Minimal improvement in coronary artery disease risk prediction in Chinese population using polygenic risk scores: evidence from the China Kadoorie Biobank / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#Several studies have reported that polygenic risk scores (PRSs) can enhance risk prediction of coronary artery disease (CAD) in European populations. However, research on this topic is far from sufficient in non-European countries, including China. We aimed to evaluate the potential of PRS for predicting CAD for primary prevention in the Chinese population.@*METHODS@#Participants with genome-wide genotypic data from the China Kadoorie Biobank were divided into training ( n = 28,490) and testing sets ( n = 72,150). Ten previously developed PRSs were evaluated, and new ones were developed using clumping and thresholding or LDpred method. The PRS showing the strongest association with CAD in the training set was selected to further evaluate its effects on improving the traditional CAD risk-prediction model in the testing set. Genetic risk was computed by summing the product of the weights and allele dosages across genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Prediction of the 10-year first CAD events was assessed using hazard ratios (HRs) and measures of model discrimination, calibration, and net reclassification improvement (NRI). Hard CAD (nonfatal I21-I23 and fatal I20-I25) and soft CAD (all fatal or nonfatal I20-I25) were analyzed separately.@*RESULTS@#In the testing set, 1214 hard and 7201 soft CAD cases were documented during a mean follow-up of 11.2 years. The HR per standard deviation of the optimal PRS was 1.26 (95% CI:1.19-1.33) for hard CAD. Based on a traditional CAD risk prediction model containing only non-laboratory-based information, the addition of PRS for hard CAD increased Harrell's C index by 0.001 (-0.001 to 0.003) in women and 0.003 (0.001 to 0.005) in men. Among the different high-risk thresholds ranging from 1% to 10%, the highest categorical NRI was 3.2% (95% CI: 0.4-6.0%) at a high-risk threshold of 10.0% in women. The association of the PRS with soft CAD was much weaker than with hard CAD, leading to minimal or no improvement in the soft CAD model.@*CONCLUSIONS@#In this Chinese population sample, the current PRSs minimally changed risk discrimination and offered little improvement in risk stratification for soft CAD. Therefore, this may not be suitable for promoting genetic screening in the general Chinese population to improve CAD risk prediction.

Lamin B1 regulates the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by influencing telomerase activity / 生物工程学报

Lamin B1 (LMNB1) is highly expressed in liver cancer tissues, and its influence and mechanism on the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells were explored by knocking down the expression of the protein. In liver cancer cells, siRNAs were used to knock down LMNB1. Knockdown effects were detected by Western blotting. Changes in telomerase activity were detected by telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay (TRAP) experiments. Telomere length changes were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). CCK8, cloning formation, transwell and wound healing were performed to detect changes in its growth, invasion and migration capabilities. The lentiviral system was used to construct HepG2 cells that steadily knocked down LMNB1. Then the changes of telomere length and telomerase activity were detected, and the cell aging status was detected by SA-β-gal senescence staining. The effects of tumorigenesis were detected by nude mouse subcutaneous tumorigenesis experiments, subsequent histification staining of tumors, SA-β-gal senescence staining, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for telomere analysis and other experiments. Finally, the method of biogenesis analysis was used to find the expression of LMNB1 in clinical liver cancer tissues, and its relationship with clinical stages and patient survival. Knockdown of LMNB1 in HepG2 and Hep3B cells significantly reduced telomerase activity, cell proliferation, migration and invasion abilities. Experiments in cells and tumor formation in nude mice had demonstrated that stable knockdown of LMNB1 reduced telomerase activity, shortened telomere length, senesced cells, reduced cell tumorigenicity and KI-67 expression. Bioinformatics analysis showed that LMNB1 was highly expressed in liver cancer tissues and correlated with tumor stage and patient survival. In conclusion, LMNB1 is overexpressed in liver cancer cells, and it is expected to become an indicator for evaluating the clinical prognosis of liver cancer patients and a target for precise treatment.

