The Effects of Probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG on Fecal Flora and Serum Markers of Renal Injury in Mice with Chronic Kidney Disease.

BACKGROUND: In this study, we analyzed intestinal flora in an experimental mouse model of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and investigated whether oral supplementation with probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG could slow the decline in renal function and inflammatory status of mice with CKD. METHODS: We surgically induced chronic kidney disease in C57BL/6J male mice aged 8-9 weeks. We used dual-stage 5/6 nephrectomy for this, while the mock group underwent a mock procedure. The experimental (CKD mice) and mock group were administered a daily dose of 10 × 109 colony forming unit (CFU) of probiotic L. rhamnosus GG or 2 g of maltodextrin as a placebo by oral gavage, respectively, for 5 weeks. At the end of the experiment, the fecal samples of the mice were collected and prepared for intestinal microbial diversity analysis. We examined the serum chemistry and renal histology of the mice. RESULTS: Important serum and blood biomarkers were associated with the development of CKD, including increased serum concentrations of creatine, cystatin C, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and a protein-interleukin-6 (denoted as IL-6), whereas decreased serum albumin concentration was also observed in the mice with CKD. The intestinal flora of the mice with CKD significantly declined in terms of diversity, richness, and homogeneity. The consumption of L. rhamnosus GG probiotic via oral gavage significantly decreased the serum concentration level present in creatinine and blood urea nitrogen. However, it increased albumin in the group with CKD. After probiotic treatment, serum IL-6 levels dropped considerably, and the kidney histopathology score in mice with CKD who were given L. rhamnosus GG improved. Moreover, supplementation with the probiotic significantly improved floral richness and lineage diversity in the mice with CKD.Conclusions: In this study, we found that probiotics significantly attenuated renal failure development, reduced serum levels of proinflammatory cytokine IL-6, and increased the abundance and lineage diversity of intestinal flora in mice with chronic kidney disease.

Extranodal follicular dendritic cell sarcoma: A clinicopathological report of four cases and a literature review.

The aim of the present study was to characterize the clinicopathological features of follicular dendritic cell sarcoma (FDCS), and to report the experience of the Xin Hua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine (Shanghai, China) with this entity. The clinicopathological findings of four cases that had recently been encountered and 142 previously reported cases in the English literature were evaluated. The current tumors were found in two male and two female patients, aged 49-76 years old, who exhibited a mean tumor size of 8.7 cm. Three of the four cases were misdiagnosed during the initial diagnosis and one experienced intra-abdominal recurrence six months after the first diagnosis. Assessment of all 142 cases in the literature revealed a mild female predominance. The tumors exhibited a mean tumor size of ~7.0 cm. Histologically, the tumors were composed of plump spindle- or oval-shaped cells that exhibited eosinophilic cytoplasm and were arranged in sheets, storiform patterns or whorls. Immunohistochemically, the neoplastic cells expressed at least one of the FDC markers. Among the 130 cases with follow-up data, the overall recurrence, metastasis and mortality rates were 49.2% (64 cases), 21.5% (28 cases), and 13.8% (18 cases), respectively. FDCS can appear deceptively similar to other soft-tissue tumors, even poorly-differentiated carcinomas. A correct diagnosis requires a high degree of suspicion and immunohistochemical evaluation.

