Altered spontaneous regional brain activity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex and visual area of expert table tennis athletes.

Sports training may lead to functional changes in the brain, and different types of sports, including table tennis, have different influences on these changes. However, the effects of long-term table tennis practice on brain function in expert athletes are largely undefined. Here, we investigated spontaneous regional brain activity characteristics of expert table tennis athletes by using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare differences between 25 athletes and 33 age- and sex-matched non-athletes. We analyzed four metrics-amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), fractional ALFF, regional homogeneity, and degree centrality-because together they identify functional changes in the brain with greater sensitivity than a single indicator and may more comprehensively describe regional functional changes. Additional statistical analysis was conducted to assess whether any correlation existed between brain activity and years of table tennis training for athletes. Results show that compared with non-athletes, table tennis athletes showed altered spontaneous regional brain activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the calcarine sulcus, a visual area. Furthermore, the functional changes in the calcarine sulcus showed a significant correlation with the number of years of expert sports training. Despite the relatively small sample size, these results indicated that the regional brain function of table tennis athletes was associated with sports training-related changes, providing insights for understanding the neural mechanisms underlying the expert performance of athletes.

Altered neurovascular coupling in migraine without aura.

Neurovascular coupling (NVC) provides new insights into migraine, a neurological disorder impacting over one billion people worldwide. This study compared NVC and cerebral blood flow (CBF) in patients with migraine without aura (MwoA) and healthy controls. About 55 MwoA patients in the interictal phase and 40 age- and sex-matched healthy controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and arterial spin-labeling perfusion imaging scans. The CBF and resting-state neuronal activity indicators, including the amplitudes of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), and degree centrality (DC), were calculated for each participant. The global and regional NVCs were assessed using cross-voxel CBF-neuronal activity correlations and CBF/neuronal activity ratios. Patients with MwoA showed increased CBF/ALFF ratios in the left media, superior and inferior frontal gyri, and anterior cingulate gyrus, increased CBF/DC ratios in the left middle and inferior frontal gyri, and increased CBF/ReHo ratios in the right corpus callosum and right posterior cingulate gyrus. Lower CBF/ALFF ratios in the right rectal gyrus, the left orbital gyrus, the right inferior frontal gyrus, and the right superior temporal gyrus were also found in the MwoA patients. Furthermore, the CBF/ALFF ratios in the inferior frontal and superior temporal gyri were positively correlated with the Headache Impact Test scores and Hamilton anxiety scale scores in the MwoA patients. These findings provide evidence for the theory that abnormal NVC contributes to MwoA.

Clonorchis sinensis infection contributes to hepatocellular carcinoma progression in rat.

Clonorchis sinensis (C. sinensis) infection is a risk factor for cholangiocarcinoma. Whether it also contributes to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still unclear. This study explored the potential relationship between C. sinensis infection and HCC. A total of 110 Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four treatment groups, the negative control group (NC) received intragastric (i.g.) administration of saline, while the clonorchiasis group (CS) received i.g. administration of 150 C. sinensis metacercariae. The diethylnitrosamine-induced group (DEN) received intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of DEN. The clonorchiasis DEN-induced group (CSDEN) received i.g. administration of 150 C. sinensis metacercariae followed by i.p. administration of DEN. Hematoxylin and eosin staining, immunohistochemistry, and Masson's trichrome staining were performed for histopathological analysis of the isolated tissues. RNA-seq technology and RT-PCR were employed for gene expression. In the DEN group, 15 rats survived, of which 9 developed liver cirrhosis and 7 developed HCC. In the CSDEN group, all of the 17 surviving rats developed cirrhosis, and 15 showed development of HCC. The incidence of liver cirrhosis and HCC was significantly higher in the CSDEN group than in the DEN group. KEGG pathway analysis of the differentially expressed genes suggested significant upregulation in inflammation-associated pathways. Immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR results showed significant upregulation of hepatic progenitor cell markers (CK19, SOX9, EpCAM) in the CS group compared to the NC group, as well as in the CSDEN group compared to the DEN group. Our study suggests that C. sinensis infection increases risk of HCC in a rat model by stimulating proliferation of hepatic progenitor cells.

