TRPS1 knockdown inhibits angiogenic vascular mimicry in human triple negative breast cancer cells.

PURPOSE: Vascular mimicry (VM) tubules are lumen structures comprised of malignant tumor cells without the participation of endothelial cells. VM simulates blood vessel function in tumors to deliver a sufficient blood supply for proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of malignant tumors, thereby reducing the clinical effects of anti-angiogenic treatments. The elimination or prevention of malignant tumor VM development therefore represents an urgent research goal as a therapeutic strategy to and cut off nutrients required for tumor growth. The GATA transcription factor TRPS1 is abnormally up-regulated in breast cancer, osteosarcoma, prostate cancer, and other tumor tissues, and is instrumental in regulating cell proliferation, differentiation, and tissue growth and development. METHODS: Here, we explored the effects of TRPS1 knockdown on VM and the proteins underlying its development in triple-negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. RESULTS: We found that TRPS1 knockdown resulted in obvious inhibition of VM development. Fluorescence microscopy of F-actin and tubulin revealed that loss of TRPS1 function resulted in disruption of cytoskeleton and microtubule formation, respectively. In addition, TRPS1-suppressed cells exhibited reduced accumulation of VM-associated proteins EphA2, MMP-2, MMP-9, VEGF, and VE-cadherin. Moreover, it is interesting to know that the capacity for migration and invasion were limited in MDA-MB-231cells after TRPS1 knockdown and that the average number of VM tubules, their length, and number of intersections were also significantly decreased. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our results, and in light of previous studies, we thus proposed that TRPS1 suppression negatively affects vascular mimicry possibly through reduced TRPS1-mediated transcriptional regulation of VM-related protein VEGF-A.

Kidney health for everyone everywhere - from prevention to detection and equitable access to care.

The global burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is rapidly increasing with a projection of becoming the 5th most common cause of years of life lost globally by 2040. CKD is a major cause of catastrophic health expenditure. The costs of dialysis and transplantation consume up to 3% of the annual healthcare budget in high-income countries. However, the onset and progression of CKD is often preventable. In 2020, the World Kidney Day campaign highlights the importance of preventive interventions - be it primary, secondary, or tertiary. This article focuses on outlining and analyzing measures that can be implemented in every country to promote and advance CKD prevention. Primary prevention of kidney disease should focus on the modification of risk factors and addressing structural abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tracts, as well as exposure to environmental risk factors and nephrotoxins. In persons with pre-existing kidney disease, secondary prevention, including blood pressure optimization and glycemic control, should be the main goal of education and clinical interventions. In patients with advanced CKD, management of co-morbidities such as uremia and cardiovascular disease is a highly recommended preventative intervention to avoid or delay dialysis or kidney transplantation. Political efforts are needed to proliferate the preventive approach. While national policies and strategies for non-communicable diseases might be present in a country, specific policies directed toward education and awareness about CKD screening, management, and treatment are often lacking. Hence, there is an urgent need to increase the awareness of preventive measures throughout populations, professionals, and policy makers.

Kidney health for everyone everywhere - from prevention to detection and equitable access to care

The global burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is rapidly increasing with a projection of becoming the 5th most common cause of years of life lost globally by 2040. CKD is a major cause of catastrophic health expenditure. The costs of dialysis and transplantation consume up to 3% of the annual healthcare budget in high-income countries. However, the onset and progression of CKD is often preventable. In 2020, the World Kidney Day campaign highlights the importance of preventive interventions - be it primary, secondary, or tertiary. This article focuses on outlining and analyzing measures that can be implemented in every country to promote and advance CKD prevention. Primary prevention of kidney disease should focus on the modification of risk factors and addressing structural abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tracts, as well as exposure to environmental risk factors and nephrotoxins. In persons with pre-existing kidney disease, secondary prevention, including blood pressure optimization and glycemic control, should be the main goal of education and clinical interventions. In patients with advanced CKD, management of co-morbidities such as uremia and cardiovascular disease is a highly recommended preventative intervention to avoid or delay dialysis or kidney transplantation. Political efforts are needed to proliferate the preventive approach. While national policies and strategies for non-communicable diseases might be present in a country, specific policies directed toward education and awareness about CKD screening, management, and treatment are often lacking. Hence, there is an urgent need to increase the awareness of preventive measures throughout populations, professionals, and policy makers.

