IgG4-related autoimmune pancreatitis and sclerosing cholangitis: A case report and literature review.

RATIONALE: Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) can involve various organs throughout the body, primarily manifesting as endocrine dysfunction, visual impairment, jaundice, and limited sexual function. IgG4-related autoimmune pancreatitis is triggered by autoimmune reactions and characterized by structural changes in the pancreas and pancreatic ducts. The disease mainly affects middle-aged and elderly males, typically presenting as progressive painless jaundice and misdiagnosed as cholangiocarcinoma or pancreatic cancer. PATIENT CONCERNS: This study reports a 54-year-old male who consulted with different institutions multiple times due to diabetes, pancreatitis, elevated liver enzymes, and jaundice. DIAGNOSES: Magnetic resonance imaging revealed swollen head of the pancreas and atrophic tail. Liver and pancreatic tissue pathology showed IgG4 plasma cell infiltration, while liver biopsy indicated interface hepatitis, liver fibrosis, and pseudolobule formation, with no evidence of bile duct damage. INTERVENTIONS: Following hormone therapy, the patient's serum IgG4 levels and liver enzyme levels returned to normal. OUTCOMES: The disease relapsed 2 years after maintaining hormone therapy, and the patient underwent additional hormone-induced remission therapy combined with azathioprine. LESSONS: The purpose of this research report is to enhance the awareness and understanding of IgG4-RD, emphasizing the necessity for personalized treatment strategies that take into account its recurrence, associations, and imaging features. This report provides valuable insights and guidance for clinicians in managing and diagnosing patients with IgG4-RD.

Anesthetic management for emergency cesarean section in a patient with status epilepticus: A case report.

RATIONALE: The presence of clinically significant repeated maternal epilepsies during pregnancy increases the risk of adverse maternal, fetal and neonatal outcomes. However, there are few guidelines for anesthesiologists to deal with this situation. PATIENT CONCERNS AND DIAGNOSES: A 28-year-old primigravida was transferred to the operating room for emergency cesarean section. Based on the patient's complaints and clinical appearance, provisional diagnosis of preeclampsia at 33 weeks' gestation as well as frequent and repeated grand mal convulsions at 14 years of age were considered. The anesthetic modalities of the disease are also discussed. INTERVENTIONS AND OUTCOMES: Because the usual antiepileptic therapy had failed, the patient with status epilepticus underwent surgery under general anesthesia. The newborn was handed to the pediatrician and the patient was transferred to the intensive care unit for further observation and discharged 4 days later. No peri-operative or anesthetic complications were observed. LESSONS: Providing anesthesia to patients undergoing cesarean section poses major challenges for anesthesiologists. Close monitoring and proper treatment can help reduce risks for both the mother and baby.

The influence of lightning activity on NOx and O3 in the Pearl River Delta region.

Extremely high-temperature lightning generates NOx by electrolyzing nitrogen and oxygen molecules, regulating ozone concentration. The Pearl River Delta (PRD) is located in the world's high-value area of lightning density, and lightning-generated NOx (LNOx) cannot be ignored. Using the flash data from Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Lightning Location System and multi-site atmospheric composition data, we estimate the NOx variations in lightning activity and its impact on O3 across the PRD region. The cloud-to-groud (CG) frequency from 2013 to 2021 shows a decreasing trend driven by urban regions. We observe that the lightning density is steadily decreasing from the south-central part of Guangzhou City to the surrounding area. A comparison of the different sites with lightning days and non-lightning days shows that a significant amount (13. 84-20. 47 %) of ground-level NOx concentration at urban stations can be attributed to lightning NOx emissions. A lower lightning frequency and low background concentration observed at suburban sites indicated a limited contribution of LNOx. The average decrease in O3 concentration at urban stations (15.92-25.06 %) was significantly higher than that at suburban stations (5.34-8.95 %) due to the influence of titration and lower actinic radiation. There was a greater fluctuation in NOx and O3 concentrations during the cases, and the surface NOx concentration displayed the most significant responsiveness to LNOx under direct lightning striking in the tall tower. This phenomenon has not been reported, however, it is consistent with the laboratory-based observations suggesting the amount of LNO increases with peak current. LNOx significantly impacts air quality in the PRD during the high convective season. Further in situ and vertical distribution observations are necessary to explore the ground-level impact of LNOx.

