[Evidence map of clinical research on Chinese patent medicines for post-acute myocardial infarction heart failure].

An evidence map was established to comprehensively sort out the clinical research in the treatment of post-acute myocardial infarction heart failure(P-AMI-HF) with Chinese patent medicines, so as to reveal the distribution of evidence in this field. CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, SinoMed, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and EMbase were searched for the randomized controlled trial(RCT), systematic reviews/Meta-analysis, and guidelines/consensus in this field. The evidence was analyzed and displayed in the form of a combination of text, charts, bubble charts, and bar charts, and the quality of RCT, systematic reviews/Meta-analysis, and guidelines/consensus were evaluated by RoB 1.0, AMSTAR2, and AGREE Ⅱ, respectively. A total of 163 RCTs, 4 systematic reviews/Meta-analysis, 1 network Meta-analysis, 2 observational studies, and 5 guidelines/consensus were included. In recent years, the total number of publications in this field has shown an upward trend. There were a variety of Chinese patent medicines in the treatment of P-AMI-HF, among which Shenfu Injection received the most attention. The clinical RCT and systematic reviews/Meta-analysis generally had poor quality, and the RCT mostly had a small size, a single center, and a short cycle. The outcome indicators mainly included cardiac function indicators, myocardial injury markers, total response rate, hemodynamic indicators, and safety indicators, while the characteristic efficacy indicators of TCM received insufficient attention. The development processes of some guidelines/consensus lack standardization, which compromised their authority and rationality. Chinese patent medicines have advantages in the treatment of P-AMI-HF, while there are also problems, which remain to be solved by more high-quality evidence. That is, more large-sample and multi-center clinical studies should be carried out in the future, and the formulation process of relevant systematic reviews/Meta-analysis and guideline/consensus should be standardized and the quality of evidence should be improved. In this way, the effectiveness and safety of Chinese patent medicines in the treatment of P-AMI-HF can be explored.

Diastereodivergent cis- and trans-fused [4 + 2] annulations of cyclic 1,3-dienes and 1-azadienes via ligand-controlled palladium catalysis.

Despite the blossoming of reports of diastereodivergent synthesis over the past years, switchable control of the stereochemistry of the bridgehead atoms of the fused frameworks has been significantly underdeveloped. Here we disclose the ability of Pd0-π-Lewis base catalysis to finely reverse the concerted inverse-electron-demand aza-Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction between cyclic 1,3-dienes and aurone-derived 1-azadienes. In contrast, the in situ-formed HOMO-energy-increased Pd0-η2-complexes of cyclic 1,3-dienes underwent a cascade vinylogous Michael addition/allylic amination process with 1-azadienes. Moreover, judicious selection of chiral ligands allowed for switchable diastereodivergent [4 + 2] annulations to be accomplished, resulting in the construction of both cis- and trans-fused tetrahydropyridine architectures in high yields with moderate to excellent stereoselectivity levels. A variety of acyclic 1,3-dienes and 1-heterodienes were also applied, and furnished a structural diversity of enantioenriched frameworks.

Role of micronutrients in Alzheimer's disease: Review of available evidence.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most common age-related neurodegenerative disorders that have been studied for more than 100 years. Although an increased level of amyloid precursor protein is considered a key contributor to the development of AD, the exact pathogenic mechanism remains known. Multiple factors are related to AD, such as genetic factors, aging, lifestyle, and nutrients. Both epidemiological and clinical evidence has shown that the levels of micronutrients, such as copper, zinc, and iron, are closely related to the development of AD. In this review, we summarize the roles of eight micronutrients, including copper, zinc, iron, selenium, silicon, manganese, arsenic, and vitamin D in AD based on recently published studies.

Genome variation in colorectal cancer patient with liver metastasis measured by whole-exome sequencing.

