Correlation of CD4CD29regulatory T cells with recurrence and survival time in patients with non-small cell lung cancer / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the correlation of CD4CD29regulatory T cells (Treg) with tumor recurrence and survival time in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fifty-nine patients with NSCLC treated with radical surgery were followed up for 5 years. Blood Treg cells were examined during the follow-up using flow cytometry (FCM). The sensitivity and specificity of Treg cells to predict recurrence of NSCLC were analyzed using receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve and compared with those of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cytokeratin21-1 (Cyfra21-1). The influences of gender, age, occupation and radiotherapy on survival time of the patients were analyzed with Kaplan-Meier method.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among the 59 patients, the shortest survival time was 23 months while the longest time was over 67 months. Nineteen patients had NSCLC recurrence, and 17 (28.81%) of them died of metastasis during the follow-up. The frequencies of blood Treg cells in patients who did not receive radiotherapy and in patients with tumor recurrence were significantly higher than those in patients receiving radiotherapy and in patients free of recurrence (P=0.000). ROC curves showed that the area under curve (AUC) lowered in the order of Treg cells, Cyfra21-1, CEA (P=0.002, 0.006 and 0.013, respectively) with 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.649-0.981, 0.621-0.936 and 0.584-0.944, respectively. At the cut-off value of 7.53%, the sensitivity and specificity of Treg cells to predict NSCLC recurrence was 91.42% and 87.59%, respectively. The five-year survival rate of the 59 patients was 71.18% (42/59), and Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a longer survival time in female patients (P=0.038), in patients below 50 years of age (P=0.013), in patients not engaging in mental work (P=0.029), and in patients receiving radiotherapy (P=0.003).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Treg cells has a better efficiency than Cyfra21-1 and CEA to predict tumor recurrence in patients with NSCLC following radical surgery. The male gender, an age beyond 50 years, an occupation of mental work, and failure to receive radiotherapy are all risk factors for recurrence of NSCLC.</p>

Effects of long-term estrogen replacement treatment on the expression of bcl-2 and H-ras in rat endometrium / 中南大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the effects of long-term estrogen replacement treatment (ERT) on the expression of bcl-2 and H-ras in rat endometrium.@*METHODS@#Thirty 5-month-old SD female rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: Control group ( sham operated and vehicle injected, n 10) , OVX group (OVX operated and vehicle injected, n = 10) , and ERT group (OVX operated and 17 beta-estradiol injected, n = 10). The rats were killed in the 13th week and the uteri were isolated and weighed, pathologically analyzed, and we measured the thickness of the endometrium. Immunochemistry and in situ hybridization analysis were used to examine the changes of bcl-2 and H-ras mRNA and Bcl and H-ras protein expression in the endometrium of the rats.@*RESULTS@#Uterine weight and endometrial thickness of OVX decreased much more than those of the control (P <0.01 ) and ERT rats (P < 0.01). One simple hyperplasia and one squamous metaplasia of endometrium were found in ERT rats. Quantitatively, bcl-2 and H-ras mRNA and Bcl and H-ras protein level of ERT were higher than those of OVX rats (P < 0.01 ), and there were no statistical significances between the ERT group and the control rats.@*CONCLUSION@#Long-term estrogen replacement can keep the endometrium from atrophy, and lead to the genesis of simple hyperplasia and squamous metaplasia of the endometriun, which can increase the risk of endometrial carcinomas. Estrogen may inhibit apoptosis and promote the proliferation of endometrial cells through increasing the expression of bcl-2 and H-ras mRNA and Bcl-H-ras proteins.

Effects of long-term estrogen replacement treatment on the blood pressure and expression of IR and IRS-1 in myocardium / 中南大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To determine the effects of long-term estrogen replacement treatment on blood pressure and expressions of insulin receptor (IR) and insulin receptor substrate-1 ( IRS-1) in myocardium.@*METHODS@#Fifty female SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups. And then sham ( n = 16), ovariectomy (OVX, n = 17), and estrogen replacement treatment group (OVX + E2, n = 17) were established. Systolic blood pressure of tail artery was determined by tail-cuff technique before the operation and on week 12 after the operation. The expressions of IR and IRS-1 were measured by RT-PCR in myocardium of SD rats.@*RESULTS@#Blood pressure [ (118.75+/-2.77) mmHg] in OVX was significantly higher than that in the sham [ ( 103.86+/-1.84) mmHg, P 0.05 ). The difference of IR expression has no statistical significance among the 3 groups.@*CONCLUSION@#Long-term estrogen replacement treatment might protect cardiovascular system through decreasing the blood pressure and inducing the expression of IRS-1 in myocardium. However, plasma estrogen level doesn't significantly influence the IR expression.