An analysis of POMC gene methylation and expression in patients with schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder that affects millions of people and is believed to be caused by both environmental and genetic factors. Despite extensive research, the exact mechanisms underlying schizophrenia are still unclear. Studies have shown that numerous psychiatric disorders are associated with methylation of the POMC gene, which encodes adrenocorticotropic hormone, a critical player in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. However, the association between DNA methylation in POMC patients and schizophrenia remains unclear. In this study, we evaluated three fragments of the POMC promoter region, including 51 CpG sites, in the peripheral blood of schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. The POMC protein level was measured via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The schizophrenia group exhibited significantly greater levels of methylation of the POMC gene than those in the control group. The methylation level of the POMC-2 fragment was significantly greater in the patient group than in the control group. There were 17 significantly hypermethylated CpG sites in the patient group. After stratification by sex, POMC methylation levels were found to be significantly greater in male schizophrenia patients than in healthy controls; the methylation levels of POMC-2 fragments were greater in the male patient group; nine CpG sites were significantly hypermethylated in the male patient group; and only one CpG site was significantly hypermethylated in the female patient group. The POMC protein level in patients was significantly lower than that in healthy controls. These findings demonstrate that the DNA methylation of POMC might be associated with the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Overall, studying the correlation between POMC methylation and schizophrenia may contribute to the diagnosis and evaluation of neuropsychiatric disorders.

[Application of interventional respiratory techniques in the treatment of pulmonary bullae:an update]

Pulmonary bullae is a common complication of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD), causing the deterioration in lung function, leading to aggravated dyspnea and poor quality of life for patients. The traditional therapeutic approach for pulmonary bullae is bullectomy using surgical thoracoscopy. The disadvantage of this approach is the postoperative complications and high risk of recurrence in many patients. In addition, for some patients, due to the patient's physical conditions, such as poor lung function and other diseases, bullectomy could not be used. Therefore, new alternative approaches were urgently needed. In recent years, interventional respiratory technology has been trialed to treat pulmonary bulla all around the world and has achieved great success. In this paper, we reviewed the relevant clinical research progress of interventional respiratory medicine techniques in the treatment of pulmonary bullae.

[New insights into the role of macrophages in tumor immunotherapy]

Macrophages are the main components of the innate immunity system, derived mainly from blood monocytes, and help the host to defend itself against many pathogens and cancers. Most established tumors can educate macrophages into tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), which contribute to tumor growth, invasion and metastasis, as well as resistance to chemotherapeutic agents and immune checkpoint inhibitors. However, when appropriately activated, macrophages can also exert anti-tumor effects through enhanced phagocytosis and cytotoxicity against tumor cells. In addition, TAMs are associated with poor prognosis and drug resistance, including immunotherapies, suggesting that macrophages are attractive targets as part of combination therapy in cancer treatment. Herein, we review the recent findings on the role of macrophages in tumor development, metastasis and immunotherapy. We focus mainly on macrophage-centered therapy, including strategies to reduce and reshape TAMs, to represent potential targets for tumor immunotherapy.

Assessing hydrological connectivity for natural-artificial catchment with a new framework integrating graph theory and network analysis

Anthropogenic activities alter the underlying surface conditions and arrangements of landscape features in a drainage basin, interfering with the pollutant (e.g., dissolved nitrogen, phosphorus) transport network configuration and altering the hydrological response. Assessing the impact of anthropogenic activities on hydrological connectivity for natural-artificial catchment is critical to understand the hydrological-driven ecosystem processes, services and biodiversity. However, quantifying this impact at catchment scale remains challenging. In this study, a new framework was proposed to quantify the impact of anthropogenic activities on hydrological connectivity combined with graph theory and network analysis. This framework was exemplified in a natural-artificial catchment of the Yangtze River basin of China. Based on remote sensing and field-investigated data, three transport networks were constructed, including natural transport network (N1), ditch-road transport network (N2), and terrace-dominated transport network (N3), which reflected the different human intervention. The results showed that human intervention improved the connectivity of the nodes and enhanced the complexity of the catchment transport network structure. Anthropogenic activities significantly decreased the hydrological structural connectivity of the catchment. In particular, compared with the N1 network, the critical nodes for hydrological connectivity which were judged by connectivity indexes were reduced by 92.94% and 95.29% in the N2 and N3 network, respectively. Furthermore, the ditch-road construction had a greater impact than terraces in decreasing hydrological structural connectivity at catchment scale. This framework has proven effective in quantifying the hydrological connectivity analysis under different human intervention at the catchment scale and facilitates the improvement of catchment management strategies.

The Effect of MDSC-Derived Exosomes Played in Esophageal Squamous Carcinoma Cells after Ionizing Radiation

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

Radiotherapy is the main treatment for esophageal cancer. Previous studies have shown that radiotherapy not only kills tumor cells directly, but also reshapes the immune microenvironment of the tumor. It has been reported an increase in the recruitment of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) can occur in tumor tissue after ionizing radiation. Exosomes are mediators of intercellular information exchange and are also involved in the regulation of the tumor microenvironment. In this study, we wanted to understand whether MDSC in esophageal cancer tissue are involved in the regulation of tumor cell response to ionizing radiation via exosomes.

MATERIALS/METHODS

KYSE-150 was used to construct a subcutaneous transplantation tumor model in nude mice. And then mice irradiated with 5 Gy×5fx and 0 Gy×5fx respectively. After irradiation, the spleens of the mice were used to isolate MDSC, and collect the cell supernatants to extract the exosomes. Based on the exosomes, we divided the experiment into three groups (control, exosomes, exosomes+radiation). Exosomes were injected into a nude mouse model of esophageal cancer via the tail vein or co-cultured with KYSE-150 cells. Mice were irradiated with a 5 Gy×5fx after completion of injection, and KYSE-150 cells were irradiated with a single dose 4 Gy. After radiation, KYSE-150 cells were used to detect cell cloning, apoptosis and cell cycle by flow cytometry, cell proliferation by CCK 8. XRCC4,XRCC5,XRCC6,γH2AX,ATM expression in cells and tumor tissue were measured by Western blot and RT-PCR.

