Omega-3 fatty acids supplementation on major cardiovascular outcomes: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of observational studies and randomized controlled trials.

OBJECTIVE: Omega-3 fatty acids are commonly used as a lipid-lowering agent or dietary supplement for the purpose of prevention of cardiovascular diseases. However, even large-scale clinical trials have not shown significant results demonstrating clear clinical benefits in cardiovascular diseases. Thus, this umbrella review aims to summarize and evaluate the evidence of clinical effects of omega-3 fatty acids supplementation on cardiovascular outcomes through comprehensive analyses of previous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or observational cohort studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted relevant publication search in PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. We retrieved and analyzed 3,298 articles published until August 28th, 2019. RESULTS: We identified 29 relevant articles and analyzed 83 meta-analyses of RCTs or cohort studies therefrom. As a result, we identified 12 cardiovascular outcomes that are related to omega-3 fatty acids supplementation. Among them, total mortality from major cardiovascular causes (RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.86 to 0.98) had significant inverse associations, and moreover, statistical significances were maintained even in subgroup analysis of large-scale RCTs including more than 1,000 patients (RR 0.94, 95% CI 0.88 to 0.99). CONCLUSIONS: Our umbrella review study shows that omega-3 fatty acids supplementation have a clinical benefit in reducing mortality from cardiovascular causes. However, many studies still have shown conflicting results, and therefore, further studies will be needed to verify the clinical benefit of omega-3 supplementation.

Empirical assessment of biases in cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease: an umbrella review and re-analysis of data from meta-analyses.

OBJECTIVE: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a leading cause of years lived with disability in older age, and several cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) markers have been proposed in individual meta-analyses to be associated with AD but field-wide evaluation and scrutiny of the literature is not available. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed an umbrella review for the reported associations between CSF biomarkers and AD. Data from available meta-analyses were reanalyzed using both random and fixed effects models. We also estimated between-study heterogeneity, small-study effects, excess significance, and prediction interval. RESULTS: A total of 38 meta-analyses on CSF markers from 11 eligible articles were identified and reanalyzed. In 14 (36%) of the meta-analyses, the summary estimate and the results of the largest study showed non-concordant results in terms of statistical significance. Large heterogeneity (I2≥75%) was observed in 73% and small-study effects under Egger's test were shown in 28% of CSF biomarkers. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that there is an excess of statistically significant results and significant biases in the literature of CSF biomarkers for AD. Therefore, the results of CSF biomarkers should be interpreted with caution.

Body mass index and 20 specific cancers: re-analyses of dose-response meta-analyses of observational studies.

Background: Objectives were to provide an overview and understand the strength of evidence and extent of potential biases and validity of claimed associations between body mass index (BMI) and risk of developing cancer. Methods: We carried out an umbrella review and comprehensively re-analyzed the data of dose-response meta-analyses on associations between BMI and risk of 20 specific cancers (bladder, brain, breast, colonic, rectal, endometrial, gallbladder, gastric, leukemia, liver, lung, melanoma, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, esophagus, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, renal, thyroid) by adding big data or missed individual studies. Convincing evidence for an association was defined as a strong statistical significance in fixed-effects and random-effects meta-analyses at P < 0.001, 95% prediction interval (PI) excluded null, there was no large between-study heterogeneity and no small study effects. Suggestive evidence was defined as meeting the significance threshold for the random summary effects of P < 0.05, but 95% PI included the null. Weak evidence was defined as meeting the significance threshold for the random summary effects at a P < 0.05, but 95% PI included the null and there was large between-study heterogeneity or there were small study effects. Results: Convincing evidence for an association with BMI was detectable for six cancers (leukemia, multiple myeloma, pancreatic, endometrial, rectal, and renal cell carcinoma). Suggestive evidence was detectable for malignant melanoma, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and esophageal adenocarcinoma. Weak evidence was detectable for brain and central nervous system tumors, breast, colon, gall bladder, lung, liver, ovarian, and thyroid cancer. No evidence was detectable for bladder, gastric, and prostate cancer. Conclusions: The association of increased BMI and cancer is heterogeneous across cancer types. Leukemia, multiple myeloma, pancreatic, endometrial, rectal, and renal cell carcinoma are convincingly associated with an increased BMI by dose-response meta-analyses.

Management of pinna haematoma study (MaPHaeS): A multicentre retrospective observational study.

