Polygalacin D inhibits the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cells through BNIP3L-mediated mitophagy and endogenous apoptosis pathways / 中国天然药物

Platycodon grandiflorum (Jacq.) A. DC. is a famous medicinal plant commonly used in East Asia. Triterpene saponins isolated from P. grandiflorum are the main biologically active compounds, among which polygalacin D (PGD) has been reported to be an anti-tumor agent. However, its anti-tumor mechanism against hepatocellular carcinoma is unknown. This study aimed to explore the inhibitory effect of PGD in hepatocellular carcinoma cells and related mechanisms of action. We found that PGD exerted significant inhibitory effect on hepatocellular carcinoma cells through apoptosis and autophagy. Analysis of the expression of apoptosis-related proteins and autophagy-related proteins revealed that this phenomenon was attributed to the mitochondrial apoptosis and mitophagy pathways. Subsequently, using specific inhibitors, we found that apoptosis and autophagy had mutually reinforcing effects. In addition, further analysis of autophagy showed that PGD induced mitophagy by increasing BCL2 interacting protein 3 like (BNIP3L) levels.In vivo experiments demonstrated that PGD significantly inhibited tumor growth and increased the levels of apoptosis and autophagy in tumors. Overall, our findings showed that PGD induced cell death of hepatocellular carcinoma cells primarily through mitochondrial apoptosis and mitophagy pathways. Therefore, PGD can be used as an apoptosis and autophagy agonist in the research and development of antitumor agents.

Association between maternal periodontal diseases and preterm-birth and low-birth weight / 实用口腔医学杂志

Objective: To investigate the association of periodontal diseases in pregnant women with preterm birth and low birth weight. Methods: 213 pregnant women aged 22-40 years were enrolled while receiving periodontal examination by 26 weeks of gestation. Periodontal measurements included plaque index(PLI),bleeding on probing (BOP),probing pocket depth(PD) and clinical attachment loss(CAL) were used as the criteria to classify the groups: healthy group(HG; n = 63),gingivitis group(GG; n = 74) and periodontitis group(PG; n = 76). At delivery,birth date and birth weight were recorded. Results: Preterm birth ratio in PG group is higher than that in HG group and GG group(P ＜ 0. 05). Conclusion: Periodontal disease may lead to preterm birth in pregnant women.

Study on expression of CD174, cyclin D1 and cyclin E in gastrointestinal tumors / 临床检验杂志

Objective To observe the expression levels of CD174, cyclin D1 and cyclin E in gastrointestinal tumor tissues, analyze the correlation among CD174, cyclin D1 and cyclin E, and evaluate the expression level of CD174 for diagnosis and prognosis of gastrointestinal tumors.Methods Flow cytometry was used to determine the expression of CD174, cyclin D1 and cyclin E on surface of the cells which were collected from the tumor tissues and distant part beside the same tumor and suspended. The expression and topography of CD174 in gastrointestinal tissue were investigated with immunohistochemical staining.Results The expression of CD174 in tumor tissues was obviously lower than that in distal noncancerous tissues (P