Individual and joint influence of cytokeratin 19 and microvascular invasion on the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the individual and combined associations of cytokeratin 19 (CK19) and microvascular invasion (MVI) with prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: Clinicopathological data on 352 patients with HCC who underwent radical resection at our hospital between January 2013 and December 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into four groups: CK19(-)/MVI(-), CK19(-)/MVI(+), CK19(+)/MVI(-), and CK19(+)/MVI(+). RESULTS: Of the 352 HCC patients, 154 (43.8%) were CK19(-)/MVI(-); 116 (33.0%), CK19(-)/MVI(+); 31 (8.8%), CK19(+)/MVI(-); and 51 (14.5%), CK19(+)/MVI(+). The disease-free survival of CK19(-)/MVI(-) patients was significantly higher than that of CK19(-)/MVI(+) patients and CK19(+)/MVI(+) patients. Similar results were observed for overall survival. CK19(+)/MVI(+) patients showed significantly lower overall survival than the other three groups. CONCLUSIONS: CK19 expression and MVI predict poor prognosis after radical resection of HCC, and the two markers jointly contribute to poor OS. Combining CK19 and MVI may predict post-resection prognosis better than using either factor on its own.

Integrated Genomic and Transcriptomic Analysis reveals key genes for predicting dual-phenotype Hepatocellular Carcinoma Prognosis.

Dual-phenotype hepatocellular carcinoma (DPHCC) expresses both hepatocyte and cholangiocyte markers, and is characterized by high recurrence and low survival rates. The underlying molecular mechanisms of DPHCC pathogenesis are unclear. We performed whole exome sequencing and RNA sequencing of three subtypes of HCC (10 DPHCC, 10 CK19-positive HCC, and 14 CK19-negative HCC), followed by integrated bioinformatics analysis, including somatic mutation analysis, mutation signal analysis, differential gene expression analysis, and pathway enrichment analysis. Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were applied for exploring survival related characteristics. We found that mutated genes in DPHCC patients were associated with carcinogenesis and immunity, and the up-regulated genes were mainly enriched in transcription-related and cancer-related pathways, and the down-regulated genes were mainly enriched in immune-related pathways. CXCL9 was selected as the hub gene, which is associated with immune cells and survival prognosis. Our results showed that low CXCL9 expression was significantly associated with poor prognosis, and its expression was significantly reduced in DPHCC samples. In conclusion, we explored the molecular mechanisms governing DPHCC development and progression and identified CXCL9, which influences the immune microenvironment and prognosis of DPHCC and might be new clinically significant biomarkers for predicting prognosis.

Development of a preoperative prognostic scoring system to predict benefits of hepatic resection in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to identify risk factors for overall survival in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and establish a scoring system to select patients who would benefit from hepatic resection. METHODS: Survival curves were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. The prognostic scoring system was developed from training cohort using a Cox-regression model and validated in a external validation cohort Results: There were 401 patients in the training cohort, 163 patients in the external validation cohorts. The training cohort median survival in all patients was 12 ± 1.07 months, rate of overall survival was 49.6% at 1 year, 25.0% at 3 years, and 18.0% at 5 years. A prognostic scoring system was established based on age, body mass index, alkaline phosphatase, tumor number and tumor capsule. Patients were classified as low- risk group(≤3.5) or high-risk group(>3.5). High-risk patients had a median survival of 9 months, compared with 23 months in low-risk patients. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of the prognostic scoring system was 0.747 (0.694-0.801), which is significantly better than AFP, Child-Pugh and ALBI. The AUC of validation cohorts was 0.716 (0.63-0.803). CONCLUSION: A prognostic scoring system for hepatic resection in advanced HCC patients has been developed based entirely on preoperative variables. Patients classified as low risk using this system may experience better prognosis after hepatic resection.

Subcellular localization of HMGB1 in human cholangiocarcinoma: correlation with tumor stage.

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a malignant disease with a poor prognosis, and several studies have been conducted using different molecular markers as a tool for CCA diagnosis, including Clonorchis sinensis (CS)-CCA. We initially identified the expression profiles of the three markers of interest, HMGB1, SOX9, and YAP1, using GSE (GSE76297 and GSE32958) datasets. Upregulated levels of these three proteins were detected in CCA samples compared to those in normal samples. To clarify this issue, 24 human CCA tissues with paired adjacent normal tissues were evaluated using immunohistochemical staining. Of the three markers, the total cellular staining intensities were scanned, and subcellular localization was scored in the nuclear and cytoplasmic regions. The intensities of HMGB1, SOX9, and YAP1 were elevated in CCA tissues than the adjacent normal tissues. Individual scoring of subcellular localization revealed that the expression levels of HMGB1 (nucleus) and YAP1 (nucleus and cytoplasm) were significantly different from the pathologic M stage. Moreover, the translocation pattern was categorized using "site-index", and the results demonstrated that the overexpression of HMGB1 and SOX9 was mostly observed in both the nucleus and cytoplasm, whereas YAP1 was predominantly expressed in the cytoplasm of tumor cells. Interestingly, the site index of HMGB1 was moderately correlated with the tumor stage (r = 0.441, p = 0.031). These findings imply that the overexpression of subcellular HMGB1 could be associated with the metastatic status of patients with CS-CCA, which was shown to be effective for CS-CCA prognosis.