Comprehensive analysis of single-cell RNA-seq and bulk RNA-seq revealed the heterogeneity and convergence of the immune microenvironment in renal cell carcinoma.

Substantial progress has been made in cancer biology and treatment in recent years, but the clinical outcome of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remains unsatisfactory. The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a potential target. By analyzing single-cell RNA sequencing (sc-RNAseq) data from six RCC tumor samples, this study identified 11 different cell types in the RCC cellular microenvironment, indicating a high degree of intratumoral heterogeneity. Through re-dimensionality reduction clustering of epithelial cells, neutrophils, macrophages, and T cells, we deeply reveal differences in the RCC tumor microenvironment. By analyzing differentially expressed genes in normal epithelial cells and malignant epithelial cells, we identify RNASET2 and GATM as potential prognostic biomarkers in RCC. In addition, by transcriptional factor analysis, we found significant differences in the expression of GZMK-CD8 T cell and B cell transcription factors between cancer tissues and normal tissues. By cell correlation analysis, we found significant correlations between neutrophils and macrophages and between IL7R-CD4 T cells and T regulatory (Treg) cells in RCC, which may be involved in the formation of immune TMEs. By cell developmental trajectory analysis, we showed that macrophages may be derived from neutrophils, whereas Treg cells may be derived from IL7R-CD4 T cells. By cell communication analysis, we found a clear interaction between macrophages and endothelial cells, neutrophils, and GZMK-CD8 T cells. In addition, we found that ADGRE5 signaling was mainly derived from mast cells and GZMK-CD8 T cells, and had a significant communication effect with neutrophils. The COLLAGEN signaling pathway is mainly derived from fibroblasts and has a significant communication effect with mast cells. Finally, we verified that RNASET2, which is highly expressed in epithelial cells, promotes proliferation and migration of RCC in vitro. RNASET2 is likely to be a potential target for renal cell carcinoma therapy. The results based on sc-RNAseq data analysis help to further elucidate the cellular microenvironment of RCC and provide help for cancer heterogeneity studies. This will help to provide more accurate personalized treatment for patients in clinical diagnosis.

Cathelicidin LL-37 promotes EMT, migration and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro and mouse model.

The effect of cathelicidin hCAP18/LL-37 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis remains unclear. Here, we confirmed that LL-37 expression enhanced endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), migration and invasion in HCC cells. And the HER2/EGFR-MAPK/ERK signal participated in the process above. More frequent lung metastases were observed in an LL-37-overexpressing hematogenous metastasis model. Interestingly, 1,25(OH)2D3 together with si-LL-37 significantly enhanced 1,25(OH)2D3-induced inhibition of migration and invasion in PLC/PRF-5 cells, and also enhanced reversion of the EMT process. Therefore, LL-37 is involved in HCC metastases, and may act as an important factor to attenuate the inhibitory activity of 1,25(OH)2D3 on HCC metastasis. Targeting hCAP18/LL-37 may offer a potential strategy to improve the anticancer activity of 1,25(OH)2D3 in HCC therapy.

Intestinal Ecology Changes in Diarrheic Père David's Deer Revealed by Gut Microbiota and Fecal Metabolites Analysis.

Diarrhea is one of the most common diseases affecting the health of Père David's deer (Elaphurus davidianus). It is believed that an imbalanced intestinal ecology contributes to the etiology of the condition. However, little is known about how the intestinal ecology changes in these diarrheic animals. In this study, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography combined with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) were used to investigate the gut microbiota and fecal metabolites in five Père David's deer with diarrhea. The results showed that when compared with healthy individuals, considerable changes in the gut microbiome were observed in diarrheic animals, including a significant reduction in microbial diversity and gut microbiota composition alterations. Furthermore, the profiles of numerous fecal metabolites were altered in diarrheic individuals, showing large-scale metabolite dysregulation. Among metabolites, acylcarnitines, lysophosphatidylcholine, bile acids, and oxidized lipids were elevated significantly. Constantly, several metabolic pathways were significantly altered. Interestingly, predicted metabolic pathways based on 16S rRNA gene sequence and differential metabolite analysis showed that lipid metabolism, cofactor, and vitamin metabolism were altered in sick animals, indicating microbiota-host crosstalk in these deer. When combined, the results provide the first comprehensive description of an intestinal microbiome and metabolic imbalance in diarrheic Père David's deer, which advances our understanding and potential future treatment of diarrheic animals.

