[Utilization of basic medical insurance data in cancer-related researches in China].

Objective: To explore the utilization of cancer-related data from basic medical insurance databases in China, and promote the application of medical insurance data in cancer prevention and treatment. Methods: Database PubMed, Web of Science, Wanfang, and CNKI were used to select related research papers using data from basic medical insurance system in China published by December 2021. Descriptive analysis was conducted in terms of the number of publications, types of cancer, primary research contents and author affiliations. Results: A total of 65 papers were included in the study. The number of publications increased rapidly after 2016. The most studied cancer type was lung cancer, and healthcare costs were the most common research contents. Fujian, Beijing, and Anhui have made a better use of cancer-related medical insurance databases compared to other provincial regions. The accessibility of the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme data was limited due to the high regional barriers, while the accessibility of the urban basic medical insurance data was relatively high. The researchers from Peking University and Fudan University had higher utilization of basic medical insurance data compared with those from other institutions. Conclusions: The utilization of cancer-related data from basic medical insurance databases in China is limited because of poor accessibility, insufficient data sharing, and regional restrictions. Thus, it is urgent to improve data accessibility and promote the integration and utilization of regional medical insurance data.

[Comparative analysis on prevalence of tobacco and e-cigarettes uses in junior middle school students in Shanghai, 2013 and 2019].

Objective: To examine the prevalence and trend of tobacco and e-cigarettes uses and identify the influencing factors for smoking behavior in junior middle school students in Shanghai, and provide data support and scientific basis for the development of tobacco control intervention strategy in adolescents. Methods: Multi-stage stratified random sampling method was used to select junior middle school students in 8 districts and 10 districts in Shanghai in 2013 and in 2019 respectively. Information about tobacco and e-cigarettes uses in the students were collected by using self-administrated questionnaire. The prevalence of tobacco and e-cigarettes uses were calculated, the difference between two years was compared with χ2 test. The influencing factors were identified by multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: In 2019, the current smoking rate was 0.6% in junior middle school students in Shanghai, and the smoking attempt rate was 2.9%, both were lower than the levels in 2013 (0.7% and 6.9%). The current use rate of e-cigarettes was 0.6% in 2019,with no significant change compared with 2013 (0.6%). The proportion of the students who had heard of e-cigarettes in 2019 (78.4%) was higher than that in 2013 (47.2%). In 2019, the second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure rate at home, in both indoor and outdoor public places and on public transportations was 72.5%, which was slightly lower than the level in 2013 (73.0%), the differences were all significant (P<0.05). In 2019, the students seeing close friend smoking (OR=27.381, 95%CI: 12.037-62.287), seeing someone smoking in school (OR=2.477, 95%CI: 1.155-5.312), believing that SHS may not be harmful (OR=8.471, 95%CI: 1.464-49.005) had higher possibility of smoking. Being aged ≥15 years (compared with being aged ≤12 years, OR=8.688, 95%CI: 1.922-39.266), exposure to SHS in outdoor public place (OR=8.608, 95%CI: 1.048-70.692), close friend smoking (OR=8.115, 95%CI: 1.754-37.545) were positively associated with e-cigarettes use, and believing that smoking results in uncomfortable social contact [compared with believing that smoking results in comfortable social contact (OR=0.105,95%CI: 0.018-0.615)] were negatively associated with e-cigarettes use, the difference was significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of tobacco and e-cigarette uses in junior middle school students in Shanghai remained at a low level in recent years. The SHS exposure rate in junior middle school students is high. Smoking behavior of junior middle school students is closely related to personal attitude and awareness of tobacco, exposure to SHS, peer smoking and the situation of tobacco control in schools. Prevention and intervention should be carried out from multi-dimensions to effectively protect teenagers from tobacco hazards.

Expressions of IL-1α and MMP-9 in degenerated lumbar disc tissues and their clinical significance.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the expression levels of interleukin-1α (IL-1α) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in degenerated lumbar disc tissues and to investigate their clinical significance. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty patients with lumbar disc degeneration received the operative treatment were divided into three groups according to the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results: protrusion group, extrusion group, and free group. The degenerated intervertebral disc tissues were taken, and the normal intervertebral disc tissues of 20 patients received the operative treatment due to lumbar bursting fracture, and were selected as the control group. The bone mineral densities of all patients were measured. The mRNA and protein expression levels of MMP-9 and IL-1α were detected via Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. RESULTS: The bone mass of patients with lumbar disc degeneration was significantly decreased compared with that of the control group, and the bone mass was decreased more significantly in a free group than that in protrusion group. The mRNA and protein levels in IL-1α and MMP-9 of patients with lumbar disc degeneration were significantly increased compared with those in control group; the mRNA and protein levels in IL-1α and MMP-9 of extrusion group and free group were significantly higher than those in protrusion group, and the mRNA and protein levels in IL-1α and MMP-9 of free group were significantly higher than those in extrusion group. CONCLUSIONS: The levels of IL-1α and MMP-9 in degenerated lumbar disc tissues are higher than normal levels, and the increasing levels are positively correlated with the disease condition.

