Effect of statins on the treatment of early diabetic nephropathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis of nine randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a secondary disease of diabetes and could cause serious renal damage. This article aimed to investigate the effect of statins on the treatment of early DN. METHODS: The databases were searched: Embase (January 2000-August 2021), PubMed (January 2000-August 2021), Cochrane [randomized controlled trial (RCT) database], Ovid (January 2000-August 2021), and clinicaltrials.gov (January 2000-August 2021) to obtain RCT literature related to statin intervention and DN. After screening, the risk of bias assessment was performed using the RevMan 5.4 software bias assessment tool, which was then used to perform the meta-analysis and obtain the therapeutic effects of statins by estimating indicators such as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), serum creatinine (SCR), total cholesterol (TC) level, total triglyceride (TG), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). RESULTS: A total of 9 articles, 3,426 patients, and 5 types of statins were included. Meta-analysis showed that after treatment, eGFR in the experimental group was higher than in the control group [mean difference (MD) =5.80; 95% confidence interval (CI): (2.21, 9.40); P=0.002], SCR was lower than in the control group [MD =-0.46; 95% CI: (-0.69, -0.24); P<0.0001], hs-CRP level was lower than in the control group [MD =-1.20; 95% CI: (-2.05, -0.36); P=0.005], TC level was lower than in the control group [MD =-54.09; 95% CI: (-68.02, -40.16); P<0.00001], and TG level was lower than that in the control group [MD =-42.19; 95% CI: (-55.54, -28.84); P<0.00001]. DISCUSSION: Statins can significantly increase eGFR, reduce SCR, decrease CRP level, and decrease blood lipid level in the treatment of DN, thus reducing the inflammatory response and protecting the kidney.

Cinnamolide sesquiterpene lactone suppresses in vitro and in vivo cancer cell growth in cisplatin-resistant human cervical carcinoma cells by inducing mitochondrial mediated apoptosis, caspase activation, loss of MMP and targeting Akt/ß-Catenin signaling pathway.

The Editors of JBUON issue an Expression of Concern to 'Cinnamolide sesquiterpene lactone suppresses in vitro and in vivo cancer cell growth in cisplatin-resistant human cervical carcinoma cells by inducing mitochondrial mediated apoptosis, caspase activation, loss of MMP and targeting Akt/ß-Catenin signaling pathway', by Jing Hou, Changli Kan, Yanju Zhu, Yi Zhang, Bingfeng Zhou, Chunli Ren, Jiuyuan Fu, Yanwei Guo, Jinhuan Zhang; JBUON 2020;25(2):709-715; PMID: 32521857. Following the publication of the above article, readers drew to our attention that part of the data was possibly unreliable. We sent emails to the authors with a request to provide the raw data to prove the originality, but received no reply. Therefore, as we continue to work through the issues raised, we advise readers to interpret the information presented in the article with due caution. We thank the readers for bringing this matter to our attention. We apologize for any inconvenience it may cause.

Cinnamolide sesquiterpene lactone suppresses in vitro and in vivo cancer cell growth in cisplatin-resistant human cervical carcinoma cells by inducing mitochondrial mediated apoptosis, caspase activation, loss of MMP and targeting Akt/ß-Catenin signaling pathway.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to examine the in vitro and in vivo antitumor effects of Cinnamolide against cisplatin-resistant human cervical cancer cells (HeLa cells). METHODS: Cell viability was examined by WST-1 cell viability assay. Cinnamolide-induced apoptosis was examined by fluorescent microscopy using acridine orange (ΑΟ) /ethidium bromide (EB) staining and flow cytometry in combination with annexin-V/propidium iodide (PI) staining. Western blot was used to study the effects of Cinnamolide on apoptosis-related protein expressions including Bax and Bcl-2 as well as to study effects on numerous caspases and Akt/ß-Catenin signaling pathway. Effects on mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) were evaluated by flow cytometry. In vivo studies using xenograft mouse model were carried out to evaluate the efficacy of Cinnamolide under in vivo conditions. RESULTS: Cinnamolide decreased the viability of the HeLa human cervical cancer cells and exhibited an IC50 of 16.5 µM. The cytoxicity of Cinnamolide was also investigated on the MDCK normal cervical cells which showed that Cinnamolide exerted very low toxic effects on these cells. Cinnamolide also caused remarkable changes in the morphology of the HeLa cancer cells and suppressed their colony forming potential. The AO/EB staining showed that this molecule inhibits the viability of cancer cells via induction of apoptotic cell death which was associated with increase in Bax and decrease in Bcl-2 levels. The apoptotic cells increased from 3.5% in control to around 59% in HeLa cells at 50 µM concentration. Cinnamolide treatment also led to activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9. It was also seen that Cinnamolide treatment led to a significant and dose-dependent loss of MMP in HeLa cancer cells. It also significantly inhibited the Akt/ß-catenin signalling pathway by reducing the levels of phosphorylated Akt and GSK-3ß. The results also showed that Cinnamolide suppressed the tumor volume and the tumor weight of the xenografted tumors. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that Cinnamolide natural product has the potential to be developed as a promising anticancer agent against human cervical carcinoma.

α-Pinene Induces Apoptotic Cell Death via Caspase Activation in Human Ovarian Cancer Cells.

