A nation-wide population-based study of inguinal hernia repair incidence and age-stratified recurrence in an Asian population.

PURPOSE: It has been estimated in the UK that 27 % of men and 3 % of women will undergo an inguinal hernia repair (IHR) during their lifetimes. However, no epidemiologic study investigating IHR has been performed to date in an Asian population. The present study explored the incidence and recurrence of IHR in an Asian population using a nation-wide population-based dataset in Taiwan. METHODS: Based on the National Health Insurance Database, we identified 5806 patients who underwent an IHR between 2000 and 2010 and followed them until they had a recurrence, died during hospitalization, left the program, or the study ended. We calculated the age-stratified recurrence rates and used Cox proportional hazards to explore the influence of demographic and clinical factors on recurrence. We also plotted IHR occurrence over the study period. RESULTS: Among the 5806 sampled subjects who had an IHR, 565 (9.73 %) had an IHR recurrence yielding an overall incidence of 18.23 per 1000 person-years. The hazard ratios for recurrence increased with age, and were greater among men and blue collar workers. The incidence of IHR decreased from 168.21 to 92.10 per 100,000 person-years over the study period. Surgical complication rates ranged between 0.16 and 2.57 %. CONCLUSIONS: On account of the increased risk of recurrence with age, young hernia patients may not want to delay surgery. This study detected a decreasing trend in initial IHR rates, confirming similar trends reported in Western countries. However, the incidence of initial IHR is lower in Taiwan than it is in the West.

Genetic polymorphisms in the prostaglandin pathway genes and risk of head and neck cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies examining the association between genetic variations in prostaglandin pathway and risk of head and neck cancer (HNC) have only included polymorphisms in the PTGS2 (COX2) gene. This study investigated the association between genetic polymorphisms of six prostaglandin pathway genes (PGDS, PTGDS, PTGES, PTGIS, PTGS1 and PTGS2), and risk of HNC. METHODS: Interviews regarding the consumption of alcohol, betel quid, and cigarette were conducted with 222 HNC cases and 214 controls. Genotyping was performed for 48 tag and functional single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). RESULTS: Two tag SNPs of PTGIS showed a significant association with HNC risk [rs522962: log-additive odds ratio (OR) = 1.42, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01-1.99 and dominant OR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.02-2.47; rs6125671: log-additive OR = 1.49, 95% CI: 1.08-2.05 and dominant OR = 1.96, 95% CI: 1.16-3.32]. In addition, a region in PTGIS tagged by rs927068 and rs6019902 was significantly associated with risk of HNC (global P = 0.007). Finally, several SNPs interacted with betel quid and cigarette to influence the risk of HNC. CONCLUSIONS: Genetic variations in prostaglandin pathway genes are associated with risk of HNC and may modify the relationship between use of betel quid or cigarette and development of HNC.

Lack of modulatory function of coding nucleotide polymorphism S100A2_185G>A in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: S100A2, a Ca(2+) -binding protein with two EF-hands, is a tumor suppressor in oral cancer. Helix III flanking the C-terminal EF-hand is implicated to participate in the interaction of S100A2 and its target(s). The aim of this study was to examine if the coding sequence polymorphism S100A2_185G>A, leading to the peptide 62 substitution of asparagine (AAC, A allele) for serine (AGC, G allele) in helix III, had modulation effects on S100A-mediated tumor suppression. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We sequenced the coding sequence of S100A2 gene in normal oral keratinocytes (NOKs), dysplastic oral keratinocytes (DOKs), eight oral cancer lines, and 54 pairwise oral cancer specimens. We also compared the in vitro anti-tumor effect of wildtype (G allele) and variant (A allele) S100A2 expression using cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and colony formation assays. RESULTS: With the exception of CAL27 and SCC-15 cancer lines being heterozygotes of A and G alleles, the remaining oral cells were homozygotic in G alleles. No alterations of anti-growth, anti-migration, anti-invasion, and anti-colony formation were observed between variant and wildtype cells. Moreover, no minor S100A2_185A allele was detected in 54-pairwise clinical specimens. CONCLUSION: The coding sequence polymorphism S100A2_185G>A had no regulatory role in S100A2-mediated tumor suppression in oral cancer.

