Alcohol drinking and gastric cancer risk: a meta-analysis of observational studies.

BACKGROUND: Many studies investigated the association between alcohol drinking and gastric cancer risk, but the results were controversial. We performed a meta-analysis of observational studies to explore the association. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched PubMed to identify the relevant studies that reported the association between alcohol drinking and gastric cancer risk up to December 31, 2016. We pooled relative risks (RRs) in random effects model and performed dose-response analysis to quantify the association. Cochran Q test and I2 analyses were used to evaluate the heterogeneity. Meta-regression, subgroup, sensitivity and publication bias analyses were also performed. RESULTS: 75 studies were included in our study. The pooled RR of high vs low total alcohol drinking was 1.25 (95% CI, 1.15-1.37, P < 0.001), and a nonlinear association was further observed. Subgroup analysis showed that alcohol drinking significantly associated with the risk of gastric noncardia cancer (RR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.01-1.40, P = 0.033), but not with the risk of gastric cardia cancer (RR, 1.16; 95% CI, 0.98-1.39, P = 0.087). Notably, the pooled RRs of high vs low analyses were 1.13 (95% CI, 1.03-1.24, P = 0.012) for beer drinking, 1.22 (95% CI, 1.06-1.40, P = 0.005) for liquor drinking, and 0.99 (95% CI, 0.84-1.16, P = 0.857) for wine drinking. CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis found a nonlinear association between alcohol drinking and gastric cancer risk, and heavy drinking level was strongly related to gastric cancer risk. Beer and liquor had significant positive associations with gastric cancer risk, while wine drinking would not increase gastric cancer risk. These results need to be verified in future research.

A Nomogram for Predicting Overall Survival of Gastric Cancer Patients with Insufficient Lymph Nodes Examined.

Insufficient number of examined lymph nodes (eLNs) was considered to increase significantly the risk of stage migration in gastric cancer patients. The aim of our study is to establish a nomogram predicting the overall survival (OS) for patients with an insufficient number of eLNs. A total of 872 gastric cancer patients with extended lymphadenectomies were assigned randomly (2:1) to the development cohort and the validation cohort. The nomogram was established based on the Cox regression model using the development cohort. The concordance index (C-index) was used to evaluate the discriminative ability. We also compared our model with two other staging systems. Using multivariate analysis, age, sex, tumor location, depth of invasion, macroscopic type, lymphovascular invasion, the number of eLNs, and metastatic lymph nodes were selected and incorporated into the nomogram. The C-index of the nomogram was 0.742 and 0.743 in development and validation cohorts, respectively, which were significantly superior to the C-indices (range 0.705-0.712, all P < 0.001) of American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) seventh edition and lymph node ratio staging systems in both cohorts. We established a nomogram which could predict accurately OS for gastric cancer patients with insufficient number of eLNs.

Analysis of lignan components in Schizandrae Fructus residue extracts and their protective effects on acute-hepatic damnification rat / 中草药

Objective: The lignan components in Schizandrae Fructus residue extracts were analized and evaluated. The protective effect of Schizandrae Fructus residue extracts on acute-hepatic damnification rat and the influence of that on intestinal flora were researched in the process of Shengmai Injection production, in order to provide the scientific basis for the development and utilization of Schizandrae Fructus extract. Methods: Schizandrae Fructus residue extract was extracted by the 60% ethanol. The model of acute-hepatic damnification rats induced by CCl4 was prepared, the protective effects of Schizandrae Fructus residue extracts on hepatic-damnification rats were evaluated through the data of ALT, AST, ALB, and TP; The function of the extracts were evaluated by histopathological observation of the liver and colon of rats; Effect of extracts on hepatic-damnification rat's intestinal flora was evaluated by the number and the number variation of the intestinal flora. Results: The results showed that the mass fractions of schisandrin A, schizandrin B, schizandrin C, gomisin A, gomisin B, and schisantherin A were 1.44, 3.42, 1.68, 4.22, 2.92, and 0.58 mg/g, respectively. Pharmacodynamic evaluation showed that Schizandrae Fructus extracts can significantly reduce the content of AST and ALT (P < 0.01) and increase the content of ALB and TP in a certain extent in the serum of acute-hepatic damnification rats (P < 0.05); Mucous damage score of liver and colon is significantly decreased; Compared to liver injury group, Schizandrae Fructus extracts of high dose group and low dose group can significantly promote the proliferation of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium (P < 0.05) but reduce the number of Enterococcus and Enterobacteria in the intestinal tract of rats (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Schizandrae Fructus residue extracts have the protective effects on the acute-hepatic damnification rats induced by CCl4, the effect of regulating intestinal flora and the proliferation of probiotics, the effect of protecting the constitution integrity of colon tissue, which provide a main basis for its further development and utilization.

Analysis on resource material and discussion on reutilization methods of Schizandrae Fructus residues in process of Shengmai Injection production / 中草药

Objective: Multi-type resource chemical constituents in Schizandrae Fructus residues were analyzed in the process of Shengmai Injection production, in order to provide the scientific basis for Schizandrae Fructus in the further process of industrialization. Methods: The lignan components were analysed and evaluated by HPLC-UV method. After using NaOH to extract sample, the BCA method was adopted to measure the mass fraction of total protein and take bovine serum albumin as the reference. Using UV-Vis spectrophotometer to measure the mass fraction and constitutes of neutral polysaccharide and acidic polysaccharide, respectively. The equipment for raw fiber determination was taken to gauge the crude fiber content of Schizandrae Fructus residues. Results: The mass fractions of schisandrin A, schizandrin B, schizandrin C, gomisin A, gomisin B, and schisantherin A were 1.442 4, 3.788 0, 1.350 9, 4.399 3, 3.231 3, and 0.505 3 mg/g, respectively. Compared with the original medicinal materials, the technology utilization rate of gomisin A was 20.84% during the process of Shengmai Injection production. But the gomisin B virtually was unused and remained in the residues. The mass fractions of schisandrin A, schizandrin B, schizandrin C, and schisantherin A were higher than that of the original medicinal material. The available macromolecular substances are proteins, polysaccharide, and crude fiber. The content of total proteins was 14.69%. The mass fractions of neutral polysaccharide and acidic polysaccharide were 3.82% and 1.31%, respectively. The analysis on crude fiber showed that the mass fraction of crude fiber in Schizandrae Fructus residues was 43.80%. Conclusion: The analysis shows that Schizandrae Fructus residues contain many resource chemical components in the process of Shengmai Injection production, such as lignins, protein, saccharides, and crude fiber. The strategy for recycling and possible way is proposed exploringly based on the available resource chemical components of Schizandrae Fructus residues and water-extracting technology. It provides the reference for the utilization of waste resource in further process of industralization, promoting the resource conservation, and development of environmental protection, realizing the harmonious coexistence between the economy and ecology.