OBJECTIVES: To assess current variation in the management of pinna haematoma (PH) and its effect on outcomes. DESIGN: Multicentre retrospective observational record-based study. SETTING: Eleven hospitals around the UK. PARTICIPANTS: Eighty-three patients above the age of 16 with PH. OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measure was recurrence rate of PH over a 6-month period post-treatment, assessed by treatment type (scalpel incision vs needle aspiration). Secondary outcome measures assessed the impact of other factors on recurrence, infection and cosmetic complications of PH over a period of 6 months. RESULTS: After adjusting for confounding factors, involvement of the whole ear, and management within an operating theatre were associated with a lower rate of recurrence of pinna haematoma. The drainage technique, suspected aetiology, choice of post-drainage management, grade and specialty of practitioner performing drainage, the use of antibiotic cover and hospital admission did not affect the rate of haematoma recurrence, infection or cosmetic complications. CONCLUSIONS: Where possible PH should be drained in an operating theatre. Multicentre randomized controlled trials are required to further investigate the impact of drainage technique and post-drainage management on outcome.

Statistical controversies in clinical research: overlap and errors in the meta-analyses of microRNA genetic association studies in cancers.

BACKGROUND: Various errors in the design, conduct, and analysis of medical and public health research studies can produce false results and waste valuable resources. While systematic reviews and meta-analyses are arguably considered the most dependable source of evidence-based medicine, increasing numbers of studies are indicating that, on the contrary to the public's belief, many of these investigations are redundant, erroneous, and even biased. METHODS: Ninety-four meta-analyses on microRNA polymorphism and risk of cancer were extracted from Pubmed database on August 2016. Two investigators independently extracted data (i.e. number of studies, ethnicity, number of cases/controls, bias, etc.) from each meta-analysis. PROSPERO registration status and reference status were also recorded. RESULTS: Among the 217 microRNA gene-variant cancer associations reported by 94 published meta-analyses, 37% had overlapping results and were extracted from the exact identical case-control studies. However, not one meta-analysis was registered into PROSPERO. Thirty-one percent of the overlapping associations referenced a previous meta-analysis investigating the same association; although only 36% of these overlapping associations referenced earlier meta-analysis that had the same overlapping results. Seventy-four percent of these references were limited to mere citations. Twenty-six percent of the overlapping associations from 16 meta-analyses showed discordant results, and of these, 87% of the genotype comparisons were found significant, contrary to the initial reports of being non-significant. However, no association was noteworthy in regards to false positive rate probability calculations at a given prior probability of 0.001 and 0.000001 and statistical power to detect an odds ratio (OR) of 1.1 and 1.5. CONCLUSIONS: Genetic association meta-analyses were by far more redundant, erroneous, and lacking references than initially expected. Careful search of similar studies, attention to small details, and inclination to reference previous works are needed. This paper proposes potential solutions for these problems in hopes of standardizing research efforts and in improving the quality of medical research.

Inflammasome activation by cell volume regulation and inflammation-associated hyponatremia: A vicious cycle.

Inflammasomes are caspase-1-activating molecular platforms that produce active interleukin (IL)-1ß and are implicated in various central nervous system (CNS) diseases. These multi-protein complexes can be activated by exposure of cells to low osmolality. The inflammasome nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain-like receptor pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) is hereby the main sensor of cellular osmolality. IL-1ß was found to stimulate the secretion of antidiuretic hormone (ADH) from the posterior pituitary gland either by action of prostaglandins or indirectly by causing the release of IL-6. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that the hyponatremia caused by a wide range of CNS diseases is able to induce significant cell swelling with induction of a hyposmotic intracellular environment, which activates the NLRP3 inflammasome, causing the release of IL-1ß and induced by IL-1ß, IL-6, which increases the production of ADH that leads to more profound hyponatremia. Supportive evidence for this hypothesis is the finding that IL-1 injection can induce ADH release and hyposmotic effect of ADH induced hyponatremia can, via the mechanical effect of cell swelling, activate transient receptor potential channels, which via transforming growth factor ß-activated kinase 1 activate NLRP3. Implications of this hypothesis, if confirmed, would include that hyponatremia can be exacerbated through this vicious cycle but also that the inflammasomes are key mediators of this process. Confirmation of this hypothesis would have implications for prevention and clinical management of changes in patients sodium levels related to syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) with interventions targeting inflammatory mediator production and function of inflammasomes with the potential of prevention of permanent brain damage in a wide range of CNS diseases.