Multimorbidity patterns and association with mortality in 0.5 million Chinese adults / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#Few studies have assessed the relationship between multimorbidity patterns and mortality risk in the Chinese population. We aimed to identify multimorbidity patterns and examined the associations of multimorbidity patterns and the number of chronic diseases with the risk of mortality among Chinese middle-aged and older adults.@*METHODS@#We used data from the China Kadoorie Biobank and included 512,723 participants aged 30 to 79 years. Multimorbidity was defined as the presence of two or more of the 15 chronic diseases collected by self-report or physical examination at baseline. Multimorbidity patterns were identified using hierarchical cluster analysis. Cox regression was used to estimate the associations of multimorbidity patterns and the number of chronic diseases with all-cause and cause-specific mortality.@*RESULTS@#Overall, 15.8% of participants had multimorbidity. The prevalence of multimorbidity increased with age and was higher in urban than rural participants. Four multimorbidity patterns were identified, including cardiometabolic multimorbidity (diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and hypertension), respiratory multimorbidity (tuberculosis, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), gastrointestinal and hepatorenal multimorbidity (gallstone disease, chronic kidney disease, cirrhosis, peptic ulcer, and cancer), and mental and arthritis multimorbidity (neurasthenia, psychiatric disorder, and rheumatoid arthritis). During a median of 10.8 years of follow-up, 49,371 deaths occurred. Compared with participants without multimorbidity, cardiometabolic multimorbidity (hazard ratios [HR] = 2.20, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 2.14 - 2.26) and respiratory multimorbidity (HR = 2.13, 95% CI:1.97 - 2.31) demonstrated relatively higher risks of mortality, followed by gastrointestinal and hepatorenal multimorbidity (HR = 1.33, 95% CI:1.22 - 1.46). The mortality risk increased by 36% (HR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.35 - 1.37) with every additional disease.@*CONCLUSION@#Cardiometabolic multimorbidity and respiratory multimorbidity posed the highest threat on mortality risk and deserved particular attention in Chinese adults.

Clinical study of intraperitoneal infusion of bevacizumab combined with albumin paclitaxel and carboplatin in carcinomatous peritoneal adhesion from ovarian cancer / 国际肿瘤学杂志

Objective:To observe the clinical effects of intraperitoneal perfusion of bevacizumab combined with albumin paclitaxel and carboplatin in the treatment of malignant peritoneal adhesion caused by ovarian cancer.Methods:From January 2016 to December 2020, 54 patients treated in our hospital with malignant peritoneal adhesions caused by ovarian cancer were enrolled in this study. They were randomly divided into experimental group ( n=27) and control group ( n=27) according to the random number table method. The treatment regimen of the experimental group was intravenous infusion of albumin paclitaxel plus intraperitoneal infusion of carboplatin and bevacizumab. The treatment regimen of the control group was intra-venous infusion of albumin paclitaxel plus intraperitoneal infusion of carboplatin. The treatment was repeated every 21 days, and the therapeutic effect was evaluated every two cycles. The treatment lasted for six cycles. The efficacy and incidence of adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results:The remission rate of incomplete malignant bowel obstruction of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group [85.19% (23/27) vs. 59.26% (16/27)], the total effective rate of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group [74.07% (20/27) vs. 44.44% (12/27)], and there were statistically significant differences ( χ2=4.523, P=0.033; χ2=4.909, P=0.027). After treatment, the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in ascites of the experimental group and the control group were significantly lower than those before treatment [(80.33±1.41) pg/ml vs. (310.45±3.35) pg/ml, t=449.884, P<0.001; (135.68±1.60) pg/ml vs. (310.46±3.09) pg/ml, t=499.281, P<0.001], and after treatment, the VEGF level in the experimental group decreased more significantly than that in the control group ( t=-134.907, P<0.001). Patients in the experimental group and the control group tolerated the treatment well, and there were no significant differences in the incidences of adverse reactions such as hypertension (11.11% vs. 3.70%, χ2=0.270, P=0.603), neutropenia (14.81% vs. 11.11%, χ2<0.001, P>0.999), peripheral neuropathy (3.70% vs. 0, χ2<0.001, P>0.999), diarrhea (7.41% vs. 3.70%, χ2<0.001, P>0.999), nausea (3.70% vs. 0, χ2<0.001, P>0.999), epistaxis (7.41% vs. 0, χ2=0.519, P=0.471) or albuminuria (3.70% vs. 0, χ2<0.001, P>0.999) between the two groups. Conclusion:Intraperitoneal perfusion of bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy is superior to simple chemotherapy in the treatment of malignant peritoneal adhesion caused by ovarian cancer.