Cathelicidin hCAP18/LL-37 promotes cell proliferation and suppresses antitumor activity of 1,25(OH)2D3 in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Cathelicidin hCAP18/LL-37 can resist infection from various pathogens and is an essential component of the human immune system. Accumulating evidence has indicated that hCAP18/LL-37 plays a tissue-specific role in human cancer. However, its function in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is poorly understood. The present study investigated the effects of hCAP18/LL-37 on HCC in vitro and in vivo. Results showed that hCAP18/LL-37 overexpression significantly promoted the proliferation of cultured HCC cells and the growth of PLC/PRF-5 xenograft tumor. Transcriptome sequencing analyses revealed that the PI3K/Akt pathway was the most significant upregulated pathway induced by LL-37 overexpression. Further analysis demonstrated that hCAP18/LL-37 stimulated the phosphorylation of EGFR/HER2 and activated the PI3K/Akt pathway in HCC cells. Furthermore, stronger EGFR/HER2/Akt signals were observed in the PLC/PRF-5LL-37 xenograft tumor. Interestingly, even though the expression of hCAP18/LL-37 was significantly downregulated in HCC cells and tumors, 1,25(OH)2D3 treatment significantly upregulated the hCAP18/LL-37 level both in HCC cells and xenograft tumors. Moreover, 1,25(OH)2D3 together with si-LL-37 significantly enhanced the antitumor activity of 1,25(OH)2D3 in the PLC/PRF-5 xenograft tumor. Collectively, these data suggest that hCAP18/LL-37 promotes HCC cells proliferation through stimulation of the EGFR/HER2/Akt signals and appears to suppress the antitumor activity of 1,25(OH)2D3 in HCC xenograft tumor. This implies that hCAP18/LL-37 may be an important target when aiming to improve the antitumor activity of 1,25(OH)2D3 supplementation therapy in HCC.

Characteristics of boundary layer ozone and its effect on surface ozone concentration in Shenzhen, China: A case study.

In late September 2019, the longest and most extensive ozone (O3) pollution process occurred at Pearl River Delta. Base on the observational data, surface-level O3, vertical distribution characteristics boundary layer O3 as well as its effect on surface-level O3 are thoroughly analyzed. The O3 lidar results showed similar vertical O3 profiles both in pollution episodes and clean periods, from which a high O3 concentration layer between 300 and 500 m and a sub-high O3 concentration layer between 1300 and 1700 m (near the top of the mixing layer) can be found. Besides, the downward O3 transport paths from the high/sub-high O3 concentration layers could be observed along with the boundary layer evolution: At nighttime, large amounts of O3 were effectively stored into the residual layer (RL). Due to the upward development of Mixing layer (ML) in early morning, atmospheric vertical mixing carried the O3 inside the RL down to the surface, which led to a rapid increase in the surface-level O3. The sub-high O3 layer began the downward mixing at noon, and became well-mixed after the boundary layer was fully developed in the afternoon, by which the near surface O3 pollution deteriorated again. Further analysis of the heavy O3 pollution episodes show that, the high O3 concentration inside the RL contributed 54% ± 6% of the surface-level O3 at 9:00 LT and the average contribution of O3 in the sub-high concentration layer to the surface-level O3 at 14:00 LT was 26% ± 9%. Based on the quantitative analysis of the observational data, this paper focus to reveal the importance of the contribution of O3 inside the RL and near the top of the ML to the surface O3.

Patterns of immune infiltration in gastric cancer and their clinical significance.

