Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of tumor immune microenvironment between primary tumor and brain metastases in NSCLC.

BACKGROUND: Brain metastasis is a common outcome in non-small cell lung cancer, and despite aggressive treatment, its clinical outcome is still frustrating. In recent years, immunotherapy has been developing rapidly, however, its therapeutic outcomes for primary lung cancer and brain metastases are not the same, suggesting that there may be differences in the immune microenvironment of primary lung cancer and brain metastases, however, we currently know little about these differences. METHODS: Seventeen paired samples of NSCLC and their brain metastases and 45 other unpaired brain metastases samples were collected for the current study. Immunohistochemical staining was performed on all samples for the following markers: immune checkpoints CTLA-4, PD-1, PD-L1, B7-H3, B7-H4, IDO1, and EphA2; tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) CD3, CD4, CD8, and CD20; tumor-associated microglia/macrophages (TAMs) CD68 and CD163; and tumor proliferation index Ki-67. The differences in expression of these markers were compared in 17 paired samples, and the effect of the expression level of these markers on the prognosis of patients was analyzed in lung adenocarcinoma brain metastases samples. Subsequently, multiplex immunofluorescence staining was performed in a typical lung-brain paired sample based on the aforementioned results. The multiplex immunofluorescence staining results revealed the difference in tumor immune microenvironment between primary NSCLC and brain metastases. RESULTS: In 17 paired lesions, the infiltration of CTLA-4+ (P = 0.461), PD-1+ (P = 0.106), CD3+ (P = 0.045), CD4+ (P = 0.037), CD8+ (P = 0.008), and CD20+ (P = 0.029) TILs in brain metastases were significantly decreased compared with primary tumors. No statistically significant difference was observed in the CD68 (P = 0.954) and CD163 (P = 0.654) TAM infiltration between primary NSCLC and paired brain metastases. In all the brain metastases lesions, the expression of PD-L1 is related to the time interval of brain metastases in NSCLC. In addition, the Cox proportional hazards regression models showed high expression of B7-H4 (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.276, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.335-8.041, P = 0.010) and CD68 TAM infiltration (HR = 3.775, 95% CI 1.419-10.044, P = 0.008) were independent prognosis factors for lung adenocarcinoma brain metastases patients. CONCLUSIONS: Both temporal and spatial heterogeneity is present between the primary tumor and brain metastases of NCSLC. Brain metastases lesions exhibit a more immunosuppressive tumor immune microenvironment. B7-H4 and CD68+ TAMs may have potential therapeutic value for lung adenocarcinoma brain metastases patients.

Sex- and reproductive status-specific relationships between body composition and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

BACKGROUND: Sex and reproductive status differences exist in both non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and body composition. Our purpose was to investigate the relationship between body composition and the severity of liver steatosis and fibrosis in NAFLD in different sex and reproductive status populations. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 880 patients (355 men, 417 pre-menopausal women, 108 post-menopausal women). Liver steatosis and fibrosis and body composition data were measured using FibroScan and a bioelectrical impedance body composition analyzer (BIA), respectively, and the following parameters were obtained: liver stiffness measurement (LSM), controlled attenuation parameter (CAP), waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), percent body fat (PBF), visceral fat area (VFA), appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM), appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (ASMI), fat mass (FM), fat free mass (FFM), and FFM to FM ratio (FFM/FM). Multiple ordinal logistic regression (MOLR) was used to analyze the independent correlation between body composition indicators and liver steatosis grade and fibrosis stage in different sex and menopausal status populations. RESULTS: Men had higher WC, ASM, ASMI, FFM, and FFM/FM than pre- or post-menopausal women, while pre-menopausal women had higher PBF, VFA, and FM than the other two groups (p < 0.001). Besides, men had greater CAP and LSM values (p < 0.001). For MOLR, after adjusting for confounding factors, WC (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.02-1.12; P = 0.011) and FFM/FM (OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.31-0.89; P = 0.017) in men and visceral obesity (OR, 4.16; 95% CI, 1.09-15.90; P = 0.037) in post-menopausal women were independently associated with liver steatosis grade. WC and visceral obesity were independently associated with liver fibrosis stage in men (OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.01-1.09, P = 0.013; OR, 3.92; 95% CI, 1.97-7.81; P < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Increased WC and low FFM/FM in men and visceral obesity in post-menopausal women were independent correlates of more severe liver steatosis. In addition, increased WC and visceral obesity were independent correlates of worse liver fibrosis in men. These data support the sex- and reproductive status-specific management of NAFLD.

