MAVS O-GlcNAcylation Is Essential for Host Antiviral Immunity against Lethal RNA Viruses

It is known that lethal viruses profoundly manipulate host metabolism, but how the metabolism alternation affects the immediate host antiviral immunity remains elusive. Here, we report that the O-GlcNAcylation of mitochondrial antiviral-signaling protein (MAVS), a key mediator of interferon signaling, is a critical regulation to activate the host innate immunity against RNA viruses. We show that O-GlcNAcylation depletion in myeloid cells renders the host more susceptible to virus infection both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that MAVS O-GlcNAcylation is required for virus-induced MAVS K63-linked ubiquitination, thereby facilitating IRF3 activation and IFNβ production. We further demonstrate that D-glucosamine, a commonly used dietary supplement, effectively protects mice against a range of lethal RNA viruses, including human influenza virus. Our study highlights a critical role of O-GlcNAcylation in regulating host antiviral immunity and validates D-glucosamine as a potential therapeutic for virus infections.

Multiple schwannoma of the seminal vesicle: A case report

RATIONALE

Schwannomas of the seminal vesicles are extremely rare, and only cases of single seminal vesicle schwannomas have been reported. Here, we report a case of multiple schwannoma of the seminal vesicle.

PATIENT CONCERNS

We report a rare case of multiple schwannoma of the seminal vesicle that occurred in a 48-year-old man during physical examination. Multiple mixed masses in the left region of the seminal vesicle were documented with transrectal ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging. The patient presented no clinical symptoms, no family history of the disease and no history of genetic disease.

DIAGNOSIS

Postoperative pathology revealed a diagnosis of seminal vesical schwannoma.

INTERVENTIONS

The patient underwent robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery to remove the mass.

OUTCOMES

The patient recovered rapidly and the length of hospitalization was 6 days after operation. At present, there is no recurrence in 10 month follow up.

LESSONS

Whether benign or malignant, single or multiple, schwannomas still need to be diagnosed by pathology because of the limitations of examination methods. Surgical resection is still the preferred treatment.

Molecular mechanisms of bufadienolides and their novel strategies for cancer treatment

Bufadienolides are cardioactive C24 steroids with an α-pyrone ring at position C17. In the last ten years, accumulating studies have revealed the anticancer activities of bufadienolides and their underlying mechanisms, such as induction of autophagy and apoptosis, cell cycle disruption, inhibition of angiogenesis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and stemness, and multidrug resistance reversal. As Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase inhibitors, bufadienolides have inevitable cardiotoxicity. Short half-lives, poor stability, low plasma concentration and oral bioavailability in vivo are obstacles for their applications as drugs. To improve the drug potency of bufadienolides and reduce their side effects, prodrug strategies and drug delivery systems such as liposomes and nanoparticles have been applied. Therefore, systematic and recapitulated information about the antitumor activity of bufadienolides, with special emphasis on the molecular or cellular mechanisms, prodrug strategies and drug delivery systems, is of high interest. Here, we systematically review the anticancer effects of bufadienolides and the molecular or cellular mechanisms of action. Research advancements regarding bufadienolide prodrugs and their tumor-targeting delivery strategies are critically summarized. This work highlights recent scientific advances regarding bufadienolides as effective anticancer agents from 2011 to 2019, which will help researchers to understand the molecular pathways involving bufadienolides, resulting in a selective and safe new lead compound or therapeutic strategy with improved therapeutic applications of bufadienolides for cancer therapy.

Extracellular ubiquitin promotes hepatoma metastasis by mediating M2 macrophage polarization via the activation of the CXCR4/ERK signaling pathway

Background

Stored red blood cell (RBC) transfusion has been shown to enhance the risk of cancer recurrence. However, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. At our lab, we have demonstrated that the extracellular ubiquitin (eUb) released by aged RBCs could promote tumor metastasis in a melanoma mouse model. This study aimed to confirm the pro-tumor effect of eUb on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and explore the related immunoregulatory mechanisms.