Hepatitis C virus infection-related Type 1 diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been associated with Type 2 diabetes mellitus, and many other viral infections have been associated with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (Type 1 DM). An association between HCV and Type 1 DM, however, has never been reported. We report the case of a 66-year-old man who developed Type 1 DM 1 year after a blood transfusion-related HCV infection. Testing of serum specimens obtained in the weeks following blood transfusion demonstrated evidence of both acute HCV infection and development of Type 1 DM-related autoantibodies. CASE REPORT: A 66-year-old Taiwanese male received blood transfusions during coronary artery bypass surgery in 1987. Serum specimens, obtained as part of a study on post-transfusion hepatitis, demonstrated that the patient had no evidence of hepatitis C prior to transfusion, but developed acute HCV infection after transfusion. One year later, the patient, who had no personal or family history of diabetes, presented with diabetic ketoacidosis, and tests for C-peptide confirmed that he had Type 1 DM. Testing of pre- and post-operative serum specimens demonstrated that the patient developed positive tests for islet cell and glutamic acid decarboxylase antibodies 4 weeks after transfusion, concurrent with the development of acute HCV infection. CONCLUSIONS: The simultaneous development of HCV infection and diabetes-related autoantibodies suggest a relationship between HCV and Type 1 DM.

Constitutive activation of STAT3 and STAT5 is present in the majority of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and correlates with better prognosis.

Constitutively activated signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) factors, in particular STAT1, STAT3 and STAT5, have been demonstrated in a variety of human tumours and cancer cell lines. However, data on the expression of these STATs in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) are limited. In this study, the expression patterns of STAT1, STAT3 and STAT5 were immunohistochemically examined on the archival specimens from 61 patients with NPC. Staining results of each STATs were then correlated with the clinical parameters and prognosis of these patients. The results showed that constitutive activation of STAT3 and STAT5 was detected in the majority, 70.5 and 62.3%, respectively, of the 61 tumour specimens. Furthermore, coexpression of activated STAT3 and STAT5 was found in 54.1% of the specimens. In contrast, constitutive activated STAT1 could only be detected in 8 (13.1%) cases. Surprisingly, following radiotherapy, patients with constitutive STAT5 activation, or activation of both STAT3 and STAT5, had better disease-free survival and overall survival than those without activated STAT5. To our knowledge, this is the first report providing the overall expression patterns and prognostic significance of specific STATs in NPC.

Influencia de las hormonas tiroideas en la regulación de la función endócrina del ovario / Influences of the htyroid hormones in the regulation of the ovary endocrine function

Los autores hacen hincapié en que las alteraciones tiroideas pueden influir sobre la vida reproductiva de la mujer. Destacan que las disfunciones tiroideas en el embarazo, no tratadas, pueden alterar el crecimiento y desarrollo fetal. En los casos de hipotiroidismo subclínico, se recomienda tratamiento sustitutivo por tres razones: 1) el hipotiroidismo subclíncio es una enfermedad crónica que evoluciona en un lato porcentaje hacia un hipotiroidismo manifiesto. 2) A pesar de ser subclínico se acompaña de trastornos metabólicos y lipídicos con mayor riesto de enfermedad coronaria. 3) La terapia sustitutiva revierte los trastornos endócrinos preexistentes(AU)

Influencia de las hormonas tiroideas en la regulación de la función endócrina del ovario / Influences of the htyroid hormones in the regulation of the ovary endocrine function

Los autores hacen hincapié en que las alteraciones tiroideas pueden influir sobre la vida reproductiva de la mujer. Destacan que las disfunciones tiroideas en el embarazo, no tratadas, pueden alterar el crecimiento y desarrollo fetal. En los casos de hipotiroidismo subclínico, se recomienda tratamiento sustitutivo por tres razones: 1) el hipotiroidismo subclíncio es una enfermedad crónica que evoluciona en un lato porcentaje hacia un hipotiroidismo manifiesto. 2) A pesar de ser subclínico se acompaña de trastornos metabólicos y lipídicos con mayor riesto de enfermedad coronaria. 3) La terapia sustitutiva revierte los trastornos endócrinos preexistentes