Novel combination of celecoxib and metformin improves the antitumor effect by inhibiting the growth of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Objective: To explore the effect of COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib in combination with metformin on the prevention of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the mechanisms involved. Methods: HCC cell lines and an HCC rat model were treated with celecoxib, metformin or a combination of both. Cell viability and tumor formation were measured. Results: In vitro and in vivo studies showed that treatment with a combination of celecoxib and metformin inhibited proliferation of HCC to a greater extent than either treatment alone, by reducing the phosphorylation of MTOR. Conclusion: The study suggested that celecoxib combined with metformin would be more effective for the preventing occurrence of HCC than either treatment alone and this combination of therapy is worthy of further study.

Overexpression of Epcam and CD133 Correlates with Poor Prognosis in Dual-phenotype Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background: Dual-phenotype hepatocellular carcinoma (DPHCC) is associated with high rate of post-operative recurrence and low rate of survival, which may reflect the post-operative persistence of cancer stem cells (CSCs). Here we explored the potential correlation between DPHCC and expression of CSCs markers. Methods: In this retrospective study, we included 19 patients with DPHCC and 61 patients with non-DPHCC treated in 2015 by liver resection. Paraffin-embedded tumor tissue specimens were analyzed using immunohistochemistry as well as immunofluorescence double-staining. Rates of recurrence-free survival and overall survival were compared between the two groups using the Kaplan-Meier method, and expression of the CSC markers CD133, CD90, and EpCAM were compared using real-time quantitative PCR and western blotting. Results: Overall survival rates were significantly lower for patients with DPHCC than patients with non-DPHCC at 1 year (78.9% vs 93.4%), 2 years (52.6% vs 72.1%), and 3 years (42.1% vs 67.2%) (P = 0.019). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard modeling identified CK19 positivity (P = 0.016) and multiple nodules (P = 0.023) as independent predictors of poor recurrence-free survival. Independent predictors of poor overall survival were CK19 positivity (P = 0.032), Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage C (P = 0.025) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) >37 ng/ml (P = 0.016). Expression of CD133 and EpCAM mRNA and protein were significantly higher in DPHCC tissue than non-DPHCC tissue, while CD90 expression was similar between the groups. Conclusions: These results suggest that DPHCC is associated with significantly lower overall survival than non-DPHCC, and that the poor prognosis among DPHCC patients may be related to the presence of CSCs expressing CD133 and EpCAM.

Adjuvant transarterial chemoembolization for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma involving microvascular invasion.

BACKGROUND: Microvascular invasion (MVI) has recently been reported to be an independent prognostic factor in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study compared the outcomes of adjuvant transarterial chemoembolization (A-TACE) after hepatic resection (HR) in patients with HCC involving MVI. METHODS: This prospective study involved 200 consecutive patients with MVI-HCC who underwent HR alone (n = 109) or HR with A-TACE (n = 91).The Kaplan-Meier method was used to compare disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: The two groups showed similar DFS at 1, 2, and 3 years (P = 0.077). The A-TACE group showed significantly higher OS than the HR-only group (P = 0.030). Subgroup analysis showed that A-TACE was associated with significantly higher DFS and OS among patients with a tumor diameter >5 cm or with multinodular tumors. CONCLUSIONS: A-TACE may improve postoperative outcomes for MVI-HCC patients, especially those with tumor diameter >5 cm or multinodular tumors.

Pre- and post-operative HBsAg levels may predict recurrence and survival after curative resection in patients with HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma.

