Prevalence of osteoporosis among patients after stem cell transplantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The prevalence of osteoporosis in post stem cell transplantation (SCT) is poorly defined. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the prevalence of osteoporosis in patients with hematologic diseases who underwent SCT. PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science were searched (from inception to 30th April 2023) using Medical Subject Headlines to find studies that assessed the prevalence of osteoporosis among post SCT. Thirteen articles meeting the inclusion criteria were included in the analysis. The pooled prevalence rates of osteoporosis, osteopenia, and decreased bone mineral density (BMD) were determined to be 14.2% (95% CI 9.7-18.8), 36.0% (95% CI 23.8-48.2), and 47.8% (95% CI 36.6-58.9), respectively. Substantial heterogeneity was observed among the included studies (I² values ranged from 81% to 99%). Subgroup analyses revealed variations in prevalence based on gender, follow-up duration, age, region, sample size, and study quality. These findings suggest a high prevalence of osteoporosis in post-SCT patients. Given the negative impact of osteoporosis on prognosis and recipient survival, clinicians should prioritize preventive measures, early diagnosis, and effective treatments to minimize its impact.

[Resveratrol inhibits hypoxia-induced oxidative stress and proliferation in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells through the HIF-1α/NOX4/ROS signaling pathway].

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of resveratrol on hypoxia-induced oxidative stress and proliferation in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) and the underlying mechanism. Primary rat PASMCs were isolated and cultured in vitro and pretreated with different concentrations of resveratrol (10, 20, and 40 µmol/L) or the NADPH oxidase (NOX) inhibitor VAS2870 (10 µmol/L) for 0.5 h. The cells were then cultured under normoxia (21% O2, 5% CO2) or hypoxia (2% O2, 5% CO2) for 24 h. The proliferation of cells was measured using the CCK-8 method and the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was detected by DCFH-DA. The expression of rat NOX1, NOX4 and hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) was detected by real-time RT-PCR and Western blotting assays. The related signaling pathways were determined using the small interference RNAs (siRNAs) specifically targeting Hif-1α and Nox4. The results showed that resveratrol and VAS2870 significantly inhibited hypoxia-induced cell proliferation and ROS production in rat PASMCs. Resveratrol also effectively prevented hypoxia-induced increase of HIF-1α protein levels and NOX4 up-regulation, but had little effect on NOX1. After the knocking down of Hif-1α or Nox4 with siRNAs, hypoxia-induced cell proliferation and ROS accumulation were significantly decreased, and both were further inhibited by resveratrol treatment. These results suggest that resveratrol inhibits hypoxia-induced oxidative stress and cell proliferation in rat PASMCs possibly through blocking the HIF-1α/NOX4/ROS pathway.

[Influence of drought on leaf photosynthetic capacity and root growth of soybeans at grain filling stage].

A drought-resistant soybean cultivar Jinda 70 and a drought-sensitive soybean cultivar Jindou 26 were taken as test materials. At the grain filling stage, the cultivars were subject to three water treatments including sufficient water supply, light drought stress, and severe drought stress by using pot experiments for research on influence of drought on leaf photosynthetic capacity and root growth of soybeans. The results showed that as the degree of drought stress was aggravated, all of the indices including leaf area, chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rates (Pn), stomatal conductance (g(s)), transpiration rate (Tr), intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), plant mass, plant height, seed yield, and harvest index in the two cultivars declined. The root length and root mass increased under light drought stress, and decreased under severe drought stress. Root-shoot ratio ascended as the degree of drought stress was aggravated. Under severe drought stress, the increase of root-shoot ratio of the drought-resistant soybean cultivar Jinda 70 was up to 135.7%, which was higher than the that (116.7%) of the drought-sensitive soybean cultivar Jindou 26. Simultaneously, leaf area and chlorophyll content in Jinda 70 were respectively 69.3% and 85.5% of those in the control, which were better than those of Jindou 26. g(s) and Pn of Jinda 70 respectively declined 67.9% and 77.9%, but still lower than those of Jindou 26. Therefore, the decline range of harvest index of Jinda 70 was 43.8%, which was lower than the range of 78.8% of Jindou 26. The Biplot revealed that under different dry treatments, there were significant positive correlations among the six indexes including leaf area, chlorophyll content, Pn, g(s), Tr, and Ci of the two cultivars. There were also significant positive correlations among the six indices including plant mass, plant height, root length, root mass, seed yield, and harvest index. Root-shoot ratio only had significant positive correlation with root mass and had significant negative correlations with other five indices.

Diagnostic accuracy of interferon gamma-induced protein 10 for tuberculosis: a meta-analysis.