Myofascial acupuncture versus routine acupuncture for mechanical neck pain: a protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Mechanical neck pain (MNP) is defined as pain in the area of the neck and/or neck-shoulder provoked by body mechanics and which adversely affects physical, psychological and social function. The treatments for MNP are limited. Previous studies and clinical experience have indicated that myofascial acupuncture might be a better treatment option for MNP, but the efficacy is controversial. Therefore, our aim is to compare the efficacy of myofascial acupuncture and routine acupuncture for MNP. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The study is a multicentre, prospective randomised clinical trial. Patients will be recruited from four tertiary hospitals in China. A total of 438 participants with MNP will be randomly assigned into two groups, namely the 'Sancai-Tianbu' myofascial acupuncture group and the routine acupuncture group, at a ratio of 1:1. Each group will receive the acupuncture treatment twice a week for 21 days, totalling six sessions. The primary outcome will be the Visual Analogue Scale score. The secondary outcomes will be the Neck Disability Index, the cervical range of motion and the MOS 36-Item Short Form Health Survey. The assessments will be performed at baseline (immediately after allocation), pretreatment (5 min before every treatment), post-treatment (within 10 min after every treatment), postcourse (within 1 day after the course), and at 1, 3 and 6 months after the course. All patients will be included in the intent-to-treat analysis. Repeated-measure analysis of covariance will be used to determine the effects of the intervention on the outcome measures. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval was obtained from China Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation 731 Hospital, with permission number 2022-0204-01. Written informed consent will be obtained from the enrolled patients. Trial results will be disseminated in peer-reviewed publications. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR2200061453.

Primary intracranial sarcomas: a clinicopathological investigation.

Background: The purpose of this study is to present a series of primary intracranial sarcomas (PIS), a rare type of tumor of the central nervous system, in order to improve our understanding of the disease. These tumors are heterogeneous and prone to recurrence after resection, exhibiting a high mortality rate. As PIS has yet to be understood and studied on a large scale, it is vital for further evaluation and research. Methods: Our study included 14 cases of PIS. The patients' clinical, pathological, and imaging features were retrospectively analyzed. Additionally, targeted DNA next-generation sequencing (NGS) was applied for the 481-gene panel to detect gene mutations. Results: The average age for PIS patients was 31.4 years. Headache (7, 50.0%) was the most common symptom leading to the hospital visit. Twelve cases had PIS located in the supratentorial area and two in the cerebellopontine angle region. The maximum tumor diameter ranged from 19.0 mm to 130.0 mm, with an average diameter of 50.3 mm. Pathological types of tumors were heterogeneous, with chondrosarcoma being the most common, followed by fibrosarcoma. Eight of the 10 PIS cases that underwent MRI scanning showed gadolinium enhancement; 7 of these cases were heterogeneous, and 1 of them was garland-like. Targeted sequencing was performed in two cases and identified mutations in genes such as NRAS, PIK3CA, BAP1, KDR, BLM, PBRM1, TOP2A, DUSP2, and CNV deletions of SMARCB1. Additionally, the SH3BP5::RAF1 fusion gene was also detected. Of the 14 patients, 9 underwent a gross total resection (GTR), and 5 chose subtotal resection. Patients who underwent GTR displayed a trend toward superior survival. Among the 11 patients with available follow-up information, one had developed lung metastases, three had died, and eight were alive. Conclusion: PIS is extremely rare compared to extracranial soft sarcomas. The most common histological type of intracranial sarcoma (IS) is chondrosarcoma. Patients who underwent GTR of these lesions showed improved survival rates. Recent advancements in NGS aided in the identification of diagnostic and therapeutic PIS-relevant targets.

Corrigendum: Platelet abnormalities in autoimmune thyroid diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1089469.].

Clinical significance and molecular annotation of cellular morphometric subtypes in lower-grade gliomas discovered by machine learning.