Urinary cell-free DNA as a prognostic marker for KRAS-positive advanced-stage NSCLC.

BACKGROUND: KRAS mutations are prevalent in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) but its clinical implications remain to be determined. Continual profiling of KRAS mutations in patients is challenging, and the study aims to determine the potential use of urinary DNA in disease predictions. METHODS: A total of 150 patients were recruited. To ascertain the clinical relevance of urinary DNA, matched tumor profiles were analyzed. Serial measurements were taken to gauge the reliability of the assay. These results were correlated to overall survival using the Kaplan-Meier estimate. RESULTS: A good overall concordance of 93% (consolidated results from serial measurements) was achieved between tumor tissue and urinary DNA profiling. Of the discordant KRAS cases, we observed subsequent positive detection during monitoring and very low concentrations of mutant DNA. In addition, we noted that KRAS-positive patients detected using urinary DNA have good prognostic utility. Interestingly, we also observed that the trend is highly correlative of the rate of change in KRAS mutant DNA concentrations and the period of monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: Urinary DNA offered a non-invasive approach to probe NSCLC dynamics, and in our study we showed that it had predictive capabilities for KRAS-positive patients. Serial monitoring of urinary samples showed that it had a predictive role in identifying patients with worse outcome.

MicroRNA-340-5p modulates cisplatin resistance by targeting LPAATß in osteosarcoma.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in drug resistance and modulate the efficiency of chemotherapy. A recent study indicated that miR-340 functions as a tumor suppressor in various types of cancer. However, the role of miR-340 in chemotherapy has not been reported yet. In this study, we found that miR-340 enhanced cisplatin (CDDP)-induced cell death. Induction of miR-340-5p expression decreased the IC50 of CDDP and increased the apoptosis of CDDP-resistant MG-63 and Saos-2 cells. Moreover, miR-340-5p decreased the accumulation of MRP1 and MDR1. We further explored the mechanism underlying the promoting effects of miR-340-5p on CDDP-induced cell death. We identified a potential target of miR-340 in the 3' untranslated region of lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase (LPAATß) using the online program Targetscan (http://www.microrna.org). Luciferase reporter assays showed that miR-340 binds to the 3'UTR of LPAATß. Enforced expression of miR-340-5p decreased the accumulation of LPAATß in both MG-63 and Saos-2 cells. Silencing LPAATß decreased the IC50 of CDDP and increased the apoptosis of CDDP-resistant MG-63 and Saos-2 cells, which is consistent with the effect of miR-340-5p on CDDP-induced cell death. Moreover, induced expression of LPAATß compromised the effects of miR-340-5p on CDDP-induced cell death and accumulation of MRP1 and MDR1. Taken together, our data indicated that miR-340-5p enhanced the sensitivity to CDDP by targeting LPAATß.

The expression of HDAC7 in cancerous gastric tissues is positively associated with distant metastasis and poor patient prognosis.