RESULTS

The tumor volume was significantly reduced after 5 Gy x 5fx radiation. When exosomes co-cultured with KYSE-150 cells, decrease in apoptosis and increase in cell cloning and cell proliferation were found in the exosomes+radiation group and exosomes group after radiation when compared with the control group, with this change being more pronounced in the exosome+radiation group. The results of the cell cycle assay showed that after ionizing radiation, the proportion of cells in the G0/G1 phase was significantly lower, and the proportion of cells in the S and G2/M phases were significantly higher in the exosomes+radiation group and exosomes group when compared to the Control group. The protein and mRNA expression of XRCC4,XRCC5,XRCC6,γH2AX,ATM in cells were increased in exosomes+radiation group and exosomes group after radiation when compared with the control group, with this change being more obvious in the exosome+radiation group. After irradiation, tumor volumes were measured in nude mice and the results showed that exosomes+radiation group tumors were the largest in volume, while the control group regressed most significantly after irradiation.

CONCLUSION

MDSC-derived exosomes have a tumor growth-promoting effect in esophageal squamous carcinoma, which is enhanced by ionizing radiation, and this may be related to the accelerated repair of damage in tumor tissue after radiation.

[Procine recombinant NK-lysin inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis by downregulating FKBP3 and inhibiting oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis: a proteomic analysis]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the potential mechanisms that mediate the inhibitory effect of porcine recombinant NKlysin (prNK-lysin) against liver cancer cell metastasis.

METHODS

HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry was used to identify the differentially expressed proteins in prNK-lysin-treated hepatocellular carcinoma SMMOL/LC-7721 cells in comparison with the control and PBS-treated cells. GO functional annotation and KEGG pathway analysis of the differentially expressed proteins were performed using GO and KEGG databases. RT-qPCR was used to determine the mRNA expression levels of polypeptide-N-acetylgalactosaminotransferase 13 (GALNT13), transmembrane protein 51 (TMEM51) and FKBP prolyl isomerase 3 (FKBP3) in the cells, and the protein expression of FKBP3 was verified using Western blotting.

RESULTS

Proteomic analysis identified 1989 differentially expressed proteins in prNK-lysin-treated cells compared with the control cells, and 2753 compared with PBS-treated cells. Fifteen proteins were differentially expressed between PBS-treated and the control cells, and 1909 were differentially expressed in prNK- lysin group compared with both PBS and control groups. These differentially expressed proteins were involved mainly in the viral process, translational initiation and RNA binding and were enriched mainly in ribosome, protein process in endoplasmic reticulum, and RNA transport pathways. RT-qPCR showed that compared with the control group, prNK-lysin treatment significantly increased the mRNA expressions of GALNT13 (P < 0.05) and TMEM51 (P < 0.01) and lowered FKBP3 mRNA expression (P < 0.05). Western blotting also showed a significantly decreased expression of FKBP3 protein in prNK-lysin-treated cells (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Treatment with prNK-lysin causes significant changes in protein expression profile of SMMOL/LC-7721 cells and inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis by downregulating FKBP3 protein and affecting the cellular oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis pathways.

Integrating EM and Patch-seq data: Synaptic connectivity and target specificity of predicted Sst transcriptomic types

Neural circuit function is shaped both by the cell types that comprise the circuit and the connections between those cell types ¹ . Neural cell types have previously been defined by morphology ^{2, 3} , electrophysiology ^{4, 5} , transcriptomic expression ^6-8 , connectivity ^9-13 , or even a combination of such modalities ^14-16 . More recently, the Patch-seq technique has enabled the characterization of morphology (M), electrophysiology (E), and transcriptomic (T) properties from individual cells ^17-20 . Using this technique, these properties were integrated to define 28, inhibitory multimodal, MET-types in mouse primary visual cortex ²¹ . It is unknown how these MET-types connect within the broader cortical circuitry however. Here we show that we can predict the MET-type identity of inhibitory cells within a large-scale electron microscopy (EM) dataset and these MET-types have distinct ultrastructural features and synapse connectivity patterns. We found that EM Martinotti cells, a well defined morphological cell type ^{22, 23} known to be Somatostatin positive (Sst+) ^{24, 25} , were successfully predicted to belong to Sst+ MET-types. Each identified MET-type had distinct axon myelination patterns and synapsed onto specific excitatory targets. Our results demonstrate that morphological features can be used to link cell type identities across imaging modalities, which enables further comparison of connectivity in relation to transcriptomic or electrophysiological properties. Furthermore, our results show that MET-types have distinct connectivity patterns, supporting the use of MET-types and connectivity to meaningfully define cell types.

Emergence of Spinons in Layered Trimer Iridate Ba_{4}Ir_{3}O_{10}

Spinons are well known as the elementary excitations of one-dimensional antiferromagnetic chains, but means to realize spinons in higher dimensions is the subject of intense research. Here, we use resonant x-ray scattering to study the layered trimer iridate Ba_{4}Ir_{3}O_{10}, which shows no magnetic order down to 0.2 K. An emergent one-dimensional spinon continuum is observed that can be well described by XXZ spin-1/2 chains with a magnetic exchange of ∼55  meV and a small Ising-like anisotropy. With 2% isovalent Sr doping, magnetic order appears below T_{N}=130  K along with sharper excitations in (Ba_{1-x}Sr_{x})_{4}Ir_{3}O_{10}. Combining our data with exact diagonalization calculations, we find that the frustrated intratrimer interactions effectively reduce the system into decoupled spin chains, the subtle balance of which can be easily tipped by perturbations such as chemical doping. Our results put Ba_{4}Ir_{3}O_{10} between the one-dimensional chain and two-dimensional quantum spin liquid scenarios, illustrating a new way to suppress magnetic order and realize fractional spinons.