BACKGROUND: Liver metastasis of colorectal cancer (CRC) is an important cause of death from CRC, but its molecular mechanism is still unclear. In recent years, whole-exome sequencing has played an increasingly important role in the study of the occurrence and development of diseases, especially malignant tumors. Its high throughput and low cost advantages enable researchers to explore the pathogenic genes of diseases, and screen potential molecular markers and therapeutic targets from the level of genomics. METHODS: This study collected the primary tumor tissues, matched paracancerous, normal tissues, and liver metastases of 4 CRC patients admitted to the Department of General Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, and performed high-depth whole-exome sequencing, with the sequencing depth of each sample reaching 123× on average, then filtered the sequencing data, compared them, and analyzed the bioinformatics data. RESULTS: we found 8,565 single nucleotide variants (SNV) and 429 insertions/deletions (InDel) in the primary and hepatic lesion tissues, and the genes with the highest mutation frequency were titin (TTN), obscurin (OBSCN), and homeodomain-interacting protein kinase 2 (HIPK2). The Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis of the mutant genes was conducted, and it was found that the mutant genes were mainly concentrated in the cells, cell parts, and cellular process of GO. The results of KEGG pathway analysis showed that mutations were mainly distributed in circadian entrainment, insulin secretion, and glutamatergic synapse. Further, we identified 723 SNV and Indel genes with high frequency mutations including TTN, OBSCN, and hydrocephalus-inducing protein homolog (HYDIN) across all tissues of liver metastases. The GO analysis showed that the mutated genes in liver metastatic tissues were mainly concentrated in cell, cell part, and cellular process. The KEGG pathway analysis showed that high frequency mutation genes were focused on gastric acid secretion, bile secretion, and melanogenesis. CONCLUSIONS: This study found some candidate genes related to the occurrence of CRC and liver metastasis through whole-exome sequencing of relevant tissues in CRC patients with liver metastasis, which is expected to provide new markers and therapeutic targets for such patients.

Increased Expression of LIPC Is Associated with Aggressive Phenotype of Borrmann Type 4 Gastric Cancer.

PURPOSE: To investigate lipase C hepatic type (LIPC) expression in Borrmann type 4 gastric cancer and its correlation with clinical outcome. The biological roles of LIPC in Borrmann type 4 gastric cancer progression were also investigated. METHODS: We determined LIPC expression in 324 primary gastric cancer tissues and 178 matched adjacent non-tumor tissues by immunohistochemistry. We explored the role of LIPC in Borrmann type 4 gastric cancer cell (OCUM-1) migration, invasion, proliferation, cell cycle, and expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related genes by knocking down LIPC expression. RESULTS: LIPC expression was upregulated in Borrmann type 4 gastric cancer tissues compared with other types of gastric cancer and adjacent non-tumor tissues. High LIPC expression correlated with lymph node metastasis, advanced TNM stage, and poor overall survival in Borrmann type 4 gastric cancer patients. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that high LIPC expression was an independent prognostic factor in patients with Borrmann type 4 gastric cancer. By reducing LIPC expression, OCUM-1 cell invasion and migration were suppressed and Snail and MMP2 expression was downregulated, while E-cadherin expression was upregulated. CONCLUSIONS: High LIPC expression correlates with poor clinical outcome and plays an important role in regulating cell migration and invasion in Borrmann type 4 gastric cancer.

Shexiang Tongxin Dropping Pill () Reduces Coronary Microembolization in Rats via Regulation of Mitochondrial Permeability Transition Pore Opening and AKT-GSK3ß Phosphorylation.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the protective effects of Shexiang Tongxin Dropping Pill (, STDP) following sodium laurate-induced coronary microembolization (CME) in rats. METHODS: Forty rats were divided into 4 groups: the control (sham) group, CME group, low-dose STDP pretreatment group (20 mg·kg-1·d-1), and high-dose STDP pretreatment group (40 mg·kg-1·d-1). The rats were intragastric administrated with STDP 2 weeks before operation. Moreover, the histopathological alterations were observed using optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Antioxidant biomarkers were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Mitochondrial functions including the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) mtDNA copy number were determined and proteins of AKT/GSK3ß were analyzed by Western blot. RESULTS: The rats in the CME group showed a significant increase in the fibrinogen-like protein 2 expression level and mitochondrial dysfunction and a decrease in the expression level of antioxidant biomarkers (superoxide dismutase and catalase, P<0.01 for all). In contrast, the rats in the low- and high-dose STDP pretreatment groups showed a significant decrease in coronary microthrombi (P<0.05); moreover, STDP restored the antioxidant-related protein activities and mitochondrial function, inhibited mPTP opening, decreased AKT-Ser473 phosphorylation, and increased GSK3ß-Ser9 phosphorylation (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSION: STDP may be useful for treatment of CME, possibly via regulation of mPTP opening and AKT/GSK3ß phosphorylation.