Comparative genotoxicity of silver nanoparticles in human liver HepG2 and lung epithelial A549 cells.

With the rapid expanding of human exposure to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), genotoxicity screening of nanosilver is necessary to ensure consumer safety. Here, we assessed one key DNA damage responsive pathway activated by GADD45a gene after 24 h of AgNPs exposure in stable luciferase reporter cell systems based on two widely used in vitro cell models, human liver HepG2 and lung epithelial A549 cells. The comet assay and micronucleus test were also conducted to confirm the genetic damage induced by AgNPs. Our results showed that AgNPs produced a strong dose-dependent increase in transcriptional activation of GADD45a promoter indicated by luciferase activity accompanying by the significant decreases in cell viability. Surprisingly, in HepG2-luciferase cells, the relative luciferase activity was greater than 4.5× the control level after being treated with 200 µg ml-1 AgNPs. These results were generally in line with the positive and dose-dependent responses in cytotoxicity, DNA strand breaks indicated by Olive tail moment, tail DNA (%) and tail length, and chromosome damage indicated by induction of micronuclei, nucleoplasmic bridges, and nuclear buds. Additionally, compared with the A549-luciferase cells, the HepG2-luciferase cells seemed to be more susceptible to AgNPs as higher levels of genotoxicity were induced. We concluded that our GADD45a promoter-driven luciferase reporter gene cell system, together with the comet assay and micronucleus test, can be used as valuable tools for rapid screening of genotoxic potential of nanosilver. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Induced immune tolerance of autoantigen loaded immature dendritic cells in homogenic lupus mice.

This study investigated the induced immune tolerance of autoantigen dendritic cells (imDCs) in homogenic lupus mice to support the use of dendritic cell treatment against autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus. A lupus mouse was used to model based on in vitro cell culture. An immunohistochemistry assay was used to assess CD8(+), CD4(+) cell ratio in mouse spleen cells. The ratio of CD4(+)CD25(+) cells in mouse spleen lymphocytes was detected by flow cytometry, whereas the kidney was directly measured by immunofluorescence. After the injection of mouse antigen loaded bone marrow-derived antigen imDCs with a homogenetic background, mouse nucleoprotein immune with a homogenetic background was carried out. The results were compared against the simple mouse nucleoprotein immune model with a homogenic background. The 24-h urine protein, serum antinuclear antibody and anti-ds-DNA antibodies of the simple mouse model were lower compared to group S1. The CD4(+)CD25(+) cell percentage of spleen was higher in the simple mouse model compared to group S1. In the spleen, the number of lymphocyte CD8(+) cells declined, whereas the number of CD4(+) cells increased. In conclusion, after autoantigen uptake, imDCs are able to induce immune tolerance to the antigen by reinfusion, which appears to prevent or mitigate systemic lupus erythematosus-like illness.

Novel aspects of health promoting compounds in meat.

Meat is an integral part of the human diet. Besides essential amino acids and nutritive factors of high quality and availability, meat provides often overlooked components of importance for human health. These are amino acids and bioactive compounds that may be very important in i) preventing muscle wasting diseases, such as in sarcopenia, ii) reducing food and caloric intake to prevent metabolic syndrome, iii) blood pressure homeostasis via ACE-inhibitory components from connective tissue, and iv) maintaining functional gut environment through meat-derived nucleotides and nucleosides. In addition, meat could be an important source of phytanic acid, conjugated linoleic acids and antioxidants. Further, it becomes increasingly apparent that design of in vitro meat will be possible, and that this development may lead to improved health benefits from commercially viable and sustainable meat products.

Cell-laden microengineered pullulan methacrylate hydrogels promote cell proliferation and 3D cluster formation.

The ability to encapsulate cells in three-dimensional (3D) environments is potentially of benefit for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. In this paper, we introduce pullulan methacrylate (PulMA) as a promising hydrogel platform for creating cell-laden microscale tissues. The hydration and mechanical properties of PulMA were demonstrated to be tunable through modulation of the degree of methacrylation and gel concentration. Cells encapsulated in PulMA exhibited excellent viability. Interestingly, while cells did not elongate in PulMA hydrogels, cells proliferated and organized into clusters, the size of which could be controlled by the hydrogel composition. By mixing with gelatin methacrylate (GelMA), the biological properties of PulMA could be enhanced as demonstrated by cells readily attaching to, proliferating, and elongating within the PulMA/GelMA composite hydrogels. These data suggest that PulMA hydrogels could be useful for creating complex, cell-responsive microtissues, especially for applications that require controlled cell clustering and proliferation.