Hysteresis analysis reveals dissolved carbon concentration - discharge relationships during and between storm events

The dissolved carbon concentration, which is responsible for aquatic ecosystem productivity and water quality, is tightly coupled with hydrological processes. Excess dissolved carbon may exacerbate eutrophication and hypoxia in aquatic ecosystems and lead to deterioration of water quality. Storm events dominate the dynamics of dissolved carbon concentrations, and this nonlinear behavior exhibits significant time scale dependence. Here, we identified inter- and intra-event variability in the dissolved carbon concentration-discharge (C-Q) relationship in an agriculture-intensive catchment. The driving factors of C-Q hysteresis patterns for dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and organic carbon (DOC) were quantified by redundancy analysis combined with hierarchical partitioning. At the inter-event scale, DIC exhibited mainly clockwise hysteresis, indicating an exhaustible, proximal source (e.g., groundwater). However, DOC hysteresis was generally counter-clockwise, indicating distal and plentiful sources (e.g., soil water) in the agricultural catchment. Hierarchical partitioning showed that total rainfall, peak discharge and flood intensity explained 28.38% of the total variation in C-Q hysteresis for DIC and 39.87% for DOC at the inter-event scale. At the intra-event scale, time series analysis of dissolved carbon concentration and discharge indicated the interconversion of supply limitation to transport limitation, which depends on the activation of the specific DIC or DOC source zones. These findings provide significant insights into understanding the dynamics of dissolved carbon during storm periods and are important for targeted watershed management practices aimed at reducing carbon loading to surface waters.

Effects of feeding solid-state fermented wheat bran on growth performance and nutrient digestibility in broiler chickens

Solid-state fermentation has been used to improve the nutritive value of feed ingredients. In the present study, we investigated the effects of solid-state fermented wheat bran (FWB) on growth performance and apparent digestibility in broiler chickens. We measured the growth performance (ADFI, ADG, feed conversion, livability, and European performance efficiency factor) over 38 d in chicks fed a corn-soybean meal control diet (CON) or CON plus wet FWB (25 g/kg [T₁]; 50 g/kg [T₂]); or T₁ plus 3 g/kg (T₃); or T₂ plus 6 g/kg (T₄) soybean oil). The same diets were used to determine nutrient availability in chicks aged 20 d. Regression equations for AME and AME_n were obtained using 20-day-old chicks fed either the corn-soybean meal basal diet only or basal diet partially substituted with 50, 150, or 300 g/kg DM FWB. Diets containing 25 or 50 g/kg wet FBW did not affect the growth performance of broiler chickens, nor the apparent DM, energy, and nitrogen digestibility of the feeds, compared with the control diets (all P > 0.05). Further supplementation with oil did not improve the growth performance of broiler chickens compared with controls or chickens fed FBW. However, chickens fed diets containing soybean oil (T₃ or T₄) had lower (P = 0.005 and P = 0.040, respectively) apparent DM and energy digestibility than the control and FWB groups. The regression equations for AME and AME_n with the substitution of FWB produced values of 1,854.3 and 1,743.9 kcal/kg DM, respectively, and the equations were Y = 1854.3X + 52.7 (R² = 0.971, n = 24, P < 0.001), and Y = 1743.9X + 44.6 (R² = 0.978, n = 24, P < 0.001), respectively. Supplementation with wet FWB did not affect the growth performance of broiler chickens. Therefore, FWB is a suitable feed component for broilers.

The relationship between depressive symptoms and activity of daily living disability among the elderly: results from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS)

OBJECTIVE

The acceleration of population aging has brought an unprecedented impact on China's health system. This study is designed to examine the association between depressive symptoms and activity of daily living disability among the elderly in China.

STUDY DESIGN

This is a cross-sectional study.

METHODS

Data were drawn from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). The 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale was used to access depressive symptoms, and physical function was assessed by the Activity of Daily Living (ADL) scale. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the association between depressive symptoms and ADL among the elderly.

RESULTS

Based on a sample of 5863 elderly people over 60 years old, our results showed that 1999 elderly people are with depressive symptoms, accounting for 34.1%. The mean score of ADL among the elderly with depressive symptoms (20.65 ± 7.14) was much higher than that in those without depressive symptoms (17.40 ± 4.87). After controlling potential confounders, multivariate logistic regression showed that ADL and its specific domains including personal care, transfer, medical care, household, and managing money were associated with depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSION

This cross-sectional study provides evidence of the association between depressive symptoms and ADL disability among the Chinese elderly. As a result, prevention or reduction of ADL disability may have a positive effect on the medical care of the elderly with depressive symptoms.

[GCS score combined with CT score and serum S100B protein level Can evaluate severity and early prognosis of acute traumatic brain injury]

OBJECTIVE

To explore the value of Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score and CT score combined with serum S100B protein level for evaluation of injury severity and predicting early prognosis of acute traumatic brain injury (TBI).

OBJECTIVE

A total of 108 patients with TBI admitted within 24 h after injury in the Emergency Department of West China Hospital from May, 2019 to May, 2020 were enrolled in this study. The clinical data, laboratory test results, CT examination, GCS score, Full Outline of Unresponsiveness score, Fisher CT classification, Rotterdam CT score, and serum S100B protein level of the patients were collected upon admission. The patients were followed up for 28 days and divided based on their Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) scores into poor prognosis group (GOS 1-3) and good prognosis group (GOS 4-5). The indexes related to poor prognosis were analyzed for their efficacy for predicting the patinets' prognosis. According to the results of head CT, the patients were divided into CT^- positive (CT⁺) group and CT^- negative (CT^-) group, and the efficacy of serum S100B protein level for predicting CT positivity was evaluated.

