Prognostic significance of SPARC expression in non-small cell lung cancer: A meta-analysis and bioinformatics analysis.

The aim of the present study was to elucidate the significance of secreted protein acidic and cysteine rich (SPARC) expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in terms of clinicopathology, immune-cell infiltration and survival prognosis. A meta-analysis and bioinformatics analysis were performed using studies retrieved with PubMed, Web of Science, Wanfang Data and the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure databases. The meta-analysis suggested that, compared with normal tissues, SPARC expression was elevated in NSCLC tissues. The expression of SPARC was not significantly associated with TNM stage and lymph-node metastasis, and was positively associated with patient gender. Regarding the differential expression of SPARC and the relationship between expression levels and survival, the Oncomine database was consulted and Kaplan-Meier curves were drawn. It was indicated that SPARC mRNA expression levels were higher in NSCLC tissues than in normal tissues. Low expression of SPARC mRNA was negatively associated with overall survival, first progression survival and post-progression survival of patients. Further exploration of the relationship between SPARC expression and survival by univariate analysis indicated that TNM stage, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis and depth of infiltration of lung cancer were negatively associated with patient prognosis. Cox multifactorial analysis suggested that SPARC expression levels and TNM stage were risk factors significantly affecting the prognosis of patients with NSCLC. Analysis with the GEPIA and UALCAN databases further indicated that the mRNA expression level of SPARC in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) was higher than that in normal lung tissue, and the SPARC expression levels were affected by factors such as the TNM stage of lung cancer. A lower the level of SPARC mRNA expression was associated with a better relative survival prognosis of patients. In the Human Protein Atlas database, the expression level of SPARC protein was higher in LUAD and LUSC than in normal lung tissue. In the Timer database, the expression level of SPARC was closely linked to immune cells related to the occurrence of lung cancer, and the degree of immune-cell infiltration and SPARC protein expression were closely related to the prognosis of patients with lung cancer. Immune cells were indicated to exhibit significant inhibition of DNA proliferation mutation mechanisms in lung cancer (P<0.05). In summary, SPARC expression may be used as a valuable indicator of prognosis in patients with NSCLC, which may provide new approaches for preventative treatment.

The analgesic effects of ulinastatin either as a single agent or in combination with sufentanil: A novel therapeutic potential for postoperative pain.

Ulinastatin is a broad-spectrum protease inhibitor widely used for the treatment of various inflammation-related diseases owing to its recognized excellent anti-inflammatory and cytoprotective properties. However, whether ulinastatin can relieve postoperative pain remains unclear. In this study, we evaluated the analgesic effects of ulinastatin administered either as a single agent or in combination with sufentanil in a validated preclinical rat model of postoperative pain induced by plantar incision. We found that incisional surgery on the hind paw of these rats induced sustained ipsilateral mechanical pain hypersensitivity that lasted for at least 10 days. A single intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of ulinastatin prevented the development and reversed the maintenance of incision-induced mechanical pain hypersensitivity in a dose-dependent manner. However, ulinastatin had no effect on the baseline nociceptive threshold. Moreover, repeated i.p. injections of ulinastatin persistently attenuated incision-induced mechanical pain hypersensitivity and promoted recovery from the surgery. The rats did not develop any analgesic tolerance over the course of repeated injections of ulinastatin. A single i.p. injection of ulinastatin was also sufficient to inhibit the initiation and maintenance of incision-induced hyperalgesic priming when the rats were subsequently challenged with an ipsilateral intraplantar prostaglandin E2 injection. Furthermore, the combined administration of ulinastatin and sufentanil significantly enhanced the analgesic effect of sufentanil on postoperative pain, which involved mechanisms other than a direct influence on opioid receptors. These findings demonstrated that ulinastatin had a significant analgesic effect on postoperative pain and might be a novel pharmacotherapeutic agent for managing postoperative pain either alone or as an adjuvant.

Ulinastatin Exhibits Antinociception in Rat Models of Acute Somatic and Visceral Pain Through Inhibiting the Local and Central Inflammation.