Methods

Forty HCC tissue specimens and the corresponding adjacent nontumor and normal liver tissues were collected. Two human hepatoma cell lines (MHCC-97H and HepG2.2.15), one murine hepatoma cell line (Hepa1-6), and one human monocyte cell line (THP-1) were adopted in this study. The coculture of hepatoma cells with macrophages was initiated with Transwell inserts. Cell migration in vitro was detected by Transwell and wound-healing assays, while in vivo tumor metastasis was measured by luciferase assay and H&E staining. Macrophage polarization was measured by flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, ELISA, qPCR, and Western blot. Protein expression was detected by Western blot, and immunoprecipitation was used to confirm the interaction between Ub and CXCR4 (CXC chemokine receptor type 4).

Results

Ub and CXCR4 were significantly upregulated in HCC tissues, and a positive correlation existed between them. In vitro, the migration of hepatoma cells was not affected by eUb directly, but their metastatic abilities were enhanced after coculture with the macrophages pretreated with eUb. Meanwhile, eUb promoted hepatoma cell metastasis in the lung in vivo and increased the ratio of M2 macrophages in the lung tissues and peripheral blood of tumor-bearing mice. Furthermore, the eUb-induced M2 macrophage polarization was related to the activation of the CXCR4/ERK (extracellular regulated protein kinase) signaling pathway.

Conclusions

Extracellular ubiquitin promoted hepatoma metastasis through M2 macrophage polarization via the activation of the CXCR4/ERK signaling pathway, indicating that a personalized transfusion strategy is needed for the treatment of HCC patients. Neutralizing Ub in stored RBC units could lessen the detrimental clinical outcomes induced by the transfusion of stored RBCs.

A Novel Nanorod Self-Assembled WO₃ · H₂O Spherical Structure: Preparation and Flexible Gas Sensor

In this work, a novel WO³ · H²O spherical structure which was self-assembled by nanorods was achieved by using hydrothermal method. A comprehensive growth mechanism was proposed to explain the formation of three different type nanostructures. Flexible gas sensors were successfully fabricated based on such unique nanostructures. We found that these nanorods and nanoparticle's self-assembled spherical structure showed excellent gas response to ammonia. This result may provide great benefit potential to further study for the preparation and gas performance of such self-assembled structure of WO³ · H²O.

An interlayer composed of a porous carbon sheet embedded with TiO2 nanoparticles for stable and high rate lithium-sulfur batteries

The shuttling of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) in lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries results in low sulfur utilization and fast capacity decay, hindering their practical applications. Constructing an interlayer is an efficient way to block the LiPS shuttling, but maintaining a low Li ion diffusion resistance with such an interlayer is hard to achieve. Herein, a thin porous carbon nanosheet embedded with TiO2 nanoparticles (denoted PCNS-TiO2) was used to fabricate an interlayer on the separator, which effectively solves the above problem. The PCNS-TiO2 was prepared by using the Ti3C2Tx MXene as the two-dimensional (2D) template directing the porous carbon sheet formation, and the Ti3C2Tx transformed into TiO2 nanoparticles embedded in the PCNS. The decomposition of the MXene eliminates the ion blocking effect by the 2D nanosheet structure. The thin and hierarchical porous structure allows fast Li ion diffusion across the interlayer, and at the same time, the porous structure and the strong adsorption ability of TiO2 effectively block the polysulfide diffusion. Thus, the Li-S battery with this interlayer shows good rate performance with a high capacity of 627 mA h g-1 at 2 C. Meanwhile, stable cycling performance is also achieved, showing a low capacity decay of 0.063% per cycle after 300 cycles at 0.5 C.

Zein nanoparticles as nontoxic delivery system for maytansine in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer

Purpose: Maytansine (DM1) is a potent anticancer drug and limited in clinical application due to its poor water solubility and toxic side effects. Zein is widely used in nano drug delivery systems due to its good biocompatibility. In this study, we prepared DM1-loaded zein nanoparticles (ZNPs) to achieve tumor targeting and reduce toxic side effects of DM1. Methods: ZNPs were prepared by phase separation and Box-Behnken design was used to optimize the formulation. Then, confocal fluorescence microscope and flow cytometry were used to determine cellular uptake of ZNPs. A549 cells were cultured in vitro to study cytotoxicity and used to establish tumor xenografts in nude mice. Biodistribution and antitumor activity of ZNPs were performed in vivo experiments. In addition, we also performed histological and immunohistochemical examinations on tumors and viscera. Results: The optimal prescription was obtained by using 120 μL zein added to 2 mL water under stirring in 300 rpm. The encapsulation efficiency and drug loading were 82.97 ± 0.80% and 3.32 ± 0.03%, respectively. We found that DM1-loaded ZNPs have a strong inhibitory effect on A549 cells, which stemmed from the ability of ZNPs to enhance cellular uptake. Furthermore, we demonstrated that DM1-loaded ZNPs exhibits a better antitumor efficacy than DM1, which tumor inhibition rate were 97.3% and 92.7%, respectively. The biodistribution revealed that ZNPs could targeted to tumor. Finally, we confirmed by histological that DM1-loaded ZNPs are nontoxic. Conclusion: DM1-loaded ZNPs have considerable antitumor activity. Thus, DM1-loaded ZNPs are a promising treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

