Carex meyeriana Kunth Extract Is a Novel Natural Drug against Candida albicans.

As a widely distributed plant in Northeast China, Carex meyeriana Kunth (CMK) is generally considered to have antibacterial properties; however, there is a lack of scientific evidence for this. Therefore, we investigated the chemical composition of CMK extract and its effect against C. albicans. A total of 105 compounds were identified in the alcohol extracts of CMK by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS. Most were flavonoids, with Luteolin being the most represented. Among them, 19 compounds are found in the C. albicans lysates. After treatment with CMK ethanol extract, a significant reduction in the number of C. albicans colonies was observed in a vaginal douche solution from day 5 (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the CMK extract can reduce the number of C. albicans spores. The levels of IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-1ß, and TNF-α in vaginal tissues all exhibited a significant decrease (p < 0.05) compared to those in the model group as determined by ELISA. The results of HE staining showed that CMK extract can eliminate vaginal mucosa inflammation. CMK adjusts the vaginal mucosa cells by targeting twenty-six different metabolites and five specific metabolic pathways in order to effectively eliminate inflammation. Simultaneously, the CMK regulates twenty-three types of metabolites and six metabolic pathways against C. albicans infection. So, CMK strongly inhibits the growth of C. albicans and significantly reduces vaginal inflammation, making it a promising candidate for treating C. albicans infection.

Anti-p16 autoantibodies may be a useful biomarker for early diagnosis of esophageal cancer.

AIM: Our recent work suggested that circulating IgG antibodies to a linear peptide derived from p16 protein were significantly increased in patients with lung cancer. The present study was then designed to test whether such autoantibodies were also altered in esophageal cancer. METHODS: An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was developed in-house to determine circulating IgA and IgG antibodies against p16 protein-derived antigens in 97 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and 226 healthy subjects. RESULTS: The levels of anti-p16 IgG but not IgA antibodies were significantly higher in the patient group than the control group (t = 2.81, P = 0.0052); circulating anti-p16 IgG levels were inversely correlated with stages of ESCC (r = -0.30, df = 81, P = 0.0058) and patients with stage I of ESCC had the highest IgG level among all four stages (t = 5.25, P ≤ 0.0001, compared with control subjects). There was no correlation between the levels of IgA and IgG either in the patient group (r = -0.05, df = 86, P = 0.627) or in the control group (r = -0.1, df = 205, P = 0.146). CONCLUSION: Circulating IgG autoantibody to p16 protein may be a potential biomarker for early diagnosis of esophageal cancer.

Detection of circulating antibodies to linear peptide antigens derived from ANXA1 and DDX53 in lung cancer.

The EarlyCDT®-Lung test was the first autoantibody-based diagnostic tool for lung cancer, which was developed with a panel of recombinant protein antigens. To confirm whether the antibody test developed with linear peptide antigens has a similar power to that developed with the whole protein molecules, the present work was then undertaken to develop an in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with linear peptide antigens derived from annexin A1 (ANXA1) and DEAD box protein 53 (DDX53), which have been used to develop the EarlyCDT®-Lung test. A total of 272 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 227 control subjects matched in age and smoking history were recruited. Student's t test showed that the levels of circulating IgG to ANXA1-derived peptide antigens were significantly higher in patients with NSCLC than control subjects (t = 5.66, P < 0.0001), in which the increased anti-ANXA1 IgG levels were observed only in patients at stages I, II, or III, but not in those at stage IV. However, the levels of circulating IgG to DDX53-derived peptide antigens were not significantly altered in NSCLC (t = 1.78, P = 0.076). Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that the sensitivity against specificity of >90% was 23.7% for ANXA1 IgG assay and 13.8% for DDX53 IgG assay. This work suggests that the linear peptide antigen derived from ANXA1 may be suitable for the development of diagnostic tool for lung cancer although further screening is needed to identify more such peptide antigens derived from tumor-associated antigens.

Autoantibodies against p16 protein-derived peptides may be a potential biomarker for non-small cell lung cancer.

Overexpression of tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) has been reported in many types of cancer and may trigger secretion of their autoantibodies. The present work was thus designed to test whether circulating antibody to p16 protein-derived antigens was altered in lung cancer. Two hundred seventy-one patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 226 control subjects matched in age, gender, and smoking history were recruited in this study. The levels of circulating anti-p16 IgA and IgG antibodies were tested using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) developed in-house with linear peptide antigens derived from p16 protein. Student's t test showed that patients with NSCLC had a significant higher level of anti-p16 IgG antibody than control subjects (t = 2.74, P = 0.0063) but did not have a significant increase in IgA antibody levels (t = 1.92, P = 0.056). The sensitivity against >90% specificity was 19.7% for the IgG assay with an inter-assay deviation of 11.6%, and 10.3% for the IgA assay with an inter-assay deviation of 14.7%. Based on a cut-off value determined by the 99th percentile of control IgG levels, the anti-p16 IgG positivity was 6.7% in patients with NSCLC compared to 0.88% in control subjects (χ (2) = 10.58, P = 0.001, OR = 7.97, 95% CI 1.84­34.85). Circulating anti-p16 IgG levels were increased with stages of NSCLC, and patients with stage IV NSCLC had the highest IgG level among all four stages (t = 2.42, P = 0.016, compared with the control group). Pearson correlation analysis showed a significant correlation between circulating levels of IgA and IgG in the patient group (r = −0.2, df = 236, P = 0.0021) but not in the control group (r = −0.1, df = 205, P = 0.146). Circulating IgG antibody to p16 protein may be a potential biomarker with prognostic values for lung cancer.