BACKGROUND: Lower-grade gliomas (LGG) are heterogeneous diseases by clinical, histological, and molecular criteria. We aimed to personalize the diagnosis and therapy of LGG patients by developing and validating robust cellular morphometric subtypes (CMS) and to uncover the molecular signatures underlying these subtypes. METHODS: Cellular morphometric biomarkers (CMBs) were identified with artificial intelligence technique from TCGA-LGG cohort. Consensus clustering was used to define CMS. Survival analysis was performed to assess the clinical impact of CMBs and CMS. A nomogram was constructed to predict 3- and 5-year overall survival (OS) of LGG patients. Tumor mutational burden (TMB) and immune cell infiltration between subtypes were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test. The double-blinded validation for important immunotherapy-related biomarkers was executed using immunohistochemistry (IHC). RESULTS: We developed a machine learning (ML) pipeline to extract CMBs from whole-slide images of tissue histology; identifying and externally validating robust CMS of LGGs in multicenter cohorts. The subtypes had independent predicted OS across all three independent cohorts. In the TCGA-LGG cohort, patients within the poor-prognosis subtype responded poorly to primary and follow-up therapies. LGGs within the poor-prognosis subtype were characterized by high mutational burden, high frequencies of copy number alterations, and high levels of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and immune checkpoint genes. Higher levels of PD-1/PD-L1/CTLA-4 were confirmed by IHC staining. In addition, the subtypes learned from LGG demonstrate translational impact on glioblastoma (GBM). CONCLUSIONS: We developed and validated a framework (CMS-ML) for CMS discovery in LGG associated with specific molecular alterations, immune microenvironment, prognosis, and treatment response.

Correction: Wang et al. LC-MS/MS Analysis of Choline Compounds in Japanese-Cultivated Vegetables and Fruits. Foods 2020, 9, 1029.

The authors wish to make a correction to the published version of their paper [...].

Bullectomy used to treat a patient with pulmonary vesicles related to COVID-19: A case report.

BACKGROUND: The corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been a pandemic for more than one year and estimated to affect the whole world in the near future. CASE SUMMARY: Here we reported that one COVID-19 patient with vesicles was treated by bullectomy. The patient's perioperative laboratory tests were analyzed. The pathological findings of bullectomy were described and compared with those of common bulla cases. CONCLUSION: This patient with vesicles underwent bullectomy and had a poor prognosis. He showed diffuse alveolar damage and extensive necrosis in bullectomy specimen. We hope our report will be of interest for clinicians who will treat COVID-19 patients in the future.

Platelet abnormalities in autoimmune thyroid diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Some degree of platelet index abnormality has been found clinically in the autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD), but the findings are not uniform. Methods: The PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases were searched for relevant articles published up to August 16th, 2022, with no restrictions on the language of the articles. Reference lists of eligible articles were also searched. A random effect model was used to pool the standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of platelet count (PLT), mean platelet volume (MPV), and platelet distribution width (PDW) between AITD patients and healthy controls, and subgroup analyses were performed. Results: A total of 19 articles with 6173 people (3824 AITD patients and 2349 healthy people) were included in the meta-analysis. The results showed that PLT and MPV values were significantly increased in AITD patients when compared with healthy people (SMD: 0.164, 95% CI: 0.044 to 0.285; SMD: 0.256, 95% CI: 0.013 to 0.500), while no significant difference was found in PDW between the AITD group and the control group (SMD: 0.060, 95% CI: -0.164 to 0.284). Subgroup analysis according to disease type and thyroid function revealed that for PLT, this difference was only found in the Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) and hypothyroid groups, but not in the Graves' disease (GD) and hyperthyroid groups. For MPV, the results were the opposite of those for PLT: MPV was significantly higher in the GD, hyperthyroid, and euthyroid groups than in the control group, but not in the HT and hypothyroid groups. Sensitivity analysis showed that the stability of the pooled MPV was not good. No publication bias was found. Conclusions: PLT and MPV are significantly elevated in patients with AITD, with PLT being more significantly elevated in HT and hypothyroidism, and MPV being more significantly increased in GD and hyperthyroidism. Appropriate clinical attention can be paid to the thyroid function of patients when abnormal platelet indices are found, and conversely, the consequences of abnormal platelet parameters such as elevated MPV lead to an increased occurrence of cardiovascular events, which should also be addressed in the AITD population. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42022341823.