Synthesis and characterization of tunable poly(ethylene glycol): gelatin methacrylate composite hydrogels.

Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels are popular for cell culture and tissue-engineering applications because they are nontoxic and exhibit favorable hydration and nutrient transport properties. However, cells cannot adhere to, remodel, proliferate within, or degrade PEG hydrogels. Methacrylated gelatin (GelMA), derived from denatured collagen, yields an enzymatically degradable, photocrosslinkable hydrogel that cells can degrade, adhere to and spread within. To combine the desirable features of each of these materials we synthesized PEG-GelMA composite hydrogels, hypothesizing that copolymerization would enable adjustable cell binding, mechanical, and degradation properties. The addition of GelMA to PEG resulted in a composite hydrogel that exhibited tunable mechanical and biological profiles. Adding GelMA (5%-15% w/v) to PEG (5% and 10% w/v) proportionally increased fibroblast surface binding and spreading as compared to PEG hydrogels (p<0.05). Encapsulated fibroblasts were also able to form 3D cellular networks 7 days after photoencapsulation only within composite hydrogels as compared to PEG alone. Additionally, PEG-GelMA hydrogels displayed tunable enzymatic degradation and stiffness profiles. PEG-GelMA composite hydrogels show great promise as tunable, cell-responsive hydrogels for 3D cell culture and regenerative medicine applications.

Synthesis and characterization of photocrosslinkable gelatin and silk fibroin interpenetrating polymer network hydrogels.

To effectively repair or replace damaged tissues, it is necessary to design scaffolds with tunable structural and biomechanical properties that closely mimic the host tissue. In this paper, we describe a newly synthesized photocrosslinkable interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) hydrogel based on gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) and silk fibroin (SF) formed by sequential polymerization, which possesses tunable structural and biological properties. Experimental results revealed that IPNs, where both the GelMA and SF were independently crosslinked in interpenetrating networks, demonstrated a lower swelling ratio, higher compressive modulus and lower degradation rate as compared to the GelMA and semi-IPN hydrogels, where only GelMA was crosslinked. These differences were likely caused by a higher degree of overall crosslinking due to the presence of crystallized SF in the IPN hydrogels. NIH-3T3 fibroblasts readily attached to, spread and proliferated on the surface of IPN hydrogels, as demonstrated by F-actin staining and analysis of mitochondrial activity (MTT). In addition, photolithography combined with lyophilization techniques was used to fabricate three-dimensional micropatterned and porous microscaffolds from GelMA-SF IPN hydrogels, furthering their versatility for use in various microscale tissue engineering applications. Overall, this study introduces a class of photocrosslinkable, mechanically robust and tunable IPN hydrogels that could be useful for various tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.

Directed 3D cell alignment and elongation in microengineered hydrogels.

Organized cellular alignment is critical to controlling tissue microarchitecture and biological function. Although a multitude of techniques have been described to control cellular alignment in 2D, recapitulating the cellular alignment of highly organized native tissues in 3D engineered tissues remains a challenge. While cellular alignment in engineered tissues can be induced through the use of external physical stimuli, there are few simple techniques for microscale control of cell behavior that are largely cell-driven. In this study we present a simple and direct method to control the alignment and elongation of fibroblasts, myoblasts, endothelial cells and cardiac stem cells encapsulated in microengineered 3D gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) hydrogels, demonstrating that cells with the intrinsic potential to form aligned tissues in vivo will self-organize into functional tissues in vitro if confined in the appropriate 3D microarchitecture. The presented system may be used as an in vitro model for investigating cell and tissue morphogenesis in 3D, as well as for creating tissue constructs with microscale control of 3D cellular alignment and elongation, that could have great potential for the engineering of functional tissues with aligned cells and anisotropic function.

Contribution of mobile genetic elements to Desulfovibrio vulgaris genome plasticity.

The genome of Desulfovibrio vulgaris strain DePue, a sulfate-reducing Deltaproteobacterium isolated from heavy metal-impacted lake sediment, was completely sequenced and compared with the type strain D. vulgaris Hildenborough. The two genomes share a high degree of relatedness and synteny, but harbour distinct prophage and signatures of past phage encounters. In addition to a highly variable phage contribution, the genome of strain DePue contains a cluster of open-reading frames not found in strain Hildenborough coding for the production and export of a capsule exopolysaccharide, possibly of relevance to heavy metal resistance. Comparative whole-genome microarray analysis on four additional D. vulgaris strains established greater interstrain variation within regions associated with phage insertion and exopolysaccharide biosynthesis.

Expression profiling of hypothetical genes in Desulfovibrio vulgaris leads to improved functional annotation.

