Effect of mastectomy on gut microbiota and its metabolites in patients with breast cancer.

Background: The relationship between gut microbiota and breast cancer has been extensively studied; however, changes in gut microbiota after breast cancer surgery are still largely unknown. Materials and methods: A total of 20 patients with breast cancer underwent routine open surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical College from 1 June 2022 to 1 December 2022. Stool samples were collected from the patients undergoing mastectomy for breast cancer preoperatively, 3 days later, and 7 days later postoperatively. The stool samples were subjected to 16s rRNA sequencing. Results: Surgery did not affect the α-diversity of gut microbiota. The ß-diversity and composition of gut microorganisms were significantly affected by surgery in breast cancer patients. Both linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) analysis and between-group differences analysis showed that surgery led to a decrease in the abundance of Firmicutes and Lachnospiraceae and an increase in the abundance of Proteobacteria and Enterobacteriaceae. Moreover, 127 differential metabolites were screened and classified into 5 categories based on their changing trends. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis showed significant changes in the phenylalanine metabolic pathway and exogenous substance metabolic pathway. Eight characterized metabolites were screened using ROC analysis. Conclusion: Our study found that breast cancer surgery significantly altered gut microbiota composition and metabolites, with a decrease in beneficial bacteria and an increase in potentially harmful bacteria. This underscores the importance of enhanced postoperative management to optimize gut microbiota.

Chronically socially isolated mice exhibit depressive-like behavior regulated by the gut microbiota.

Objectives: Chronic loneliness is a widespread issue, and the gut-brain axis is known to be crucial in facilitating communication between the gut and brain. However, the precise mechanism by which chronic loneliness affects the gut-brain axis remains uncertain. Methods: Fourteen 55-week-old Balb/c mice were used in the experiment, with seven mice being randomly assigned to the chronic social isolation (CSI) group. The CSI group mice underwent 12 weeks of isolation to simulate the psychiatric state of a population in prolonged social isolation. The mental state of the CSI mice was assessed through animal behavior analysis, while plasma cytokines were measured using ELISA. Additionally, the composition of the gut microbiota was analyzed using 16S rRNA sequencing, and the metabolite composition of the intestinal contents was examined using nontargeted metabolomics. The Student-T test was used to determine significant mean differences. Results: Mice that were exposed to the CSI exhibited increased immobility time lengths in forced swimming and hanging tail experiments, and decreased movement lengths and number of times traversing the intermediate region, compared to control mice. Additionally, CSI decreased the abundance of the probiotics Ruminococcaceae, Akkermansiaceae, and Christensenellaceae. Additionally, CSI reduced the production of the metabolites oleamide and tryptophan. Furthermore, IL-1ß, IL-4, and IL-6 were significantly increased, while TNF-α was significantly decreased. Conclusion: CSI induces a dysbiotic gut microbiota and the production of neurorelated metabolites, which in turn increase inflammatory responses and result in depressive behaviors in CSI mice. Therefore, these findings suggest that the gut microbiota may serve as a target for the treatment of long-term social isolation-induced mental disorders.

Prevalence of depression in junior and senior adolescents.

Background: Depression affects the development of adolescents and makes it difficult for them to adapt to future life. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the population characteristics of adolescent depression. Methods: This study measured depression based on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 items and sociodemographic questionnaire. A total of 8,235 valid questionnaires were collected from six schools in Haikou and Qionghai, Hainan Province, covering the ages of 13 to 18. The questionnaires included high schools with multiple levels, including general high schools, key high schools, and vocational high schools. Latent category analysis (LCA) was used to identify potential categories of depressive symptoms among adolescents. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was used for determining depressive symptom latent categories and their proportional distribution among adolescents. Results: LCA analysis divided the data into 3 categories, namely no depression, low depression, and high depression groups. The percentage of the high depression group was 10.1%, and that of the low depression group was 48.4%. The Jorden index was greatest for a PHQ-9 score of 14.5. The 1st grade of junior middle school students entered the high and low depression groups 1.72 and 1.33 times more often than seniors. The number of the 1st grade of high school students included in the high and low depression groups was 1.55 and 1.42 times of the 3rd grade of high school students group. The detection rate of the high depression group of vocational school adolescents was 13.5%, which was significantly higher than that of key high schools (9.6%) and general high schools (9.0%). Conclusion: This study found that 1st grade of junior middle school students and the 1st grade of high school students were more likely to fall into depressive conditions. Moreover, Adolescent girls require more attention than boys. Vocational school students need more psychological guidance.

Case report: Apatinib combined with neoadjuvant therapy for primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast: a case report.

Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast is a rare subtype of carcinoma of chemosis for which there is no effective chemotherapy regimen. Breast squamous cell carcinoma is usually "triple negative", with poor chemotherapy effects and poor prognosis. Here, we report a successful case of primary breast squamous cell carcinoma treated with apatinib. The patient was treated with 2 cycles of apatinib. The efficacy was evaluated as partial remission, and a sublesion of approximately 4 cm fell off.

Acute thrombocytopenia induced by trastuzumab due to complement reaction: A case report.

Background: The usual treatment option for HER2 breast cancer is targeted therapy with trastuzumab. The common adverse effects of trastuzumab treatment are thrombocytopenia, however, acute thrombocytopenia is rare and its mechanism is still largely unknown. Case presentation: We reported a patient who presented with acute thrombocytopenia on two consecutive occasions, and the predisposing factor was identified on the second occasion because of trastuzumab-only treatment. Routine blood results showed a dramatic increase in white blood cell count and neutrophil count after both trastuzumab treatments. Moreover, the complement reaction results suggested that the dramatic thrombocytopenia was probably due to platelet destruction after complement activation. Conclusion: This case suggests that it would be useful to perform a platelet complement reaction test before trastuzumab treatment in patients with HER2 breast cancer.

A Vaccine with Multiple Receptor-Binding Domain Subunit Mutations Induces Broad-Spectrum Immune Response against SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern.

With the emergence of more variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the immune evasion of these variants from existing vaccines, the development of broad-spectrum vaccines is urgently needed. In this study, we designed a novel SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) subunit (RBD5m) by integrating five important mutations from SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs). The neutralization activities of antibodies induced by the RBD5m candidate vaccine are more balanced and effective for neutralizing different SARS-CoV-2 VOCs in comparison with those induced by the SARS-CoV-2 prototype strain RBD. Our results suggest that the RBD5m vaccine is a good broad-spectrum vaccine candidate able to prevent disease from several different SARS-CoV-2 VOCs.

Mechanistic studies on the antidiabetic activity of a polysaccharide-rich extract of Radix Ophiopogonis.

To study the hypoglycemic mechanisms of a polysaccharide-rich extract of Radix Ophiopogonis, the influences of the extract on activity of NIT-1 insulinoma cells damaged by streptozotocin (STZ), activity of α-glucosidase, glucose absorption into intestinal brush border membrane vesicles, gluconeogenesis by H4IIE hepatoma cells and glucose uptake by 3T3-L1 adipocytes were investigated. The results show that the extract improved the activity of NIT-1 cells damaged by STZ, inhibited glucose absorption into intestinal brush border membrane vesicles and reduced the activity of α-glucosidase. However, gluconeogenesis in H4IIE cells and glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 adipocytes did not change significantly in the presence of the extract. These results suggest that the hypoglycemic mechanisms of the polysaccharide-rich extract of Radix Ophiopogonis are caused by protection in pancreatic islet cells and the inhibition of carbohydrate digestion and absorption. This is possibly the first report on the underlying mechanisms responsible for the antidiabetic effect of Radix Ophiopogonis.