Genetic alteration and clonal evolution of primary glioblastoma into secondary gliosarcoma.

AIMS: Secondary gliosarcoma (SGS) rarely arises post treatment of primary glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), and contains gliomatous and sarcomatous components. The origin and clonal evolution of SGS sarcomatous components remain uncharacterized. Therapeutic radiation is mutagenic and can induce sarcomas in patients with other tumor phenotypes, but possible causal relationships between radiotherapy and induction of SGS sarcomatous components remain unexplored. Herein, we investigated the clonal origin of SGS in a patient with primary GBM progressing into SGS post-radiochemotherapy. METHODS: Somatic mutation profile in GBM and SGS was examined using whole-genome sequencing and deep-whole-exome sequencing. Mutation signatures were characterized to investigate relationships between radiochemotherapy and SGS pathogenesis. RESULTS: A mutation cluster containing two founding mutations in tumor-suppressor genes NF1 (variant allele frequency [VAF]: 50.0% in GBM and 51.1% in SGS) and TP53 (VAF: 26.7% in GBM and 50.8% in SGS) was shared in GBM and SGS. SGS exhibited an overpresented C>A (G>T) transversion (oxidative DNA damage signature) but no signature 11 mutations (alkylating-agents - exposure signature). Since radiation induces DNA lesions by generating reactive oxygen species, the mutations observed in this case of SGS were likely the result of radiotherapy rather than chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Secondary gliosarcoma components likely have a monoclonal origin, and the clone possessing mutations in NF1 and TP53 was likely the founding clone in this case of SGS.

Impact of beta-2 microglobulin expression on the survival of glioma patients via modulating the tumor immune microenvironment.

AIMS: High immune cell infiltration in gliomas establishes an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, which in turn promotes resistance to immunotherapy. Hence, it is important to identify novel targets associated with high immune cell infiltration in gliomas. Our previous study showed that serum levels of beta-2 microglobulin (B2M) in lower-grade glioma patients were lower than those in glioblastoma patients. In the present study, we focused on exploring the roles of B2M in glioma immune infiltration. METHODS: A large cohort of patients with gliomas from the TCGA, CGGA, and Gravendeel databases was included to explore differential expression patterns and potential roles of B2M in gliomas. A total of 103 glioma tissue samples were collected to determine the distributions of B2M protein levels by immunofluorescent assays. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and meta-analysis were used for survival analysis. GO(Gene-ontology) enrichment analysis, co-expression analysis, KEGG(Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathway analysis, and immune infiltration analysis were performed to explore roles and related mechanisms of B2M in glioma. RESULTS: We found that both B2M mRNA and protein levels were abnormally upregulated in glioma samples compared with those from normal brain tissue. B2M expression was correlated with tumor grade and was downregulated in IDH1 mutant samples. Furthermore, B2M was a moderately sensitive indicator for predicting the mesenchymal molecular subtype of gliomas. Interestingly, glioma patients with lower B2M expression had remarkably longer survival times than those with higher B2M expression. Moreover, meta-analysis showed that B2M was an independent predictive marker in glioma patients. The results of GO enrichment analysis revealed that B2M contributed to immune cell infiltration in glioma patients. In addition, results of KEGG pathway analysis and co-expression analysis suggested that B2M may mediate glioma immune infiltration via chemokines. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that B2M levels are critical for the survival times of glioma patients, at least in part due to mediating high immune infiltration.

Starch bio-template synthesis of W-doped CeO2 catalyst for selective catalytic reduction of NOx with NH3: influence of ignition temperature.