Bloodstream infections in patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the incidence, risk factors, and prognosis of bloodstream infections (BSIs) during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment in a Chinese population. METHODS: Patients receiving ECMO treatment from January 2013 to August 2019 were retrospectively studied. The incidence of BSIs was calculated. The clinical characteristics between patients with a BSI (BSI group) and without a BSI (non-BSI group). RESULTS: Among 69 included patients, 19 (27.5%) developed at least one BSI. Gram-negative bacteria (73.7%) were mainly responsible for the BSIs, with Klebsiella pneumoniae (6/19, 31.5%) ranking as the top related pathogen. The BSI group had a greater proportion of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) prophylactic regimens (52.6% vs. 26.0%, P = 0.036), a higher pre-ECMO Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score (11 vs. 8, P = 0.008), more applications of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) during ECMO (63.1% vs. 36.1%, P = 0.042). Longer ECMO support duration, period of ventilator use before ECMO weaning and hospital stay were observed in the BSI group. The SOFA score (OR: 1.174; 95% CI: 1.039-1.326; P = 0.010) was an independent risk factor for BSIs. CONCLUSION: BSIs during ECMO therapy frequently involve Gram-negative bacteria. Stringent care and monitoring should be provided for patients with high SOFA scores.

Prevalence of depressive symptoms in patients with Heart Failure in China: a meta-analysis of comparative studies and epidemiological surveys.

BACKGROUND: Although depressive symptoms is a frequent psychiatric comorbidity in people with Heart Failure (HF) in China, its prevalence was not estimated. This is a meta-analysis of studies examining depressive symptoms in HF patients in China. METHODS: The following databases including PubMed, the Cochrace Library, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WanFang and VIP were independently and systematically searched from inception until March 31, 2019. Statistical analyses were performed using the Stata 13.0 software. The pooled prevalence of depressive symptoms was performed using a random-effects model. In addition, subgroup analysis was conducted based on the New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class, the assessment tools of depression and gender. RESULTS: Altogether 53 studies (10649 participants) met the inclusion criteria for the analysis. The point prevalence of depressive symptoms in HF was 43%. In subgroup analyses, the prevalence of depressive symptoms was higher in females than in males (46% vs 34%, respectively), and the prevalence of depressive symptoms positively correlated with New York Heart Association functional classes (II 28%, III 46%, IV 52%) . Rates of depression were highest when measured using BDI scale (62%), and lowest when measured using the CES-D (31%). CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis confirmed that the prevalence of depressive symptoms was common in HF patients in China and it is related to the severity of heart failure, gender and the diversity of assessment tools. Appropriate strategies for prevention and treatment of depressive symptoms in this population need greater attention.

[Remote sensing retrieval of maize residue cover on soil heterogeneous background]. / 基于土壤异质背景的玉米秸秆覆盖度遥感反演.

Maize stalk mulching is a conservation tillage method that has been currently promoted in northeastern China Plain. Remote sensing estimation of regional crop residue cover (CRC) can quickly obtain the information of straw mulching in a large area, which plays an important role in monitoring and popularizing the work of straw mulching. In this study, the normalized difference til-lage index (NDTI), simple tillage index (STI), normalized difference residue index (NDRI), and normalized difference index 7 (NDI7) were extracted from Sentinel-2A image and used to establish a linear regression model for CRC and spectral indices in Lishu County of Jilin Province. The results showed that soils had strong spatial heterogeneity in the study area, which would lead to a significant impact on the spectral index regression model. Using soil texture classification (zoning) to establish regression model could improve the inversion accuracy. Soil spatial heterogeneity would increase the estimation error of the model. The four spectral indices had a strong correlation with CRC, among which the NDTI and STI models performed better. The zonal linear regression model based on NDTI and STI verified that R2 was 0.84 and RMSE was 13.3%, which was better than the non-zonal model (R2 was 0.75 and RMSE was 16.5%) and thus effectively improved the inversion accuracy.

