Clinical effect of selective interventional therapy on sub-acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction under the guidance of fractional flow reserve and coronary arteriography.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to compare the clinical effects of selective interventional therapy (PCI) under the guidance of fractional flow reserve (FFR) and coronary arteriography. METHODS: Patients with sub-acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (sub-acute STEMI), who were under selective PCI treatment between April 2012 and June 2014, were included into this study. These patients were divided into two groups, based on FFR measurements: FFR-PCI group and radiography-PCI group. Then, differences in clinical symptoms, coronary angiography, intervention, and endpoint events were compared between these two groups. RESULTS: A total of 592 patients with sub-acute STEMI were included in this study (207 patients in the FFR-PCI group and 385 patients in the radiography-PCI group). No statistical differences were observed in baseline clinical data and coronary angiography results between these two groups. Mean stent number was greater in the radiography-PCI group (1.22 ± 0.32) than in the FFR-PCI group (1.10 ± 0.29), and the difference was statistically significant (P = 0.019). During the follow-up period, 78 adverse events occurred (21 adverse events in the FFR-PCI group and 57 adverse events in the radiography-PCI group); and no statistical significance was observed between these two groups (log-rank P = 0.112). CONCLUSION: Selective PCI treatment in patients with sub-acute STEMI under FFR acquired similar effects, compared to PCI treatment under the guidance of radiography, which can reduce the mean stent number.

The Variant rs145204276 of GAS5 is Associated with the Development and Prognosis of Gastric Cancer.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Down-regulation of the growth arrest specific transcript 5 (GAS5) (long non-coding RNA) is associated with cell proliferation of gastric cancer (GC) and a poor prognosis. We aimed to investigate whether the variant rs145204276 of GAS5 is associated with the prognosis of GC in the Chinese population, and to unveil the regulatory mechanism underlying the GAS5 expression in GC tissues. METHOD: 1,253 GC patients and 1,354 healthy controls were included. The frequency of the genotype del/del and the allele del of rs145204276 were compared between the patients and the controls and between different subgroups of patients classified by clinicopathological variables. The overall survival rate was analyzed according to the Kaplan-Meier method using the log-rank test. RESULTS: The frequency of genotype del/del was significantly lower in patients than in the controls (7.0% vs. 9.1%, p = 0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that genotype del/del was significantly associated with a higher survival rate (p = 0.01). Patients with late tumor stage were found to have a significantly lower rate of genotype del/del than those with an early tumor stage (4.9% vs. 8.8%, p = 0.01). Patients with UICC III and IV were found to have a significantly lower rate of genotype del/del than those with UICC I and II (5.3% vs. 8.1%, p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: The variant rs145204276 of GAS5 is associated with the development and prognosis of GC. The allele del of rs145204276 is associated with a remarkably lower incidence of cancer progression and metastasis.

Betulinic acid promotes TRAIL function on liver cancer progression inhibition through p53/Caspase-3 signaling activation.

Betulinic acid (BA), isolated from the tree bark, is a pentacyclic triterpenoid, showing inhibitory role in cancer cells. However, the effects of BA treatment on liver cancer have little to be known. Thus, the study is conducted to explore the in vitro and in vivo role of BA in liver cancer. And the interactions between BA and tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand of APO2, also known as TRAIL, were investigated in liver cancer cells. A synergistic effect of BA and APO2 combination on apoptosis induction in liver cancer cells was observed. The cancer cells were insensitive to APO2 single therapy. However, liver cancer cells receiving BA were sensitive to APO2-triggered apoptotic response by enhancing Caspases cleavage, due to elevation of decoy receptor 1 and 2 (DcR1 and DcR2) dependent on p53. Bcl-2 family members of Bcl-2 and Mcl-1, belonging to anti-apoptosis, were decreased, whereas Bad and Bak, as pro-apoptotic members, were increased for BA and APO2 combined treatment. Additionally, the mouse xenograft model suggested that BA and APO2 in combination markedly inhibited liver cancer growth in comparison to BA or APO2 monotherapy without toxicity. The present study revealed a dramatically therapeutic strategy for promoting APO2-induced anti-cancer effects on liver cancer cells via BA combination.

Loss of ICA69 potentiates long-lasting hyperalgesia after subcutaneous formalin injection into the mouse hindpaw.

Islet-cell autoantigen 69 kDa (ICA69) plays an important role in many diseases and physiological activities by forming heteromeric complexes with protein interacts with C-kinase 1 (PICK1). PICK1 is critical for inflammatory pain hypersensitivity by regulating trafficking of AMPA receptor subunit GluA2 in spinal neurons. However, the role of ICA69 in inflammatory pain has not yet been investigated. Here we reported that expression of PICK1 in spinal cord was reduced largely in ICA69 knockout mice. The pain hypersensitivity was enhanced in the second phase 7 days after formalin administration. Meanwhile, increased Ser880 phosphorylation in GluA2 and decreased surface GluA2 were concordant with the pain. Furthermore, the number of activated microglia in spinal dorsal horn increased in line with pain hypersensitivity. Together, ICA69 deficiency promoted the internalization of GluA2 and FML-induced long-lasting pain hypersensitivity. In addition, microglia activation might be an important factor in the development of the pain hypersensitivity.