INTRODUCTION: Ulinastatin, a broad-spectrum serine protease inhibitor, has been widely used to treat various diseases clinically. However, so far, the antinociceptive effect of ulinastatin remains less studied experimentally and the underlying mechanisms of ulinastatin for pain relief remain unclear. This study aimed to find evidence of the analgesic effect of ulinastatin on acute somatic and visceral pain. METHODS: The analgesic effect of ulinastatin on acute somatic and visceral pain was evaluated by using formalin and acetic acid-induced writhing test. The analgesic mechanism of ulinastatin was verified by detecting the peripheral inflammatory cell infiltration and spinal glial activation with hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and immunohistochemistry staining. RESULTS: We found that both of intraperitoneal (i.p.) pre-administration and post-administration of ulinastatin could reduce the total number of flinching and the licking duration following intraplantar formalin injection in a dose-related manner. However, the inhibitory effect of ulinastatin existed only in the second phase (Phase 2) of formalin-induced spontaneous pain response, with no effect in the first phase (Phase 1). The formalin-induced edema and ulcer were also improved by i.p. administration of ulinastatin. Moreover, i.p. administration of ulinastatin was also able to delay the occurrence of acetic acid-induced writhing and reduced the total number of writhes dose-dependently. We further demonstrated that ulinastatin significantly decreased the local inflammatory cell infiltration in injured paw and peritoneum tissue under formalin and acetic acid test separately. The microglial and astrocytic activation in the spinal dorsal horn induced by intraplantar formalin and i.p. acetic acid injection were also dramatically inhibited by i.p. administration of ulinastatin. CONCLUSION: Our results for the first time provided a new line of evidence showing that ulinastatin could attenuate acute somatic and visceral pain by inhibiting the peripheral and spinal inflammatory reaction.

Challenges of the establishment of rubber-based agroforestry systems: Decreases in the diversity and abundance of ground arthropods.

The global land area devoted to rubber plantations has now reached 13 million hectares, and the further expansion of these rubber plantations at the expense of tropical forests will have significant adverse effects on the ecological environment. Rubber-based agroforestry systems are considered a preferable approach for ameliorating the ecological environment. Many researchers have focused on the positive effects of rubber-based agroforestry systems on the ecological environment, while ignoring the risks involved in the establishment of rubber-based agroforestry systems. The present study investigated the effects of different-aged rubber-based agroforestry systems on the abundance and diversity of ground arthropods. It has been observed that the abundance and taxon richness of ground arthropods generally showed no difference when comparing young and mature rubber plantations. The rubber-based agroforestry systems significantly decreased the understory vegetation species, along with the abundance and taxon richness of ground arthropods compared to the same aged-rubber monoculture plantations. In addition, the change in the abundance and taxon richness of ground arthropods was greatly affected by the understory vegetation species and soil temperature. The abundance and taxon richness of ground arthropods decreased with the decrease in number of species of understory vegetation. The study results indicate that the establishment of rubber-based agroforestry systems have adversely affected the abundance and richness of ground arthropods to an extant greater than expected. Therefore, single, large rubber-based agroforestry systems are not recommended, and the intercropping of rubber and rubber-based agroforestry systems must be designed to promote the migration of ground arthropods between different systems.

Effects of long-term fertilization on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community in lime concretion black soil.

In agroecosystem, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi have mutually beneficial symbiosis with roots of many crops. Meanwhile, this special fungal community is also affected by agricultural mana-gements such as fertilization. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of long-term fertilization managements (no fertilizer, chemical fertilizer, chemical fertilizer combined with straw, chemical fertilizer combined with manure) on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community (AM fungal community) in lime concretion black soil, and to identify the indicator species in each fertilization regime. The most dominant arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal phyla in lime concretion black soil were Archaeosporaceae, Diversisporaceae, Gigasporaceae, Claroideoglomeraceae, Glomeraceae and Paraglomeraceae. The genus Paraglomus was strongly and significantly associated with the application of chemical fertilizer and organic fertilizer. Compared with the control, long-term application of chemical fertilizer greatly changed AM fungal community structure and resulted in the decrease of AM fungal diversity, and the addition of wheat straw further decreased the diversity, while the addition of manure could alleviate diversity loss resulted from chemical fertilization. Soil pH and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were the main factors affecting the changes of AM fungal community. In summary, long-term application of chemical fertilizer combined with different organic materials had different impacts on soil AM fungal community structure and diversity. The combination of chemical fertilizer and manure would be more conducive to the maintenance of AM fungal diversity.