PURPOSE: To characterize the expression patterns of HDAC7 in patients with gastric cancer and evaluate the prognostic value of HDAC7 in gastric cancer. METHODS: The expression of histone deacetylase 7 (HDAC7) was detected in paraffin-embedded gastric cancer samples from 86 patients by immunohistochemistry, and the differences in the expression of HDAC7 between cancerous and corresponding adjacent noncancerous tissues were compared using the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test. The correlation between HDAC7 expression and Ki-67 expression or clinicopathologic characteristics was evaluated using a Spearman rank correlation test. Prognostic outcomes that correlated with HDAC7 were examined using a Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards model. Moreover, the effects of HDAC7 on the proliferation, migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells were investigated in vitro using human gastric carcinoma AGS cells. RESULTS: We found that HDAC7 was downregulated in cancerous gastric tissues (P = 0.0019). However, the expression of HDAC7 in cancerous gastric tissues positively correlated with Ki-67 expression (P = 0.0325) and distant metastasis (P = 0.020). Moreover, overall survival was shorter for patients expressing higher levels of HDAC7 in cancerous tissues (P = 0.042). Mechanistically, the disruption of the HDAC7 gene attenuated the capacity of cell growth, migration and invasion and induced G0/G1 arrest in AGS cells. Conversely, forced ovperexpression of HDAC7 promoted cell growth, migration and invasion and G1/S transition in AGS cells. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that high HDAC7 expression in cancerous gastric tissues correlates with distant metastasis and predicts a poor prognosis for patients with gastric cancer.

Expression of anoctamin 1 is associated with advanced tumor stage in patients with non-small cell lung cancer and predicts recurrence after surgery.

PURPOSE: Anoctamin 1 (ANO1), a recently identified calcium-activated chloride channel, has been found to have a critical role in tumorigenesis and tumor progression in several types of cancer. However, its role in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains to be elucidated. In this study, we evaluated the utility of ANO1 as a prognostic marker. PATIENTS AND METHODS: ANO1 expression was detected in tumor tissues and paraneoplastic tissues of I-IV stage NSCLC patients who received surgical treatment by using immunohistochemical and quantitative RT-PCR analyses. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was investigated using immunohistochemistry. Then the TNM stage of the tumor samples was assessed and patients were followed up for developing recurrence. RESULTS: ANO1 expression was significantly increased in NSCLC tumor tissues compared to the paraneoplastic tissues at both RNA and protein level. In addition, ANO1 overexpression was correlated with the high expression of EGFR and led to an advanced tumor stage. And also high ANO1 expression was significantly correlated with high recurrence rate at 1-year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: ANO1 overexpression associated with the high expression of EGFR can be a predictive marker of recurrence after surgery in NSCLC patients.

MicroRNA-340-5p modulates cisplatin resistance by targeting LPAATβ in osteosarcoma

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in drug resistance and modulate the efficiency of chemotherapy. A recent study indicated that miR-340 functions as a tumor suppressor in various types of cancer. However, the role of miR-340 in chemotherapy has not been reported yet. In this study, we found that miR-340 enhanced cisplatin (CDDP)-induced cell death. Induction of miR-340-5p expression decreased the IC50 of CDDP and increased the apoptosis of CDDP-resistant MG-63 and Saos-2 cells. Moreover, miR-340-5p decreased the accumulation of MRP1 and MDR1. We further explored the mechanism underlying the promoting effects of miR-340-5p on CDDP-induced cell death. We identified a potential target of miR-340 in the 3′ untranslated region of lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase (LPAATβ) using the online program Targetscan (http://www.microrna.org). Luciferase reporter assays showed that miR-340 binds to the 3′UTR of LPAATβ. Enforced expression of miR-340-5p decreased the accumulation of LPAATβ in both MG-63 and Saos-2 cells. Silencing LPAATβ decreased the IC50 of CDDP and increased the apoptosis of CDDP-resistant MG-63 and Saos-2 cells, which is consistent with the effect of miR-340-5p on CDDP-induced cell death. Moreover, induced expression of LPAATβ compromised the effects of miR-340-5p on CDDP-induced cell death and accumulation of MRP1 and MDR1. Taken together, our data indicated that miR-340-5p enhanced the sensitivity to CDDP by targeting LPAATβ.

Association between the PPARγ Pro12Ala polymorphism and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus: a meta-analysis.