OBJECTIVE: The malignant phenotypes of cancer are defined not only by its intrinsic tumor cells but also by the tumor-infiltrating immune cells activated and recruited to the cancer microenvironment. However, a comprehensive introduction of gastric cancer immune cell infiltration has not been identified so far. METHODS: In this study, we comprehensively analyzed the tumor-infiltrating immune cells abundance in gastric cancer for the first time by CIBERSORT. The meta-analysis, single-sample gene set enrichment analysis and hierarchical agglomerative clustering were used to measure and evaluate the respective proportions of 22 cell types of immune infiltration using normalized gene expression data. The fraction of tumor-infiltrating immune cells subpopulations was also evaluated to determine the associations with clinical features and molecular subtypes. RESULTS: Tumor-infiltrating immune cells are extensively involved in the pathogenesis and development of the gastric cancer. We discovered Tfh and activated CD4+ memory T cells were associated with poorer overall survival and Progression-free survival (PFS), but that naïve B cells were opposite for PFS. Unsupervised clustering analysis revealed there existed three tumor-infiltrating immune cells subgroups with distinct survival patterns. Specially, cluster 1 showed significantly better clinical outcome than other two clusters. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, our data explored the differences of tumor-infiltrating immune cells in gastric cancer, and these variations were likely to be important clues for prognosis and management of its future clinical implementation.

Chrysene, a four-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, induces hepatotoxicity in mice by activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR).

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of persistent organic global environmental pollutants and cause harmful effects on human health. Here, we evaluated adverse effects of chrysene, which is a four-ring PAH and an important member of 16 priority PAHs, on the liver. Chrysene was detected in some common raw and cooked Chinese food samples. Hepatotoxicity including increased relative liver weight, hepatocyte swelling and degeneration, and elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were observed in chrysene-exposed C57BL/6 mice. Glutamine treatment effectively ameliorated chrysene-induced mice liver injury by decreasing serum ALT levels. Chrysene induced mice hepatic glutathione depletion and oxidative DNA damage with increased 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) levels. Hepatic expression levels of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), AhR-related target genes including CYP1A1, CYP1A2 and CYP1B1, and AhR nuclear translocator (ARNT) were significantly increased in chrysene-exposed C57BL/6 mice. Chrysene induced mice hepatic mRNA levels of the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and Nrf2-mediated phase II detoxifying and antioxidant enzymes including NQO1, UGT1A1, UGT1A6, SULT1A1, GSTm1, GSTm3, Catalase (CAT), GPx1, and SOD2. We found that chrysene had toxic effects including increased relative liver weight and elevated serum ALT levels on AhR+/+ mice but not AhR-/- mice. Chrysene significantly induced hepatic mRNA levels of CYP1A1 and CYP1A2 in AhR+/+ mice but not AhR-/- mice. To our knowledge, this study is the first to demonstrate that hepatotoxicity causes by chrysene is dependent on AhR, and Nrf2 plays an important regulation role in protection against oxidative liver injury induced by chrysene.

Profiles of Immune Infiltration and Prognostic Immunoscore in Lung Adenocarcinoma.

Lung tissue is abundant with immune cells that form a powerful first defense against exotic particles and microbes. The malignant phenotype of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is defined not only by intrinsic tumor cells but also by tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) recruited to the immune microenvironment. Understanding more about the immune microenvironment of LUAD could function in sorting out patients more likely with high risk and benefit from immunotherapy. Twenty-two types of TIICs were estimated based on large public LUAD cohorts from the TCGA and GEO datasets using the CIBERSORT algorithm. Then principal component analysis (PCA), meta-analysis, and single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) were used to measure and evaluate the specific immune responses and relative mechanisms. Moreover, an immunoscore model based on the percent of immune cells was constructed via the univariate and multivariate Cox regression models, which provided an in-depth overview of the LUAD immune microenvironment and shed light on the immune regulatory mechanism. The differential expression genes (DEGs) were acquired based on the immunoscore model, and prognostic immune-related genes were further identified. GSEA and the protein-protein interaction network (PPI) further revealed that these genes were mostly enriched in many immune-related biological processes. It is hoped that this immune landscape could provide a more accurate understanding for LUAD development and tumor immune therapy.

Schwannoma of stomach: a clinicopathologic study of 12 cases.