Effect of BCG vaccination against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in children: systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether BCG vaccination protects against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection as assessed by interferon γ release assays (IGRA) in children. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Searches of electronic databases 1950 to November 2013, checking of reference lists, hand searching of journals, and contact with experts. SETTING: Community congregate settings and households. INCLUSION CRITERIA: Vaccinated and unvaccinated children aged under 16 with known recent exposure to patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Children were screened for infection with M tuberculosis with interferon γ release assays. DATA EXTRACTION: Study results relating to diagnostic accuracy were extracted and risk estimates were combined with random effects meta-analysis. RESULTS: The primary analysis included 14 studies and 3855 participants. The estimated overall risk ratio was 0.81 (95% confidence interval 0.71 to 0.92), indicating a protective efficacy of 19% against infection among vaccinated children after exposure compared with unvaccinated children. The observed protection was similar when estimated with the two types of interferon γ release assays (ELISpot or QuantiFERON). Restriction of the analysis to the six studies (n=1745) with information on progression to active tuberculosis at the time of screening showed protection against infection of 27% (risk ratio 0.73, 0.61 to 0.87) compared with 71% (0.29, 0.15 to 0.58) against active tuberculosis. Among those infected, protection against progression to disease was 58% (0.42, 0.23 to 0.77). CONCLUSIONS: BCG protects against M tuberculosis infection as well as progression from infection to disease.Trial registration PROSPERO registration No CRD42011001698 (www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/).

The bacterial-type [4Fe-4S] ferredoxin 7 has a regulatory function under photooxidative stress conditions in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.

Ferredoxins function as electron carrier in a wide range of metabolic and regulatory reactions. It is not clear yet, whether the multiplicity of ferredoxin proteins is also reflected in functional multiplicity in photosynthetic organisms. We addressed the biological function of the bacterial-type ferredoxin, Fed7 in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. The expression of fed7 is induced under low CO2 conditions and further enhanced by additional high light treatment. These conditions are considered as promoting photooxidative stress, and prompted us to investigate the biological function of Fed7 under these conditions. Loss of Fed7 did not inhibit growth of the mutant strain Δfed7 but significantly modulated photosynthesis parameters when the mutant was grown under low CO2 and high light conditions. Characteristics of the Δfed7 mutant included elevated chlorophyll and photosystem I levels as well as reduced abundance and activity of photosystem II. Transcriptional profiling of the mutant under low CO2 conditions demonstrated changes in gene regulation of the carbon concentrating mechanism and photoprotective mechanisms such as the Flv2/4 electron valve, the PSII dimer stabilizing protein Sll0218, and chlorophyll biosynthesis. We conclude that the function of Fed7 is connected to coping with photooxidative stress, possibly by constituting a redox-responsive regulatory element in photoprotection. In photosynthetic eukaryotes domains homologous to Fed7 are exclusively found in chloroplast DnaJ-like proteins that are likely involved in remodeling of regulator protein complexes. It is conceivable that the regulatory function of Fed7 evolved in cyanobacteria and was recruited by Viridiplantae as the controller for the chloroplast DnaJ-like proteins.

Comparison of PET/CT and PET/MRI hybrid systems using a 68Ga-labelled PSMA ligand for the diagnosis of recurrent prostate cancer: initial experience.

PURPOSE: (68)Ga-labelled HBED-CC-PSMA is a highly promising tracer for imaging recurrent prostate cancer (PCa). The intention of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of PET/MRI with this tracer. METHODS: Twenty patients underwent PET/CT 1 h after injection of the (68)Ga-PSMA ligand followed by PET/MRI 3 h after injection. Data from the two investigations were first analysed separately and then compared with respect to tumour detection rate and radiotracer uptake in various tissues. To evaluate the quantification accuracy of the PET/MRI system, differences in SUVs between PET/CT and corresponding PET/MRI were compared with differences in SUVs between PET/CT 1 h and 3 h after injection in another patient cohort. This cohort was investigated using the same PET/CT system. RESULTS: With PET/MRI, different diagnostic sequences, higher contrast of lesions and higher resolution of MRI enabled a subjectively easier evaluation of the images. In addition, four unclear findings on PET/CT could be clarified as characteristic of PCa metastases by PET/MRI. However, in PET images of the PET/MRI, a reduced signal was observed at the level of the kidneys (in 11 patients) and around the urinary bladder (in 15 patients). This led to reduced SUVs in six lesions. SUVmean values provided by the PET/MRI system were different in muscles, blood pool, liver and spleen. CONCLUSION: PCa was detected more easily and more accurately with Ga-PSMA PET/MRI than with PET/CT and with lower radiation exposure. Consequently, this new technique could clarify unclear findings on PET/CT. However, scatter correction was challenging when the specific (68)Ga-PSMA ligand was used. Moreover, direct comparison of SUVs from PET/CT and PET/MR needs to be conducted carefully.