The relationship between the Pro12Ala polymorphism of PPARγ and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus remains unresolved. Here, we attempted to resolve this inconsistency. Case-control studies pertaining to the effect of the Pro12Ala polymorphism in the PPARγ protein and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus were extracted from the HuGE, PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI, and SinoMed databases after an extensive literature search. The studies were statistically analyzed using STATA (v.12.0) software. Twelve case-control studies composed of 2968 GDM cases and 5576 controls that fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in this meta-analysis. We identified no significant relation between the Pro12Ala polymorphism of PPAR-γ and risk of GDM, when analyzed by the allele [G vs C: odds ratio (OR) = 0.85; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.71-1.01] and dominant (CG+GG vs CC: OR = 0.86; 95% CI: 0.72-1.03) models. Subgroup analysis by ethnicity revealed that East Asian and Middle Eastern females expressing the A allele showed reduced susceptibility to GDM. Additionally, we observed significant differences between the East Asian, Middle Eastern, and Caucasian females (P = 0.008) with respect to GDM susceptibility. The results of this meta-analysis indicated the influence of ethnicity in determining GDM susceptibility, in the presence of a Pro12Ala polymorphism in PPARγ.

Characterization and comparison of transgenic Artemisia annua GYR and wild-type NON-GYR plants in an environmental release trial.

The anti-malarial drug, artemisinin, is quite expensive as a result of its slow content in Artemisia annua. Recent investigations have suggested that genetic engineering of A. annua is a promising approach to improve the yield of artemisinin. In this study, the transgenic A. annua strain GYR, which has high artemisinin content, was evaluated in an environmental release trial. First, GYR plants were compared with the wild-type variety NON-GYR, with regard to phenotypic characters (plant height, crown width, stem diameter, germination rate, leaf dry weight, 1000-seed weight, leave shape). Second, stress resistance in the two varieties (salt, drought, herbicide, and cold resistance) was evaluated under different experimental conditions. Finally, gene flow was estimated. The results indicated that there were significant differences in several agronomic traits (plant height, stem diameter, and leave dry weight) between the transgenic GYR and NON-GYR plants. Salt stress in transgenic and control plants was similar, except under high NaCl concentrations (1.6%, w/w). Leaf water, proline, and MDA content (increased significantly) were significantly different. Transgenic A. annua GYR plants did not grow better than NON-GYR plants with respect to drought and herbicide resistance. The two varieties maintained vitality through the winter. Third, gene flow was studied in an environmental risk trial for transgenic GYR. The maximum gene flow frequency was 2.5%, while the maximum gene flow distance was 24.4 m; gene flow was not detected at 29.2 m at any direction. Our findings may provide an opportunity for risk assessment in future commercialization of transgenic A. annua varieties.

Expression patterns of two heat-shock cognate 70 genes during immune responses and larval development of the Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis.

Two heat-shock protein (HSP) 70 family transcripts, heat-shock protein 70 cognate 5 and heat-shock protein 70 cognate 3 (designated as EsHSC70-5 and EsHSC70-3, respectively), were isolated from the Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis and their expression profiles were evaluated for their responsiveness to larval development and immune challenge in adult crabs. The HSPs exhibited 45-89% identity with other heat-shock proteins, and they shared similar structural features. EsHSC70 mRNA expression was detected not only during infection but also during the developmental larval stages. The EsHSC70s were enriched, and their expression fluctuated during early development. EsHSC70 mRNA expression was significantly induced by Vibrio parahaemolyticus challenge in all of the tissues studied (P < 0.05). Expression of EsHSC70 mRNA in the hepatopancreas and at the early zoeal stages was particularly pronounced, and the two EsHSC70s exhibited differential expression patterns both chronologically and spatially. The EsHSC70-5 mRNA level was significantly downregulated in the intestine and gills compared to that in controls at nearly all time points, and was expressed at a lower level after the bacterial challenge, indicating that EsHSC70-5 and EsHSC70-3 respond to immune challenges. The stage-specific enrichment of EsHSC70 transcripts in crabs suggests that these stress proteins play an essential role during brachyurization events.

Proteome analysis of the liver in the Chinese fire-bellied newt Cynops orientalis.