We analyzed clinicopathologically 12 gastric schwannomas. Patient ages ranged from 41 to 79 years (mean, 52 years; median, 59 years). They variably presented with gastric discomfort, bleeding, or rarely gastric outlet obstruction and many were incidental findings during other medical procedures. The maximum tumor diameters ranged from 1.0 to 5.4 cm (mean, 3.5 cm; median 3.8 cm). The typical histologic features included spindle cells with micro-trabecular architecture, focal nuclear atypia, and peritumoral lymphoid cuff. Median mitotic count was 1/50 high-power field. No malignant variants were recognized, and follow-up did not reveal recurrences or metastases. Immunohistochemically, all tumors were positive for S100 and SOX10, and most were also GFAP positive, whereas CD34 and NF were rarely positive. All tumors were negative for cytokeratin AE1/3, HMB45, c-kit, DOG1, smooth muscle actin, desmin, and synaptophysin. None of the tumors showed gastrointestinal stromal tumor-specific KIT or PDGFRA mutations. Gastric schwannoma is a distinctive form of peripheral nerve sheath tumor and it should be distinguished from gastrointestinal stromal tumor and other mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal tract, especially clear cell sarcoma and metastatic melanoma.

Combined detection of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 7 promoter methylation improves the diagnostic efficacy of AFP in hepatitis B virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma.

This study quantitatively assessed serum insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 7 (IGFBP7) promoter methylation in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and explored its clinical value. A total of 80 patients with hepatitis B virus-associated HCC, 35 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and 20 healthy controls (HC) were enrolled. MethyLight was used to quantitatively assess the methylation levels of serum IGFBP7 promoter. A logistic regression model was established for the combined evaluation of AFP and serum IGFBP7 promoter methylation. The results showed that mean methylation levels of serum IGFBP7 promoter were significantly higher in HCC (5.33%, interquartile range [IQR] 1.14-15.70%) patients than in individuals with CHB (1.54%, IQR 0.64-2.45%; P<0.01) and HC (0.63%, IQR 0.22-0.98%; P<0.01). In HCC subgroups, patients with vascular invasion, tumor size >3cm and advanced tumor node metastasis (TNM) showed higher methylation levels compared with the remaining groups (P<0.05). Compared with AFP alone, combined determination based on logistic regression analysis significantly improved the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) (0.759 vs 0.623, P<0.05). In addition, the Youden index was increased from 5.71%, 11.25% and 15.18%, when considering AFP alone at cut-off values of 20, 200, and 400ng/ml, respectively, to 45.71% with IGFBP7 promoter methylation taken into consideration (all P<0.05). These results suggested that combined quantitative measurement of serum IGFBP7 promoter methylation could enhance the diagnostic ability of AFP in distinguishing hepatitis B virus-associated HCC from CHB.

Infliximab Combined with Enteral Nutrition for Managing Crohn's Disease Complicated with Intestinal Fistulas.

Aim. This study was performed to evaluate the additional enteral nutrition (EN) in the efficacy of infliximab (IFX) compared with the conventional therapy in managing Crohn's disease (CD) complicated with intestinal fistulas. Methods. A total of 42 CD with intestinal fistulas were randomly divided into infliximab treatment group (n = 20) and conventional therapy group (n = 22). We evaluated the laboratory indexes, Crohn's disease activity index (CDAI), Crohn's disease simplified endoscopic score (SES-CD), and healing of fistula in the two groups before treatment, at 14 weeks, and at 30 weeks, respectively. Results. In the IFX treatment group, the CDAI score, the SES-CD, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein levels were significantly decreased during treatment compared with those before treatment. The body mass index and albumin levels were increased in both groups. Moreover, in the IFX treatment group, fistula healing was found in 8 at the 14th week and 18 at the 30th week, respectively, which was greater than that in the conventional therapy group. Conclusion. Our study suggested that infliximab combined with EN is an effective treatment for CD patients complicated with intestinal fistulas.

Somatostatin regulates NHE8 protein expression via the ERK1/2 MAPK pathway in DSS-induced colitis mice.

