[Mediating effect of work engagement between job stress and depressive symptoms in State Grid employees]

Objective: To explore the relationship between job stress, work engagement and depressive symptoms of State Grid workers, and to analyze the mediating effect of work engagement between job stress and depressive symptoms. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted to investigate 845 employees from a State Grid company, using the brief job stress questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and 9-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9) in March 2017. Results: The average score of work engagement was 4.49±1.42, the mean value of job stress was 1.15±0.33, the average score of depressive symptoms was 6.44±4.30, and the positive rate of depressive symptoms was 66.9%.There was a negative correlation between work engagement with both job stress and depressive symptoms (r=-0.193, -0.397, both P<0.01) , and job stress was positively correlated with depressive symptoms (r=0.260, P<0.01) . The relationship between job stress and depressive symptoms was partly mediated by work engagement, and the mediating effect accounted for 27.2% of the total effect. Conclusion: The work engagement of State Grid staff acts as the mediator between job stress and depressive symptoms, alleviating the depressive symptoms caused by job stress.

Establishment and validation of the scoring system for preoperative prediction of central lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma

Early preoperative diagnosis of central lymph node metastasis (CNM) is crucial to improve survival rates among patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Here, we analyzed clinical data from 2862 PTC patients and developed a scoring system using multivariable logistic regression and testified by the validation group. The predictive diagnostic effectiveness of the scoring system was evaluated based on consistency, discrimination ability, and accuracy. The scoring system considered seven variables: gender, age, tumor size, microcalcification, resistance index >0.7, multiple nodular lesions, and extrathyroid extension. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was 0.742, indicating a good discrimination. Using 5 points as a diagnostic threshold, the validation results for validation group had an AUC of 0.758, indicating good discrimination and consistency in the scoring system. The sensitivity of this predictive model for preoperative diagnosis of CNM was 4 times higher than a direct ultrasound diagnosis. These data indicate that the CNM prediction model would improve preoperative diagnostic sensitivity for CNM in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Resveratrol-induced antinociception is involved in calcium channels and calcium/caffeine-sensitive pools

Resveratrol has been widely investigated for its potential health properties, although little is known about its mechanism in vivo. Previous studies have indicated that resveratrol produces antinociceptive effects in mice. Calcium channels and calcium/caffeine-sensitive pools are reported to be associated with analgesic effect. The present study was to explore the involvement of Ca²⁺ channel and calcium/caffeine-sensitive pools in the antinociceptive response of resveratrol. Tail-flick test was used to assess antinociception in mice treated with resveratrol or the combinations of resveratrol with MK 801, nimodipine, CaCl₂, ryanodine and ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid (EGTA), respectively. The Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in the spinal cord were also investigated when treated with the above drugs. The results showed that resveratrol increased the tail flick latency in the tail-flick test, in dose-dependent manner. N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor antagonist MK 801 potentiated the antinociceptive effects of sub-threshold dose of resveratrol at 10 mg/kg. Ca²⁺ channel blocker, however, abolished the antinociceptive effects of resveratrol. In contrast to these results, EGTA or ryanodine treatment (i.c.v.) potentiated resveratrol-induced antinociception. There was a significant decrease in p-CaMKII and an increase in BDNF expression in the spinal cord when combined with MK 801, nimodipine, ryanodine and EGTA. While an increase in p-CaMKII level and a decrease in BDNF expression were observed when high dose of resveratrol combined with CaCl₂. These findings suggest that resveratrol exhibits the antinociceptive effects by inhibition of calcium channels and calcium/caffeine-sensitive pools.

Novel MBTPS2 missense mutation causes a keratosis follicularis spinulosa decalvans phenotype: mutation update and review of the literature

Keratosis follicularis spinulosa decalvans (KFSD) is an X-linked condition characterized by keratotic follicular papules and progressive alopecia, which is caused by mutations in the MBTPS2 gene. We carried out a genetic study on a child who was suspected clinically to have KFSD. Sanger sequencing was performed to detect mutations in the entire coding region of MBTPS2. A novel missense mutation (c.599C>T) was identified in the patient, confirming a diagnosis of KFSD. We reviewed related cases with MBTPS2 mutations for evidence of genotype-phenotype correlations.

