission spectrometry (ICP-MS). We also analyzed human cancer tissues for heavy metals. Potential health risks for local residents were evaluated by calculating the hazard index (HI) and the total carcinogenic risk (TCR) for soil heavy metals and the target hazard quotient (THQ) and the carcinogenic risk (CR) for grain heavy metals. A bioconcentration factor (BCF) was applied to quantify the bioaccumulation of heavy metals. Our results demonstrated that the mean concentrations of heavy metals in soil were all within the safety limits set by FAO/WHO and Chinese regulations; however, the mean concentrations of Cr and Hg in grain exceeded the safety limits. HI and TCR for soil heavy metals were all within acceptable levels, but the THQ for four grain heavy metals exceeded the target value of 1 (Cr, 2.64; Pb, 1.41; As, 1.24; Hg, 1.07; Cd, 0.39). The grain CR for Cr, Pb and As exceeded the accepted risk level of 10(-6). BCF values indicated that the bioaccumulation capacity decreased in the following sequence: Hg>Se>Cd>Cr>Pb>As. We also observed statistically significant correlations of topsoil Pb concentration with human gastric cancer and grain Hg with human liver cancer. Therefore, long-term low dose exposure of heavy metals may play a key role in tumorigenesis, and it may not be necessary to accumulate a high concentration of heavy metals in the human body for those metals to induce tumorigenesis.