A novel tungsten-doped CeO2 catalyst was fabricated via the sweet potato starch bio-template spread self-combustion (SSC) method to secure a high NH3-SCR activity. The study focuses on the influence of ignition temperature on the physical structure and redox properties of the synthesized catalyst and the catalytic performance of NOx reduction with NH3. These were quantitatively examined by conducting TG-DSC measurements of the starch gel, XRD analysis for the crystallites, SEM and TEM assessments for the morphology of the catalyst, XPS and H2-TPR measurements for the distribution of cerium and tungsten, and NH3-TPD assessments for the acidity of the catalyst. It is found that the ignition temperature shows an important role in the interaction of cerium and tungsten species, and the optimal ignition temperature is 500 °C. The increase of ignition temperature from 150 °C is beneficial to the interactions of species in the catalyst, depresses the formation of WO3, and refines the cubic CeO2 crystallite. The sample ignited at 500 °C shows the biggest BET surface area, the highest surface concentration of Ce species and molar ratio of Ce3+/(Ce3++Ce4+), and the most abundant surface Brønsted acid sites, which are the possible reasons for the superiority of the NH3-SCR activity. With a high GHSV of 200,000 mL (g h)-1 and the optimal ignition temperature, Ce4W2Oz-500 can achieve a steadily high NOx reduction of 80% or more at a lowered reduction temperature in the range of 250~500 °C.

Influence of dietary factors on radius speed of sound in female college students / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To understand the level of radius speed of sound (SOS) in female college students and explore the effect of dietary on their bone health,so as to provide a reference for effective prevention fracture and osteoporosis among college students.@*Methods@#A total of 363 female college students were selected by multistage stratified random sampling method. Dietary intake was assessed with a self-administered food frequency questionnaire, principal component analysis was used to derive dietary patterns. Speed of sound was measured by ultrasonic bone densitometer.@*Results@#In all, the mean SOS of female college students was(4 138.0±114.3)m/s, 26.7% of female college students had low bone mass. Three dietary patterns were identified by factor analysis, explaining 55.4% of the diet variation: "snack" "plant" "high protein and high fat" patterns, respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that with the increase of age, the level of SOS in radius increased significantly; and snacks consumption was negatively associated with the level of SOS(β=13.23, -0.47, P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#University stage is still the critical period of bone mass accumulation for female, snacks consumption may have a negative impact on bone health, so it is necessary to carry out nutrition education to help improve health awareness, promote health eating, and lead health lives to prevent osteoporosis.

Association of dietary diversity with uterine fibroids among urban premenopausal women in Shijiazhuang, China: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Uterine fibroids (UFs) are the most common neoplasm affecting reproductive-age women. The purpose of the present study is to explore the association between dietary diversity and risk of UFs in a cross-sectional study of urban premenopausal women. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: A total of 248 urban premenopausal women with age of 20-45 were recruited in 3 randomly chosen hospitals in Shijiazhuang, China. Dietary diversity was assessed from food frequency intake data using dietary diversity score (DDS), Prime Diet Quality Score (PDQS) and food variety score (FVS). UFs were diagnosed by the methods of ultrasound, pelvic exam, or surgery. Binary logistic regression was used to estimate the relationship between dietary diversity and risk of UFs. RESULTS: 37 of the study subjects (14.9%) had UFs. Participants with a low education level and single marital status participants had a lower DDS and PDQS, respectively. After adjustment for confounding factors, a higher DDS 24 was associated with decreased UF risk (OR=0.22, 95% CI=0.05-1.01). Similar trends were observed for the plantbased FVS (ptrend=0.025). Carrot (OR=0.04, 95% CI=0.00-0.48) and kiwi fruit (OR=0.03, 95% CI=0.00-0.47) were also inversely associated with risk of UFs after adjustment for confounding factors. CONCLUSIONS: Multifarious food groups and the increase of variety of plant-based food, especially carrot and kiwi fruit, may be associated with the lower risk of UFs; they may play an important role in inhibiting the formation of UFs.

Three-dimensional mandibular motion trajectory-tracking system based on BP neural network.

The aim of this study was to develop a prototype three-dimensional optical motion capture system based on binocular stereo vision, Back-propagation (BP) Neural Network and 3D compen-sation method for accurate and real-time recording of mandibular movement. A specialized 3D method of compensation to eliminate the involuntary vibration motions by human heart beating and respiration. A kind of binocular visual 3D measurement method based on projection line and a calibration method based on BP neural network is proposed to solve the problem of the high complexity of camera calibration process and the low accuracy of 3D measurement. The accuracy of the proposed system is systematically evaluated by means of electric platform and clinical trials, and the root-mean-square is 0.0773 mm. Finally, comparisons with state-of-the-art methods demonstrate that our system has higher reliability and accuracy. Meanwhile, the motion trajectory-tracking system is expected to be used in the diagnosis of clinical oral diseases and digital design of restoration.