OBJECTIVE

Compared with those with favorable prognosis, the patients with poor prognosis had significantly lower GCS scores (P < 0.01) and higher Rotterdam CT score and serum S100B protein levels (P < 0.01). Among the 3 index, serum S100B protein level had the highest AUC value (0.79); among the combined indexes, GCS score combined with serum S100B protein had the highest AUC value (0.80). Serum S100B protein level was significantly higher in CT⁺ group than in CT - group (P < 0.05) with a significant correlation with Rotterdam CT score (r=0.26, P < 0.01).

OBJECTIVE

Serum S100B protein level, GCS score, and Rotterdam CT score can be used as indicators for evaluating the severity of acute TBI, and they are all closely related with early prognosis of the patients. The combination of serum S100B protein, GCS score and Rotterdam CT score has better performance than any of the 3 indexes alone for predicting early prognosis of the patients. Serum S100B protein level is correlated with head imaging findings of patients with acute TBI, but its value in selection of appropriate imaging modalities awaits further investigation.

Sarcopenia as a Risk Factor for Future Hip Fracture: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies

OBJECTIVE

Our study aims to determine whether sarcopenia is a predictive factor of future hip fractures.

DESIGN

Systematic review and meta-analysis. Set: We searched for potentially suitable articles in PubMed, Cochrane library, Medline and EMBASE from inception to March 2020. The quality of the research was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Finally, a meta-analysis was conducted with the Stata software.

PARTICIPANTS

Older community-dwelling residents.

MEASUREMENTS

Hip fracture due to sarcopenia.

RESULTS

We retrieved 2129 studies through our search strategy, and five studies with 23,359 individuals were analyzed in our pooled analyses. Sarcopenia increases the risk of future hip fractures with a pooled hazard ratio (HR) of 1.42 (95% CI: 1.18-1.71, P <0.001, I2 = 37.7%). In addition, in subgroup analyses based on different definitions of sarcopenia, sarcopenia was associated with the risk of future hip fractures with the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) criteria with a pooled HR of 2.13(95% CI: 1.33-3.43). When subgroup analyses were conducted by sex, sarcopenia was associated with the risk for future hip fractures in females with pooled HRs of 1.69 (95% CI: 1.18-2.43). Sarcopenia was associated with the risk of future hip fractures in the group with a follow-up period of more than 5 years, with a pooled HR of 1.32 (95% CI: 1.08-1.61), and in the group with a follow-up period of less than 5 years, with a pooled HR of 2.13 (95% CI: 1.33-3.43).

CONCLUSIONS

Sarcopenia could significantly increase the risk of future hip fracture in old people; thus, it is necessary to prevent hip fractures in individuals with sarcopenia.

Activation of the STAT1 Pathway Accelerates Periodontitis in Nos3-/- Mice

Early studies on the etiology and pathogenesis of hypertension have shown that it has a considerable association with inflammation and the immune response as well as periodontitis. Clinical studies have also shown that hypertension can promote the periodontal tissue destruction caused by periodontitis. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to explore the possible mechanisms of how hypertension aggravates periodontitis. Treatment with or without the signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) inhibitor fludarabine was performed in an endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene knockout-related (Nos3^-/-) mouse model with the hypertension phenotype of periodontitis induced by bacteria. Micro-computed tomography, immunohistochemistry, Western blot, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, immunofluorescence, and ELISA were performed. We demonstrated that Nos3^-/--related hypertension increases bone resorption and periodontal destruction in periodontitis lesion areas, which can be inhibited by the STAT1 inhibitor. Experimental data also showed that Nos3^-/- significantly increased macrophage infiltration and proinflammatory cytokine expression in the periodontitis lesion area, which is dependent on the angiotensin II-induced STAT1 pathway. Inhibition of STAT1 in vivo can decrease the expression of proinflammatory cytokines and macrophage infiltration. Furthermore, data in this study showed that Nos3^-/--related hypertension further downregulated the STAT3 anti-inflammatory function and its downstream chemokine expression in a STAT1-dependent manner. By applying RAW 264.7 and L929 cell lines and monocytes isolated from Nos3^-/- mice, we confirmed that activation of the STAT1 pathway inhibits STAT3 and its downstream pathway and promotes inflammatory cytokine expression in vitro. Collectively, our current study demonstrated that STAT1 plays an indispensable role in the Nos3^-/--related hypertension with aggravation of periodontitis, suggesting that STAT1 may be a key target for the treatment of periodontitis with hypertension.

Clinical significance of perioperative EMT-CTC in rectal cancer patients receiving open/laparoscopic surgery

The objective of this study was to explore the clinical significance of perioperative CTCs (circulating tumor cells) counts and EMT-CTCs (epithelial-mesenchymal transition-CTCs) in rectal cancer patients. A total of 30 patients with rectal cancer who underwent radical resection of rectal cancer at the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region People's hospital were enrolled. Five ml peripheral blood was withdrawn from 30 patients with rectal cancer before the operation and seven days after the operation and at the corresponding time also from 20 healthy volunteers. CanPatrol™ CTC detection technique was used to enrich and identify CTCs and IER3 expression simultaneously. We found out that the preoperative total CTCs were correlated with lymph node metastasis (p=0.008) and tumor size, and mixed CTCs were closely correlated with lymph node metastasis (p=0.009). The number of IER3-positive total CTCs and mesenchymal CTCs were statistically associated with tumor size, p=0.034 and 0.043, respectively. The number of CTCs varied significantly before and after the operation in all patients (p=0.049). There were significant differences in CTCs variations between the open operation group and the laparoscopic operation group. In the laparoscopic operation group, the average number of single-cell CTCs was 6.9 before operation and 3.5 after the operation (p=0.013). In the open operation group, the average number of single-cell CTCs was 5.9 before operation and 4.2 after the operation. To conclude, surgery is associated with a decrease of CTCs in rectal cancer patients, especially in patients receiving laparoscopic surgery. The number of CTCs before the operation in rectal cancer patients is related to the size of tumors and regional lymph node metastasis. CTCs detection and characterization may be useful for clinical staging and lymph node dissection during operation.