Low SOX12 Expression Is Correlated With Poor Prognosis in Patients With Gastric Cancer.

BACKGROUND: SRY-related HMG box-12, which is associated with the prognosis of cancer, has been frequently described. However, both SRY-related HMG box-12 expression and its relationship with clinicopathological variables and patient survival have not been defined in gastric cancer. The aim of our study was to examine the prognostic value of SRY-related HMG box-12 expression in patients with gastric cancer. METHODS: In this study, we determined SRY-related HMG box-12 expression in 79 primary gastric cancer tissues and 79 matched adjacent nontumor tissues by immunohistochemistry and then calculated the survival rate using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to analyze predictors of gastric cancer. Western blot and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction were used to investigate the difference in SRY-related HMG box-12 expression between normal gastric epithelial cells and gastric cancer cells at the protein level and RNA level, respectively. RESULTS: SRY-related HMG box-12 was downregulated in gastric cancer tissues. Low SRY-related HMG box-12 expression was significantly associated not only with lymph node metastasis (P = .027) and TNM stage (P = .021) but also with disease-specific survival in patients with gastric cancer. Multivariate analysis demonstrated TNM stage was an independent factor predicting poor survival (P = .034). CONCLUSIONS: Low SRY-related HMG box-12 expression is associated with poor clinical outcomes in gastric cancer.

The Prognosis Value of Lymphatic Vessel Invasion in pN0 Gastric Cancer Patients with Insufficient Examined Lymph Nodes.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prognosis value of lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI) in pN0 gastric cancer patients with insufficient examined lymph nodes (ELNs). METHODS: Clinicopathologic and prognostic data of pN0 gastric cancer patients with insufficient ELNs who underwent radical surgery in our institution were retrospectively studied. RESULTS: Firstly, we confirmed that less than 16 but not less than 30 ELNs were insufficient ELNs in the present study. Of the 350 pN0 patients with < 16 ELNs, 64 patients (18.29%) had LVI. The overall survival (OS) of patients with LVI was significantly poorer than those without LVI. Multivariate analysis suggested that LVI was one of the independent factors predicting prognosis of pN0 patients with < 16 ELNs. Further analyses suggested that there were similar prognoses between pN0 patients with < 16 ELNs who had LVI and pN1 patients, and between pN0 patients with < 16 ELNs who had no LVI and pN0 patients with ≥ 16 ELNs, respectively. Therefore, we proposed a novel pN classification, in which LVI-positive pN0 gastric cancer with < 16 ELNs was classified as pN1 disease. Two-step multivariate analysis demonstrated that the novel pN classification was more suitable for prognostic assessment than the original one. CONCLUSIONS: LVI is a powerful and independent prognostic factor for pN0 gastric cancer patients with < 16 ELNs, and node-negative gastric cancer with < 16 ELNs which had LVI should be considered as node-positive disease. LVI is an effective indicator identifying patients stage migration happens to in pN0 patients with < 16 ELNs.

Cannabinoids Modulate Light Signaling in ON-Sustained Retinal Ganglion Cells of the Mouse.

The sole output of the retina to the brain is a signal that results from the integration of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs at the level of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Endogenous cannabinoids (eCBs) are found throughout the central nervous system where they modulate synaptic excitability. Cannabinoid receptors and their ligands have been localized to most retinal neurons in mammals, yet their impact on retinal processing is not well known. Here, we set out to investigate the role of the cannabinoid system in retinal signaling using electrophysiological recordings from ON-sustained (ON-S) RGCs that displayed morphological and physiological signatures of ON alpha RGCs in dark adapted mouse retina. We studied the effect of the cannabinoid agonist WIN55212-2 and the inverse agonist AM251 on the spatial tuning of ON-S RGCs. WIN55212-2 significantly reduced their spontaneous spiking activity and responses to optimal spot size as well as altered their spatial tuning by reducing light driven excitatory and inhibitory inputs to RGCs. AM251 produced the opposite effect, increasing spontaneous spiking activity and peak response as well as increasing inhibitory and excitatory inputs. In addition, AM251 sharpened the spatial tuning of ON-S RGCs by increasing the inhibitory effect of the surround. These results demonstrate the presence of a functional cannabinergic system in the retina as well as sensitivity of ON-RGCs to cannabinoids. These results reveal a neuromodulatory system that can regulate the sensitivity and excitability of retinal synapses in a dynamic, activity dependent manner and that endocannabinoids may play a significant role in retinal processing.