Highly sensitive and selective colorimetric sensor for thiocyanate based on electrochemical oxidation-assisted complexation reaction with Gold nanostars etching

In this work, we developed an electrochemical oxidation-assisted complexation strategy for highly sensitive and selective detection of thiocyanate (SCN^-). Gold nanostars (AuNSs) with uniform and sharp tips were first prepared, and we found they can be quickly etched to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) under electrochemical oxidation with the existence of halide and halogen-like ions. Through introducing SCN^--selective molecule: zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc), the fabricated ZnPc-AuNSs/ITO electrode can rapidly and selectively response to SCN^- under electrochemical oxidation, manifesting as a noticeable change in color from navy blue to red. Thus SCN^- concentration can be easily reflected. The wide wavelength tuning range of AuNSs to AuNPs make the ZnPc-AuNSs/ITO sensor obtain a much wider detection range for SCN^- (10 nM to 80 mM) than most other reported studies. In addition, the detection limit is as low as 3 nM. It renders the sensor to be easily used in much diluted matrixes, which can further lower the interference. We further applied the colorimetric sensor to SCN^- detection in wastewater and milk, excellent performance was obtained. The proposed electrochemical oxidation-assisted complexation strategy will have good promise in developing colorimetric sensors with high selectivity and wide detection range, and will display more useful application in environmental monitoring.

18β-Glycyrrhetinic acid induces human HaCaT keratinocytes apoptosis through ROS-mediated PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and ameliorates IMQ-induced psoriasis-like skin lesions in mice

Background

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease affecting 2–3% of the population worldwide. Hyperproliferative keratinocytes were thought to be an amplifier of inflammatory response, thereby sustaining persistence of psoriasis lesions. Agents with the ability to inhibit keratinocyte proliferation or induce apoptosis are potentially useful for psoriasis treatment. 18β-Glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), an active metabolite of glycyrrhizin, exhibits diverse pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-bacteria and anti-proliferation. The current study aims to evaluate the effects of GA on the proliferation and apoptosis of human HaCaT keratinocytes in vitro and investigate the effects of GA on the skin lesions of imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis-like mouse model in vivo.

Methods

Cell viability was assayed by CCK-8. Flow cytometry was performed to measure apoptosis and reactive oxygen species (ROS), with Annexin V-FITC/PI detection kit and DCFH-DA probe respectively. Caspase 9/3 activities were measured using caspase activity assay kits. The protein levels of Akt and p-Akt were determined using Western blotting. IMQ was applied to induce psoriasis-like skin lesions in mice. The histological change in mouse skin lesions was detected using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. The severity of skin lesions was scored based on Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI). RT-PCR was employed to examine the relative expression of TNF-α, IL-22 and IL-17A in mouse skin lesions.

Results

GA decreased HaCaT keratinocytes viability and induced cell apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. In the presence of GA, intracellular ROS levels were significantly elevated. NAC, a ROS inhibitor, attenuated GA-mediated HaCaT keratinocytes growth inhibition and apoptosis. In addition, GA treatment remarkably decreased p-Akt protein level, which could be restored partially when cells were co-treated with GA and NAC. LY294002 (a PI3K inhibitor) treatment significantly enhanced GA-mediated cytotoxicity. Moreover, GA ameliorated IMQ-induced psoriasis-like skin lesions in mice.

Conclusions

GA inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in HaCaT keratinocytes through ROS-mediated inhibition of PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and ameliorates IMQ-induced psoriasis-like skin lesions in mice.