The type 2 diabetes mellitus susceptibility gene IGF2BP2 is associated with schizophrenia in a Han Chinese population.

BACKGROUND: Patients with schizophrenia have an increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus, and type 2 diabetes mellitus has shown an association with the rs4402960 gene polymorphism in the insulin-like growth factor II messenger RNA (mRNA)-binding protein 2 gene (IGF2BP2). We tested this polymorphism and mRNA expression levels of IGF2BP2 for an association in Han Chinese patients with schizophrenia compared to healthy controls. METHOD: The rs4402960 polymorphism was genotyped in 790 chronic schizophrenic patients (diagnosed according to DSM-IV) and 1,083 unrelated healthy controls in a case-control design. The IGF2BP2 gene expression levels were assayed in 34 patients with chronic schizophrenia and 30 healthy controls by using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The study was conducted between 2005 and 2007. RESULTS: We found significant differences in the rs4402960 genotype (χ(2)2 = 7.316, P = .026) and allele (χ(2)1 = 7.056, P = .008) distributions between the patient and control groups. The rs4402960 T allelic frequency was significantly higher in male schizophrenic patients than male controls (28.9% vs 23.5%; P = .004) but not in female patients compared to female controls (27.1% vs 25.5%; P = .498). When real-time PCR was used, the IGF2BP2 gene's isoform B expression levels were significantly greater in schizophrenia than controls (P = .0008). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the IGF2BP2 gene may play a role in susceptibility to schizophrenia, supporting the hypothesis that the co-occurrence of type 2 diabetes mellitus and schizophrenia may be explained by shared genetic risk variants. However, this finding remains preliminary since this association has yet to be replicated.

Circulating autoantibody to FOXP3 may be a potential biomarker for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

The present study was undertaken to develop a relatively quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in-house using human leukocyte antigen class II-restricted epitopes in order to test circulating autoantibodies to human forkhead/winged helix transcription factor (FOXP3) as a biomarker for esophageal cancer. A total of 97 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and 227 healthy subjects were recruited for this study, and their plasma samples were collected for antibody analysis with the ELISA approach. Student's t test showed that the anti-FOXP3 IgG antibody levels were significantly higher in the patient group than the control group (t=6.23, P<0.0001). Based on a cutoff value determined by the mean+3SD of control IgG levels, the positive rate was 5.15 % in patients with ESCC as compared to 0.88 % in control subjects (X (2) =6.53, P=0.019, OR=5.85, 95 % CI 1.12-30.67), in which patients at stage I had the highest positivity (11.54 %, X (2) =12.15, P=0.0005, OR=13.10, 95 % CI 2.09-82.04). The sensitivity against >95 % specificity was 22.7 % for the IgG assay with an inter-assay deviation of 13.35 %. This work suggests that circulating IgG autoantibody to FOXP3 may be a potential biomarker for early diagnosis of esophageal cancer.

No association between the type 2 diabetes mellitus susceptibility gene, SLC30A8 and schizophrenia in a Chinese population.

BACKGROUND: The co-occurrence of schizophrenia and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been well documented. Recent genome-wide association studies and meta-analyses have shown robust associations of the solute carrier family 30 member 8 (SLC30A8) gene variants with T2DM in various populations. We examined the involvement of the SLC30A8 in the susceptibility to schizophrenia in a Han Chinese population. METHODS: The SLC30A8 rs13266634 gene polymorphism was genotyped in 837 chronic schizophrenic and 1109 unrelated healthy controls by using a case control design. We also assessed clinical symptoms. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the rs13266634 genotype (χ(2) = 1.95, df = 2, p = 0.38) and allele (χ(2) = 0.47, df = 1, p = 0.50) distributions between the patient and control groups. There was no association between rs13266634 and clinical symptoms. CONCLUSION: The SLC30A8 gene variation does not appear to contribute a genetic basis for the co-occurrence of schizophrenia and T2DM.

Are circulating autoantibodies to ABCC3 transporter a potential biomarker for lung cancer?

PURPOSE: The present study was undertaken to test circulating autoantibody to ATP-binding cassette C3 (ABCC3) transporter in order to confirm whether anti-ABCC3 antibody could serve as a biomarker for early diagnosis of lung cancer. METHODS: This study recruited 275 patients (178 males and 97 females) with non-small cell lung cancer (either squamous carcinoma or adenocarcinoma) and 226 control subjects (134 males and 92 females) well matched in age and smoking history. Anti-ABCC3 IgA and IgG were determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) approach that was developed in house with the human leukocyte antigen class II (HLA-II) restricted antigens. RESULTS: Mann-Whitney U test showed that the IgG antibody level was significantly higher in female patients with adenocarcinoma than female controls (Z = -4.34, P < 0.001) and that the IgA antibody level was significantly higher in male patients with squamous carcinoma than male controls (Z = -3.12, P = 0.002). Pearson's Chi-square (χ(2)) test showed that female patients with adenocarcinoma had a significantly higher positive rate for IgG autoantibody than female controls (χ ( 2 ) = 8.73, P = 0.003). The ELISA sensitivity against a specificity of >95 % was 18.1 % for IgG assay in female patients and 18.0 % for IgA assay in male patients. The inter-assay deviation was 10.6 % for IgG assay and 14.5 % for IgA assay. CONCLUSIONS: Circulating autoantibodies to ABCC3 transporter may be a potential biomarker that can be added to a panel of existing biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis of lung cancer although the gender differences should be taken into account.