BRAF(V⁶⁰⁰E) mutation and its association with clinicopathological features of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma: A meta-analysis / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

Recent studies have demonstrated that the BRAF(V600E) mutation is associated with aggressive clinicopathological features of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). However, the BRAF mutation as a prognostic biomarker in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) is unclear. A systematic search of the electronic databases, including Medline, Scopus, CNKI and the Cochrane Library was performed up to July 1, 2014. Outcomes of interest included age, gender, concomitant hashimoto thyroiditis or nodular goiter, tumor size, pathological stage, tall cell variant of PTMC (TCVPTMC), multifocality, extrathyroidal extension (ETE) and lymph node metastasis (LNM). A total of 19 studies published from 2008 to 2014 comprising 2253 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis, and 1143 (50.7%) of these patients were BRAF mutation positive. BRAF mutation was associated with larger tumor size (OR: 1.64; 95% CI: 1.16-2.32), multifocality (OR: 1.58; 95% CI: 1.25-2.00), ETE (OR: 2.59; 95% CI: 2.03-3.29), LNM (OR: 1.73; 95% CI: 1.14-2.62), advanced stage (OR: 2.03; 95% CI: 1.14-3.64) and TCVPTMC (OR: 5.07; 95% CI: 1.49-17.27; P=0.009). Additionally, the BRAF mutation was found to be not associated with age, gender, concomitant hashimoto thyroiditis or nodular goiter (P>0.05 for all). This meta-analysis revealed that in patients with PTMC, BRAF mutation is associated with tumor size, multifocality, ETE, LNM, advanced stage and TCVPTMC, and it may be used as a predictive factor for prognosis of PTMC.

Angiotensin II increases ROS production in cardiac fibroblasts by inducing p22phox over-expression / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the changes in the reactive oxygen species (ROS) in rat cardiac fibroblasts exposed to angiotensin II (Ang II) treatment and explore the possible pathways that mediate ROS production.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In vitro cultured fetal rat cardiac fibroblasts treated with apocynin (APO, 100 micromol/L), Ang II (10(-7) mol/L), or APO+Ang II (10(-7) mol/L Ang II was added 1 h after 100 micromol/L APO), and the ROS levels and p22phox expression in the cells were detected using fluorescent microscope and immunohistochemistry, respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the normal control cells, Ang II treatment of the cardiac fibroblasts resulted in significantly increased ROS production, the effect of which was inhibited by the application of APO. p22phox expression was hardly detected by immunohistochemistry in the control cells, but over-expressed in AngII-treated cells. APO substantially decreased the over-expression of p22phox induced by Ang II.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Ang II increases ROS production in fetal rat cardiac fibroblasts probably by inducing p22phox over-expression.</p>

A method for improving the accuracy and sensitivity of cell membrane chromatography / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To improve the accuracy and sensitivity of cell membrane chromatography (CMC) and evaluate the feasibility of CMC in the study of subtype receptors.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Plasmids were used to transfer alpha(1B)-AR cDNA into human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cell lines to obtain cell lines stably overexpressing the subtype receptors. HEK293 alpha(1B) cell membrane stationary phase (CMSP) was prepared by immobilizing the cell membrane on silica. The retention time of 9 alpha(1)-adrenoceptor ligands and capacity factors(kappa'(HEK293 alpha1B)) were calculated. The capacity factors of rat liver tissue and primary cultured rat hepatocytes were also calculated for a correlation analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The calculated capacity factors (kappa') were positively correlated to the published pKi values. The affinity rank orders were identical. The longest retention of the 9 alpha(1)-adrenoceptor ligands occurred on CMSP prepared with HEK293 alpha(1B) cell lines, while CMSP obtained from rat liver tissue showed the shortest retention of the ligands.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>CMC proves practical in the study of the subtype adrenoceptors. The accuracy and sensitivity of CMC can be improved using HEK293 alpha(1B) cell membrane.</p>

The effect of calorie restriction on the expression of liver's gluconeogenesis genes of rats fed a high fat diet / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect of calorie restriction on the high fat diet rats mRNA expressions of liver forkhead box O1(FoxO1), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), glucose-6-phosphatase (G-6-P) and to explore the possible mechanisms.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>24 normal 6-week-old male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups: normal chow group (NC, n = 7), high fat diet group (HF, n = 9) and calorie restriction group (CR, n = 8). They were fed for 12 weeks. At the end of the experiment, the rats were sacrificed and their fasting blood glucose (FBG), insulin (INS), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC) were measured. Their visceral fat (VF) and body weight (BW) were also measured and VF/BW was calculated. Gene expression was investigated by using semi-quantitative RT-PCR methods. Liver histology was studied with HE stained slides.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the NC group, HF group rats developed visceral obesity which was accompanied by higher FBG, plasma INS, TG, and TC. The levels of FoxO1, PEPCK, and G-6-P increased by 18.9%, 33.8%, and 24.6%, respectively (P less than 0.01). Liver steatosis was observed with microscopy. The BW, VF FBG, INS, TG and TC of the CR group rats were lower in comparison to those of the HF group. The levels of FoxO1, PEPCK and G-6-P were lower by 26.6%, 35.0%, 34.3% (P less than 0.01). Meanwhile, liver steatosis was also milder.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Calorie restriction can inhibit the expressions of FoxO1, PEPCK and G-6-P, strengthen insulin signal conduction, suppress gluconeogenesis and thus regulate glycometabolism.</p>