Effect of local watershed landscapes on the nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in the waterbodies of reservoir bays

Reservoir bays, which are affected by the reservoir and watershed characteristics, are the initial and most sensitive areas in the evolution process of reservoir water quality. However, the relationship between the watershed characteristics and nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in reservoir bays is poorly understood. We selected 66 bays from the Danjiangkou Reservoir and sampled twice per year (storage and discharge periods) from 2015 to 2018 to monitor the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentration in the waterbodies of the reservoir bays. Four types of watershed characteristic indices (topographic variables, soil variables, land-use composition, and landscape patterns) around these bays were obtained. We quantified the relationship between the TN and TP concentrations and watershed characteristics in the waterbodies of the reservoir bays using partial least squares regression (PLSR). The results showed that the mean concentrations of TN and TP in the storage period (TN:1.69 mg·L^-1, TP:0.088 mg·L^-1) were higher than those in the discharge period (TN:1.22 mg·L^-1, TP:0.063 mg·L^-1). The optimal PLSR models explained 67.9% and 82.5% of the TN concentration variability, and 65.4% and 67.2% of the TP concentration variability during the storage and discharge period, respectively. Based on the variable importance in the projection (VIP) values, soil erodibility had significant effects on the TN and TP concentrations. The key factors affecting the TN concentration were the slope gradient, basin relief, topographic wetness index, forest and agricultural land use, whereas the factors controlling the TP concentration were the landscape shape index, edge density, Shannon's diversity index and grass land use, although the TP concentration was also controlled by the patch density and contagion during the storage period, and by mean patch size and largest patch index during the discharge period. This study provides critical insights into sustainable landscape planning and effective reservoir water quality management.

Potential correlation between EDN1 gene polymorphisms with preeclampsia

OBJECTIVE

To explore the potential correlation between endothelin 1 (EDN1) gene polymorphisms with preeclampsia (PE).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 248 PE patients and 232 healthy controls were genotyped by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The possible association between EDN1 polymorphisms and PE was revealed through the t-test and the Chi-square test.

RESULTS

PE risk was significantly correlated with the C allele of polymorphism rs5370 in EDN1. The polymorphism rs5370 in EDN1 was remarkably associated with the onset of severe PE, rather than mild PE. The markedly increased risk of early-onset PE was related to the C allele of polymorphism rs5370 in EDN1, while no significant difference in the allele frequency of polymorphism rs1800541 was detected between the PE group and the control group. In the co-dominant model, the CC genotype of polymorphism rs5370 in EDN1 was associated with the increased PE risk. PE risk in the population carrying TC genotype was 1.59 times higher than those with TT/CC genotype, while polymorphism rs1800541 had no apparent association with PE risk. In the severe PE group, there was an evident difference in the genotype frequency between the dominant and over-dominant models of polymorphism rs5370. In the recessive model, the raised risk of early-onset PE was notably correlated with the TT/CC genotype compared with that of TT genotype. However, no evident association with the genotype frequency of polymorphism rs1800541 was observed between PE patients and controls.

CONCLUSIONS

EDN1 gene polymorphism rs5370 is correlated with the increased risk of PE.

Survival comparision of three-dimensional radiotherapy alone with concurrent chemoradiotherapy for non-surgical esophageal carcinoma

PURPOSE

Radiotherapy is the main treatment method for patients with locally advanced, unresectable esophageal cancer. The aim of this study is to compare overall survival (OS) using 3D radiotherapy (3DRT) alone with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in 296 non-surgical esophageal carcinoma patients.

PATENTS AND METHODS

Over 10 years, of the 480 patients with esophageal carcinoma treated with 3DRT with or without chemotherapy, 148 patients each comprised 3DRT and CCRT groups after propensity score matching.

RESULTS

The 5- and 10-year OS (P=0.337) and PFS (P=0.715) rates for 3DRT alone were 22.0%, 14.4% and 26.1%, 23.2%, respectively, compared with 28.8%, 18.6% and 34.7%, 29.1% for CCRT, respectively. CCRT did not improve 5-year and 10-year OS or PFS in 60-70Gy group (OS: 27.5% and 25.2%; 17.9% and 17.0%, P=0.938; PFS: 38.3% and 31.8%; 31.9% and 27.8%, P=0.890) nor reduce 10-year hematogenous metastasis (31.7% and 28.3%, P=0.698). CCRT improved 5-year OS and PFS of 50.0-59.9Gy group (OS: 33.3% and 12.0%, P=0.029; PFS: 33.1% and 10.6%, P=0.081). For 3DRT, the 5-year OS and PFS rates were significantly better in the 60-70Gy group (P=0.017) compared with 50.0-59.9Gy group (P=0.002). For CCRT group, 5-year OS and PFS favored the 50.0-59.9Gy group, but the difference was insignificant. Major toxicities were greater with CCRT compared with 3DRT.

CONCLUSION

For non-surgical esophageal carcinoma patients, 3DRT combined with CCRT was effective in prolonging both OS and PFS.