Histone demethylase KDM4A regulates adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation via epigenetic regulation of C/EBPα and canonical Wnt signaling

Epigenetic modifications play a central role in cell differentiation and development. In the current study, we have recognized lysine demethylase 4A (KDM4A) as a novel epigenetic regulator of osteoblast and adipocyte differentiation. Kdm4a expression was upregulated during osteogenesis and adipogenesis of primary marrow stromal cells and established stromal ST2 line. Overexpression of wild-type Kdm4a promoted adipogenic differentiation and blocked osteogenic differentiation of the progenitor cells. This effect was largely alleviated when the catalytically dead mutation was made. Conversely, depletion or inactivation of Kdm4a in undifferentiated progenitor cells inhibited the formation of adipocytes and promoted the differentiation of osteoblasts. Mechanism explorations showed that overexpression of Kdm4a upregulated the expression of secreted frizzled-related protein 4 (Sfrp4) and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein α (C/ebpα). Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay demonstrated that KDM4A directly bound the promoters of Sfrp4 and C/ebpα, removed the histone methylation mark H3K9me3, and reduced DNA methylation levels of CpG in promoter regions of C/ebpα and Sfrp4. Furthermore, overexpression of Kdm4a inactivated canonical Wnt signaling. Moreover, activation of canonical Wnt signaling through silencing of Sfrp4 in ST2 attenuated the inhibition of osteogenic differentiation and the enhancement of adipogenic differentiation by KDM4A. These data have identified KDM4A as a novel regulator of osteoblast and adipocyte differentiation and suggest KDM4A inhibition as a potential therapeutic target for treating metabolic disorders such as osteoporosis.

Association of tumor mutational burden with age in solid tumors

e13590

Background: Immunotherapy is becoming one of the promising treatments for cancer administration, and several studies indicated a better outcome was received in patients with high tumor mutation burden (TMB). The distribution of TMB is still unknown and this study aimed to analysis the association between TMB and age especially in East Asian populations. Methods: In our study, TMB value was measured as the numbers of synonymous, nonsynonymous mutations and InDels by next generation sequencing with 539 genes panel in tumor tissue. TMB-H was defined as highest mutation load quintile (top 20%) in each cancer type. The association between TMB and age in 874 patients was investigated including 174 patients with liver cancer, 32 patients with bile duct cancer, 54 patients with gastric cancer, 119 patients with colorectal cancer, 27 patients with pancreatic cancer, 32 patients with melanoma, 25 patients with glioma and 411 patients with lung cancer cases, respectively. Spearman rank correlation analysis, Mann-Whitney U-test and Fisher’s exact test were used for statistical analysis. Results: A significant correlation between TMB and ages was observed in patients with solid tumors (r = 0.204, p = 1.263×10−9). The median age of included patients was 60 years-old. Based on nonparametric test, the value of TMB in patients with liver cancer ( p = 2.310×10−4), gastric cancer ( p = 0.029) and lung cancer ( p = 0.001) aged ≥ 60 years-old was significantly higher than the corresponding patients aged < 60 years-old. No significant differences of TMB values were found between patients < 60 and ≥ 60 years-old in bile duct cancer ( p = 0.419), colorectal cancer ( p = 0.075), pancreatic cancer ( p = 1), melanoma ( p = 0.952) and glioma ( p = 0.720). The TMB-H ratio in patients with liver ( p = 0.049) and gastric ( p = 0.015) cancer aged < 60 years old was significantly lower than patients aged ≥ 60 years-old. Conclusions: Our study indicated the TMB value and TMB-H ratio were relatively higher with ages ≥ 60 years old in specific tumors, which might provide useful information to guide precisely the the application of PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors. As a retrospective study with a relatively small population, the conclusions of this study needed to be verified with a larger sample.

Synthesis of two novel pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine compounds with antibacterial activity and biophysical insights into their interactions with plasma protein

Two novel water-soluble pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine derivatives, 5-chloro-7-(4-methyl-piperazin -1-yl)-pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine (CMPS) and N'-(5-chloro-pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidin-7-yl)-N,N-dimethyl -propane-1,3-diamine (NCPS), were synthesized and characterized with antibacterial activity. Then, the interactions of these compounds with bovine serum albumin (BSA) were studied by fluorescence, time-resolved fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy and molecular docking. The results indicate that both CMPS and NCPS could effectively quench the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA via a static quenching process. The energy transfer from BSA to CMPS and NCPS may occur with high probability. Both CMPS and NCPS bind in the site I of BSA. The hydrophobic force and hydrogen bonds play major roles in the complex formation. Binding constants for both systems show that the affinity of CMPS binding to BSA is stronger than that of NCPS. The results of three-dimensional fluorescence and CD spectra reveal that the binding of CMPS and NCPS to BSA can induce conformational changes of BSA, and the influence of CMPS is slightly stronger than that of NCPS.