Hypothetical (HyP) and conserved HyP genes account for >30% of sequenced bacterial genomes. For the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough, 347 of the 3634 genes were annotated as conserved HyP (9.5%) along with 887 HyP genes (24.4%). Given the large fraction of the genome, it is plausible that some of these genes serve critical cellular roles. The study goals were to determine which genes were expressed and provide a more functionally based annotation. To accomplish this, expression profiles of 1234 HyP and conserved genes were used from transcriptomic datasets of 11 environmental stresses, complemented with shotgun LC-MS/MS and AMT tag proteomic data. Genes were divided into putatively polycistronic operons and those predicted to be monocistronic, then classified by basal expression levels and grouped according to changes in expression for one or multiple stresses. One thousand two hundred and twelve of these genes were transcribed with 786 producing detectable proteins. There was no evidence for expression of 17 predicted genes. Except for the latter, monocistronic gene annotation was expanded using the above criteria along with matching Clusters of Orthologous Groups. Polycistronic genes were annotated in the same manner with inferences from their proximity to more confidently annotated genes. Two targeted deletion mutants were used as test cases to determine the relevance of the inferred functional annotations.

Olfactory deficits in mice overexpressing human wildtype alpha-synuclein.

Accumulation of alpha-synuclein in neurons of the central and peripheral nervous system is a hallmark of sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD) and mutations that increase alpha-synuclein levels cause familial PD. Transgenic mice overexpressing alpha-synuclein under the Thy1 promoter (Thy1-aSyn) have high levels of alpha-synuclein expression throughout the brain but no loss of nigrostriatal dopamine neurons up to 8 months, suggesting that they may be useful to model pre-clinical stages of PD. Olfactory dysfunction often precedes the onset of the cardinal motor symptoms of PD by several years and includes deficits in odor detection, discrimination and identification. In the present study, we measured olfactory function in 3- and 9-month-old male Thy1-aSyn mice with a buried pellet test based on latency to find an exposed or hidden odorant, a block test based on exposure to self and non-self odors, and a habituation/dishabituation test based on exposure to non-social odors. In a separate group of mice, alpha-synuclein immunoreactivity was assessed in the olfactory bulb. Compared with wildtype littermates, Thy1-aSyn mice could still detect and habituate to odors but showed olfactory impairments in aspects of all three testing paradigms. Thy1-aSyn mice also displayed proteinase K-resistant alpha-synuclein inclusions throughout the olfactory bulb. These data indicate that overexpression of alpha-synuclein is sufficient to cause olfactory deficits in mice similar to that observed in patients with PD. Furthermore, the buried pellet and block tests provided sufficient power for the detection of a 50% drug effect, indicating their usefulness for testing novel neuroprotective therapies.

Long term marijuana users seeking medical cannabis in California (2001-2007): demographics, social characteristics, patterns of cannabis and other drug use of 4117 applicants.

BACKGROUND: Cannabis (marijuana) had been used for medicinal purposes for millennia. Cannabinoid agonists are now attracting growing interest and there is also evidence that botanical cannabis is being used as self-medication for stress and anxiety as well as adjunctive therapy by the seriously ill and by patients with terminal illnesses. California became the first state to authorize medicinal use of cannabis in 1996, and it was recently estimated that between 250,000 and 350,000 Californians may now possess the physician's recommendation required to use it medically. More limited medical use has also been approved in 12 additional states and new initiatives are being considered in others. Despite that evidence of increasing public acceptance of "medical" use, a definitional problem remains and all use for any purpose is still prohibited by federal law. RESULTS: California's 1996 initiative allowed cannabis to be recommended, not only for serious illnesses, but also "for any other illness for which marijuana provides relief," thus maximally broadening the range of allowable indications. In effect, the range of conditions now being treated with federally illegal cannabis, the modes in which it is being used, and the demographics of the population using it became potentially discoverable through the required screening of applicants. This report examines the demographic profiles and other selected characteristics of 4117 California marijuana users (62% from the Greater Bay Area) who applied for medical recommendations between late 2001 and mid 2007. CONCLUSION: This study yielded a somewhat unexpected profile of a hitherto hidden population of users of America's most popular illegal drug. It also raises questions about some of the basic assumptions held by both proponents and opponents of current policy.

Recovery of temperate Desulfovibrio vulgaris bacteriophage using a novel host strain.

A novel sulfate-reducing bacterium (strain DePue) closely related to Desulfovibrio vulgaris ssp. vulgaris strain Hildenborough was isolated from the sediment of a heavy-metal impacted lake using established techniques. Although few physiological differences between strains DePue and Hildenborough were observed, pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) revealed a significant genome reduction in strain DePue. Comparative whole-genome microarray and polymerase chain reaction analyses demonstrated that the absence of genes annotated in the Hildenborough genome as phage or phage-related contributed to the significant genome reduction in strain DePue. Two morphotypically distinct temperate bacteriophage from strain Hildenborough were recovered using strain DePue as a host for plaque isolation.