Risk factors of central lymph node metastasis of papillary thyroid carcinoma: A single-center retrospective analysis of 3273 cases

Due to the lack of an accurate preoperative diagnostic method of central lymph node metastasis (CLNM) of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), the prophylaxis of central lymph node dissection remains controversial. The present study investigated the clinicopathological features of PTC patients and the risk factors of CLNM. The clinicopathological features of PTC patients with respect to sex, age, initial symptoms, observation, tumor diameter, multifocality, extrathyroidal invasion, and pathological data combined with other thyroid diseases, were analyzed retrospectively. The risk factors of CLNM were analyzed by Chi-squared test and multivariate logistic regression model. The CLNM rate of PTC was 40.6% (1331/3273). On average, 7.0 (4.0, 12.0) central lymph nodes were dissected, and 3.70 (±3.8) lymph nodes were proved to be metastatic. Univariate analysis showed that sex (P < .001), age (P < .001), tumor diameter (P < .001), extrathyroid invasion (P < .001), multifocality (P = .001), concurrent nodular goiter (P < .001), initial symptoms (P < .001), and observation or not (P < .001) were related to CLNM. The observation time was neither related to CLNM (P = .469) nor extrathyroidal invasion (P = .137). Tumors localized in the lower part of the thyroid were the risk factors for CLNM (P < .001) while multifocality was unrelated (P = .68). The metastasis rate of bilateral multiple regions > unilateral multiple regions > single region (P = .003). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that sex, age, tumor diameter, extrathyroidal invasion, and observation were independent risk factors of CLNM. Male, younger age, large tumor size, and extrathyroidal invasion were independent risk factors for CLNM. CLNM was related to multiple regions occupied by tumors in the thyroid but unrelated to multifocality. The tumor occupying a single region and localized in the lower part of thyroid could be used as a predictive factor for CLNM. For tumors that could not be diagnosed as benign or malignant, observation may be an option, since no evidence of disease progression was presented during observation.

Heterogeneous stock rats: a model to study the genetics of despair-like behavior in adolescence

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a complex illness caused by both genetic and environmental factors. Antidepressant resistance also has a genetic component. To date, however, very few genes have been identified for major depression or antidepressant resistance. In this study, we investigated whether outbred heterogeneous stock (HS) rats would be a suitable model to uncover the genetics of depression and its connection to antidepressant resistance. The Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rat, one of the eight founders of the HS, is a recognized animal model of juvenile depression and is resistant to fluoxetine antidepressant treatment. We therefore hypothesized that adolescent HS rats would exhibit variation in both despair-like behavior and response to fluoxetine treatment. We assessed heritability of despair-like behavior and response to sub-acute fluoxetine using a modified forced swim test (FST) in 4-week-old HS rats. We also tested whether blood transcript levels previously identified as depression biomarkers in adolescent human subjects are differentially expressed in HS rats with high vs. low FST immobility. We demonstrate heritability of despair-like behavior in 4-week-old HS rats and show that many HS rats are resistant to fluoxetine treatment. In addition, blood transcript levels of Amfr, Cdr2 and Kiaa1539, genes previously identified in human adolescents with MDD, are differentially expressed between HS rats with high vs. low immobility. These data demonstrate that FST despair-like behavior will be amenable to genetic fine-mapping in adolescent HS rats. The overlap between human and HS blood biomarkers suggest that these studies may translate to depression in humans.