PURPOSE: To investigate pre- and post-operative levels of HBsAg influence prognosis of patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative resection. METHODS: Medical records were retrospectively analyzed for 881 patients with HBV-related HCC treated by curative resection. Patients were classified as having high or low serum HBsAg levels (≥200 or <200 ng/mL) pre- or post-operatively. RESULTS: OS and RFS were better for patients with low pre-operative serum levels of HBsAg than for those with high levels. Similarly, OS was better among patients with low post-operative serum levels of HBsAg than among those with high levels. RFS, in contrast, was similar between these two groups. After generating propensity score-matched pairs of patients, OS was higher in patients with falling post-operative HBsAg levels than in those with rising levels. In contrast, RFS was similar between these two groups. Antiviral nucleoside analog therapy prolonged OS in patients with high pre-operative HBsAg levels. CONCLUSIONS: Low pre- and post-operative levels of HBsAg may be associated with better long-term survival in patients with HBV-related HCC. Pre-operative serum levels of HBsAg ≥200 ng/mL may identify patients more likely to benefit from antiviral treatment.

Cyclooxygenase-2 expression is associated with initiation of hepatocellular carcinoma, while prostaglandin receptor-1 expression predicts survival.

AIM: To determine whether cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and prostaglandin E1 receptor (EP1) contribute to disease and whether they help predict prognosis. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 116 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who underwent surgery between 2008 and 2011 at our hospital. Expression of COX-2 and EP1 receptor was examined by immunohistochemistry of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues using polyclonal antibodies. Possible associations between immunohistochemical scores and survival were determined. RESULTS: Factors associated with poor overall survival (OS) were alpha-fetoprotein > 400 ng/mL, tumor size ≥ 5 cm, and high EP1 receptor expression, but not high COX-2 expression. Disease-free survival was not significantly different between patients with low or high levels of COX-2 or EP1. COX-2 immunoreactivity was significantly higher in well-differentiated HCC tissues (Edmondson grade I-II) than in poorly differentiated tissues (Edmondson grade III-IV) (P = 0.003). EP1 receptor immunoreactivity was significantly higher in poorly differentiated tissue than in well-differentiated tissue (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: COX-2 expression appears to be linked to early HCC events (initiation), while EP1 receptor expression may participate in tumor progression and predict survival.

Blood neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio predicts survival after hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma: A propensity score-based analysis.

AIM: To investigate whether an elevated preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) can predict poor survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 526 patients with HCC who underwent surgery between 2004 and 2011. RESULTS: Preoperative NLR ≥ 2.81 was an independent predictor of poor disease-free survival (DFS, P < 0.001) and overall survival (OS, P = 0.044). Compared with patients who showed a preoperative NLR < 2.81 and postoperative increase, patients who showed preoperative NLR ≥ 2.81 and postoperative decrease had worse survival (DFS, P < 0.001; OS, P < 0.001). Among patients with preoperative NLR ≥ 2.81, survival was significantly higher among those showing a postoperative decrease in NLR than among those showing an increase (DFS, P < 0.001; OS, P < 0.001). When elevated, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) provided no prognostic information, and so preoperative NLR ≥ 2.81 may be a good complementary indicator of poor OS whenever AFP levels are low or high. CONCLUSION: Preoperative NLR ≥ 2.81 may be an indicator of poor DFS and OS in patients with HCC undergoing surgery. Preoperative NLR ≥ 2.81 may be a good complementary indicator of poor OS when elevated AFP levels provide no prognostic information.

COX-2 Promotes Migration and Invasion by the Side Population of Cancer Stem Cell-Like Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are thought to be responsible for tumor relapse and metastasis due to their abilities to self-renew, differentiate, and give rise to new tumors. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is highly expressed in several kinds of CSCs, and it helps promote stem cell renewal, proliferation, and radioresistance. Whether and how COX-2 contributes to CSC migration and invasion is unclear. In this study, COX-2 was overexpressed in the CSC-like side population (SP) of the human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell line HCCLM3. COX-2 overexpression significantly enhanced migration and invasion of SP cells, while reducing expression of metastasis-related proteins PDCD4 and PTEN. Treating SP cells with the selective COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib down-regulated COX-2 and caused a dose-dependent reduction in cell migration and invasion, which was associated with up-regulation of PDCD4 and PTEN. These results suggest that COX-2 exerts pro-metastatic effects on SP cells, and that these effects are mediated at least partly through regulation of PDCD4 and PTEN expression. These results further suggest that celecoxib may be a promising anti-metastatic agent to reduce migration and invasion by hepatic CSCs.