A fucoidan plant drink reduces Helicobacter pylori load in the stomach: a real-world study.

Background: Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection is highly prevalent globally and is predominantly managed by antibiotics. Recently, the anti-adhesive, antioxidant, antitoxin, immunomodulatory, anti-coagulant, and anti-infective activities of fucoidan, a polysaccharide extracted from brown seaweeds, have been widely studied, and the results showed promise. Fucoidan has the potential to be utilized in Hp eradication therapy. Our present clinical study was designed to evaluate the efficiency of Lewuyou®, a fucoidan plant drink (FPD) in eradicating Hp in humans. Methods: This multi-center, clinical study was conducted between October 2020 and July 2021. Hp infection was confirmed by urea breath test (UBT). A total of 122 patients with confirmed Hp infection were enrolled; after exclusion of incomplete data, 85 eligible patients (37 males and 48 females aged 20-81 years) were included in the final analysis. FPD (50 mL per vial) was orally administered twice daily for a 4-week cycle, and 41 patients completed an 8-week cycle. Results: No adverse event (AE) was reported in all 122 participants who had consumed FPD. The Hp eradication rate and clearance rate were 77.6% (66/85) and 20.0% (17/85), respectively, after 4 weeks of FPD consumption and 80.5% (33/41) and 26.8 (11/41) , respectively, after 8 weeks of consumption. Conclusions: The 4- and 8-week protocols of FPD consumption were safe and effective at reducing Hp load on the gastric mucosa, with Hp eradicated in the majority of participants.

Circ-CCS enhances autophagy during imatinib resistance of gastrointestinal stromal tumor by regulating miR-197-3p/ATG10 signaling.

Context: Drug resistance in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) is connected with autophagy activation. Accumulating data demonstrates the critical role of circular RNAs (circRNAs) dysregulation in this development. Aim: To explore the possible function of hsa_circ_0092306 (circ-CCS) in GIST imatinib resistance. Materials and Methods: Quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to determine the expression levels of circ-CCS and miR-197-3p. The vitality and apoptosis of cells were determined using the Cell Counting Kit-8 and TUNEL assays, respectively. Western blot analysis was used to evaluate the relative protein expression. A dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to validate the link between circ-CCS, miR-197-3p, and ATG10. Statistical Analysis Used: Comparisons of two groups were analyzed using Student's t tests, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey's post hoc test was used to compare three or more groups. Results: Circulating-CCS expression was considerably increased in the serum of imatinib-resistant GIST patients (P < 0.001). Circulating-CCS deficiency decreased cell proliferation and autophagy in GIST-882 and GIST-T1 cells, but promoted apoptosis (P < 0.05). Additionally, circ-CCS was predominantly found in the cytoplasm. Mechanically, circ-CCS targeted miR-197-3p, which may influence autophagy by downregulating ATG10, in order to modulate GIST cells' malignant tendencies. Moreover, silencing miR-197-3p reversed the effect of circ-CCS knockdown on apoptosis and autophagy in GIST cells. Conclusions: By modulating the miR-197-3p/ATG10 axis, circ-CCS increased imatinib resistance in GIST cells, establishing a potential target for reversing medication resistance in such patients.

Isolation and genomic characterization of a novel Autographiviridae bacteriophage IME184 with lytic activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Klebsiella pneumoniae, a multidrug resistant bacterium that causes nosocomial infections including septicemia, pneumonia etc. Bacteriophages are potential antimicrobial agents for the treatment of antibiotic resistant bacteria. In this study, a novel bacteriophage IME184, was isolated from hospital sewage against clinical multi-drug resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. Transmission electron microscopy and genomic characterization exhibited this phage belongs to the Molineuxvirinae genus, Autographiviridae family. Phage IME184 possessed a double-stranded DNA genome composed of 44,598 bp with a GC content of 50.3%. The phage genome encodes 57 open reading frames, out of 26 are hypothetical proteins while 31 had assigned putative functions. No tRNA, virulence related or antibiotic resistance genes were found in phage genome. Comparative genomic analysis showed that phage IME184 has 94% similarity with genomic sequence of Klebsiella phage K1-ULIP33 (MK380014.1). Multiplicity of infection, one step growth curve and host range of phage were also measured. According to findings, Phage IME184 is a promising biological agent that infects Klebsiella pneumoniae and can be used in future phage therapies.