Biodegradation of Phenanthrene and Heavy Metal Removal by Acid-Tolerant Burkholderia fungorum FM-2.

Phenanthrene (PHE) is a common pollutant of acidic and non-acidic environments that is recalcitrant to biodegradation. Herein, Burkholderia fungorum FM-2 (GenBank accession no. KM263605) was isolated from oil-contaminated soil in Xinjiang and characterized morphologically, physiologically, and phylogenetically. Environmental parameters including PHE concentration, pH, temperature, and salinity were optimized, and heavy metal tolerance was investigated. The MIC of strain FM-2 tolerant to Pb(II) and Cd(II) was 50 and 400 mg L-1, respectively, while the MIC of Zn(II) was >1,200 mg L-1. Atypically for a B. fungorum strain, FM-2 utilized PHE (300 mg L-1) as a sole carbon source over a wide pH range (between pH 3 and 9). PHE and heavy metal metabolism were assessed using gas chromatography (GC), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and ultraviolet (UV) absorption spectrometry. The effects of heavy metals on the bioremediation of PHE in soil were investigated, and the findings suggest that FM-2 has potential for combined bioremediation of soils co-contaminated with PHE and heavy metals.

Should All Stage N3b Patients with Advanced Gastric Cancer Be Considered Equivalent? A 30-Year Single Center Study.

PURPOSE: To investigate the survival of stage N3b patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC) after radical surgery and to evaluate the TNM staging of subgroups of stage N3b patients. METHODS: We reviewed the data of 222 stage N3b patients with AGC who underwent D2/D3 radical surgery. Depending on the number of metastatic lymph nodes (MLNs), we divided N3b patients into several groups and compared the survival differences among them. We found that survival of patients with 16-20 MLNs was better than that of patients with ≥ 21 MLNs. Therefore, we divided the N3b patients into two subgroups and defined patients with 16-21 MLNs as N3b1 and patients with ≥ 21 MLNs as N3b2. Then, we compared survival differences between the two groups and their subgroups. Patients who underwent palliative surgery served as the reference group. In addition, we selected stage IIIB, IIIC, and IV patients from the same database to properly re-classify the N3b subgroups in the TNM staging system. RESULTS: Survival differed significantly between the new N3b1and N3b2 groups and between the new N3b1 group and the palliative group. However, the survival of the new N3b2 group was similar to that of the palliative group. Comparisons of survival according to T staging revealed similarities between the following groups: (1) stages T2-3N3b1 and IIIB, (2) stages T4N3b1 and IIIC, and (3) stages T2-4N3b2 and IV. CONCLUSIONS: All stage N3b patients with AGC should not be considered equivalent. A significant difference in survival was observed between stage N3b1 and N3b2 patients after radical surgery, while the survival of stage N3b2 patients was similar to that of patients who undergo palliative surgery. We recommend re-classifying stage T2-3N3b1 as TNM stage IIIB, stage T4N3b1 as stage IIIC, and T2-4N3b2 as stage IV.