The Chinese fire-bellied newt, Cynops orientalis, belonging to Amphibia, Caudata, Salamandridae is a species endemic to China. The liver, which is an important digestive gland and the largest amphibian organ, has various functions, including detoxification, glycogen storage, protein synthesis, and hormone production. However, the newt liver has rarely been studied at the molecular level. We performed histomorphology and high-throughput proteomic analysis of the Chinese fire-bellied newt liver, using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining and two-dimensional electrophoresis coupled with mass spectrometry. The H&E staining showed that the newt liver nuclei are large and round, are located in the lateral cytoplasm, and contain a large quantity of lipid droplets. Melanins were abundantly present throughout the hepatic parenchyma. The proteome analysis showed a total of 545 proteins detected in the newt liver. Furthermore, a gene ontology analysis suggested that these proteins were associated with metabolism, immune response, cellular homeostasis, etc. Among these, proteins with metabolic functions were found to be the most abundant and highly expressed. This supports the role of the liver as the metabolic center. The proteomic results provide new insights into the aspects of the liver proteomes of the Chinese fire-bellied newt. The identification of a more global liver proteome in the newt may provide a basis for characterizing and comparing the liver proteomes from other amphibian species.

Amino acid composition of royal jelly harvested at different times after larval transfer.

The amino acids in royal jelly (RJ) have a wide range of pharmacological and health-promoting functions in humans. Multiple studies on the amino acid quality and composition in RJ have investigated RJ harvested at 72 h after larval transfer. In contrast, the concentration of amino acids in RJ harvested before 72 h remains unknown. In this study, the concentration of free amino acids (FAAs) and total amino acids (TAAs) in RJ harvested at 13 time points between 24 and 72 h after transfer of ten Apis mellifera colonies were measured. Our results indicated that the most abundant FAAs were Pro, Phe, Lys, Glu, and Tyr, whereas the most abundant TAAs were Asp, Glu, Leu, Lys, and Val. The total FAA concentration in RJ increased with increasing harvest time, from 4.30 mg/g at 24 h to 9.48 mg/g at 72 h. In contrast, the variation in concentration of TAAs observed was a decrease-increase-decrease trend with 40 h (149.53 mg/g) and 52 h (169.62 mg/g) as inflection points. The highest and lowest concentrations of TAA were 197.96 and 121.32 mg/g at 24 and 72 h, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the concentration changes of FAAs and TAAs prior to 72 h after transfer. Our results will provide theoretical support to guide production practices of beekeeping, as well as elucidate the relationship between the harvest time point and RJ content.

Combination therapy of orally administered glycyrrhizin and UVB improved active-stage generalized vitiligo.

Glycyrrhizin has been used clinically for several years due to its beneficial effect on immunoglobulin E (IgE)-induced allergic diseases, alopecia areata and psoriasis. In this study, glycyrrhizin, ultraviolet B light (UVB) or a combination of both were used to treat active-stage generalized vitiligo. One hundred and forty-four patients between the ages of 3 and 48 years were divided into three groups: group A received oral compound glycyrrhizin (OCG); group B received UVB applications twice weekly, and group C received OCG+UVB. Follow-ups were performed at 2, 4, and 6 months after the treatment was initiated. The Vitiligo Area Scoring Index (VASI) and the Vitiligo Disease Activity (VIDA) instrument were used to assess the affected body surface, at each follow-up. Results showed that 77.1, 75.0 and 87.5% in groups A, B and C, respectively, presented repigmentation of lesions. Responsiveness to therapy seemed to be associated with lesion location and patient compliance. Adverse events were limited and transient. This study showed that, although the three treatment protocols had positive results, OCG and UVB combination therapy was the most effective and led to improvement in disease stage from active to stable.

Correlation between polymorphisms in the glucocorticoid receptor gene NR3C1 and susceptibility to asthma in a Chinese population from the Henan Province.

