Prognostic role of MUC-2 expression in patients with gastric carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This meta-analysis aimed to assess the association of MUC-2 expression with clinicopathological parameters in gastric carcinoma (GC) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical databases based on the study aim were searched in detail. The relative risk ratios (RRs) and associated 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were computed after eligible trials were included in the study. RESULTS: Nineteen trials involving 2,363 GC patients were included in this meta-analysis. The expression of MUC-2 showed correlation with clinical stage (I/II vs. III/IV) (RR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.00-1.18, I2 = 24%, p = 0.194), and lymphatic invasion (present vs. absent) (RR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.72-0.95, I2 = 22.3%, p = 0.252). However, no significant association was identified between the MUC-2 expression and other clinicopathological parameters, including gender (male vs. female), tumor size (>5 vs. ≤5 cm), Lauren's classification (intestinal vs. diffuse), tumor differentiation (poorly vs. well and moderately), lymph node metastasis (present vs. absent), vascular invasion (present vs. absent), and 5-year survival (yes vs. no) of GC patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis findings suggested that MUC-2 positive cases were correlated with lower tumor stage and lower rate of lymphatic invasion. Further clinical studies are warranted to confirm the role of MUC-2 in clinical practice.

Association between osteocalcin and glucose metabolism: a meta-analysis.

UNLABELLED: This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the associations between osteocalcin (Ocn) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). It was revealed that both total Ocn and undercarboxylated Ocn (unOcn) were negatively related with FPG and HbA1c, and the association of unOcn with FPG was more pronounced in men. INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to investigate the strength of associations between Ocn and FPG and HbA1c using a meta-analysis approach. METHODS: A search was carried out using the databases of PubMed, ISI Web of Science, and the Cochrane library from 2007 to 2014 to identify related studies. A pooled effect size with 95 % confidence intervals (CI) was derived. RESULTS: The meta-analysis included 39 studies involving 23,381 participants. The overall correlation was -0.16 (95 % CI, -0.19 to -0.14) between total Ocn (tOcn) and FPG and -0.15 (95 % CI, -0.20 to -0.11) between undercarboxylated Ocn (unOcn) and FPG. In the analysis of the association between Ocn and HbA1c, the pooled correlation was -0.16 (95 % CI, -0.18 to -0.14) for tOcn and -0.16 (95 % CI, -0.23 to -0.08) for unOcn. The magnitude of the correlation between unOcn and FPG is significantly higher in men than in women (r = -0.18, 95 % CI, -0.21 to -0.14; r = -0.09, 95 % CI, -0. 13 to -0.05, respectively; P for interaction < 0.05). Similar trend was also found between unOcn and HbA1c but without significance (for men, r = -0.19, 95 % CI, -0.24 to -0.14; for women, r = -0.09, 95 % CI, -0.22 to 0.04, respectively; P for interaction > 0.05). No indication of significant publication bias was found in any method. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis demonstrated that both unOcn and tOcn were similarly and negatively correlated with FPG and HbA1c in humans. The negative correlations between unOcn and glucose metabolism appear to be more pronounced in men than in women.

Hypoxia and Serum deprivation protected MiaPaCa-2 cells from KAI1-induced proliferation inhibition through autophagy pathway activation in solid tumors

Purpose. KAI1 closely correlates with pancreatic cancer metastasis. There might be some factors that protect the cells from a proliferation inhibition by KAI1 in the solid tumors’ microenvironment. Hypoxia and ischemia are the main characteristics of the microenvironment within solid tumors. Whether they affect the KAI1 inhibitory effects on cell proliferation is still unclear. Methods. MiaPaCa-2 human pancreatic cancer cells do not express KAI1 protein. However, after being infected with Ad5-KAI1, they expressed KAI1 protein. We cultured them under hypoxic and serum-free conditions to simulate the solid tumor hypoxic-ischemic microenvironment. The cells were divided into the control, hypoxic, serum-free, and hypoxic with serum-free groups. The proliferation and apoptosis were observed by CCK8 and Annexin V-FITC/PI, respectively. The green fluorescent protein-labeled light chain 3 association with autophagosome membranes was detected by confocal microscopy. The ratio of LC3-II–LC3-I expression level was detected by western blot. Pretreatment of 3-MA was used to inhibit the autophagy. We, then observed whether the hypoxic and serum-free conditions could change the effect of KAI1 on cell survival and whether the pretreatment of 3-MA could inhibit the effect of hypoxic and serum-free conditions on KAI1 function. Results. Hypoxia and serum-free media effectively reduced the apoptosis and proliferation inhibition caused by KAI1 and was beneficial to the cell survival. 3-MA pretreatment effectively blocked the protective effect of hypoxia and serum-free media on the cells by autophagy block. Conclusions. Serum-free media and hypoxia protected the MiaPaCa-2 cells from a KAI1-induced apoptosis and proliferation inhibition via autophagy induction (AU)

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