Co-expression analysis as tool for the discovery of transport proteins in photorespiration.

Shedding light on yet uncharacterised components of photorespiration, such as transport processes required for the function of this pathway, is a prerequisite for manipulating photorespiratory fluxes and hence for decreasing photorespiratory energy loss. The ability of forward genetic screens to identify missing links is apparently limited, as indicated by the fact that little progress has been made with this approach during the past decade. The availability of large amounts of gene expression data and the growing power of bioinformatics, paired with availability of computational resources, opens new avenues to discover proteins involved in transport of photorespiratory intermediates. Co-expression analysis is a tool that compares gene expression data under hundreds of different conditions, trying to find groups of genes that show similar expression patterns across many different conditions. Genes encoding proteins that are involved in the same process are expected to be simultaneously expressed in time and space. Thus, co-expression data can aid in the discovery of novel players in a pathway, such as the transport proteins required for facilitating the transfer of intermediates between compartments during photorespiration. We here review the principles of co-expression analysis and show how this tool can be used for identification of candidate genes encoding photorespiratory transporters.

Does the Cyanophora paradoxa genome revise our view on the evolution of photorespiratory enzymes?

In the present-day O2 -rich atmosphere, the photorespiratory pathway is essential for organisms performing oxygenic photosynthesis; i.e. cyanobacteria, algae and land plants. The presence of enzymes for the plant-like 2-phosphoglycolate cycle in cyanobacteria indicates that, together with oxygenic photosynthesis, genes for photorespiratory enzymes were endosymbiotically conveyed from ancient cyanobacteria to photosynthetic eukaryotes. The genome information for Cyanophora paradoxa, a member of the Glaucophyta representing the first branching group of primary endosymbionts, and for many other eukaryotic algae was used to shed light on the evolutionary relationship of photorespiratory enzymes among oxygenic phototrophs. For example, it became possible to analyse the phylogenies of 2-phosphoglycolate phosphatase, serine:glyoxylate aminotransferase and hydroxypyruvate reductase. Analysis of the Cyanophora genome provided clear evidence that some photorespiratory enzymes originally acquired from cyanobacteria were lost, e.g. glycerate 3-kinase, while others were replaced by the corresponding enzymes from the α-proteobacterial endosymbiont, e.g. serine:glyoxylate aminotransferase. Generally, our analysis supports the view that many C2 cycle enzymes in eukaryotic phototrophs were obtained from the cyanobacterial endosymbiont, but during the subsequent evolution of algae and land plants multiple losses and replacements occurred, which resulted in a reticulate provenance of photorespiratory enzymes with different origins in different cellular compartments.

Impact of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy on the 68Ga-DOTATOC-PET/CT uptake in normal tissue.

AIM: Positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) with [68Ga]DOTA0-Phe1-Tyr3-octreotide (68Ga-DOTA-TOC) became a standard for somatostatin receptor imaging. We investigated the potential changes of normal tissue uptake in patients with neuroendocrine tumor undergoing peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT). METHODS: Sixteen patients underwent [68Ga]-DOTA-TOC-PET/CT prior and after 4-6 cycles of PRRT (mean administered activity: 13.8 GBq 90Y+ 9.6 177Lu). The maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax) of pituitary, thyroid, spleen, liver parenchyma, pancreas, kidneys and adrenals were determined, respectively. RESULTS: SUVmax values prior and after PRRT were in pituitary (5, 56±2,91/ 4,47±2,53), thyroid (2.05±1.11/ 2.49±2.47), spleen (24.95±14.20/20.06±8.53), liver (7.13±3.96/6.62±2.63), pancreas (6.96±1.99/6.83±2.00), kidneys (13.0±3.85/11.31±3.31) and adrenals (9.65± 4.20/7.10±2.86). A comparison of pre- and post treatment values revealed no significant differences (P>0.05) in any of these organs. CONCLUSION: The uptake of [68Ga] DOTA-TOC in normal tissue is not significantly affected by PRRT. This is relevant with regards to therapeutic monitoring were tumor-to-non-tumor ratio seems to be the most robust biomarker.

Perspectives on plant photorespiratory metabolism.