The diagnostic accuracy of tuberculosis (TB) remains a clinical challenge, and a number of studies have used the interferon gamma-induced protein 10 (IP-10) in the diagnosis of TB. The aim of the present meta-analysis was to determine the overall accuracy of IP-10 in the diagnosis of TB. A systematic review of studies published in English from Medline, Embase and Cochrane Library was conducted and the data concerning the accuracy of IP-10 in the diagnosis of TB were pooled. The methodological quality of each study was assessed by QUADAS (quality assessment for studies of diagnostic accuracy). Statistical analysis was performed by employing Meta-Disc 1.4 soft-ware and STATA. The overall test performance was summarized using receiver operating characteristic curves. 14 studies, based on 2075 subjects, met the inclusion criteria. The summary estimates for IP-10 in the diagnosis of TB were: sensitivity 0.73 (95% CI, 0.71-0.76), specificity 0.83 (95% CI, 0.81-0.86), positive likelihood ratio 7.08 (95% CI, 3.94-12.72), negative likelihood ratio 0.26 (95% CI, 0.20-0.35) and diagnostic odds ratio 29.50 (95% CI, 14.43-60.30), and the area under the curve was 0.88. Our findings suggest that IP-10 may improve the accuracy of TB diagnosis, while the results of IP-10 assays should be interpreted in parallel with conventional test results and other clinical findings.

Diagnostic performance of lung ultrasound in the diagnosis of pneumonia: a bivariate meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Pneumonia is a common disease with both high morbidity and mortality, the diagnosis of pneumonia remains a clinical challenge. Many studies have been conducted to identify the usefulness of lung ultrasound for the diagnosis of pneumonia, but with inconsistent and inconclusive results. The present study aimed to establish the overall diagnostic accuracy of lung ultrasound in diagnosing pneumonia. METHODS: Based on a comprehensive search of the Pubmed, Embase, and the Cochrane database, we identified out-come data from all articles estimating diagnostic accuracy with lung ultrasound for pneumonia. Quality was assessed with the Quality Assessment for Diagnostic Accuracy Studies. Results from different studies were pooled using a bivariate meta-analysis. Summary receiver operating characteristic curve was used to assess the overall performance of lung ultrasound-based assays. RESULTS: Nine studies containing 1080 subjects were included in this meta-analysis. The summary estimates for lung ultrasound in the diagnosis of pneumonia in the studies included were as follows: sensitivity, 0.97 (95% CI: 0.93-0.99); specificity, 0.94 (95% CI: 0.85-0.98); DOR, 507.99 (95% CI: 128.11-2014.34); positive likelihood ratio, 15.62 (95% CI: 6.31-38.68); negative likelihood ratio, 0.03 (95% CI: 0.01-0.08); The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.99 (95% CI: 0.98-1.00). CONCLUSION: Lung ultrasound is a capable of diagnosing pneumonia with high accuracy and is a promising attractive alternative to chest radiography and thoracic CT scan.

Interleukin-18 promoter gene -607C/A polymorphism and tuberculosis risk: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have evaluated the association between interleukin-18 (IL-18) promoter gene -607C/ A (rs1946518) polymorphism and tuberculosis (TB) risk. However, the results remain apparently conflicting. The aim of this study was to investigate whether IL-18-607C/A polymorphism is associated with susceptibility to TB. METHODS: Publications addressing the association between the IL-18-607C/A polymorphism and TB risk were selected from the Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI and Wanfang databases. Data were extracted from the studies by two independent reviewers. Statistical analysis was performed using RevMan 5.0.25 and STATA 11.0 software. RESULTS: Eight case-control studies with a total of 1166 TB patients and 1734 controls were retrieved. Meta-analysis results showed significant association between IL-18-607C/A polymorphism and TB risk in all comparisons of the A allele versus C allele (OR=1.17, 95% CI 1.05-1.30, P=0.004), AA versus CC (OR=1.43, 95% CI 1.14-1.81, P=0.002), CA+AA versus CC (OR=1.20, 95% CI 1.01-1.42, P=0.04) and AA versus CA+CC (OR=1.30, 95% CI 1.07-1.58, P=0.007). In subgroup analysis by nationality, a significant association between IL-18-607C/A polymorphism and TB risk in the comparisons of A versus C, CA+AA versus CC and AA versus CA+CC (OR=1.22, 95% CI 1.07-1.38, P=0.002; OR=1.31, 95% CI 1.06-1.61, P=0.01; OR=1.32, 95% CI 1.07-1.63, P=0.01, respectively) were found in Chinese population but not in Indian and Iranian populations. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the -607C/A polymorphism of IL-18 gene would be a risk factor for TB, especially in Chinese population. To further evaluate gene-to-gene and gene-to-environment interactions on -607C/A polymorphism and tuberculosis risk, more studies with thousands of patients are required.

The 2518 A/G polymorphism in the MCP-1 gene and cancer risk: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The 2518 A/G polymorphism in the MCP-1 gene has been extensively studied for associations with cancer; however, results from replication studies have been inconsistent. The aim of this investigation was to determine links with risk of cancer by meta-analysis. METHODS: We searched Pubmed, Embase, CNKI, Weipu and Wanfang databases, covering all case-control studies until March, 2013. Statistical analyses were performed using the Revman 5.0 software. RESULTS: A total of 11 case-control studies met our inclusion criteria, including 1,422 cases and 2,237 controls. The results indicated that the MCP-1 2518 gene polymorphism had no association with cancer risk overall (GG vs.GA+ AA: OR = 0.89, 95%CI = 0.61-1.28, P = 0.52). However, in the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, a decrease of cancer risk was found in Asian populations (GG vs.GA+ AA: OR = 0.79, 95%CI = 0.63-0.99, P = 0.04). CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis suggested that the 2518A/G polymorphism of MCP-1 gene is associated with risk of cancer among Asian, but not in Caucasian populations.