Protective effect of fucoidan against iron overload and ferroptosis-induced liver injury in rats exposed to alcohol.

This study was aimed to explore the effects of fucoidan on iron overload and ferroptosis-induced liver injury, and the underlying mechanisms in rats exposed to alcohol. Sprague-Dawley rats were used to establish alcoholic liver injury model by intragastric administration with alcohol for 16 weeks. The results showed that fucoidan treatment reversed alcohol-induced increases in reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde levels, and increased glutathione peroxidase and glutathione levels, thus protecting against liver damage. Long-term alcohol feeding resulted in abnormal increase of serum ferritin, liver total iron and the "free" iron levels. Fucoidan treatment reduced serum ferritin level and alleviated liver iron deposition. Fucoidan reversed the reduction of hepcidin induced by alcohol exposure and decreased divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) and ferroportin1 (FPN1) expressions in the duodenum. Electron microscope observation of liver tissues showed that alcohol exposure induced ferroptosis changes in the liver. However, fucoidan treatment could alleviate alcohol-induced ferroptosis via upregulating the expressions of p62, Nrf2, SLC7A11 and GPX4. The liver endogenous metabolites analysis by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry showed that after fucoidan intervention, mineral absorption, biosynthesis of amino acids pathways and lipid metabolism were changed. Fucoidan intervention reduced the levels of oxidized glutathione and regulated the levels of phosphatidylethanolamines in liver tissues. Our data showed that fucoidan supplementation could inhibit iron load via regulating hepcidin-intestinal DMT1/FPN1 axis, alleviate the liver oxidative damage and protect hepatocytes from ferroptosis induced by long-term alcohol exposure through upregulating p62/Nrf2/SLC7A11 pathway in rats.

Study on the Application Value of Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy and Clinical Nursing Pathway for Postoperative Patients with Esophageal Cancer.

Backgrounds: To observe the value of concurrent chemoradiotherapy and clinical nursing pathway for postoperative patients with esophageal cancer (EC). Methods: A total of 88 postoperative EC patients were divided into the radiotherapy group (RG group, 44 cases) and the chemoradiotherapy group (CRG group, 44 cases). The RG group received single three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy+clinical nursing pathway, and the CRG group was combined with chemotherapy on this basis. The 5-year overall survival rate, progression-free survival rate, pathological remission and survival rate, lymph node metastasis and survival rate, quality of life analysis, tumor-related factor level, and incidence of adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results: The overall survival rates at 1, 3, and 5 years were 93.18%, 56.82%, and 50.0% in the CRG group and 86.36%, 52.27%, and 43.18% in the RG group, respectively. The 5-year progression-free survival rate of the CRG group was 60.87%, which was clearly higher than that of the RG group (33.33%). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates of pCR and NpCR patients were 90.48%, 80.95%, and 61.90% and 89.55%, 44.78%, and 38.81%, respectively. The overall 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year survival rates were 81.08%, 37.84, and 24.32% and 96.08%, 66.67%, and 62.75% in patients with lymph node metastasis and nonlymph node metastasis, respectively, with statistical significant differences. The emotional function, physical function, cough, pain, and eating difficulty in the CRG group were better than those in the RG group. After treatment, serum CEA, SCC, CYFRA21-1, and CA199 levels in the CRG group were obviously downregulated compared with those in the RG group. There was no obvious difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the CRG group and the RG group. Conclusion: Single radiotherapy and concurrent chemoradiotherapy can be used as effective means in the treatment of EC. Moreover, the quality of life and survival time of the concurrent chemoradiotherapy group were dramatically better than those of the single radiotherapy group, and the antitumor ability of the concurrent chemoradiotherapy group was stronger.