Development of a risk-scoring system to evaluate the serosal invasion for macroscopic serosal invasion positive gastric cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: The status of serosal invasion is often discordance between pathological and intraoperative evaluation. Our study sought to develop a risk-scoring system (RSS) to predict the probability of pT4a for macroscopic serosal invasion (MSI) positive patients and reevaluate the serosal invasion status. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 1301 pT3/pT4a gastric cancer patients with curative surgery were reviewed. We constructed the RSS to predict the probability of pT4a and assigned MSI-positive patients into different risk groups based on the risk scores. The prognostic significance of these risk groups was also evaluated. RESULTS: Univariate and multivariate analyses identified that tumor location, Lauren type, Borrmann type, tumor size, lymphovascular invasion and pN stage were risk factors related to pT4a. Survival analyses showed that pT3 MSI-positive patients in high-risk group had similar survival with pT4a patients. We incorporated these two groups into one stage and proposed a novel revised-T stage. Two-step multivariate analyses indicated that the revised-T stage showed better prediction ability for prognosis and peritoneal recurrence assessment than original pT stage and MSI status. CONCLUSIONS: In our present study, we developed a RSS to predict the probability of pT4a for MSI-positive patients. Based on our RSS, we proposed a treatment algorithm to reevaluate the tumor invasion for MSI-positive patients in clinical practice. Future studies should include other preoperative predictors to improve the clinical utility of our model.

Effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with gastric cancer: a PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is extensively used in the treatment of patients with gastric cancer (GC), particularly in high risk, advanced gastric cancer. Previous trials testing the efficacy of NAC have reported inconsistent results. METHODS: This study compares the combined use of NAC and surgery with surgery alone for GC by using a meta-analytic approach. We performed an electronic search of PubMed, EmBase, and the Cochrane Library to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on NAC published before Oct 2015. The primary outcome of the studies was data on survival rates for patients with GC. The summary results were pooled using the random-effects model. We included 12 prospective RCTs reporting data on 1538 GC patients. RESULTS: Patients who received NAC were associated with significant improvement of OS (P = 0.001) and PFS (P < 0.001). Furthermore, NAC therapy significantly increased the incidence of 1-year survival rate (SR) (P = 0.020), 3-year SR (P = 0.011), and 4-year SR (P = 0.001). Similarly, NAC therapy was associated with a lower incidence of 1-year (P < 0.001), 2-year (P < 0.001), 3-year (P < 0.001), 4-year (P = 0.001), and 5-year recurrence rate (P = 0.002). Conversely, patients who received NAC also experienced a significantly increased risk of lymphocytopenia (P = 0.003), and hemoglobinopathy (P = 0.021). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggested that NAC is associated with significant improvement in the outcomes of survival and disease progression for GC patients while also increasing some toxicity.

HCRP1 downregulation confers poor prognosis and induces chemoresistance through regulation of EGFR-AKT pathway in human gastric cancer.

The current study aims to investigate the biological roles and clinical significance of HCRP1 in human gastric cancer. The expression pattern of HCRP1 in gastric cancer tissue and adjacent non-cancerous tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry. HCRP1 downregulation was found in 57 of 137 human gastric cancer samples and correlated with advanced TNM stage, positive nodal status, and relapse. Log-rank test showed that HCRP1 downregulation also correlated with poor overall survival and reduced relapse-free survival. In addition, we found that HCRP1 overexpression inhibited proliferation, colony formation, and invasion in HGC-27 cells. On the other hand, HCRP1 depletion by small interfering RNA promoted proliferation, colony formation, and invasion in SGC-7901 cells. We also treated gastric cancer cells with cisplatin. MTT and Annexin V/PI analysis were carried out to examine change of chemoresistance. We found that HCRP1 overexpression sensitized HGC-27 cells to cisplatin while its depletion reduced sensitivity in SGC-7901 cells. Moreover, we found that HCRP1 overexpression negatively regulated cyclin D1, MMP-2, p-EGFR, p-ERK, and p-AKT. HCRP1 depletion showed the opposite effects. In conclusion, our results suggest that HCRP1 downregulation might serve as an indicator for poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients. HCRP1 reduces drug resistance through regulation of EGFR-AKT signaling.

Clinical implications of plasma Nogo-A levels in patients with coronary heart disease.