LC-MS/MS Analysis of Choline Compounds in Japanese-Cultivated Vegetables and Fruits.

Choline is an essential nutrient and choline esters are potential functional food ingredients. We aimed to analyze the choline compound content in 19 cultivated fruits and vegetables and identify those with high acetylcholine content. We utilized liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry to quantify choline compounds according to the standard addition method. Choline compounds were extracted from lyophilized fruit/vegetable powders and passed through a weakly acidic cation exchange column, resulting in a concentrated solution of choline compounds. The compounds were separated on a pentafluorophenyl column and then analyzed using positive mode electrospray ionization. Results showed that acetylcholine and choline were the primary choline compounds in all agricultural products; propionylcholine and butyrylcholine were minor compounds in 17 and 12 agricultural products, respectively. The acetylcholine concentration was 2900-fold higher in eggplants (6.12 mg/100 g fresh weight [FW]) than in other agricultural products (average: 2.11 × 10-3 mg/100 g FW). The concentration of acetylcholine differed only 2-fold between eggplant cultivars with the highest ('Higomurasaki': 5.53 mg/100 g FW) and lowest ('Onaga nasu': 2.79 mg/100 g FW) concentrations. The half-life of acetylcholine in eggplants was approximately 16 days, which is longer the shelf life of eggplants. Thus, eggplants can be a good source of acetylcholine.

Predictive factors for pleural drainage volume after uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery lobectomy for non-small cell lung cancer: a single-institution retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the predictive factors associated with pleural drainage volume (PDV) after uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: A total of 440 consecutive NSCLC patients who underwent uniportal VATS lobectomy were enrolled in this study between November 2016 and July 2019. Thirty-four parameters, including patients' clinicopathological characteristics and other potential predictors were collected. Daily drainage volume was summed up as PDV. Univariate analysis and multivariate regression models were fitted to identify independent predictive factors for PDV. RESULTS: The median PDV was 840 ml during the median drainage duration of 4 days. A strong correlation was observed between PDV and drainage duration (correlation coefficient = 0.936). On univariate analysis, age, forced expiratory volume in 1 s % predicted (FEV1%), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), operation time, serum total protein (TP), and body mass index (BMI) showed a significant correlation with PDV (P value, < 0.001, < 0.001, 0.003, 0.008, 0.028, and 0.045, respectively). Patients with smoking history (P = 0.030) or who underwent lower lobectomy (P = 0.015) showed significantly increased PDV than never smokers or those who underwent upper or middle lobectomy, respectively. On multivariate regression analysis, older age (P< 0.001), lower FEV1% (P< 0.001), lower LVEF (P = 0.011), lower TP (P = 0.013), and lower lobectomy (P = 0.016) were independent predictors of increased PDV. CONCLUSIONS: Predictive factors of PDV can be identified. Based on these predictors, patients can be treated with tailored individualized safe chest tube management.

Antihypertensive effects of orally administered eggplant (Solanum melongena) rich in acetylcholine on spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Our previous results (Nakamura et al., 2013, 2016) indicated that acetylcholine (ACh) in orally administered foods exerts antihypertensive effects. Eggplants (Solanum melongena) contain abundant ACh (Horiuchi et al., 2003), and their food functionality was discovered, using spontaneously hypertensive rats, by measuring blood pressure after oral administration of a suspension of lyophilized eggplant powder. We found that lyophilized eggplant powder induced significantly lowered acute and chronic blood pressure levels at very low doses of 0.0650 mg/kg body weight (b.w.) and 0.821 mg/(kg b.w.·day), respectively. Chronic administration suppressed adrenaline and noradrenaline excretion in the urine, and aorta assays showed that eggplant acted on the M3 muscarinic ACh receptor (M3 mAChR). ACh was conclusively shown to function as the main component of eggplant contributing to antihypertensive activity by suppressing sympathetic nervous activity via M3 mAChR. This report reveals a new food functionality of eggplant and its potential as a novel antihypertensive food.