Efficacy and safety of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants in patients (≥80 years of age) with atrial fibrillation: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Findings of prior studies about the efficacy and safety of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) in patients (≥80 years of age) with atrial fibrillation (AF) are controversial. So we performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of NOACs versus vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in patients (≥80 years of age) with AF. A systematic review of PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, Web of Science and Chinese BioMedical databases was conducted until 1 October 2022. Studies reporting the effects and safety of NOACs versus warfarin in patients (≥80 years of age) with AF were included. Two authors independently performed study selection and data extraction. Discrepancies were resolved by consensus or through an independent third reviewer. Data were synthesised according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews guidelines. We identified 15 studies providing data of 70 446 participants (≥80 years of age) suffering from AF. According to the meta-analysis (odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval, CI)), NOACs conferred better efficacy profile than VKAs in stroke and systemic embolism (0.8 (0.73-0.88)) and all-cause mortality (0.61 (0.57-0.65)). Otherwise, NOACs conferred a better safety profile than VKAs in major bleeding (0.76 (0.70-0.83)) and intracranial haemorrhage (ICH; 0.57 (0.47-0.68)). In conclusion, for patients (≥80 years of age) with AF, the risks of stroke and systemic embolism, all-cause mortality, were lower in NOACs compared to warfarin. The risks of major bleeding and ICH were also lower in NOACs compared to warfarin. NOACs showed better efficacy and safety than warfarin.

The transcription factor FOXO4 is down-regulated and inhibits tumor proliferation and metastasis in gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: FOXO4, a member of the FOXO family of transcription factors, is currently the focus of intense study. Its role and function in gastric cancer have not been fully elucidated. The present study was aimed to investigate the expression profile of FOXO4 in gastric cancer and the effect of FOXO4 on cancer cell growth and metastasis. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry, Western blotting and qRT-PCR were performed to detect the FOXO4 expression in gastric cancer cells and tissues. Cell biological assays, subcutaneous tumorigenicity and tail vein metastatic assay in combination with lentivirus construction were performed to detect the impact of FOXO4 to gastric cancer in proliferation and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Confocal and qRT-PCR were performed to explore the mechanisms. RESULTS: We found that the expression of FOXO4 was decreased significantly in most gastric cancer tissues and in various human gastric cancer cell lines. Up-regulating FOXO4 inhibited the growth and metastasis of gastric cancer cell lines in vitro and led to dramatic attenuation of tumor growth, and liver and lung metastasis in vivo, whereas down-regulating FOXO4 with specific siRNAs promoted the growth and metastasis of gastric cancer cell lines. Furthermore, we found that up-regulating FOXO4 could induce significant G1 arrest and S phase reduction and down-regulation of the expression of vimentin. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that loss of FOXO4 expression contributes to gastric cancer growth and metastasis, and it may serve as a potential therapeutic target for gastric cancer.

The significance of LRPPRC overexpression in gastric cancer.

LRPPRC is a multifunctional protein involved in mitochondrial gene expression and function, cell cycle progression, and tumorigenesis. We analyzed LRPPRC gene expression in 253 paired cases of gastric cancer and noncancerous regions and six gastric cancer cell lines to demonstrate the importance of LRPPRC expression for the prediction of prognosis of gastric cancer. Our results showed that LRPPRC expression in gastric cancer tissues is significantly higher than that in paired control tissue (P < 0.001). Patients with higher LRPPRC expression showed a poorer overall survival rate than those with lower LRPPRC expression (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that lymph node metastasis (N), distant metastasis (M), TNM stage, and LRPPRC expression were independent prognostic factors for gastric cancer (P = 0.004, 0.002, 0.017, 0.004 respectively).Moreover, Western blotting showed that LRPPRC expression was increased in SGC7901, BGC823, MKN45, and XGC9811cells. The in vitro proliferation assay showed that LRPPRC expression is inversely associated with gastric cancer cells growth. Our results indicated that LRPPRC could be used as a predictive marker for patient prognosis of gastric cancer and may be a novel therapeutic target for gastric cancer in future.

[Study on seedling techniques of Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis].

OBJECTIVE: To shorten the duration of seed germinating, improve seed emergence and eventurally to establish a practical method for seeding of Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis seed. METHOD: To study the effect of some factors (temperature, sowing time, covering-soil depth, plastic film ) on seed emergence of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis. RESULT: The most suitable temperature for embryonic post-maturity and seed germinating is 18-20 degrees C. Paris seed could emerge in April when it was transfer to a low temperature 0-10 degrees C for 2-4 months after being treated under 18-20 degrees C for 3-4 months. For seed emergence, the best sowing time was before April. The suitable soil depth was about 1 cm. It is a better way to cover the seedling bed with black plastic film for improving the emergence percentage. CONCLUSION: Above results provide seedling techniques of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis.