Adult intensive care unit nurses' knowledge of and compliance barriers to evidence-based guidelines for prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia: A cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most common nosocomial infection in intensive care units (ICUs) and is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in intensive care patients. Previous studies show that insufficient knowledge and compliance barriers among nurses affect pneumonia. There have been no investigations into intensive care nurses' knowledge and compliance barriers to evidence-based guidelines (EBGs) for VAP prevention in county-level hospitals in China. AIM: To explore adult ICU nurses' knowledge and compliance barriers to EBGs for preventing VAP in county-level hospitals in Hunan Province, China, examine the correlation between knowledge and compliance barriers, and analyse associated factors. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional electronic survey was conducted to focus on nurses' knowledge of and compliance barriers to EBGs for preventing VAP. RESULTS: A total of 386 valid questionnaires were collected, with a response rate of 97.47% (386/396 = 97.47%). The median scores for nurses' knowledge (out of 9) and compliance barriers (out of 8) to EBGs for preventing VAP were 7 (interquartile range: 5-8) and 3 (interquartile range: 2-4), respectively. Knowledge was negatively associated with compliance barriers (r = -0.437, p < .01). The results of the multiple linear regression analysis showed that hospital level, age, nurses' attendance at VAP training and years of experience in ICUs were related to the level of knowledge. Nurses' attendance at VAP training, age and years of experience in ICUs were associated with the level of compliance barriers. CONCLUSIONS: Intensive care nurses have satisfactory knowledge of EBGs for preventing VAP, but compliance barriers can be reduced. Better knowledge helps reduce the barriers to compliance among nurses. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nurse managers and nurse educators are suggested to examine nurses' knowledge and compliance barriers to EBGs for preventing VAP, develop personalized training plans, promote continuous education based on the latest EBGs and raise the nurse-patient ratio reasonably.

mTOR pathway candidate genes and physical activity interaction on breast cancer risk in black women from the women's circle of health study.

BACKGROUND: Physical activity has been shown to affect the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway and consequently breast carcinogenesis. Given that Black women in the USA are less physically active, it is not well understood whether there are gene-environment interactions between mTOR pathway genes and physical activity in relation to breast cancer risk in Black women. METHODS: The study included 1398 Black women (567 incident breast cancer cases and 831 controls) from the Women's Circle of Health Study (WCHS). We examined interactions between 43 candidate single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 20 mTOR pathway genes with levels of vigorous physical activity in relation to breast cancer risk overall and by ER-defined subtypes using Wald test with 2-way interaction term and multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: AKT1 rs10138227 (C > T) and AKT1 rs1130214 (C > A) were only associated with a decreased risk of ER + breast cancer among women with vigorous physical activity (odds ratio [OR] = 0.15, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.04, 0.56, for each copy of the T allele, p-interaction = 0.007 and OR = 0.51, 95% CI 0.27, 0.96, for each copy of the A allele, p-interaction = 0.045, respectively). MTOR rs2295080 (G > T) was only associated with an increased risk of ER + breast cancer among women with vigorous physical activity (OR = 2.24, 95% CI 1.16, 4.34, for each copy of the G allele; p-interaction = 0.043). EIF4E rs141689493 (G > A) was only associated with an increased risk of ER- breast cancer among women with vigorous physical activity (OR = 20.54, 95% CI 2.29, 184.17, for each copy of the A allele; p-interaction = 0.003). These interactions became non-significant after correction for multiple testing (FDR-adjusted p-value > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that mTOR genetic variants may interact with physical activity in relation to breast cancer risk in Black women. Future studies should confirm these findings.

Establishment and identification of a skin cell line from Chinese tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis) and analysis of the changes in its transcriptome upon LPS stimulation.

The Chinese tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis) holds significant economic importance within the fishing industry along the eastern coasts of China. In recent years, the frequent outbreaks of bacterial diseases have become a common concern as the aquaculture scale expands. The majority of the diseased fish exhibit symptoms such as skin congestion, damage and skin ulceration. As the skin serves as the first line of defense against bacterial infections, establishing a skin cell line for immunological research on Chinese tongue sole's response to bacterial infection is of utmost importance. In this study, a cell line named CSS (derived from the skin of the Chinese tongue sole) was successfully established. The cells have demonstrated stability during passages and exhibit a multipolar fibroblast-like morphology. They were cultured in L-15 medium with 20% serum and have been successfully passed through 60 passages over a period of 20 months. The identification of the mitochondrial CO1 gene confirmed that the cell originated from Chinese tongue sole. The karyotype detection revealed that the cell had a chromosome number of 2n = 42. After being stored in liquid nitrogen for 15 months, the cells can maintain more than 75% viability upon recovery. After transfecting with cy3-labeled scramble siRNA and pEGFP-N3 plasmid, clear fluorescence was observed in the transfected cells. We observed that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Escherichia coli significantly upregulate the gene expression of various immune-related pathways at 2 h in the CSS cell line. Additionally, the differentially expressed genes showed a higher enrichment in immune-related pathways at 2 and 6 h after stimulation compared to the 24 h point. Moreover, we identified 347 genes that exhibited a gradual increase in expression during the 0-24 h stimulation period. These genes were primarily enriched in pathways related to Autophagy, GABAergic synapse, Apelin signaling and Ferroptosis. In general, the CSS cell line established in this study exhibits stable growth and can serve as a valuable tool for in vitro studies of immunology and other basic biologies of Chinese tongue sole.

In Situ Visual Distribution of Gelsemine, Koumine, and Gelsenicine by MSI in Gelsemiumelegans at Different Growth Stages.

The distribution of pharmatically important alkaloids gelsemine, koumine, and gelsenicine in Gelsemium elegans tissues is a hot topic attracting research attention. Regretfully, the in planta visual distribution details of these alkaloids are far from clear although several researches reported the alkaloid quantification in G. elegans by LC-MS/MS. In this study, mass imaging spectrometry (MSI) was employed to visualize the in situ visualization of gelsemine, koumine, and gelsenicine in different organs and tissues of G. elegans at different growth stages, and the relative quantification of three alkaloids were performed according to the image brightness intensities captured by the desorption electrospray ionization MSI (DESI-MSI). The results indicated that these alkaloids were mainly accumulated in pith region and gradually decreased from pith to epidermis. Interestingly, three alkaloids were found to be present in higher abundance in the leaf vein. Along with the growth and development, the accumulation of these alkaloids was gradually increased in root and stem. Moreover, we employed LC-MS/MS to quantify three alkaloids and further validated the in situ distributions. The content of koumine reached 249.2 µg/g in mature roots, 272.0 µg/g in mature leaves, and 149.1 µg/g in mature stems, respectively, which is significantly higher than that of gelsemine and gelsenicine in the same organ. This study provided an accurately in situ visualization of gelsemine, koumine, and gelsenicine in G. elegans, and would be helpful for understanding their accumulation in plant and guiding application.

Characterization of Chinese tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis) 24-dehydrocholesterol reductase: Expression profile, epigenetic modification, and its knock-down effect.

The sexual size dimorphism of the Chinese tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis) has greatly obstructed its sustainable development; however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Based on C. semilaevis transcriptomic information, 24-dehydrocholesterol reductase (dhcr24) was identified in steroid biosynthesis, showing female-liver-biased expression. Dhcr24 has been reported to participate in various processes, such as cholesterol synthesis, oxidative stress response, neuroprotection, and cell survival. The present study assessed its role in the sexual size dimorphism in fish. First, detailed expression pattern analysis showed that dhcr24 mRNAs were extensively expressed in tissues and the highest levels were found in the liver and gonads of females. Analysis of the dhcr24 promoter region demonstrated different DNA methylation statuses in female, male, and pseudomale gonads with higher epigenetic modification in males. The confirmation of transcription activity of the dhcr24 promoter and putative transcription factors (e.g., ER, AR, SREBP, and POU1F1a) provides the foundation for studying its regulatory mechanism. Finally, dhcr24-siRNA mediated knock-down assay using C. semilaevis liver cells showed that steroid biosynthesis related genes (e.g., ebp, dhcr7, and sc5d), core component of PI3K/Akt pathway (e.g., pi3k), and igf1r exhibited different expression patterns. Further investigation on the interplay between steroid hormones, dhcr24, PI3K/Akt, and IGF-1 systems will be valuable to better understand the mechanism underlying the sexual size dimorphism in C. semilaevis.

Differences in microRNA expression in breast cancer between women of African and European ancestry.

Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease, characterized by molecularly and phenotypically distinct tumor subtypes, linked to disparate clinical outcomes. American women of African ancestry (AA) are more likely than those of European ancestry (EA) to be diagnosed with aggressive, estrogen receptor negative (ER-) or triple negative breast cancer, and to die of this disease. However, the underlying causes of AA predisposition to ER-/triple negative breast cancer are still largely unknown. In this study, we performed high-throughput whole-genome miRNA expression profiling in breast tissue samples from both AA and EA women. A number of differentially expressed miRNAs, i.e., DEmiRs defined as >2-fold change in expression and false discovery rate <0.05, were identified as up- or downregulated by tumor ER status or by ancestry. We found that among 102 ER-subtype-related DEmiRs identified in breast tumors, the majority of these DEmiRs were race specific, with only 23 DEmiRs shared in tumors from both AAs and EAs; this finding indicates that there are unique subsets of miRNAs differentially expressed between ER- and ER positive tumors within AAs versus EAs. Our overall results support the notion that miRNA expression patterns may differ not only by tumor subtype but by ancestry, indicating differences in tumor biology and heterogeneity of breast cancer between AAs and EAs. These results will provide the basis for further functional analysis to elucidate biological differences between AAs and EAs and to help develop targeted treatment strategies to reduce disparities in breast cancer.

Neuroprotective and Anti-Amyloid ß Effect and Main Chemical Profiles of White Tea: Comparison Against Green, Oolong and Black Tea.

White tea (WT) is one of six tea types originally derived from Fujian Province, China. White tea is known for its health-promoting properties. However, the neuroprotective and anti-aggregatory properties of WT against the hallmark toxic Alzheimer's protein, Aß have not been investigated. In this study, WT, green tea (GT), oolong tea (OT) and black tea (BT) were manufactured using tea leaves from the cultivar Camellia sinensis (Jin Guanyin). The protective effects of these tea extracts were then studied under oxidative stress conditions via t-bhp and H2O2 exposure, in addition to Aß treatment using a PC-12 cell model. Each tea type failed to rescue PC-12 cells from either t-bhp or H2O2-mediated toxicity, however each extract exerted significant protection against Aß-evoked neurotoxicity. Results of the Thioflavin T Kinetic (ThT) and TEM assay showed that Aß aggregate formation was inhibited by each tea type. Additionally, TEM also supported the different anti-aggregatory effect of WT by modifying Aß into an amorphous and punctate aggregate morphology. Higher accumulated precedent or potential neuroprotective compounds in WT, including ECG''3Me, 8-C-ascorbyl-EGCG, GABA and Gln, in addition to flavonol or flavone glycosides detected by using UPLC-QTOF-MS and UPLC-QqQ-MS, may contribute to a favourable anti-aggregative and neuroprotective effect of WT against Aß.

Insights into Tissue-specific Specialized Metabolism in Tieguanyin Tea Cultivar by Untargeted Metabolomics.

Tea plants produce extremely diverse and abundant specialized metabolites, the types and levels of which are developmentally and environmentally regulated. However, little is known about how developmental cues affect the synthesis of many of these molecules. In this study, we conducted a comparative profiling of specialized metabolites from six different tissues in a premium oolong tea cultivar, Tieguanyin, which is gaining worldwide popularity due to its uniquely rich flavors and health benefits. UPLC-QTOF MS combined with multivariate analyses tentatively identified 68 metabolites belonging to 11 metabolite classes, which exhibited sharp variations among tissues. Several metabolite classes, such as flavonoids, alkaloids, and hydroxycinnamic acid amides were detected predominantly in certain plant tissues. In particular, tricoumaroyl spermidine and dicoumaroyl putrescine were discovered as unique tea flower metabolites. This study offers novel insights into tissue-specific specialized metabolism in Tieguanyin, which provides a good reference point to explore gene-metabolite relationships in this cultivar.

FOXA1 hypermethylation: link between parity and ER-negative breast cancer in African American women?