[Distribution and drug resistance of pathogens in infected organ donors from donation after the citizen death]

Objective: To investigate the distribution and drug resistance of pathogens in infected organ donors from donation after the citizen death (DCD). Methods: Clinical data of 217 DCD donors from January 2013 to June 2017 were retrospectively analyzed.The phlegm, urine, blood and drainage fluid from all of the donors were routinely cultured.The infection rate of the donors, the composition ratio of pathogens and the distribution of specimen sources were observed and the drug resistance was analyzed. Results: Of all the 217 donors, 128 were infected and the infection rate was 59%.A total of 218 pathogens were isolated from these infected donors, including 55.5% (121/218) of gram-negative pathogens, 33.5% (73/218) of gram-positive pathogens followed by 11.0% (24/218) of fungi.The pathogenic specimens were mainly derived from sputum samples (72.5%), followed by urine (15.6%). The mainly two gram-negative pathogens were Klebsiella pneumonia and Acinetobacter baumannii.Klebsiella pneumonia exhibited varying degree of resistance to commonly used antibiotics, whereas susceptible to imipenem and meropenem.Acine-tobacterbaumannii was highly resistant to most of the antibiotics, and the drug resistance rate of imipenem and meropenem was over 60%, displaying a tendency of multi-drug resistance.Staphylococcus aureus, as the mainly gram-positive pathogen, was generally resistant to penicillin and clindamycin, but still sensitive to tovancomycin, teicoplanin and linezolid. Conclusions: DCD donors have a high infection rate, and respiratory infection is most common. Gram-negative pathogens are the primary pathogens causing infection in DCD donors.Klebsiella pneumonia maintain susceptible to imipenem and meropenem, while Acinetobacter baumannii reveals a tendency of multi-drug resistance.Gram-positive pathogens are still sensitive to vancomycin, teicoplanin and linezolid.

Environmental exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, kitchen ventilation, fractional exhaled nitric oxide, and risk of diabetes among Chinese females

Diabetes is related to exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), inflammation in the body, and housing characters. However, associations of urinary monohydroxy-PAHs (OH-PAHs) or fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) with diabetes risk in relation to housing characters are unclear. In this study, 2645 individuals were drawn from the baseline survey of the Wuhan-Zhuhai Cohort Study. Associations of diabetes with urinary OH-PAHs or FeNO among cooking participants were estimated using logistic regression models. Among women with self-cooking meals, urinary OH-PAH levels were positively associated with diabetes risk (P < .05); the cooking women with high FeNO (≥25 ppb) had a 59% increase in the risk of diabetes (OR: 1.59, 95% CI: 1.06, 2.38), compared with those with low FeNO (<25 ppb). The cooking women with use of kitchen exhaust fans/hoods had a 52% decrease in the risk of diabetes (OR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.27, 0.84), compared with those with nonuse of kitchen exhaust fans/hoods. The results indicated that the cooking women had an elevated risk of diabetes, which may be partly explained by an increase in the PAH body burden and higher inflammatory responses. Use of kitchen exhaust fan/hood can be associated with a lower risk of diabetes.

Etoposide and cisplatin versus paclitaxel and carboplatin with concurrent thoracic radiotherapy in unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer: a multicenter randomized phase III trial

Background

The optimal chemotherapy regimen administered currently with radiation in patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unclear. A multicenter phase III trial was conducted to compare the efficacy of concurrent thoracic radiation therapy with either etoposide/cisplatin (EP) or carboplatin/paclitaxel (PC) in patients with stage III NSCLC.

Patients and methods

Patients were randomly received 60-66 Gy of thoracic radiation therapy concurrent with either etoposide 50 mg/m2 on days 1-5 and cisplatin 50 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8 every 4 weeks for two cycles (EP arm), or paclitaxel 45 mg/m2 and carboplatin (AUC 2) on day 1 weekly (PC arm). The primary end point was overall survival (OS). The study was designed with 80% power to detect a 17% superiority in 3-year OS with a type I error rate of 0.05.

Results

A total of 200 patients were randomized and 191 patients were treated (95 in the EP arm and 96 in the PC arm). With a median follow-up time of 73 months, the 3-year OS was significantly higher in the EP arm than that of the PC arm. The estimated difference was 15.0% (95% CI 2.0%-28.0%) and P value of 0.024. Median survival times were 23.3 months in the EP arm and 20.7 months in the PC arm (log-rank test P = 0.095, HR 0.76, 95%CI 0.55-1.05). The incidence of Grade ≥2 radiation pneumonitis was higher in the PC arm (33.3% versus 18.9%, P = 0.036), while the incidence of Grade ≥3 esophagitis was higher in the EP arm (20.0% versus 6.3%, P = 0.009).

Conclusion

EP might be superior to weekly PC in terms of OS in the setting of concurrent chemoradiation for unresectable stage III NSCLC.

Trial registration ID

NCT01494558.

Abstract P1-01-07: Maintenance of genomic integrity in dormant circulating tumor cells

More than 67% of deaths in breast cancer patients occur after the initial 5-year survival period while residual disease can be dormant for periods longer than 20 years. Patients are asymptomatic because circulating tumor cells (CTCs) remain dormant and are undetectable by current clinical tools. Dormant CTCs may retain their long-term tumor-initiating (LTI) potential by adhering to their original genome, unlike rapidly cycling cancer cells that are known to have increased genomic instability. We hypothesized that hyperactive mechanisms of DNA repair preserve the genomic make-up of dormant CTCs allowing them to retain their LTI potential, ultimately causing disease relapse.

We isolated and characterized breast cancer CTCs by mutiparametric flow cytometry and DEPArrayTM. Individually isolated breast cancer CTCs had a large proportion (&gt;40%) of dormant (Ki67-/PCNA-) cells. Dormant CTCs had a lower incidence of double-strand DNA breaks (DSB) than proliferating cells as assessed by the phosphorylation status of Serine139 on gamma H2AX. This observation was further validated in a panel of eight genetically distinct breast cancer cell lines. Second, to understand whether dormant cells are inherently more resistant to DSB, we induced DSB in breast cancer cells by UV radiation and bleomycin treatment, and measured residual DSB at regular intervals. Results showed that besides being more resistant to DSB de novo, dormant breast cancer cells were also more efficient repairing their DNA. There are two distinct phases of DSB repair - early [within 2 hours of DSB using Non-Homologous End Joining (NHEJ) methods] and late [evident after 24 hours using Homologous Recombination (HR)]. Unlike proliferating (S-G2M) cells, dormant (G0) cells lack the sister chromatid and repair their DNA exclusively by NHEJ methods. Therefore, and third, we investigated key players of the NHEJ pathway and examined their roles in maintaining genomic integrity. We found that the human telomere-associated protein RIF1, a mediator of alternative NHEJ, was significantly up-regulated in a dormant CTC subset. Dormant sub-populations of breast cancer cells confirmed RIF1 foci formation in areas of DNA damage. Fourth, mis-sense mutation of RIF1 in CAMA-1 cells (ΔRIF1 E1598K) as well as shRNA mediated RIF1 knockdown in HCC1954 and ZR-75-1 cell lines attenuated resistance of the dormant subset to UV and bleomycin treatment. Finally, RIF1 knockdown activated both p38 and pERK pathways albeit to varying degrees in multiple cell lines resulting in metastatic inefficiency in xenograft and syngeneic mouse models.

