De Ritis Ratio: a Potent Marker in Cancer.

BACKGROUND: The role of conventional liver function clinical laboratory marker De Ritis Ratio in evaluating the prognosis, assisting diagnosis, and monitoring therapeutic efficacy of cancer is gaining increasing attention, especially in the last decade. According to the most recent articles, the De Ritis Ratio functions have progressed, which indicates that the De Ritis Ratio appears to be a promising tumor marker. The aim of this review was to evaluate the clinical importance from studies made on this subject. METHODS: Using the search words "De Ritis Ratio", "aspartate transaminase/alanine transaminase", "aspartate transaminase", "alanine transaminase", "cancer", "prognostic significance", "diagnostic significance", and "predictive significance", a search was carried out on PubMed. Exclusion criteria were articles never published in English and articles evaluating tumor markers in cancer not involving the De Ritis Ratio. RESULTS: As a predictor of prognosis, the De Ritis Ratio is strongly associated with prognostic risk factors and can be used to assess therapeutic efficacy. As a predictor of incidence, the De Ritis Ratio could promote the prediction of the disease progression. As a biomarker, the De Ritis Ratio is more likely to improve diagnostics by being combined with other biomarkers. Therefore, since it is easily accessible, involves no additional laborious efforts, and is a relatively inexpensive marker, the De Ritis Ratio is emerging as an attractive and clinically valuable marker in cancer. CONCLUSIONS: In the review, we explore the possible mechanisms of the De Ritis Ratio related to cancer and summarize the clinical importance of the De Ritis Ratio as a promising marker for cancer.

Targeted metabolomic profiles of serum amino acids and acylcarnitines related to gastric cancer.

Background: Early diagnosis and treatment are imperative for improving survival in gastric cancer (GC). This work aimed to assess the ability of human serum amino acid and acylcarnitine profiles in distinguishing GC cases from atrophic gastritis (AG) and control superficial gastritis (SG) patients. Methods: Sixty-nine GC, seventy-four AG and seventy-two SG control patients treated from May 2018 to May 2019 in Gansu Provincial Hospitalwere included. The levels of 42 serum metabolites in the GC, AG and SG groups were detected by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Then, orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) and the Kruskal-Wallis H test were used to identify a metabolomic signature among the three groups. Metabolites with highest significance were examined for further validation. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was carried out for evaluating diagnostic utility. Results: The metabolomic analysis found adipylcarnitine (C6DC), 3-hydroxy-hexadecanoylcarnitine (C16OH), hexanoylcarnitine (C6), free carnitine (C0) and arginine (ARG) were differentially expressed (all VIP >1) and could distinguish GC patients from AG and SG cases. In comparison with the AG and SG groups, GC cases had significantly higher C6DC, C16OH, C6, C0 and ARG amounts. Jointly quantitating these five metabolites had specificity and sensitivity in GC diagnosis of 98.55% and 99.32%, respectively, with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.9977. Conclusion: This study indicates C6DC, C16OH, C6, C0 and ARG could effectively differentiate GC cases from AG and SG patients, and may jointly serve as a valuable circulating multi-marker panel for GC detection.

Urinary Biomarkers for the Noninvasive Detection of Gastric Cancer.

Gastric cancer (GC) is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Thus, early diagnosis is important to improve disease prognosis. Endoscopic assessment represents the most reliable imaging method for GC diagnosis; however, it is semi-invasive and costly and heavily depends on the skills of the endoscopist, which limit its clinical applicability. Therefore, the search for new sensitive biomarkers for the early detection of GC using noninvasive sampling collection methods has attracted much attention among scientists. Urine is considered an ideal biofluid, as it is readily accessible, less complex, and relatively stable than plasma and serum. Over the years, substantial progress has been made in screening for potential urinary biomarkers for GC. This review explores the possible applications and limitations of urinary biomarkers in GC detection and diagnosis.

Establishment of Reference Values for Pepsinogens in Healthy Subjects of the Gansu Province: a Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: At present, the pepsinogen reference values applicable to subjects from Gansu province have not been established. Therefore, the current study aimed to establish reference values for PGI, PGII, and the PGI/ PGII ratio in Gansu Province, Northwest China. METHODS: The present study was a cross-sectional study. Following screening in the physical examination center of Gansu Provincial Hospital, 2,130 healthy subjects were enrolled (age range 18 - 88 years; BMI range 15.35 - 38.89 kg/m2) from March 2018 to December 2020. Serum PGI and PG II concentration levels were detected by chemiluminescence. The reference values were defined according to age and gender by non-parametric 95th percentile intervals. RESULTS: The increase in age caused a gradual increase in the levels of PG I and PG II, while PG I/PG II ratio gradually decreased. The PG I, PG II and PG I/PG II ratio in males were significantly higher than those in females. The reference values for PG I, PG II and PG I/PG II ratio in males: < 40 years old were 22.79 - 119.79 ng/mL, 3.02 - 21.57 ng/mL, and 2.99 - 10.25, respectively; ≥ 40 years old were 17.58 - 125.12 ng/mL, 3.70 - 25.84 ng/mL, and 1.52 - 10.53, respectively. The reference values for PG I, PG II, and PG I/PG II ratio in females: < 40 years old were 22.57 - 103.90 ng/mL, 3.17 - 20.73 ng/mL, and 2.28 - 10.46, respectively; ≥ 40 years old were 14.24 - 117.81 ng/mL, 3.36 - 29.57 ng/mL, and 1.26 - 9.85, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The present study determined the missing reference values of serum PGs for healthy subjects of different gender and ages in Gansu Province.