BACKGROUND: Reproductive factors, particularly parity, have differential effects on breast cancer risk according to estrogen receptor (ER) status, especially among African American (AA) women. One mechanism could be through DNA methylation, leading to altered expression levels of genes important in cell fate decisions. METHODS: Using the Illumina 450K BeadChip, we compared DNA methylation levels in paraffin-archived tumor samples from 383 AA and 350 European American (EA) women in the Women's Circle of Health Study (WCHS). We combined 450K profiles with RNA-seq data and prioritized genes based on differential methylation by race, correlation between methylation and gene expression, and biological function. We measured tumor protein expression and assessed its relationship to DNA methylation. We evaluated associations between reproductive characteristics and DNA methylation using linear regression. RESULTS: 410 loci were differentially methylated by race, with the majority unique to ER- tumors. FOXA1 was hypermethylated in tumors from AA versus EA women with ER- cancer, and increased DNA methylation correlated with reduced RNA and protein expression. Importantly, parity was positively associated with FOXA1 methylation among AA women with ER- tumors (P = 0.022), as was number of births (P = 0.026), particularly among those who did not breastfeed (P = 0.008). These same relationships were not observed among EA women, although statistical power was more limited. CONCLUSIONS: Methylation and expression of FOXA1 is likely impacted by parity and breastfeeding. Because FOXA1 regulates a luminal gene expression signature in progenitor cells and represses the basal phenotype, this could be a mechanism that links these reproductive exposures with ER- breast cancer.

Spin-exciton interaction and related micro-photoluminescence spectra of ZnSe:Mn DMS nanoribbon.

For their spintronic applications the magnetic and optical properties of diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) have been studied widely. However, the exact relationships between the magnetic interactions and optical emission behaviors in DMS are not well understood yet due to their complicated microstructural and compositional characters from different growth and preparation techniques. Manganese (Mn) doped ZnSe nanoribbons with high quality were obtained by using the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. Successful Mn ion doping in a single ZnSe nanoribbon was identified by elemental energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy mapping and micro-photoluminescence (PL) mapping of intrinsic d-d optical transition at 580 nm, i.e. the transition of 4 T 1(4 G) â†’ 6 A 1(6 s),. Besides the d-d transition PL peak at 580 nm, two other PL peaks related to Mn ion aggregates in the ZnSe lattice were detected at 664 nm and 530 nm, which were assigned to the d-d transitions from the Mn2+-Mn2+ pairs with ferromagnetic (FM) coupling and antiferromagnetic (AFM) coupling, respectively. Moreover, AFM pair formation goes along with strong coupling with acoustic phonon or structural defects. These arguments were supported by temperature-dependent PL spectra, power-dependent PL lifetimes, and first-principle calculations. Due to the ferromagnetic pair existence, an exciton magnetic polaron (EMP) is formed and emits at 460 nm. Defect existence favors the AFM pair, which also can account for its giant enhancement of spin-orbital coupling and the spin Hall effect observed in PRL 97, 126603(2006) and PRL 96, 196404(2006). These emission results of DMS reflect their relation to local sp-d hybridization, spin-spin magnetic coupling, exciton-spin or phonon interactions covering structural relaxations. This kind of material can be used to study the exciton-spin interaction and may find applications in spin-related photonic devices besides spintronics.

Plasma D-dimer Can Effectively Predict the Prospective Occurrence of Ascites in Advanced Schistosomiasis Japonica Patients.

China still has more than 30,000 patients of advanced schistosomiasis while new cases being reported consistently. D-dimer is a fibrin degradation product. As ascites being the dominating symptom in advanced schistosomiasis, the present study aimed to explore a prediction model of ascites with D-dimer and other clinical easy-achievable indicators. A case-control study nested in a prospective cohort was conducted in schistosomiasis-endemic area of southern China. A total of 291 patients of advanced schistosomiasis were first investigated in 2013 and further followed in 2014. Information on clinical history, physical examination, and abdominal ultrasonography, including the symptom of ascites was repeatedly collected. Result showed 44 patients having ascites. Most of the patients' ascites were confined in the kidney area with median area of 20 mm2. The level of plasma D-dimer and pertinent liver function indicators were measured at the initial investigation in 2013. Compared with those without ascites, cases with ascites had significantly higher levels of D-dimer (0.71±2.44 µg/L vs 0.48±2.12 µg/L, P=0.005), as well ALB (44.5 vs 46.2, g/L) and Type IV collagen (50.04 vs 44.50 µg/L). Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses indicated a moderate predictive value of D-dimer by its own area under curve (AUC) of 0.64 (95% CI: 0.54-0.73) and the cutoff value as 0.81 µg/L. Dichotomized by the cutoff level, D-dimer along with other categorical variables generated a prediction model with AUC of 0.76 (95% CI: 0.68-0.89). Risks of patients with specific characteristics in the prediction model were summarized. Our study suggests that the plasma D-dimer level is a reliable predictor for incident ascites in advanced schistosomiasis japonica patients.

Diabetes, metformin and incidence of and death from invasive cancer in postmenopausal women: Results from the women's health initiative.