Collectively, these findings suggest that RIF1 may play functional roles in maintaining the genomic integrity of dormant CTCs and be a potential biomarker of breast cancer CTC survival while in circulation.

Citation Format: Boral D, Vishnoi M, Liu HN, Yin W, Marchetti D, Hong DS, Scamardo A. Maintenance of genomic integrity in dormant circulating tumor cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-01-07.

Pretreatment plasma fibrinogen as an independent prognostic indicator of prostate cancer patients treated with androgen deprivation therapy

BACKGROUND

Hyperfibrinogen is thought to be associated with a higher risk of invasion and metastasis, as well as a worse outcome for multiple types of cancer. However, the prognostic significance of plasma fibrinogen has not been investigated in prostate cancer with hormonal therapy. The objective of this study was to evaluate its roles in prostate cancer patients treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT).

METHODS

A total of 290 patients who underwent ADT as first-line therapy for prostate cancer were retrospectively analyzed. The fibrinogen level was measured at the time of diagnosis. Patients were categorized using a cutoff point of 3.225 g l(-1) according to a calculation by the receiver operating curve analysis. Correlations between the fibrinogen and clinical characteristics were analyzed. Meanwhile, univariable and multivariable cox regression analyses were performed to determine the associations of fibrinogen with progression-free survival (PFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS). Prognostic accuracy was evaluated with the Harrell concordance index.

RESULTS

Compared with patients with a lower fibrinogen level (<3.225 g l(-1)), patients with a higher fibrinogen level were more likely to have higher PSA, Gleason score, risk stratification and incidence of metastasis (P<0.05). Multivariable analyses identified hyperfibrinogen as an independent prognostic factor for PFS (hazard ratio (HR)=2.000, P<0.001), CSS (HR=2.209, P=0.006) and OS (HR=1.965, P=0.009). The final models built by the addition of fibrinogen improved predictive accuracy (c-index: 0.750, 0.799 and 0.767) for PFS, CSS and OS compared with the clinicopathological base models (c-index: 0.730, 0.778 and 0.746), which included Gleason score and metastasis.

CONCLUSIONS

The pretreatment plasma fibrinogen level was associated with tumor progression and might have a significant role in the prognosis of the prostate cancer patients treated with ADT. Thus, we recommend adding fibrinogen to traditional prognostic model, which may improve its predictive accuracy.

Abstract P1-11-07: The relationship between breast cancer progression and workplace productivity in the US

Background: A significant proportion of women with breast cancer leave employment due to their disease. Little is known about the effects of breast cancer progression on productivity among those who remain employed. We sought to determine the effect of disease progression on workplace productivity among women with breast cancer.

Methods: By linking health insurance claims data to workplace productivity data, a longitudinal dataset of women with breast cancer was constructed. The study cohort consisted of commercially insured women aged 18 to 64 in the US who were treated for any type of breast cancer between 2005 and 2012. Disease stage was measured through diagnosis codes and treatments observed, to classify women into the following breast cancer groups in each 90-day quarter: local; locally advanced; other non-metastatic; metastatic, 1st line therapy; metastatic, 2nd line therapy; metastatic, ≥ 3rd line therapy; metastatic, end-of-life care. Progression was defined as movement to a more advanced disease stage. Workplace productivity was measured as employment status and total hours away from work per quarter. Covariates included employer industry, comorbidities, age, region of residence, and a time trend. Reduced workplace productivity was valued using average U.S. wages by industry. Kaplan Meier analysis was used to test whether women whose cancer progressed were more likely to drop out of our employment-based sample. Linear and Heckman models were used to measure the effect of disease progression on workplace hours missed. The Heckman model was used to correct for selection bias, given that healthier women may be more likely to remain in our employment-based dataset.

Results: The study cohort included 6,409 women. Mean patient age was 52.0 years (SD: 7.7). The mean number of Charlson comorbidities was 0.52 per patient (SD: 2.9). The majority of our employment-based sample had non-metastatic breast cancer (90.7%). Breast cancer progression was associated with a lower probability of employment (hazard ratio = 0.65, P&lt;0.01). Patients who left our employment-based dataset by the 12th quarter had a greater number of comorbidities (P&lt;0.01) and missed a greater number of hours in the first two quarters (P&lt;0.1), compared with those who remained. This indicated that patients leaving our employment-based sample were less healthy than those who stayed, supporting the use of the Heckman model. According to the Heckman results, progression was associated with increased workplace hours missed per quarter, both when comparing early versus late stage (P&lt;0.001), and first-line versus later-line metastatic therapy (P&lt;0.05). Linear results were similar. Using the Heckman results, the annual valuation of work missed per patient was $29,881 for patients without metastases and $34,141 for patients with, indicating that progression to metastatic cancer adds an additional $6,500 of lost work time, or about 14% of average US wages.

Conclusions: Breast cancer progression leads to increased workplace hours missed, with greater hours missed among those with more advanced disease. Avoiding or delaying disease progression could bring productivity gains to the workplace in addition to the benefits to the patient.