Nitrogen limitation reveals large reserves in metabolic and translational capacities of yeast

Cells maintain reserves in their metabolic and translational capacities as a strategy to quickly respond to changing environments. Here we quantify these reserves by stepwise reducing nitrogen availability in yeast steady-state chemostat cultures, imposing severe restrictions on total cellular protein and transcript content. Combining multi-omics analysis with metabolic modeling, we find that seven metabolic superpathways maintain >50% metabolic capacity in reserve, with glucose metabolism maintaining >80% reserve capacity. Cells maintain >50% reserve in translational capacity for 2490 out of 3361 expressed genes (74%), with a disproportionately large reserve dedicated to translating metabolic proteins. Finally, ribosome reserves contain up to 30% sub-stoichiometric ribosomal proteins, with activation of reserve translational capacity associated with selective upregulation of 17 ribosomal proteins. Together, our dataset provides a quantitative link between yeast physiology and cellular economics, which could be leveraged in future cell engineering through targeted proteome streamlining.

Cells maintain reserves in their metabolic and translational capacities enabling fast response to changing environments. Here, the authors quantify reserves in yeast by stepwise reduction in nitrogen availability and a combination of multi-omic analysis and metabolic modelling.

Serum level of CCL2 predicts outcome of patients with pancreatic cancer

BACKGROUND

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly cancers worldwide with a five-year survival rate of less than 5%. Chronic pancreatitis showed increased risk to develop pancreatic cancer, in which chronic inflammation of the pancreas may play a critical role. Cytokines play an indispensable role in inflammatory reaction and tumorigenesis. The purpose of this study was to determine whether cytokines were associated with survival and poor prognosis of pancreatic cancer.

METHODS

In this study, we examined levels of some important cytokines in the serum of 68 patients with pancreatic cancer, including CCL2, CCL17, CXCL-1, CXCL-5, G-CSF, GM-CSF, TGF-β and IFN-γ.

RESULTS

We found that high level of serum CCL2 was strongly associated with poor survival and prognosis, but no significant association with other clinicopathological features, including gender, age, location and TNM staging. For other cytokines, no significant correlation with poor survival and prognosis was found.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that serum level of CCL2 may serve as a potential marker for predicting the outcome of patients with pancreatic cancer.

The prognostic effect of TTF-1 expression in the Chinese population of patients with advanced lung adenocarcinomas

Background

Thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1), which is usually expressed by lung adenocarcinomas and small cell carcinomas, is usually used to distinguish adenocarcinoma and small cell carcinoma from cells of another type of lung cancer. We examined the association between TTF-1 expression and overall survival between patients with stage IV pulmonary adenocarcinoma to investigate the role of TTF-1 as a predictive and/or prognostic tumor marker in patients with advanced lung adenocarcinomas.

Methods

Analysis of the clinicopathologic features, treatment regimens, and overall survival of 209 lung adenocarcinoma patients who had been detected for TTF-1 expression and received consecutive treatments in the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University.

Results

TTF-1 expression was positive in 166 (79%) and negative in 43 (21%) patients who were reviewed. Moreover, there was no significant difference between the clinicopathologic features of TTF-1 positive and TTF-1 negative tumors. In the multivariable review, the overall survival of TTF-1 positive tumor patients was significantly longer than that of TTF-1 negative tumor patients [22.7 vs. 11.8 months (P<0.0001)], increasing the prognostic effect of Karnofsky performance status and receiving first-line chemotherapy or targeted therapy. Positive TTF-1 and negative TTF-1 patients receiving pemetrexed-based chemotherapy improved the duration of treatment compared to those receiving non-pemetrexed chemotherapy.