[Characteristics of infrasound and its influence on workers in working environment of certain thermoelectricity works and department].

OBJECTIVE: To study the characteristics of infrasound and its effects on the workers at power plants. METHODS: The audible noise and infrasound in three thermoelectricity plants were measured and by using Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90), the subjective sensation, and the physiological indices were compared between exposed workers and controls. RESULTS: The infrasound levels were different at different measure sites of the three thermoelectricity works ranging from 40 to 98 dB. There was still 40 approximately 80 dB infrasound even when the soot blower stopped running. Different apparatus produced different infrasound levels with the highest ranging from 62 to 115 dB. A single frequency (16 Hz) infrasound was produced in certain department during working hour with sound pressure levels of 110 to 120 dB, but the audible noise sound pressure level was less than 70 dB. There was no significant difference in the indices representing vision fatigue and neurobehaviour function between exposed workers and controls. Workers at certain department experienced evident subjective sensation of neurobehavioral dysfunction, and the scores of somatization, depression, hostility, phobic anxiety, and psychotism in the SCL-90 were significantly higher in the exposed group than in the control and the norm in China (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Infrasound is ubiquitous in the working environment, but usually, the noise levels are less than 120 dB. In some special production department, there is persistent infrasound above 110 to 120 dB. No obvious health effects are found among those who are exposed to infrasound below 100 dB. However, the workers who are chronically exposed to infrasound above 110 to 120 dB present notable subjective sensation of autonomic neurobehavioral dysfunction, and their psychological health status is not as good as those in the control and those in the domestic normal pattern.

[Therapeutic efficacy of oxymatrine on arrhythmia and heart rate variability in patients with coronary heart disease].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of oxymatrine (Oxy) on arrhythmia and heart rate variability (HRV) in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) by Holter electrocardiogram and HRV indexes. METHODS: One hundred and ten patients with CHD and frequent arrhythmia were randomly divided into the Oxy group and the propafenone group, 55 cases in each group. Changes of general conditions, 48 hrs Holter electrocardiogram, frequency of premature beats, P-R interval, R-R interval and 24 hrs HRV index in patients before and after treatment were evaluated. RESULTS: The amount of both atrial and ventricular premature beats decreased markedly in both groups (P < 0.01). Propafenone showed better effect in reducing atrial premature beats than that of Oxy (P < 0.05), while the two had similar effect on ventricular premature beats (P > 0.05). HRV was elevated in both groups after treatment (P < 0.01), but the effect of Oxy was superior to that of propafenone after treatment (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Oxymatrine could significantly improve HRV, and shows obvious effects on atrial and ventricular arrhythmia in patients with CHD.

[Progress of cardiovascular pharmacologic study on berbamine].

Berbamine (molecular formular C37H40N2O6) is a bi-benzle-isoquinolyl alkaloid extracted from Berberis poiretil Schneid (genus of Berberis, family of Beridaceae), a kind of Chinese plants. In aspect of cardiovascular pharmacology, berbamine shows actions of anti-arrhythmia, anti-myocardial ischemia, vasodilatating to lower blood pressure, and antithrombosis, it could lower heart function and heart rate. Study on its anti-arrhythmia was the deepest one. The significant anti-arrhythmia action can be achieved by inhibiting ionic channels of sodium, potassium, calcium, etc., negative frequency and negative transduction, improving the diastolic excitation threshold of myocardium, prolonging effective refractory period of myocardium. As a direction of researches on new type of antiarrhythmic herbs and herbal drugs, the study on berbamine is worthy of further research and development.