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between four single nucleotide polymorphisms in NR3C1 (Tth111I, BclI, ER22/23EK, and N363S), which encode the glucocorticoid receptor, and asthma susceptibility in patients from the Henan Province of China. Three hundred and twenty-eight patients with asthma and 60 healthy volunteers were recruited to this study. The target SNPs were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-high resolution melting and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The frequencies of the AA (8.84%) and GG (30.79%) genotypes of Tth111I were higher, and that of the AG genotype was lower (60.37%), in the asthma patients compared to that seen in healthy controls (5.00, 26.67, and 68.33%, respectively). On the other hand, asthma patients showed higher frequencies of the AA genotype (78.05%) of N363S, and lower frequencies of the AG and GG genotypes (15.55 and 6.40%), compared to healthy volunteers (71.67, 18.33, and 10.00%, respectively). Neither of these differences were found to be statistically significant. Moreover, we observed no significant differences in the genotype or allele frequencies of the BclI and ER22/23EK SNPs between the patient and control groups. In conclusion, SNPs in NR3C1 were not significantly associated with asthma in patients from the Henan Province. Patients showed higher frequencies of the AA and GG genotypes of Tth111I and the AA genotype of the N363S SNP compared to healthy volunteers, although these differences were not significant.

Relationship between TLR4 and CCL2 expression and recurrent spontaneous abortion.

The increasing incidence of recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) severely affects women's health. The involvement of the immune system during pregnancy and its contribution to RSA draw researchers' attention. Both Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2) have been linked to various pregnancy disorders. In this study, we quantified TLR4 and CCL2 levels in a case-control study in order to elucidate the correlation between these factors and RSA, and the potential to use them as disease markers. A total of 36 RSA patients and 36 healthy control individuals were recruited for the donation of decidual and chorionic tissues and venous blood samples. Fluorescent quantitative-polymerase chain reaction was used to measure mRNA levels and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay was used to quantify serum levels of TLR4 and CCL2. RSA patients had higher TLR4 and CCL2 mRNA levels compared to controls (P < 0.05). Serum levels of the two factors were also significantly higher in RSA patients than in the control group (P < 0.05). Positive correlations were found between serum levels and tissue mRNA levels of TLR4 and CCL2. In conclusion, both TLR4 and CCL2 were closely related to the occurrence of RSA, suggesting that serum TLR4 and CCL2 levels could be used as indices for monitoring RSA in pregnant women.

Karyotype analysis and ribosomal gene localization of spotted knifejaw Oplegnathus punctatus.

The spotted knifejaw, Oplegnathus punctatus, is an important aquaculture fish species in China. To better understand the chromosomal microstructure and the karyotypic origin of this species, cytogenetic analysis was performed using Giemsa staining to identify metaphase chromosomes, C-banding to detect C-positive heterochromatin, silver staining to identify the nucleolus organizer regions (Ag-NORs), and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for physical mapping of the major (18S rDNA) and minor (5S rDNA) ribosomal genes. The species showed a karyotype of 2n = 48 for females, composed of 2 submetacentric and 46 telocentric chromosomes, with a fundamental number (FN) = 50, while the karyotype of males was 2n = 47, composed of 1 exclusive large metacentric, 2 submetacentric, and 44 telocentric chromosomes, with FN = 50. These karyotype results suggest that O. punctatus might have an X1X1X2X2/X1X2Y multiple sex chromosome system. C-positive heterochromatin was distributed in the centromeres of all chromosomal pairs and in the terminal portions of some chromosomes. A single pair of Ag-positive NORs was found to be localized at the terminal regions of the short arms of the subtelocentric chromosome pair, which was supported by FISH of 18S rDNA. After FISH, 5S rDNA were located on the interstitial regions of the smallest telocentric chromosome pair. This study was the first to identify the karyotype of this species and will facilitate further research on karyotype evolution in the order Perciformes.