Characterization of tissue chromogranin A (CgA) immunostaining and clinicohistopathological changes for the 125 Chinese patients with primary small cell carcinoma of the esophagus

The rarity of primary small cell carcinoma of the esophagus (PSCE) has limited the clinical feature and survival analysis with large sample size. Tissue chromogranin A (CgA) protein expression has been reported to be a useful biomarker for diagnosing PSCE. Interestingly, recent studies have indicated tissue CgA as a significant prognostic marker in multiple human cancers, but without PSCE. The present study, thus, was undertaken to characterize the clinicopathological changes and to evaluate the associations of tissue CgA expression with clinical response on Chinese PSCE patients. All the 125 PSCE patients were enrolled from our 500,000 esophageal and gastric cardia carcinoma databases (1973-2015), constructed by the cooperative team from more than 700 hospitals in China and established by Henan Key Laboratory for Esophageal Cancer Research in Henan, China. Immunostaining for CgA showed that CgA was mainly located in cytoplasm of tumor cells with a positive detection rate of 44.6%. The CgA positive expression rate in PSCE at lower segment of the esophagus (72.2%) was higher than that at middle segment (41.5%) (P = 0.001). However, CgA protein expression did not correlated with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.767), TNM staging (P = 0.740), tumor invasion (P = 0.253), gender (P = 0.262), and age (P = 0.250). Multivariate survival analysis showed that the patients with higher CgA protein expression had a superior long survival than those without CgA expression (P = 0.037). The clinicopathological analysis showed that PSCE occurred predominantly in male (M:F = 1.9:1) at the middle segment (68%) of the esophagus. Histologically, 89.6% were pure PSCE and 10.4% were mixed type with either squamous cell carcinoma (8%) or adenocarcinoma (2.4%). It was noteworthy that, with the in-depth invasion from T1 to T2 and T3, the positive lymph node metastasis rate increased dramatically from 38%, 56% to 74%, respectively. The survival rates of 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5-year were 64%, 35%, 18%, and 7%, respectively. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the young patients (≤60 years) had longer survival than the elderly (P = 0.011). Interestingly, multivariate survival analysis revealed that the patients with mixed PSCE had a significantly better survival than those with pure PSCE (P = 0.015). Furthermore, the median survival time for the patients with and without lymph node metastasis was 1.16 and 2.03 years, respectively. But, the difference was not significant (P = 0.143). Univariate analysis did not show any survival influence by gender, tumor location, tumor invasion depth, and TNM staging. It was noteworthy that, of the 13 early PSCE patients (T1N0M0), only one patient had more than 5 year survival, the others died with less than one or two year (65%). The present study indicates that the PSCE is of badly worsen prognosis, even in the pathological early stage. Tissue CgA protein expression is a promising maker not only for diagnosis and also for prognosis. Further assessment is needed to establish specific PSCE pathological staging system and to clarify the mechanisms of CgA protein in PSCE progression and prognosis.

Fine-mapping of genes determining extrafusal fiber properties in murine soleus muscle

Muscle fiber cross-sectional area (CSA) and proportion of different fiber types are important determinants of muscle function and overall metabolism. Genetic variation plays a substantial role in phenotypic variation of these traits; however, the underlying genes remain poorly understood. This study aimed to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting differences in soleus muscle fiber traits between the LG/J and SM/J mouse strains. Fiber number, CSA, and proportion of oxidative type I fibers were assessed in the soleus of 334 genotyped female and male mice of the F₃₄ generation of advanced intercross lines (AIL) derived from the LG/J and SM/J strains. To increase the QTL detection power, these data were combined with 94 soleus samples from the F₂ intercross of the same strains. Transcriptome of the soleus muscle of LG/J and SM/J females was analyzed by microarray. Genome-wide association analysis mapped four QTL (genome-wide P < 0.05) affecting the properties of muscle fibers to chromosome 2, 3, 4, and 11. A 1.5-LOD QTL support interval ranged between 2.36 and 4.67 Mb. On the basis of the genomic sequence information and functional and transcriptome data, we identified candidate genes for each of these QTL. The combination of analyses in F₂ and F₃₄ AIL populations with transcriptome and genomic sequence data in the parental strains is an effective strategy for refining QTL and nomination of the candidate genes.