Being intimately intertwined with (C3) photosynthesis, photorespiration is an incredibly high flux-bearing pathway. Traditionally, the photorespiratory cycle was viewed as closed pathway to refill the Calvin-Benson cycle with organic carbon. However, given the network nature of metabolism, it hence follows that photorespiration will interact with many other pathways. In this article, we review current understanding of these interactions and attempt to define key priorities for future research, which will allow us greater fundamental comprehension of general metabolic and developmental consequences of perturbation of this crucial metabolic process.

PET imaging with a [68Ga]gallium-labelled PSMA ligand for the diagnosis of prostate cancer: biodistribution in humans and first evaluation of tumour lesions.

PURPOSE: Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a cell surface protein with high expression in prostate carcinoma (PC) cells. Recently, procedures have been developed to label PSMA ligands with (68)Ga, (99m)Tc and (123/124/131)I. Our initial experience with Glu-NH-CO-NH-Lys-(Ahx)-[(68)Ga(HBED-CC)]((68)Ga-PSMA) suggests that this novel tracer can detect PC relapses and metastases with high contrast. The aim of this study was to investigate its biodistribution in normal tissues and tumour lesions. METHODS: A total of 37 patients with PC and rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels were subjected to (68)Ga-PSMA positron emission tomography (PET)/CT. Quantitative assessment of tracer uptake was performed 1 and 3 h post-injection (p.i.) by analysis of mean and maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmean/max) of several organs and 65 tumour lesions. Subsequently, tumour to background ratios were calculated. RESULTS: The PET/CT images showed intense tracer uptake in both kidneys and salivary glands. Moderate uptake was seen in lacrimal glands, liver, spleen and in small and large bowel. Quantitative assessment revealed excellent contrast between tumour lesions and most normal tissues. Of 37 patients, 31 (83.8 %) showed at least one lesion suspicious for cancer at a detection rate of 60 % at PSA <2.2 ng/ml and 100 % at PSA >2.2 ng/ml. Median tumour to background ratios were 18.8 (2.4-158.3) in early images and 28.3 (2.9-224.0) in late images. CONCLUSION: The biodistribution of the novel (68)Ga-PSMA tracer and its ability to detect PC lesions was analysed in 37 patients. Within healthy organs, kidneys and salivary glands demonstrated the highest radiotracer uptake. Lesions suspicious for PC presented with excellent contrast as early as 1 h p.i. with high detection rates even at low PSA levels.

Evolution of the biochemistry of the photorespiratory C2 cycle.

Oxygenic photosynthesis would not be possible without photorespiration in the present day O2 -rich atmosphere. It is now generally accepted that cyanobacteria-like prokaryotes first evolved oxygenic photosynthesis, which was later conveyed via endosymbiosis into a eukaryotic host, which then gave rise to the different groups of algae and streptophytes. For photosynthetic CO2 fixation, all these organisms use RubisCO, which catalyses both the carboxylation and the oxygenation of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate. One of the reaction products of the oxygenase reaction, 2-phosphoglycolate (2PG), represents the starting point of the photorespiratory C2 cycle, which is considered largely responsible for recapturing organic carbon via conversion to the Calvin-Benson cycle (CBC) intermediate 3-phosphoglycerate, thereby detoxifying critical intermediates. Here we discuss possible scenarios for the evolution of this process toward the well-defined 2PG metabolism in extant plants. While the origin of the C2 cycle core enzymes can be clearly dated back towards the different endosymbiotic events, the evolutionary scenario that allowed the compartmentalised high flux photorespiratory cycle is uncertain, but probably occurred early during the algal radiation. The change in atmospheric CO2 /O2 ratios promoting the acquisition of different modes for inorganic carbon concentration mechanisms, as well as the evolutionary specialisation of peroxisomes, clearly had a dramatic impact on further aspects of land plant photorespiration.

Towards closing the remaining gaps in photorespiration--the essential but unexplored role of transport proteins.

Photorespiration is an essential prerequisite for all autotrophic organisms performing oxygenic photosynthesis. In contrast to the well-characterised enzymes accomplishing photorespiratory metabolism, current knowledge on the involved transport processes and the respective proteins is still quite limited. In this review, we focus on the status quo of translocators involved in photorespiratory metabolism. Although the transport of some of the photorespiratory intermediates could be characterised biochemically, using isolated organelles, the genes encoding these transporters have to date not been identified in most cases. Here, we describe the postulated transport processes, present information on established or hypothetical photorespiratory transporters, depict strategies on how to identify the transport proteins on the molecular level and, finally, discuss strategies for how to find the remaining candidates.