Evaluation of Novel Tranexamic Acid/Montmorillonite Intercalation Composite, as a New Type of Hemostatic Material.

Radiation enteritis-clinically manifested as diarrhea, intestinal bleeding, and so on-is frequently caused when the body is exposed to radiation or radiotherapy because the intestine is radiation-sensitive as an abdominal organ. Therefore, strategies to modulate intestinal hemostasis had inspired an important research trend in the process of preventing and treating radiation enteritis. Based on the structural characteristics of montmorillonite (MMT) and the hemostatic drug tranexamic acid (TXA) which was used clinically to treat enteritis, the tranexamic acid-montmorillonite composite material (TXA-MMT) was prepared through intercalation composite technology. According to the analysis of FTIR, XRD, TG-DTG, SEM, and XRF, the prepared TXA-MMT was verified that tranexamic acid could intercalate into layers of montmorillonite. To evaluate the biocompatibility, two experiments were conducted by in vitro hemolysis and in vitro cytotoxicity experiments and results showed that TXA-MMT exhibited good visible biocompatibility. Activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, and in vitro clotting time were adopted to determine the hemostatic effect of TXA-MMT. Compared with other groups, TXA-MMT revealed a significant decrease in clotting time variations, APTT, and PT. In addition, to investigate the preventive effect of TXA-MMT by the intervention of radiation enteritis mice, inflammatory factors IL-1ß, IL-6, and TNF-α and the content of endotoxin in the serum of mice were detected. It demonstrated that TXA-MMT reduced the levels of these factors. Besides, the expression and the pathological changes of the small intestine tissue of mice were relieved. Our findings suggests that TXA-MMT as a promising intercalation composite has a great potential for application in the field of intestinal hemostasis.

Survival Analysis of Patients with Thoracic Duct Ligation during Thoracoscopic Esophagectomy.

OBJECTIVE: To determinate the effect of thoracic duct ligation during thoracoscopic esophagectomy on esophageal cancer patients survival. STUDY DESIGN: A descriptive study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Tai'an City Central Hospital, Tai'an, Shandong, China, from June, 2016 to June, 2021. METHODOLOGY: All cT1b-3N0M0 stage esophageal cancer patients were randomly divided into thoracic duct ligation group and non-ligation group. In addition to thoracoscopic esophagectomy, thoracic duct ligation was also performed in the experimental group. The general data of two groups were compared by Chi-square test, with statistical significance at p <0.05. The effect of thoracic duct ligation on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) was analysed by Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression. RESULT: There was no significant difference in gender, age, tumor location, depth of invasion, degree of differentiation and presence of tumor thrombus between the ligation group (33 cases, 47.8%), and the non-ligation group (36 cases, 52.2%). Cox regression analysis showed that depth of invasion (p = 0.0014), degree of differentiation (p = 0.0036), presence of tumor thrombus (p = 0.0367) and thoracic duct ligation (p = 0.0057) were independent factors affecting DFS. Meanwhile, the depth of invasion (p <0.0001), presence of tumor thrombus (p = 0.0073) and age (p = 0.0129) were independent factors affecting OS. CONCLUSION: Thoracic duct ligation during thoracoscopic esophagectomy can affect DFS in patients with pT1b-3N0M0 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and the thoracic duct ligation, depth of invasion, degree of differentiation and presence of tumor thrombus are independent factors. Meanwhile, the depth of invasion, presence of tumor thrombus and age were independent factors affecting OS. Key Words: Esophageal cancer, VATS, Esophagectomy, Thoracic duct ligation, DFS, OS.