The Role of Splicing Factor SF3B4 in Congenital Diseases and Tumors.

In eukaryotes, spliceosomes catalyze the splicing of pre-mRNA to mature mRNA. As the core subunit of U2 spliceosome, splicing factor SF3b4 plays not only a crucial role in the splicing process, but also a role in transcription, translation, and cell signal transduction, and participates in the regulation of cell cycle, cell differentiation, and immune deficiency. In recent years, more and more research studies on SF3b4-related diseases, such as Nager syndrome and cancer, have been conducted. It has been found that SF3b4 mutations led to abnormal cell growth and were involved in the development and occurrence of these diseases. In this review, the diseases, mainly congenital diseases and tumors, in which SF3B4 is involved and the pathogenesis of them were summarized, aiming to provide a better understanding of the roles of SF3B4 in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in the future.

The diagnostic value of PIVKA-II, AFP, AFP-L3, CEA, and their combinations in primary and metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Early diagnosis decreases the mortality of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to investigate the usefulness of PIVKA-II, AFP, AFP-L3, CEA, and their combinations in the diagnosis of primary and metastatic HCC. METHODS: One hundred and twenty patients with primary HCC (PHC), 115 with metastatic HCC (MHC), 89 with chronic liver disease (CLD), and 116 healthy volunteers were included. The diagnostic values of each marker and their combinations for HCC diagnosis were represented by ROC curve analyses. RESULTS: PIVKA-II, AFP, and AFP-L3 levels in PHC group were higher than that in normal control, CLD, and MHC groups. CEA levels in MHC group were higher than that in the other three groups. When the four markers were analyzed individually, PIVKA-II showed the highest positive rate in PHC group (76.7%) and CEA showed the highest positive rate in MHC group (69.6%). PIVKA- II showed the largest area under ROC curve (AUC = 0.835) to discriminate PHC group from CLD group. Combined PIVKA-II with AFP-L3 increased the AUC to 0.910. CEA showed the highest AUC (0.849) to discriminate MHC group from CLD group. Combined CEA with PIVKA-II increased the AUC to 0.866. AFP-L3 alone showed the highest AUC (0.890) to discriminate MHC group from PHC group. Combined PIVKA-II with AFP-L3, and CEA increased the AUC to 0.957. CONCLUSION: PIVKA-II, AFP-L3, AFP, and CEA are effective biomarkers for the diagnosis of PHC and MHC. Their combinations could improve the diagnostic performance compared with each marker used alone in detecting PHC and MHC.

Structure elucidation of a major fucopyranose-rich heteropolysaccharide (STP-II) from Sargassum thunbergii.

A crude polysaccharide was extracted from the edible algae S. thunbergii. DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B column chromatography was used to separate and purify a major polysaccharide STP-II (63.75%) from the crude polysaccharide. STP-II was found to be a homogeneous polysaccharide with a single peak by high-performance size-exclusion chromatography with a Sugar KS-804 column, have a molecular weight of 550 kD, and consist mainly of fucose, xylose, galactose, glucose and glucuronic acid. The structural assignment of STP-II was carried out using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis, periodate oxidation-smith degradation, partial hydrolysis with acid, methylation analysis and nuclear magnetic resonance studies, and the repeating unit of STP-II was thus determined. The result indicated that (1→3)-linked-fucose, (1→3)-linked-xylose and (1→3)-linked-galactose formed the major components of the main-chain structure, and the branch ratios were 17.5%. The branching and terminal residues were (1→2)-linked-glucuronic acid, (1→4)-linked-glucose, (1→)-linked-xylose and (1→)-linked-4-O-acetyl-glucose, respectively.

Extraction Optimization, Characterization and Bioactivities of a Major Polysaccharide from Sargassum thunbergii.

Sargassum thunbergii is a kind of natural edible algae. STP (S. thunbergii polysaccharides) was considered as the main bioactive compounds in S. thunbergii. To obtain the optimal processing conditions for maximum total sugar yield, single factor investigation and response surface methodology (RSM) were employed. The optimal processing conditions were as follows: liquid to solid ratio 120 mL/g, extraction time 210 min, extraction temperature 97°C. The experimental yield 7.53% under optimized conditions was closely agreed with the predicted yield 7.85% of the model. The major polysaccharide fraction from S. thunbergii (named STP-II) was purified by DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B column chromatography. High-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC), gas chromatography (GC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were used to identify its characterizations, and in vitro antioxidant assays and cytotoxicity assays were used to research its bioactivities. The purified fraction STP-II (63.75%) was a single peak in HPSEC with Sugar KS-804 column, had a molecular weight of 550KD, and comprised mainly of fucose, xylose, galactose, glucose and glucuronic acid. STP-II had higher scavenging activities on hydroxyl radical (76.72% at 0.7 mg/mL) and superoxide radical (95.17% at 2 mg/mL) than Vitamin C (Vc). STP-II also exhibited the capability of anti-proliferation in Caco-2 cells. STP-II possessed good antioxidant and inhibitory activity against human colon cancer Caco-2 cells in vitro and could be explored as novel natural functional food.