INTRODUCTION: Nogo-A is an important neurite growth-regulatory protein in the adult and developing nervous system. Recently, increasing evidence has shown that Nogo-A plays important roles in cardiac development and may act as a potential indicator for heart failure. In addition, increased oxidative stress has been found in individuals with cardiovascular diseases. However, not much is known regarding the expression levels of Nogo-A and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Therefore, we sought to investigate the relationship between Nogo-A, ROS levels and CHD. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The plasma Nogo-A and ROS concentrations of 122 acute coronary syndrome (ACS), 101 unstable angina pectoris (UAP), and 21 acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients and 56 healthy controls were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We further generated a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve to assess the diagnostic accuracy of Nogo-A and ROS in CHD. RESULTS: The Nogo-A and ROS levels were significantly higher in patients with CHD than those in healthy controls. In addition, multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the level of Nogo-A (odds ratio (OR) = 1.624, 95% confidence interval: 1.125-2.293, p = 0.009) is a risk factor for prediction of CHD. Nogo-A has diagnostic value, with an optimal threshold of 5.466 ng/ml for maximized diagnostic performance (59% sensitivity and 78.6% specificity, area under curve, p < 0.05). However, ROS concentration is not a risk factor for prediction of CHD (OR = 0.999, 95% confidence interval: 0.997-1.001, p = 0.320). CONCLUSIONS: Increased plasma Nogo-A level may be associated with CHD.

The clinicopathological parameters and prognostic significance of HER2 expression in gastric cancer patients: a meta-analysis of literature.

BACKGROUND: Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) is regarded as an important and promising target in the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancers. However, the correlation of clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic significance of HER2 overexpression in gastric cancer patients remains unclear. Our aim was to clarify this issue. METHODS: Embase, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library were searched for relevant articles published up to May 2016. Outcomes of interest contained sex, age, tumor size, tumor site, tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage, distant metastasis, lymph node metastasis, Lauren's classification, differentiation grade, lymphovascular invasion, neural invasion, and multivariate analysis data for overall survival. RESULTS: A total of 41 studies of 17,494 gastric cancer patients were identified with HER2 test. HER2 positive rate was 19.07% (95% CI = 9.16, 28.98). There existed statistical significance between HER2 overexpression and patients' prognosis (RR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.09, 1.98). Male patients (OR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.34, 1.65), proximal tumors (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.07, 1.47), intestinal-type tumors (OR = 3.37, 95% CI = 2.54, 4.47), advanced stage cancers (OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.10, 1.66), lymph node metastasis (OR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.14, 1.41), well-differentiated cancers (OR = 1.79, 95% CI = 1.15, 2.76), and distant metastasis (OR = 1.91, 95% CI = 1.08, 3.38) were correlated with higher HER2 expression rates. However, no statistical differences existed in age, tumor size, lymphovascular invasion, or neural invasion. Subgroup analysis revealed that HER2 expression rates reported in articles from Asian (19.52%) countries were quantitatively higher than those from European (16.91%) areas. Results were consistent with those reports that define HER2 status according to trastuzumab for gastric cancer (ToGA) criteria. CONCLUSION: This study showed that HER2 overexpression was associated with poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients. HER2 positive rates may be associated with sex, tumor site, TNM staging system, distant metastasis, lymph node metastasis, Lauren's classification, and differentiation grade in gastric cancer patients. The HER2 expression rate in Asians may be higher than that in Europeans. This study offers a convenient way for doctors to select patients for relevant HER2 detection and following treatment.

Tbx3 overexpression in human gastric cancer is correlated with advanced tumor stage and nodal status and promotes cancer cell growth and invasion.

The objective of the current study was to investigate the expression pattern of Tbx3 and its clinicopathological significance in patients with gastric cancer. The expression pattern of Tbx3 in gastric cancer tissues and adjacent noncancerous surface epithelia and mucosal glands was detected by immunohistochemistry. Tbx3 was found to be overexpressed in 46 of 98 human gastric cancer samples, and this correlated with advanced clinical stage, tumor stage, and nodal status. In addition, in the SGC-7901 gastric cancer cell line, Tbx3 overexpression by plasmid transfection promoted growth and invasion. Conversely, depleting Tbx3 expression by small-interfering RNA inhibited proliferation and invasion in BGC-823 cell line. Moreover, Tbx3 accelerated cell cycle progression at the G1/S boundary. Tbx3 also regulated epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) to promote cell invasion by repressing E-cadherin expression and increasing expression levels N-cadherin, vimentin. These results indicate that in gastric cancer, Tbx3 plays an important role and might be a useful therapy target.