Effects of the fibroblast activation protein on the invasion and migration of gastric cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are one of the most important components of tumor microenvironment. CAFs are believed to play an important role in tumor invasion and metastasis. Recently, fibroblast activation protein (FAP), a type II integral membrane glycoprotein belonging to the serine protease family, has emerged as a specific marker of CAFs. FAP was overexpressed in stromal fibroblasts of solid malignancies, however, the role of FAP on the process of invasion and metastasis of gastric carcinomas is still unknown. METHODS: Expression of FAP level was detected by immunohistochemistry in 60 gastric cancer surgical specimens (28 with omentum metastasis and 32 without), 20 normal human gastric tissues and omentum of 10 nonneoplastic gastric diseases. Fibroblasts were isolated from patient's tissues in the distal normal zones and tumor zones respectively, which were correspondingly designated as normal zone fibroblasts (NFs) and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). To explore the effects of FAP on NFs or CAFs, fibroblasts were co-cultured with human gastric cancer cell line MGC-803 cells. The ability of invasion and migration of MGC-803 cells was evaluated after transfecting FAP siRNA into CAFs of gastric carcinomas. RESULTS: We investigated the level of expression of FAP in surgical specimens, and found overexpressed in CAFs and non-expressed in NFs. Expression of FAP level in CAFs is significantly associated with Lauren classification,the degree of differentiation, depth of tumor invasion and TNM stage, but it is not correlated to age and gender in gastric carcinoma patients. There was positive correlation between the FAP level with metastasis to the omentum(p < 0.05, R(2) = 0.2736, p < 0.05, R(2) = 0.1479). In addition, the invasion and migration abilities of MGC-803 cells were significantly increased when cells were co-cultured with CAFs. On the other hand, invasion and migration abilities were significantly decreased by 46.9 and 50.3%, respectively, after knocking down FAP in CAFs.Further, NFs did not have appreciable effect on the invasion and migration of MGC-803 cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings showed that FAP was overexpressed in CAFs of gastric carcinomas, and siRNA-mediated knock down of FAP significantly suppressed invasion and migration of MGC-803 cells. FAP may be an important regulator in the invasion and migration of gastric cancer and may provide a novel therapeutic target in gastric carcinomas.

Roles of fibroblasts from the interface zone in invasion, migration, proliferation and apoptosis of gastric adenocarcinoma.

AIMS: Interface zone fibroblasts (INFs) are very important in the progression and metastasis of tumours but their effect on the invasion and migration of gastric cancer cells is still unclear. METHODS: Primary fibroblasts were isolated from the distal normal zone (normal zone fibroblasts, NFs), interface zone (INFs) and tumour zone (cancer-associated fibroblasts, CAFs) of 60 human gastric carcinoma tissue samples. The crosstalk between these fibroblasts and human gastric cancer MGC-803 cells was evaluated using an indirect co-culture model in vitro. RESULTS: A high level of fibroblast activation protein (FAP) in the invasion front of gastric cancer was found in the gastric cancer tissue samples and no FAP expression was found in 20 normal gastric tissue samples by immunohistochemistry. High FAP expression was associated with Lauren classification, degree of differentiation, tumour node metastasis stage and depth of tumour invasion (p<0.05 or p<0.01). INFs promoted invasion and migration of MGC-803 cells. The number of invasions in INFs, CAFs and NFs were 120.10±27.53 (95% CI 102.12 to 138.10), 63.00±14.80 (95% CI 53.33 to 72.67) and 14.22±6.20 (95% CI 10.17 to 18.27), respectively; the number of invasions in INFs were 8.45-fold and 1.89-fold higher than those in NFs and CAFs, respectively (p<0.05). The number of migrations in INFs, CAFs and NFs were 118.00±16.83 (95% CI 107.00 to 129.00), 61.00±16.36 (95% CI 50.31 to 71.69) and 24.00±11.52 (95% CI 16.47 to 31.53), respectively; the number of migration in INFs were 4.91-fold and 1.92-fold higher than those in NFs and CAFs, respectively (p<0.05). INFs also significantly promoted cell proliferation and inhibited apoptosis in MGC-803 cells compared with NFs and CAFs (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that INFs exhibit a more robust biological modulatory activity than CAFs and NFs. INFs may be a key factor leading to tumour progression and metastasis and may be of use as a tool for post-treatment surveillance.

[Study on tissue culture and rapid propagation of Oxytropis myriophylla].

OBJECTIVE: To study the plant tissue culture and rapid proagation of O. myriophylla. METHODS: The adventitious buds which were from the seedlings germinated from the seeds on the initial medium were taken as explants. These explants were cultured on MS culture media by adding different portions of hormones at various conditions. RESULTS: The proper initial medium for the adventitious buds was MS +6-BA 0.5 mg/L + NAA 0.2 mg/L,and the best medium for rooting was 1/2MS + NAA 0.1 mg/L. CONCLUSION: Tissue culture of O. myriophylla could make its propagation rapidly.