Findings from studies of metformin use with risk of cancer incidence and outcome provide mixed results; with few studies examined associations by recency of diabetes diagnosis or duration of medication use. Thus, in the Women's Health Initiative, we examined these associations and further explored whether associations differ by recency of diabetes and duration of metformin use. Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and their 95% confidence intervals. Diabetes was associated with higher risk of total invasive cancer (HR, 1.13; p < 0.001) and of several site-specific cancers (HR, 1.2-1.4, and up to over twofold). Diabetes was also associated with higher risk of death from cancer (HR, 1.46; p < 0.001). There was no overall difference in cancer incidence by diabetes therapy (p = 0.66). However, there was a lower risk of death from cancer for metformin users, compared to users of other medications, relative to women without diabetes, overall (HRs, 1.08 vs. 1.45; p = 0.007) and for breast cancer (HRs, 0.50 vs. 1.29; p = 0.05). Results also suggested that lower cancer risk associated with metformin may be evident only for a longer duration of use in certain cancer sites or subgroup populations. We provide further evidence that postmenopausal women with diabetes are at higher risk of invasive cancer and cancer death. Metformin users, particularly long-term users, may be at lower risk of developing certain cancers and dying from cancer, compared to users of other anti-diabetes medications. Future studies are needed to determine the long-term effect of metformin in cancer risk and survival from cancer.

Vigorous physical activity and risk of breast cancer in the African American breast cancer epidemiology and risk consortium.

The relationship between physical activity and breast cancer risk has been extensively studied among women of European descent, with most studies reporting inverse associations. However, data on American women of African ancestry (AA) and by tumor subtypes are sparse. Thus, we examined associations of vigorous exercise and breast cancer risk overall, and by estrogen receptor (ER) status, in the African American Breast Cancer Epidemiology and Risk Consortium. We pooled data from four large studies on 2482 ER+ cases, 1374 ER- cases, and 16,959 controls. Multivariable logistic regression was used to compute odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) for the risk of breast cancer overall, and polytomous logistic regression was used to model the risk of ER+ and ER- cancer. Recent vigorous exercise was associated with a statistically significant, modestly decreased risk for breast cancer overall (OR 0.88, 95 % CI 0.81-0.96) and for ER+ cancer (OR 0.88, 95 % CI 0.80-0.98), but not for ER- cancer (OR 0.93, 95 % CI 0.82-1.06). Overall, there was no strong evidence of effect modification by age, menopausal status, body mass index, and parity. However, our data were suggestive of modification by family history, such that an inverse association was present among women without a family history but not among those with a relative affected by breast cancer. Results from this large pooled analysis provide evidence that vigorous physical activity is associated with a modestly reduced risk of breast cancer in AA women, specifically ER+ cancer.

Serum androgens and prostate cancer risk: results from the placebo arm of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial.

BACKGROUND: Compelling and long-standing data suggest that androgens play an important role in the development of both normal prostate epithelium and prostate cancer. Although testosterone administration can induce prostate cancer (PCA) in laboratory animals, serum-based epidemiologic studies examining androgens in humans have not consistently supported a role for androgens in prostate carcinogenesis. We examined whether pre-diagnostic serum androgens were associated with PCA risk in the placebo arm of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. METHODS: In this nested case-control study, cases (n = 1,032) were primarily local-stage, biopsy-detected cancers, and controls (n = 1,025) were biopsy-confirmed to be PCA-free. Pre-diagnostic serum androgens (total testosterone, 3α-androstanediol glucuronide, free testosterone), estrogen-to-testosterone ratio, and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) concentrations were measured in pooled (baseline and year 3) blood samples. RESULTS: We found no significant associations between serum androgens, estrogen-to-testosterone ratios, or SHBG and risk of total, low (Gleason <7) or high-grade (Gleason 7-10) PCA. CONCLUSION: Much remains to be learned about the role of androgens in prostate carcinogenesis. Further research is needed to evaluate the role of androgens, timing of exposure, genetic modulators of androgen metabolism, or environmental exposures that may affect androgen influence on prostate carcinogenesis.

Mobilization and removing of cadmium from kidney by GMDTC utilizing renal glucose reabsorption pathway.

