Development of Irinotecan Liposome Armed with Dual-Target Anti-Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor and Anti-Fibroblast Activation Protein-Specific Antibody for Pancreatic Cancer Treatment.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most common causes of death in Taiwan. Previous studies have shown that more than 90% of pancreatic cancer cells presented epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) cell marker, and this marker is thought to be important as it is related to activation of cancer cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and cancer progression. Moreover, tumor-associated fibroblasts were involved in tumor proliferation and progression. In this study, we fabricated an anti-EGFR and anti-fibroblast activation protein bispecific antibody-targeted liposomal irinotecan (BS-LipoIRI), which could specifically bind to pancreatic cancer cells and tumor-associated fibroblasts. The drug encapsulation efficiency of BS-LipoIRI was 80.95%, and the drug loading was 8.41%. We proved that both pancreatic cancer cells and fibroblasts could be targeted by BS-LipoIRI, which showed better cellular uptake efficacy compared to LipoIRI. Furthermore, an in vivo mouse tumor test indicated that BS-LipoIRI could inhibit pancreatic cancer growth up to 46.2% compared to phosphate-buffered saline control, suggesting that BS-LipoIRI could be useful in clinical cancer treatment.

Associations among depression, obesity, and metabolic syndrome in young adult females.

Depression may be a risk factor for obesity or metabolic syndrome. The aims of this study were to determine the relationships among depression, obesity, and metabolic syndrome in young adult females as well as the role of depression in the components of metabolic syndrome. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 323 young adult females. Demographic characteristics, anthropometric measurements, and laboratory values were collected. The criteria of the Bureau of Health Promotion, Department of Health, Taiwan, were used to define metabolic syndrome. Depression was measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale. The prevalence of depression in the sample was 17%, that of overweight and obesity was 17%, and that of metabolic syndrome was 6.8%. Depression showed significant associations with high body mass index (BMI), increased waist circumference and blood pressure (BP), and overweight and obesity (ß = 0.15, odds ratio [OR] = 1.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.11, 1.23], p < .001). No associations were observed between depression and metabolic syndrome (ß = -0.01, OR = 0.99, 95% CI = [0.92, 1.06], p = .69) or any of its individual components after adjustment for BMI and demographic variables. The findings show that depression was associated with increasing odds of overweight and obesity in young adult females and may also have increased the physiological risk associated with metabolic syndrome. Early detection of depression and obesity as part of metabolic syndrome is important in the health management of young adult females for decreasing the risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.