BACKGROUND The plant-derived terpenoid, alpha-pinene is a bicyclic monoterpene potentially useful for the treatment of various diseases which also includes cancer and its types. The present investigation is about finding the anticancer activity of the alpha-pinene extracted from the leaves of Boswellia dalzielii over the PA-1 cancer cells of the human ovary. MATERIAL AND METHODS The cytotoxic activity of the alpha-pinene was evaluated using MTT and LDH assays which indicated that alpha-pinene could induce cytotoxicity in cancer-causing cells in the ovary. The consequences of alpha-pinene on the cell sequence regulation were determined by the staining technique using propidium iodide (PI) followed with flow cytometry. RESULTS The cell cycle distribution analysis showed that alpha-pinene inhibit the cycle progression from G2 to M phase. In addition, apoptosis analysis is done through the double staining investigation using Annexin V-FITC/PI to analyze the controlled growth of alpha-pinene which is associated with the apoptosis. Caspase-3 a crucial enzyme involved in apoptosis was markedly increased in the a-pinene treated PA-1 cells. The apoptosis results reveal, that the cancer cells at the human ovary with alpha-pinene induces the significant populations of apoptotic cells. CONCLUSIONS Overall, alpha-pinene may exert anticancer effects in PA-1 cells by promoting cytotoxicity, suppression of cell sequence progression along with the programmed cell death.

[Spectroscopy analysis of sulfonated poly (arylene ether ketone sulfone) on side chain for proton exchange membrane].

A series of poly (arylene ether ketone sulfone) s containing different amino content (Am-PAEKS) were prepared via direct polycondensation reactions, and then the sulfobutyl groups were grafted onto the Am-PAEKS by amidating reaction between the amide groups in Am-PAEKS and carboxylic acid groups in 4-(N-butane sulfonic) aminobenzoic acid. The structures of the compounds and the polymer were confirmed by FTIR and H-NMR. The new characteristic bands at 1 239 and 1 060 cm(-1) were assigned to O=S=O symmetric stretching vibration and asymmetric stretching vibration of the sulfonic groups in sulfonated poly (arylene ether ketone sulfone) on side chain (S-SPAEKS), and the structures of the polymers were further confirmed by 1H NMR spectra, and the proton peak at 1.64 ppm was assigned to the methyl in the middle of the pendant sulfonated aliphatic side chains, which show that the S-SPAEKS had been prepared successfully. In TGA curves we can observe two distinct weight loss steps, the first step was mainly attributed to the splitting-off of the sulfonic acid groups at 300 degrees C, and the second step was mainly attributed to the decomposition of the main chain of the S-SPAEKS at 450 degrees C. This series of SSPAEKS polymers exhibit excellent thermal properties by thermo gravimetric analysis, which can satisfy the basic requirements of proton exchange membrane (PEM) for fuel cells.

[Spectroscopy analysis application on proton exchange membrane with 1,3,4-oxadiazole].

A series of novel Sulfonted poly(arylene ether sulfone)s (SPAES) containing 1,3,4-oxadiazole are prepared via direct polycondensation reactions to precisely control the degree of sulfonation. The structures of these compounds were confirmed by FTIR, H-NMR and TGA. The characteristic peaks of transmittances spectra of C=N were found at 1 603 cm(-1) and by H-NMR further confirm the structures, which has been successful introducing the oxadiazole ring. In each TGA curve can observe two distinct weight loss steps, which the one at 300 degrees C and the second at 450 degrees C were mainly attributed to the splitting-off of sulfonic acid groups and decomposition of the main chain of the SPAES. The TGA exhibit excellent thermal properties may be satisfied with the basic requirements of proton exchange membrane (PEM) for fuel cells.

Conditional inhibition of autophagy genes in adult Drosophila impairs immunity without compromising longevity.

Immune function declines with age in Drosophila and humans, and autophagy is implicated in immune function. In addition, autophagy genes are required for life span extension caused by reduced insulin/IGF1-like signaling and dietary restriction in Caenorhabditiselegans. To test if the autophagy pathway might be limiting for immunity and/or life span in adult Drosophila, the Geneswitch system was used to cause conditional inactivation of the autophagy genes Atg5, Atg7 and Atg12 by RNAi. Conditional inhibition of Atg genes in adult flies reduced lysotracker staining of adult tissues, and reduced resistance to injected Escherichia coli, as evidenced by increased bacterial titers and reduced fly survival. However, survival of uninjected flies was unaffected by Atg gene inactivation. The data indicate that Atg gene activity is required for normal immune function in adult flies, and suggest that neither autophagy nor immune function are limiting for adult life span under typical laboratory conditions.

Increased internal and external bacterial load during Drosophila aging without life-span trade-off.

The role of microbial load during aging of the adult fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is incompletely understood. Here we show dramatic increases in aerobic and anaerobic bacterial load during aging, both inside the body and on the surface. Scanning electron microscopy and cell staining analyses of the surface of aged flies detected structures resembling abundant small bacteria and bacterial biofilms. Bacteria cultured from laboratory flies included aerobic species Acetobacter aceti, Acetobacter tropicalis, and Acetobacter pasteurianus and anaerobic species Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus sp. MR-2; Lactobacillus homohiochii, Lactobacillus fructivorans, and Lactobacillus brevis were identified by DNA sequencing. Reducing bacterial load and antimicrobial peptide gene expression by axenic culture or antibiotics had no effect on life span. We conclude that Drosophila can tolerate a significant bacterial load and mount a large innate immune response without a detectable trade-off with life span; furthermore, microbes do not seem to limit life span under optimized laboratory conditions.