Chronic exposure to cadmium compounds (Cd(2+)) is one of the major public health problems facing humans in the 21st century. Cd(2+) in the human body accumulates primarily in the kidneys which leads to renal dysfunction and other adverse health effects. Efforts to find a safe and effective drug for removing Cd(2+) from the kidneys have largely failed. We developed and synthesized a new chemical, sodium (S)-2-(dithiocarboxylato((2S,3R,4R,5R)-2,3,4,5,6 pentahydroxyhexyl)amino)-4-(methylthio) butanoate (GMDTC). Here we report that GMDTC has a very low toxicity with an acute lethal dose (LD50) of more than 10,000mg/kg or 5000mg/kg body weight, respectively, via oral or intraperitoneal injection in mice and rats. In in vivo settings, up to 94% of Cd(2+) deposited in the kidneys of Cd(2+)-laden rabbits was removed and excreted via urine following a safe dose of GMDTC treatment for four weeks, and renal Cd(2+) level was reduced from 12.9µg/g to 1.3µg/g kidney weight. We observed similar results in the mouse and rat studies. Further, we demonstrated both in in vitro and in animal studies that the mechanism of transporting GMDTC and GMDTC-Cd complex into and out of renal tubular cells is likely assisted by two glucose transporters, sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) and glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2). Collectively, our study reports that GMDTC is safe and highly efficient in removing deposited Cd(2+) from kidneys assisted by renal glucose reabsorption system, suggesting that GMDTC may be the long-pursued agent used for preventive and therapeutic purposes for both acute and chronic Cd(2+) exposure.

Assessment of the effect of treatment and assistance program on advanced patients with schistosomiasis japonica in China from 2009 to 2014.

Schistosomiasis is one of the most important zoonoses, threatening approximately 800 million people in 78 countries with a loss of 70 million disability-adjusted life years. Over the past six decades, China has made remarkable achievements in morbidity control, but disability and mortality control remains much to desire; thus, advanced schistosomiasis is a growing problem when on the road to schistosomiasis elimination. Since 2005, China has initiated a national treatment and assistance program to advanced patients, aiming to improve patients' symptoms and quality of life. Here, we conducted a two-phase study to evaluate the program's implementation and effect on advanced patients from 2009 to 2014 in Jiangxi Province, China. A total of 6425 advanced schistosomiasis cases were included in this study. For those having been treated and assisted (90.7 %), the cure or improvement rate was over 99.9 %, with 668 (11.5 %) cases having reached clinical cure and 5152 (88.4 %) cases' condition having improved, which can be partially reflected in the significant decline of the proportion of hepatomegaly (splenomegaly), the degree of liver fibrosis, ascites-related indicators (abdominal girth and frequency of shifting dullness), and portal hypertension-related indices (inner diameter of portal vein and frequency of subcutaneous varicose vein of abdominal wall). Besides, it was estimated to have saved 2004 years of life lost at total. Therefore, the government should continue support and increase input of treatment and assistance program so that this project can reach more patients, leading to consolidation of achievements of schistosomiasis control and contribution to schistosomiasis elimination.

Genetic variants in one-carbon metabolism genes and breast cancer risk in European American and African American women.

Folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism plays critical roles in DNA synthesis, repair and DNA methylation. The impact of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in folate-metabolizing enzymes has been investigated in risk of breast cancer among European or Asian populations, but not among women of African ancestry. We conducted a comprehensive analysis of SNPs in eleven genes involved in one-carbon metabolism and risk of breast cancer in 1,275 European-American (EA) and 1,299 African-American (AA) women who participated in the Women's Circle of Health Study. Allele frequencies varied significantly between EA and AA populations. A number of these SNPs, specifically in genes including MTR, MTRR, SHMT1, TYMS and SLC19A1, were associated with overall breast cancer risk, as well as risk by estrogen receptor (ER) status, in either EA or AA women. Associations appeared to be modified by dietary folate intake. Although single-SNP associations were not statistically significant after correcting for multiple comparisons, polygenetic score analyses revealed significant associations with breast cancer risk. Per unit increase of the risk score was associated with a modest 19 to 50% increase in risk of breast cancer overall, ER positive or ER negative cancer (all p < 0.0005) in EAs or AAs. In summary, our data suggest that one-carbon metabolizing gene polymorphisms could play a role in breast cancer and that may differ between EA and AA women.