Conclusions

TTF-1 expression was associated with an improved survival in patients with advanced lung adenocarcinomas. Both patients, either TTF-1 positive or negative, could benefit from the first-line chemotherapy or pemetrexed treatment option. However, as discovered by our investigation, TTF-1 cannot forecast a portion of the lung adenocarcinomas that had a selective sensitivity to pemetrexed.

Segmentation and Classification in Digital Pathology for Glioma Research: Challenges and Deep Learning Approaches

Biomedical imaging Is an important source of information in cancer research. Characterizations of cancer morphology at onset, progression, and in response to treatment provide complementary information to that gleaned from genomics and clinical data. Accurate extraction and classification of both visual and latent image features Is an increasingly complex challenge due to the increased complexity and resolution of biomedical image data. In this paper, we present four deep learning-based image analysis methods from the Computational Precision Medicine (CPM) satellite event of the 21st International Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI 2018) conference. One method Is a segmentation method designed to segment nuclei in whole slide tissue images (WSIs) of adult diffuse glioma cases. It achieved a Dice similarity coefficient of 0.868 with the CPM challenge datasets. Three methods are classification methods developed to categorize adult diffuse glioma cases into oligodendroglioma and astrocytoma classes using radiographic and histologic image data. These methods achieved accuracy values of 0.75, 0.80, and 0.90, measured as the ratio of the number of correct classifications to the number of total cases, with the challenge datasets. The evaluations of the four methods indicate that (1) carefully constructed deep learning algorithms are able to produce high accuracy in the analysis of biomedical image data and (2) the combination of radiographic with histologic image information improves classification performance.

Berberine protects Kawasaki disease-induced human coronary artery endothelial cells dysfunction by inhibiting of oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum stress

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute febrile illness characterized by systemic vasculitis especially in coronary arteries. Berberine (BBR) shows several beneficial effects on cardiovascular system. The present study is to investigate whether BBR exerts protective effect against KD-induced damage of human coronary artery endothelial cell (HCAECs) and the underlying mechanisms. HCAECs exposed to medium with 15% serum from KD patients or healthy volunteers for 24 h. Stimulated HCAECs were treated with vehicle (without BBR) and BBR (20 μM) for 24 h, the cell apoptosis, cell cycle, induction of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and protein expression were examined by flow cytometry and western blot. The KD-induced differentially expressed proteins in HCAECs were determined by quantitative proteomics. BBR inhibited HCAECs from apoptosis and arrested cell cycle at G0/G1 stage. BBR protected HCAECs from injury by inhibiting expression of THBD, vWF and EDN1. Bioinformatics analysis suggested that the oxidative and ER stress were involved in KD-induced damage in HCAECs. ROS production and the protein expression of ATF4, p-EIF2α, p-PERK, XBP1, p-IRE1, HSP90B1, HSPG2, DNAJC3, P4HB and VCP were increased by serum from KD patients and decreased by BBR treatment. BBR exerts its protective effects on KD-induced damage of HCAECs through its inhibitory effects on oxidative and ER stress indicating BBR as a therapeutic candidate for KD.

The preoperative platelet distribution width: A predictive factor of the prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Background

The prognostic value of platelet distribution width (PDW) is different in various malignancies. The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between preoperative PDW and survival in patients with non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods

Optimal cutoff values of PDW were confirmed using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The Kaplan‐Meier method and log‐rank test were used to estimate disease‐free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were used for prognostic analysis. The likelihood ratio test (LRT) and Akaike information criterion (AIC) were used to compare two models of the TNM staging system and the PDW‐TNM staging system (combination of PDW and the TNM staging system).

Results

Survival analysis indicated that the disease‐free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients with PDW > 12.65 were both significantly longer than those of patients with PDW ≤ 12.65. Multivariate analysis showed that PDW was an independent prognostic factor for DFS and OS. After the two prediction models were established, further LRT analysis showed that the PDW‐TNM model had a better ability to assess patient prognosis.

Conclusions

PDW might act as an independent risk factor to predict progression and prognosis. Preoperative PDW combined with the TNM staging system showed a better ability to assess the prognosis of NSCLC patients.

Key points

Our study focused on the prognostic value of preoperative PDW in 750 patients with NSCLC. We also analyzed preoperative PDW in different stages and histological subtypes systematically.

A model built by preoperative PDW combined with the TNM staging system had a better prognostic ability. LRT was used to calculate values of the goodness of fit between the model and the TNM staging system.