Association between downexpression of MiR-203 and poor prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer patients.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Although miR-203 has been proposed as a relevant biomarker for several cancers, the validated prognostic significance of miR-203 in lung cancer remains obscure. Thus, we aimed to identify the relationship between miR-203 expression and clinicopathological significance in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients in the current study. METHODS: The expression of miR-203 in 125 cases of NSCLC and their paired adjacent non-cancerous tissues was evaluated by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Simultaneously, the correlation of miR-203 expression with a variety of clinicopathological factors and patient survival was analyzed. Functionally, in vitro effects of miR-203 on proliferation and viability were explored in lung cancer H460, A549, H1299, PC9 and H292 cells, as assessed by MTS tetrazolium assay and fluorimetric resorufin viability assay, respectively. RESULTS: The relative level of miR-203 was 6.12 ± 6.25 in NSCLC tissues, remarkably downregulated than that of their paired non-tumorous lung tissues (7.88 ± 5.56, P = 0.019). The area under curve (AUC) of low expression of miR-203 to diagnose NSCLC was 0.622 (95 % CI 0.552-0.692, P = 0.001). MiR-203 expression was negatively correlated to lymphatic metastasis (r = -0.334, P < 0.001), tumor size (r = -0.407, P < 0.001) and clinical TNM stages (r = -0.298, P = 0.001). Furthermore, the survival of the low miR-203 expression group was 4.88 ± 4.38 months, markedly shorter than that of the high expression group (23.35 ± 1.12 months, P < 0.001). The level of miR-203 was an independent prognostic indicator of NSCLC using univariate analysis. MiR-203 mimic could suppress the cell growth of five lung cancer cell lines tested to different degrees in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: MiR-203 could become a prognostic predictor in NSCLC and may be a new target for the molecular therapy of NSCLC patients.

Combination therapy of orally administered glycyrrhizin and UVB improved active-stage generalized vitiligo

Glycyrrhizin has been used clinically for several years due to its beneficial effect on immunoglobulin E (IgE)-induced allergic diseases, alopecia areata and psoriasis. In this study, glycyrrhizin, ultraviolet B light (UVB) or a combination of both were used to treat active-stage generalized vitiligo. One hundred and forty-four patients between the ages of 3 and 48 years were divided into three groups: group A received oral compound glycyrrhizin (OCG); group B received UVB applications twice weekly, and group C received OCG+UVB. Follow-ups were performed at 2, 4, and 6 months after the treatment was initiated. The Vitiligo Area Scoring Index (VASI) and the Vitiligo Disease Activity (VIDA) instrument were used to assess the affected body surface, at each follow-up. Results showed that 77.1, 75.0 and 87.5% in groups A, B and C, respectively, presented repigmentation of lesions. Responsiveness to therapy seemed to be associated with lesion location and patient compliance. Adverse events were limited and transient. This study showed that, although the three treatment protocols had positive results, OCG and UVB combination therapy was the most effective and led to improvement in disease stage from active to stable.

Screening of polymorphisms located in the FGF20 and TMEM175 genes in North Chinese Parkinson's disease patients.

Genome-wide association studies have reported numerous susceptibility loci for Parkinson's disease (PD). However, there have been few replication studies examining these loci in northern Chinese populations. To evaluate the relationships among 3 polymorphic markers located in the fibroblast growth factor 20 and transmembrane protein 175 genes and the genetic susceptibility to PD in northern Chinese subjects, 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms, and 1 insertion/deletion marker (rs591323 in FGF20; rs6599388 and rs142821586 in transmembrane protein 175 near the G-associated kinase/diacylglycerol kinase theta region) were investigated in 313 PD patients and 318 matched controls. Mismatched multiplex polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis as well as sequence-specific primer polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism assays were performed. The genotypic frequency of rs591323 differed significantly between the patient and control groups; however, neither rs6599388 nor rs142821586 was associated with PD. We corrected the Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium for rs6599388, which was previously reported to be common in 4 Asian descent populations into equilibrium status by simultaneously genotyping rs6599388 and rs142821586. In summary, we found that rs591323 was associated with PD but rs6599388 and rs142821586 were not associated with PD in a northern Chinese population.