Previous studies reported that administration of somatostatin (SST) to human patients mitigated their diarrheal symptoms. Octreotide (an analog of SST) treatment in animals resulted in upregulation of sodium/hydrogen exchanger 8 (NHE8). NHE8 is important for water/sodium absorption in the intestine, and loss of NHE8 function results in mucosal injury. Thus we hypothesized that NHE8 expression is inhibited during colitis and that SST treatment during pathological conditions can restore NHE8 expression. Our data showed for the first time that NHE8 is expressed in the human colonic tissue and that NHE8 expression is decreased in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients. We also found that octreotide could stimulate colonic NHE8 expression in colitic mice. Furthermore, the somatostatin receptor 2 (SSTR2) agonist seglitide and the somatostatin receptor 5 (SSTR5) agonist L-817,818 could restore NHE8 expression via its role in suppressing ERK1/2 phosphorylation. Our study uncovered a novel mechanism of SST stimulation of NHE8 expression in colitis.

[Effect of Helium on Diamond Films Deposited Using Microwave PCVD].

Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) was used to in situ diagnose the CH4-H2-He plasma in order to know the effect of helium on the diamond growth by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD). The spatial distribution of radicals in the plasma as a function of helium addition was studied. The diamond films deposited in different helium volume fraction were investigated using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that the spectra intensity of radicals of H(α), H(ß), H(γ), CH and C2 increases with the increasing of helium volume fraction, especially, that of radical H(α) has the most improvement. The spectrum space diagnosis results show that the uniformity of C2, CH radicals in the plasma tends to poor due to the helium addition and resulted in a different thickness along the radial direction The measurement of deposition rate shows that the addition of helium is useful for the improvement of the growth rate of diamond films, due to relative concentration of carbon radicals was increased. The deposition rate increases by 24% when the volume fraction of He was increased from 0 vol. % to 4.7 vol.%. The micrographs of SEM reveal that with the increasing of helium volume fraction, the diamond films' crystallite orientation changes from (111) to disorder and a twins growth becomes obvious. The secondary nucleation density during growth increases because the high relatively concentration of C2 radicals under higher helium volume fraction (4.7 vol. %). In addition, the substrate was etched and sputtered by the plasma, which introduced metallic atoms into the plasma during the deposition of diamond films. Eventually, the existing of secondary nucleation and impurity atoms lead to the appearance of twins and results in the compressive dress.

Corticosterone increases intracellular Zn(2+) release in hippocampal HT-22 cells.

The previous studies suggested that the hippocampal zinc dyshomeostasis and high glucocorticoid level might hurt hippocampal function. However, the effect of corticosterone (CORT) on hippocampus zinc homeostasis is not fully characterized. In this study, we investigated the intracellular Zn(2+) concentration in hippocampal HT-22 cells after CORT treatment. The cells were incubated with 10µM CORT for 0h-24h, 0µM-50µM CORT for 6h and 2.5µM glucocorticoid receptor antagonist RU486 administered 30min before CORT application. The results showed that 10µM CORT increased the intracellular Zn(2+) level after 6h, which was diminished by 2.5µM RU486. Co-treatment of ZnSO4 and CORT augmented the increase in Zn(2+) level. TPEN, a membrane-permeable chelator for intracellular Zn(2+) greatly attenuated the Zn(2+) increase by CORT, while DTPA, a chelator for extracellular Zn(2+), had no same effects. CCK-8 tests demonstrated that 10µM CORT treatment for 6h had no inhibition effect on cells. However, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production increased and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) level decreased significantly after same CORT treatment, which was corrected by TPEN and aggravated by ZnSO4. It could be suggested that the increased intracellular Zn(2+) by CORT was greatly dependent on intracellular Zn(2+) release, but not extracellular Zn(2+) intake. Meanwhile, our results demonstrated that increased intracellular Zn(2+) by CORT resulted in ROS generation and decreased ATP level in cells, which have possible roles in the hippocampal function disorder induced by stress.

Effectiveness of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis: a meta-analysis.

