Nonspecific immune, histology and accumulation of marine worm, Urechis unicinctus in response to bisphenol A (BPA)

Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the environmental endocrine disruptors, due to its chemical stability it exists in abundant concentrations in water and soil consequently accumulating in the food chain and causing many endocrine-related health problems. So far, studies on the effects of BPA on marine invertebrates have focused on acute toxicity, endocrine regulation, reproduction, and development. However, fewer studies have been conducted on marine benthos. The current study aimed to detect the accumulation of BPA and its impact on tissue structure, antioxidant capacity, and immune indexes in marine worm, Urechis unicinctus. U. unicinctus, as a common marine benthic animal, were exposed to different concentrations of BPA. Blood cells and intestinal tract were taken for tissue structure inspection, and supernatant of the coelomic fluid was collected for oxidative and antioxidant biomarkers. Results showed that the accumulation of BPA in muscles of U. unicinctus tended to increase with exposure time. BPA induced a rise in H2O2 and MDA content, and altered the activities of CAT, T-SOD, GST, LSZ and ACP, weaken the immune system functions. Moreover, pathological observation showed that BPA caused severe histopathology in the respiratory intestine, stomach, and midgut. These results will be helpful to understand the response mechanism of U. unicinctus under BPA exposure and provide a reference for controlling the aquaculture conditions and marine water quality of U. unicinctus.

Novel prognostic factors after radical resection of hepatocellular carcinoma: Updating an old issue

In this editorial, I comment on the article by Li et al published in the recent issue of the World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery in 2023, investigating the role of some novel prognostic factors for early survival after radical resection of liver cancer. Liver cancer is an important burden among Asian and Western populations, despite recent advances in both medicine (from virus eradication to systemic target therapies) and surgery. However, survival after proven radical surgery remains poor, with recurrences being the rule. Many prognostic scores have been developed and validated to select those patients who will best benefit from radical liver surgery, although the final general and oncological outcomes continue to be highly jeopardized. Unfortunately, no single biomarker can resolve all these issues for hepatocellular carcinoma, and it remains to be proven whether some of them maintain predictive power in the long-term follow-up. In the ongoing era of "precision" medicine, the novel prognostic markers, including immune inflammatory and nutritional indexes could be of great help in better stratify surgical candidates.

The value of serum IL-4 to predict the survival of MDS patients

BACKGROUND

Immune indicators are routinely used for the detection of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), but these are not utilized as a reference indicator to assess prognosis in MDS-related prognostic evaluation systems, such as the World Health Organizational prognostic scoring system, the international prostate symptom score, and the revised international prostate symptom score.

METHODS

We examined immune indicators, including cluster of differentiation (CD)3, CD4, CD8, CD56, CD19, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-a, and interferon-γ in 155 newly diagnosed MDS patients. We also conducted a correlation analysis with clinical indices.

RESULTS

IL-4 was found to be a predictor of survival in these 155 patients using the receiver operating characteristic curve, with 5.155 as the cut-off point. Patients with serum IL-4 levels ≥ 5.155 had a lower overall survival (OS) than those with IL-45.155 at diagnosis. Furthermore, multivariate analysis revealed that IL-4 levels > 5.155 were an independent predictor of OS (hazard ratio: 0.237; 95% confidence interval, 0.114-0.779; P = 0.013). In addition, serum IL-4 expression in the three different scoring systems showed significant differences in the survival of medium- to high-risk MDS patients (P = 0.014, P < 0.001, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

According to our study, IL-4 levels at the time of diagnosis can predict MDS prognosis in patients as a simple index reflecting host systemic immunity.

Boosting animal performance, immune index and antioxidant status in post-weaned bull calves through dietary augmentation of selective traditional medicinal plants

Traditional medicinal plants (TMP) are considered valuable alternatives to hazardous synthetic chemical utilized as animal growth promoters. This study aimed to evaluate effects of dietary supplementation of seed and leaf powder (75:25) of three Bangladeshi TMP viz. Emblica officinalis Gaertn., Terminalia bellirica Gaertn. Roxb., and Terminalia chebula Retz. on growth performance, digestibility of nutrients, hematological indices, immune index and antioxidant status in post-weaned bull calves. Dietary treatments: TMP1 (basal diet = green grass + concentrate), TMP2 (basal diet + 0.5% mixture of seed and leaf (75:25) of E. officinalis Gaertn.), TMP3 (basal diet + 0.5% mixture of seed and leaf (75:25) of T. bellirica Gaertn. Roxb.), and TMP4 (basal diet + 0.5% mixture of seed and leaf (75:25) of T. chebula Retz.). Supplementation of TMP significantly (p < 0.10) improved weight gain without affecting digestibility. Hematological indices did not change much by treatment of TMP except for enhancement of monocyte (p < 0.10) and platelet percentage (p < 0.05). A reduction in IGF, enhancement (p < 0.05) of lymphocyte proliferation, and IgG were recorded in TMP2, TMP3 and TMP4 compared to TMP1. Decreasing (p < 0.05) trend of interleukins-1 and 6, and an elevation of TNF-α and antioxidant status were recorded in the TMP2, TMP3, and TMP4 in comparison to TMP1. An elevated level of total antioxidant and glutathione peroxidase activities were found in calves treated with TMP2, TMP3, and TMP4 (p < 0.05) relative to TMP1. Taken together, our results indicate that supplementation of feed with Bangladeshi TMP promoted growth and some health indices like immune-advocating efficacy of post-weaned bull calves.