Correlation of VEGF and EGFR in peripheral blood with clinical stage and pathological grade of renal cell carcinoma and analysis of prognosis.

PURPOSE: To detect the expression of VEGF and EGFR in peripheral blood and cancer tissues of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and to explore the correlations with clinical stage, pathological grade and prognosis of disease. METHODS: A total of 64 patients with RCC who were diagnosed and treated from June 2016 to August 2017 in our hospital were enrolled. Patients were divided into different clinical stages and pathological grades, and ELISA and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expression of VEGF and EGFR in peripheral blood. Peripheral blood was also taken from 24 healthy individuals to serve as control group. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of VEGF and EGFR in RCC tissues and paracancer tissues. All patients were followed up after discharge to record their survival. RESULTS: Significant differences in the expression levels of VEGF and EGFR were found between stage III and IV (p<0.05), but not between stage I and II. Expressions level of VEGF and EGFR in serum of well-differentiated, moderatelydifferentiated, and poorly-differentiated RCC were all higher than those in the healthy control group, and significant differences were found between different pathological grades (p<0.05). Patients with higher expression levels of VEGF and EGFR showed shorter survival compared to patients with lower expression levels (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: VEGF and EGFR in peripheral blood can be used as one of the effective indicators of prognosis of RCC. Our study provided reference for clinical treatment and prediction of prognosis of RCC.

Intestinal metaplasia of the bladder in 89 patients: a study with emphasis on long-term outcome.

BACKGROUND: Intestinal metaplasia of the bladder is an uncommon glandular proliferation. We examined a large series of intestinal metaplasia for the clinicopathological features and discuss the significance of this lesion. METHODS: All cases of intestinal metaplasia diagnosed in our institution between 1990 and 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients with a history of urothelial carcinoma or concurrent adenocarcinoma were excluded. Patient characteristics, pathological features, and follow-up outcomes were obtained. RESULTS: We identified 89 patients with intestinal metaplasia during this period. Sixty seven were men and 22 were women. Mean age at diagnosis was 57 years (range 23-81). Common presenting complaints included haematuria (73 cases), mucosuria (13 cases), and irritative voiding symptoms (seven cases). The majority of intestinal metaplasias located on or near the trigone (67 cases). Eighty-two patients underwent transurethral resection of their lesions. Partial cystectomy was performed in the remaining seven patients. The mean follow-up of 78 patients was 105 months (range 6-255). One case of bladder adenocarcinoma was indentified 6 months later. The initial histologic findings had revealed intestinal metaplasia with severe dysplasia. Four patients presented recurrence during the follow-up, and this occurred 9, 13, 17 and 24 months after the surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Although intestinal metaplasia can be treated effectively by transurethral resection in most cases, its potential malignancy need to be taken into consideration after the evidence of recurrences and its association with bladder adenocarcinoma. Therefore, it is necessary to perform close surveillance following the surgery, particularly in patients with dysplastic changes.

Time-varying law of rebar corrosion rate in fly ash concrete.

Whereas steel bar corrosion is the main cause for durability deterioration of existing reinforced concrete structures, it is important to understand the steel bar corrosion in concrete and predict the corrosion process in a sufficient way. In this paper, the corrosion process of rebar in ordinary concrete and three types of fly ash concrete specimens casted with 15%, 30% and 45% fly ash replacement ratios by mass under constant climate conditions were investigated. Meanwhile, the advanced digital video microscope measure system was used to study the microstructure of the steel/concrete interface at the different stages of corrosion. The effects of fly ash replacement were analyzed in terms of the electrical resistivity of concrete and the corrosion rate in the corrosion process of steel bars in fly ash concrete. The results showed that the resistivity of concrete increased with an increase in fly ash replacement, and the corrosion rate declined with the fly ash replacement increases. In addition, in fly ash concrete, the corrosion rate of plain bars were obviously smaller than that of ribbed bars.

Identification and Validation of Gene Expression Patterns in Cystitis Glandularis Patients and Controls.

Our aim was to investigate differences in gene expression in bladder tissues between cystitis glandularis (CG) patients and healthy controls. Subsequent RNA was isolated from urinary bladder samples from CG patients and healthy controls, followed by RNA sequencing analysis. There were 4263 differentially expressed genes in urinary bladder between CG patients and controls, and 8 genes were verified with real-time PCR, Western blot, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analysis. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed that 25 signaling pathways were upregulated in CG patients, and 17 signaling pathways were found upregulated in healthy controls. The mRNA expression levels of the indicated genes, including CCND1, CCNA1, EGFR, AR, CX3CL1, CXCL6, and CXCL1, were significantly increased in urinary bladder from CG and bladder cancer (BC) patients compared with healthy controls, while TP53 was decreased. CX3CL1, CXCL6, and CXCL1 concentrations in peripheral blood from CG and BC patients were significantly increased compared with healthy controls. The protein expression levels of CCND1, EGFR, and AR were significantly increased in urinary bladder from CG and BC patients compared with healthy controls. In conclusion, the gene expression profile of CG patients has established a foundation to study the gene mechanism of CG and BC progression.