The association of vitamin D and digestive system cancers: a comprehensive Mendelian randomization study.

BACKGROUND: Hitherto, the association of vitamin D intake and digestive system cancers occurrence still causes disputation among the researchers. This study aimed to investigate the genetic relation between vitamin D ingestion and digestive system cancers (which are esophageal, gastric, hepatic, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers) by a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis, using datasets derived from IEU OpenGWAS database. METHODS: This study is based on a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for vitamin D and digestive system cancers, with a sample amount ranging from 218,792 to 496,946 European ancestry individuals. The study first investigated the causal relationship between vitamin D and each digestive system cancers using inverse-variance weighting (IVW), weighted medians, and MR-Egger regression and then used meta-analysis to summarize the IVW results for the different cancers. We also performed additional sensitivity tests to assess the validity of the results. RESULTS: In this study, we screened out 117 SNPs as potential instrumental variables for 25(OH)D and identified 101 fixed SNPs as instrumental variables for digestive system cancers. The results of the IVW failed to reveal any causal relationship between the genetically predisposed vitamin D level and the risk of digestive system cancers (esophageal cancer p = 0.400, OR = 1.397, 95% CI 0.642-3.040; gastric cancer p = 0.796, OR = 0.939, 95% CI 0.585-1.510; hepatic cancer p = 0.347, OR = 1.445, 95% CI 0.671-3.109; pancreatic cancer p = 0.905, OR = 0.969, 95% CI 0.581-1.618; colorectal cancer p = 0.127, OR = 0.0.841, 95% CI 0.673-1.051). The pooled ORs (odds ratio) are 0.918 (95% CI 0.770-1.097, p = 0.348). CONCLUSION: There is no causal relationship between vitamin D and the occurrence of digestive system cancers. The risk of digestive system cancers cannot be alleviated by merely increasing vitamin D intake.

Morphological study of chronic prostatitis-chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) normal modeling dose of T2 peptide in mice.

OBJECTIVES: However, the pathogenesis and etiology of CP/CPPS are still poorly understood. Therefore, there is a need for further research through the Image J software to develop models capable of imitating the pathogenesis and etiology of CP/CPPS with different doses of the pathogenesis and the etiology of CP/CPPS is still poorly understood. The aim was to determine the area of the prostatic interstitium, the localization of the inflammation, and the impact of different doses on the group model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 30 male ICR mice were randomly grouped into 5 (n = 6): 45 µg group = 6, 60  µg group = 6, 90  µg group = 6, 120  µg group = 6, 120  µg group = 6, control group = 6. With the exception of the control group, all the groups were immunized by injecting 0.2 mL of T2 peptide emulsion and immune adjuvant CFA to induce non-bacterial chronic prostatitis on days 0 and 14 of the mice and finally executed on day 28. All injections were administered subcutaneously. HE staining was used to evaluate changes in prostate pathology. Image J was used to calculate the area of the prostate interstitium, which represents the degree of prostate edema. To compare statistical differences between groups, the ANOVA test was used. RESULTS: From the perspective of pathological scoring, the 60 µg, 90  µg, and 120  µg groups had the highest scores using Image J to treat inflammatory cells. In addition, in the prostate interstitium area treated, it was found that the 90  µg group attained the largest prostate interstitial area as well as the highest degree of swelling. CONCLUSIONS: From the results, Image J software is an effective tool in the calculating the surface of the prostatic interstitium and the specific localization of the inflammation.

A glimpse into the efficacy of alternative therapies in the management of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common disease that can cause uncomfortable lower urinary tract symptoms. The occurrence of symptomatic BPH develops after the age of 40 years and increases gradually with age to reach more than 50% at the age of 60 years and severely disturbs the quality of life of the patients. Alpha-blockers and 5­alpha reductase inhibitors are first-line agents used for the treatment of BPH. Due to the adverse effects of these conventional therapies, many patients turn to phytotherapy and other alternative therapies. This review covers alternative therapies, i.e., phytotherapy (cernilton, eviprostat, quercetin, saw palmetto and pumpkin seed) and physical therapy (acupuncture, aquablation, pulsed electromagnetic field, prostate urethral lift, radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy, thermobalancing therapy, and transurethral needle ablation) commonly used in the management of BPH.

Factors Influencing the Delivery Efficiency of Cancer Nanomedicines.

The superiority of nanomedicine over conventional medicines in the treatment of cancer has gained immediate recognition worldwide. As traditional cancer therapies are nonspecific and detrimental to healthy cells, the ability of nanomedicine to release drugs to target tumor cells specifically instead of healthy cells has brought new hope to cancer patients. This review focuses on the effects of various factors of nanoparticles such as transport, concentration in cells, tumor microenvironment, interaction with protein, penetration, uptake by tumor cells, cancer cell mutations, and intracellular trafficking of the nanoparticle. Besides the history of nanomedicine, future perspectives of nanomedicines are also explored in this text.

Efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of chronic prostatitis-chronic pelvic pain syndrome: a review of the literature.

Among one of the four category prostatitis, chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is the disease with unknown etiology and having 90-95% prevalence in prostatitis. CP/CPPS poses adverse psychological effects and weakens the quality of life (QoL) of the patients. Due to its multifactorial etiology, various types of treatment are available with different management efficacies. The conventional treatment like anti-inflammatory medications, antibiotics, and alpha-blockers have given the lack of verified efficacy that has turned the patients to alternative therapies such as acupuncture because of its efficacy, safety, and high compliance. Acupuncture is an alternative management accepted in several countries and is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine for chronic pain. Acupuncture had the effect of immune modulation, anti-inflammatory, and neuromodulation. For chronic prostatitis, acupuncture can improve pain symptoms and can bring better results about National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI), and QoL. This review will discuss the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of CP/CPPS and effect of acupuncture on NIH-CPSI total score and its domains: pain, voiding, and QoL, as well as its effect on different biomarkers of CPPS.