Support: This study was funded by Pfizer Inc.

Citation Format: Yin W, Horblyuk R, Perkins JJ, Sison S, Smith G, Snider JT, Wu Y, Philipson TJ. The relationship between breast cancer progression and workplace productivity in the US. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-11-07.

Virtual classroom helps medical education for both Chinese and foreign students

AIMS

The rapid development of computer and internet technology has a strong influence over one's quality of education within different fields of study. To determine the potential benefits of introducing internet into medical school classes, a pilot study was conducted in three different Chinese medical schools.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Seven hundred and eight medical school undergraduates, 385 dental school students and 366 foreign students were randomly recruited to complete a self-administered questionnaire. The contents included personal information, current usage of computer and internet, and attitudes towards the computerised teaching methods. Two forum groups were created using instant message software and were randomly assigned to two classes, allowing students to freely ask or discuss questions with the help of their teachers in these two virtual classrooms.

RESULTS

All 1539 questionnaires were accepted and analysed. Although there were some differences between Chinese and foreign undergraduates, both group of students were highly proficient in internet usage and navigation. Overwhelmingly, 88.37% of the students owned a computer and frequently logged onto the internet. Most of them believed that the internet is a helpful adjunct to their studies and held positive attitudes towards computerised teaching. Compared to the classes that were not assigned internet forums, the two experimental classes performed significantly better on the examination.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that computerised teaching methods have significant potential to assist in learning for both Chinese and foreign medical undergraduates.

Cervical intramedullary immature teratoma with metastatic recurrence in an adult

STUDY DESIGN

Case report.

OBJECTIVES

We present for the first time an adult patient with cervical intramedullary immature teratoma with metastatic recurrence.

SETTING

Peking university Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China.

METHODS

A 30-year-old woman presented with rapidly progressive quadriplegia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed an intramedullary tumor occupying C1-C2 of the upper spinal cord. An urgent operation, consisting of decompression by laminectomy and tumor gross resection, was performed under a preoperative diagnosis of spinal glioma. The histological diagnosis was immature teratoma. The patient received local radiotherapy after gross total resection. The serum alpha fetoprotein (AFP) and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) levels were normal postoperatively, until these were evaluated on the 10th month with neurological deterioration. Metastatic recurrences were demonstrated on MRI with lesions located at the levels of C5-C6 and T11-12. Removal of the second tumors was performed and the pathological examination identified a malignant germ cell tumor (yolk sac tumor). The patient was then referred to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

RESULTS

No tumor regrowth was encountered and the patient remained stable for 6 months after adjuvant therapy.

CONCLUSION

Immature teratoma should be included in the differential diagnosis of holocord tumors in the adult with rapidly progressing symptoms and if found should be radically excised if possible. Adjuvant therapy should be the salvage therapy for this recurrent tumor.

Diagnostic value of panoramic radiography in predicting inferior alveolar nerve injury after mandibular third molar extraction: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of panoramic radiography on inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) injury after extraction of the mandibular third molar.

METHODS

Relevant studies up to 1 June 2014 that discussed the association of panoramic radiography signs and post-mandibular third molar extraction IAN injury were systematically retrieved from the databases of PubMed, Embase, Springerlink, Web of Science and Cochrane library. The effect size of pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratios (PLR), negative likelihood ratios (NLR) and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) with their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were statistically analysed with Meta-disc 1.4 software.

RESULTS

Nine articles were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled estimates of sensitivity and specificity were 0.56 (95% CI: 0.50-0.61) and 0.86 (95% CI: 0.84-0.87), respectively. The overall PLR was 3.46 (95% CI: 2.02-5.92) and overall NLR was 0.58 (95% CI: 0.45-0.73). The pooled estimate of DOR was 6.49 (95% CI: 2.92-14.44). The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.7143 ± 0.0604.

CONCLUSIONS

The meta-analysis indicated that interpretation of panoramic radiography based on darkening of the root had a high specificity in predicting IAN injury after mandibular third molar extraction. However, the ability of this panoramic radiography marker to detect true positive IAN injury was not satisfactory.

Geniposide promotes beta-cell regeneration and survival through regulating β-catenin/TCF7L2 pathway

T-cell factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) is an important transcription factor of Wnt/β-catenin signaling, which has critical roles in β-cell survival and regeneration. In preliminary screening assay, we found geniposide, a naturally occurring compound, was able to increase TCF7L2 mRNA level in Min6 cells. Here we aimed to investigate the role of geniposide in β-cell and underlying mechanism involved. Geniposide was found to promote β-cell survival by increasing β-cell proliferation and decreasing β-cell apoptosis in cultured mouse islets after challenge with diabetic stimuli. Geniposide protected β-cell through activating Wnt signaling, enhanced expressions of TCF7L2 and GLP-1R, activated AKT, inhibited GSK3β activity, and promoted β-catenin nuclear translocation. The protective effect of geniposide was remarkably suppressed by siRNAs against β-catenin, or by ICG001 (β-catenin/TCF-mediated transcription inhibitor). Moreover, geniposide promoted β-cell regeneration in vivo to normalize blood glucose in high-fat diet and db/db mice. Increased β-cell proliferation was observed in pancreatic sections of geniposide-treated diabetic mice. Most importantly, geniposide triggered small islet-like cell clusters formation as a result of β-cell neogenesis from ductal epithelium, which was well correlated with the increase in TCF7L2 expression. In exocrine cells isolated from mouse pancreas, geniposide could induce duct cell differentiation through upregulating TCF7L2 expression and activating JAK2/STAT3 pathway. Taken together, we identified a novel role of geniposide in promoting β-cell survival and regeneration by mechanisms involving the activation of β-catenin/TCF7L2 signaling. Our finding highlights the potential value of geniposide as a possible treatment for type 2 diabetes.