Microbial hydrogen economy alleviates colitis by reprogramming colonocyte metabolism and reinforcing intestinal barrier.

With the rapid development and high therapeutic efficiency and biosafety of gas-involving theranostics, hydrogen medicine has been particularly outstanding because hydrogen gas (H2), a microbial-derived gas, has potent anti-oxidative, anti-apoptotic, and anti-inflammatory activities in many disease models. Studies have suggested that H2-enriched saline/water alleviates colitis in murine models; however, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. Despite evidence demonstrating the importance of the microbial hydrogen economy, which reflects the balance between H2-producing (hydrogenogenic) and H2-utilizing (hydrogenotrophic) microbes in maintaining colonic mucosal ecosystems, minimal efforts have been exerted to manipulate relevant H2-microbe interactions for colonic health. Consistent with previous studies, we found that administration of hydrogen-rich saline (HS) ameliorated dextran sulfate sodium-induced acute colitis in a mouse model. Furthermore, we demonstrated that HS administration can increase the abundance of intestinal-specific short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacteria and SCFA production, thereby activating the intracellular butyrate sensor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ signaling and decreasing the epithelial expression of Nos2, consequently promoting the recovery of the colonic anaerobic environment. Our results also indicated that HS administration ameliorated disrupted intestinal barrier functions by modulating specific mucosa-associated mucolytic bacteria, leading to substantial inhibition of opportunistic pathogenic Escherichia coli expansion as well as a significant increase in the expression of interepithelial tight junction proteins and a decrease in intestinal barrier permeability in mice with colitis. Exogenous H2 reprograms colonocyte metabolism by regulating the H2-gut microbiota-SCFAs axis and strengthens the intestinal barrier by modulating specific mucosa-associated mucolytic bacteria, wherein improved microbial hydrogen economy alleviates colitis.

CHINESE HERBAL DECOCTION AS A COMPLEMENTARY THERAPY FOR ATROPHIC GASTRITIS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS.

BACKGROUND: Chinese herbal decoction (CHD) has been extensively used in the treatment of atrophic gastritis (AG) in China and other Far Eastern countries. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the efficacy and safety of CHD in AG. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane central register of controlled trials (central), VIP, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Sinomed, Wanfang data were searched (up to December 2015). Randomized controlled trials recruiting patients with AG comparing CHD (alone or with western medicine (WM)) with WM were eligible. Dichotomous data were pooled to obtain relative risk (RR), with a 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: Forty-two articles including 3,874 patients were identified. CHD, used alone or with WM, had beneficial effect over WM in the improvement of clinical manifestations (RR=1.28; 95% CI 1.22-1.34) and pathological change (RR=1.42; 95% CI 1.30-1.54) for AG patients. However, the H. pylori eradication effect of CHD was not supported by the existing clinical evidence, because of the significant study heterogeneity (I2>50%) and inconsistency between the primary results and sensitivity analysis. CONCLUSIONS: CHD, if prescribed as a complementary therapy to WM, may improve the clinical manifestations and pathological change for AG patients. But its monotherapy for H. pylori eradication is not supported by enough clinical evidence.

Association of vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms with pancreatic cancer: A pilot study in a North China Population.

Polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene may be a risk factor for pancreatic cancer (PC). We investigated the association of two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the VDR gene with PC in age- and gender-matched patients and controls. PC (n=91) and healthy control (n=80) samples were genotyped for the FokI (rs2228570) and BsmI (rs1544410) polymorphisms using the PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Chi-square analysis was used to test for the overall association of VDR genotype with disease. There was a significant difference in the frequency of genotype FF between the PC patients and controls (Ptrend=0.009); however, the difference in frequency of genotype BB between the two groups was not significant (Ptrend=0.082). The difference between FF and Ff/ff frequency was significant (P=0.002). The two high-risk genotypes were ffbb and Ffbb, with an 11.66- and 6.42-fold increased risk of PC, respectively. VDR gene polymorphisms were important for the development of PC in this study population; however, further exploration of these findings and their implications are required.