Analysis of thyroid malignant pathologic findings identified during 3 rounds of screening (1997-2008) of a cohort of children and adolescents from belarus exposed to radioiodines after the Chernobyl accident.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies of children and adolescents who were exposed to radioactive iodine-131 (I-131) after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine exhibited a significant dose-related increase in the risk of thyroid cancer, but the association of radiation doses with tumor histologic and morphologic features is not clear. METHODS: A cohort of 11,664 individuals in Belarus who were aged ≤18 years at the time of the accident underwent 3 cycles of thyroid screening during 1997 to 2008. I-131 thyroid doses were estimated from individual thyroid activity measurements taken within 2 months after the accident and from dosimetric questionnaire data. Demographic, clinical, and tumor pathologic characteristics of the patients with thyroid cancer were analyzed using 1-way analysis of variance, chi-square tests or Fisher exact tests, and logistic regression. RESULTS: In total, 158 thyroid cancers were identified as a result of screening. The majority of patients had T1a and T1b tumors (93.7%), with many positive regional lymph nodes (N1; 60.6%) but few distant metastases (M1; <1%). Higher I-131 doses were associated with higher frequency of solid and diffuse sclerosing variants of thyroid cancer (P < .01) and histologic features of cancer aggressiveness, such as lymphatic vessel invasion, intrathyroidal infiltration, and multifocality (all P < .03). Latency was not correlated with radiation dose. Fifty-two patients with self-reported thyroid cancers which were diagnosed before 1997 were younger at the time of the accident and had a higher percentage of solid variant cancers compared with patients who had screening-detected thyroid cancers (all P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: I-131 thyroid radiation doses were associated with a significantly greater frequency of solid and diffuse sclerosing variants of thyroid cancer and various features of tumor aggressiveness.

Arsenic responsive microRNAs in vivo and their potential involvement in arsenic-induced oxidative stress.

Arsenic exposure is postulated to modify microRNA (miRNA) expression, leading to changes of gene expression and toxicities, but studies relating the responses of miRNAs to arsenic exposure are lacking, especially with respect to in vivo studies. We utilized high-throughput sequencing technology and generated miRNA expression profiles of liver tissues from Sprague Dawley (SD) rats exposed to various concentrations of sodium arsenite (0, 0.1, 1, 10 and 100mg/L) for 60days. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering analysis of the miRNA expression profiles clustered the SD rats into different groups based on the arsenic exposure status, indicating a highly significant association between arsenic exposure and cluster membership (p-value of 0.0012). Multiple miRNA expressions were altered by arsenic in an exposure concentration-dependent manner. Among the identified arsenic-responsive miRNAs, several are predicted to target Nfe2l2-regulated antioxidant genes, including glutamate-cysteine ligase (GCL) catalytic subunit (GCLC) and modifier subunit (GCLM) which are involved in glutathione (GSH) synthesis. Exposure to low concentrations of arsenic increased mRNA expression for Gclc and Gclm, while high concentrations significantly reduced their expression, which were correlated to changes in hepatic GCL activity and GSH level. Moreover, our data suggested that other mechanisms, e.g., miRNAs, rather than Nfe2l2-signaling pathway, could be involved in the regulation of mRNA expression of Gclc and Gclm post-arsenic exposure in vivo. Together, our findings show that arsenic exposure disrupts the genome-wide expression of miRNAs in vivo, which could lead to the biological consequence, such as an altered balance of antioxidant defense and oxidative stress.

Chronic trimethyltin chloride exposure and the development of kidney stones in rats.

We recently reported that occupational exposure to trimethyltin (TMT) is a risk factor for developing kidney stones. To further examine the association between TMT exposure and the formation of kidney stones, we conducted a 180-day animal study and exposed the randomly grouped Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats to TMT in the drinking water at doses of 0, 8.2, 32.8 and 131.3 µg kg(-1) day(-1). Transient behavioral changes were observed in the high-dose group during the first 2 weeks of exposure. TMT exposure led to a significant dose-dependent inhibition of renal H(+)/K(+)-ATPase and an increase in urinary pH. In comparison to no kidney stones being identified in the control and the lowest dose group, 1 rat in the 32.8 µg kg(-1) day(-1) dose group and 3 out of 9 rats in the 131.3 µg kg(-1) day(-1) dose group were found to have stones in the kidney/urinary tract. Pathological analysis showed that more wide spread calcium disposition was observed in kidneys of rats with TMT exposure compared with the rats in the control group. However, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis found that the kidney stones were mainly composed of struvite with the formula: NH4MgPO4 6H2O, while calcium-containing components were also detected. Together, this study further demonstrates through animal studies that chronic exposure to a relatively low level of TMT induces nephrotoxicity and increases the risk for developing kidney stones.