AIM: To investigate the effect of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on the incidence of post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) pancreatitis (PEP). METHODS: Two independent reviewers searched PubMed (1966 to October 2013), Embase (1984 to October 2013) and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; Issue 4, 2013) for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) studying the effectiveness of prophylactic NSAID administration in the prevention of PEP. Using the Cochrane Collaboration Handbook, meta-analyses were conducted to evaluate the overall effect of NSAIDs in preventing the incidences of PEP and moderate to severe pancreatitis. RESULTS: Eight RCTs were identified from the literature search and included 1883 patients that underwent ERCP, with 971 patients in the NSAID group and 912 patients in the placebo group. Sixty-nine out of 971 (7.11%) patients developed PEP in the NSAID group in comparison to 143 out of 912 (15.68%) patients in the placebo group. The pooled RR of PEP incidence with prophylactic NSAID administration was 0.43 (95%CI: 0.33-0.56), which demonstrates that NSAID administration after ERCP significantly reduced the incidence of PEP when compared to the placebo group (P < 0.0001). Subgroup analysis was performed and revealed that the presence (NSAID group) or absence (placebo group) of NSAIDs had no significant effect on the development of moderate to severe pancreatitis (RR = 0.79, 95%CI: 0.52-1.18). Moreover, the administration of NSAIDs as a rectal suppository (RR = 0.35, 95%CI: 0.26-0.48; P < 0.0001) was more effective than oral administration (RR = 0.97, 95%CI: 0.53-1.80) or through infusion (RR = 0.43, 95%CI: 0.12-1.54). CONCLUSION: NSAIDs effectively reduce the incidence of PEP but not of moderate to severe pancreatitis.

Effects of Helicobacter pylori and Heat Shock Protein 70 on the Proliferation of Human Gastric Epithelial Cells.

Infection of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) changed the proliferation of gastric epithelial cells and decreased the expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70). However, the effects of H. pylori on the proliferation of gastric epithelial cells and the roles of HSP70 during the progress need further investigation. Objective. To investigate the effects of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) on the proliferation of human gastric epithelial cells. Methods. H. pylori and a human gastric epithelial cell line (AGS) were cocultured. The proliferation of AGS cells was quantitated by an MTT assay, and the expression of HSP70 in AGS cells was detected by Western blotting. HSP70 expression in AGS cells was silenced by small interfering RNA (siRNA) to investigate the role of HSP70. The siRNA-treated AGS cells were cocultured with H. pylori and cell proliferation was measured by an MTT assay. Results. The proliferation of AGS cells was accelerated by coculturing with H. pylori for 4 and 8 h, but was suppressed at 24 and 48 h. HSP70 expression was decreased in AGS cells infected by H. pylori for 48 h. The proliferation in HSP70-silenced AGS cells was inhibited after coculturing with H. pylori for 24 and 48 h compared with the control group. Conclusions. Coculture of H. pylori altered the proliferation of gastric epithelial cells and decreased HSP70 expression. HSP70 knockdown supplemented the inhibitory effect of H. pylori on proliferation of epithelial cells. These results indicate that the effects of H. pylori on the proliferation of gastric epithelial cells at least partially depend on the decreased expression of HSP70 induced by the bacterium.

Somatostatin regulates tight junction proteins expression in colitis mice.

Tight junction plays a critical role in intestinal defence. The alteration and perturbation of tight junction proteins could induce intestine barrier damage, and lead to the malabsorption of electrolytes and water. Previous studies had showed that colonic infection and inflammation could lead to the alteration of tight junction function, and somatostatin could protect intestinal epithelia. Thus, this study could explore that whether somatostatin could regulate tight junction in colitis mice. Colitis mice with diarrhea were induced by Citrobacter rodentium (CR) and Dextran sulfate sodium (DSS). In CR infected model, cladudin-1 and claudin-3 expression significantly decreased compared with the control mice (P<0.05); after octreotide treatment, claudin-1 and claudin-3 expression significantly increased compared with untreated CR infected mice (P<0.05). In DSS colitis model, occludin and claudin-3 expression significantly decreased compared with the control mice (P<0.05); and octreotide treatment could only significantly upregulate claudin-3 expression compared with untreated DSS colitis mice (P<0.05). To testify our results in vivo, we repeated the models in caco-2 cells by exposed with enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (E. Coli) and Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α). The results in vitro were consistent with in vivo study. The results suggested that somatostatin play a role in intestinal barrier protection by modulating tight junction proteins expression.