Effect Of Combined Aerobic And Resistance Training On HPA Axis Reactivity In HIV+ Women Undergoing Treatment For Substance Abuse

Substance abuse and infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are chronic stressors that affect hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of combined aerobic and resistance training on HPA axis reactivity in women with HIV undergoing treatment for substance abuse. Sixteen women (mean ± SD; 41 ± 9 years, 164 ± 6 cm, 78.1 ± 17.1 kg, 36 ± 10 % body fat) infected with HIV and enrolled in an intensive 60-day in-patient substance addiction/abuse treatment program were recruited shortly after admission to the treatment facility. Participants were assigned to one of two groups using randomization: (1) supervised combined aerobic and resistance exercise sessions 3 times per week (EX) for six weeks or (2) no exercise training (Control) for six weeks. Before (PRE) and after (POST) the 6-week period participants completed a 10-min public speaking task (Trier Social Stress Test). Saliva samples were obtained before (baseline), immediately after, and every 10 min for 50 min after the task. Saliva samples were analyzed for cortisol. HPA axis reactivity was determined as the difference between the highest values after the test minus the baseline value. HPA axis reactivity did not differ between groups at PRE (EX: 1.9 ± 2.0 nmol•L-1; Control: 1.1 ± 2.7 nmol•L-1) or POST (EX: 1.7 ± 2.1 nmol•L-1; Control: 0.0 ± 1.3 nmol•L-1). Similarly no differences were found between PRE and POST although the reactivity for the Control group appeared to be reduced at POST. HIV+ women in early recovery from substance abuse appear to display blunted HPA axis reactivity. A combined aerobic and resistance training intervention did not affect this reactivity; although, the exercise intervention might have prevented a further decline in reactivity

Clinical correlation of nuclear survivin in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

To examine the correlation of survivin (both total and nuclear survivin) with clinicopathological parameters of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients. Tumors and non-tumor tissues near the proximal resection margins were resected from ESCC patients undergone esophagectomy. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was performed to detect survivin mRNA expression level in the 10 paired tumor and adjacent non-tumor tissues. To confirm with the clinical situation, survivin mRNA and protein expression were measured by qPCR and immunoblot, respectively, in 5 ESCC cell lines and a non-neoplastic esophageal epithelial cell line. Immunohistochemistry was employed to reveal the cellular localization of survivin in tumor tissues isolated from the 64 ESCC patients undergone surgery alone. Up-regulation of survivin mRNA and protein was found in 5 ESCC lines (HKESC-1, HKESC-2, HKESC-3, HKESC-4, and SLMT-1) when compared to a non-neoplastic esophageal epithelial cell line NE-1. In particular, HKESC-3, HKESC-4, and SLMT-1 cells demonstrated ~50-fold increase in survivin mRNA. High level of survivin mRNA in tumor tissues when compared to non-tumor tissues was found in 70 % (7 of 10) of clinical cases. The increase in expression ranged from ~twofold to ~16-fold. Immunohistochemistry results showed that survivin was found at the cell nuclei in all specimens examined. Nuclear expression of survivin was inversely associated with the likelihood of developing nodal metastasis (p = 0.021) and significantly associated with early-stage ESCC (p = 0.039). Nuclear survivin could serve as a marker for indicating disease status in ESCC patients. © 2012 The Author(s).published_or_final_versio

Upregulation of Circulating PD-L1/PD-1 Is Associated with Poor Post-Cryoablation Prognosis in Patients with HBV-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma

BACKGROUND: The programmed cell death-1 receptor/programmed cell death-1 ligand (PD-1/PD-L1) pathway plays a crucial role in tumor evasion from host immunity. This study was designed to evaluate the association between circulating PD-L1/PD-1 and prognosis after cryoablation in patients with HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In the present study, 141 HBV-related HCC patients were enrolled and of those 109 patients received cryoablation. Circulating PD-L1/PD-1 expression was tested by flow cytometry, and 23 patients were simultaneously evaluated for intratumoral PD-L1 expression by immunohistochemical staining. Circulating PD-1/PD-L1 expression was associated with severity of diseases in patients with HCC, and the circulating PD-L1 expression was closely correlated with intratumoral PD-L1 expression. Of the clinical parameters, PD-1/PD-L1 expression was associated with tumor size, blood vessel invasion and BCLC staging. Moreover, PD-1/PD-L1 expression dropped after cryoablation while being elevated at the time of tumor recurrence. Patients with higher expression of circulating PD-L1, as well as circulating PD-1, had a significantly shorter overall survival and tumor-free survival than those with lower expression. Multivariate analysis confirmed that circulating PD-L1 could serve as an independent predictor of overall survival and tumor-recurrence survival in HCC patients after cryoablation. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Upregulation of circulating PD-L1/PD-1 is associated with poor post-cryoablation prognosis in patients with HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma

Traditional Chinese herbal medicines for treatment of liver fibrosis and cancer: From laboratory discovery to clinical evaluation

Liver disease afflicts over 10% of the world population. This includes chronic hepatitis, alcoholic steatosis, fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which are the most health-threatening conditions drawing considerable attention from medical professionals and scientists. Patients with alcoholism or viral hepatitis are much more likely to have liver cell damage and cirrhosis, and some may eventually develop HCC, which is unfortunately, and very often, a fatal malignancy without cure. While liver surgery is not suitable in many of the HCC cases, patients are mostly given palliative support cares or transarterial chemoembolization or systemic chemotherapies. However, HCC is well known to be a highly chemoresistant tumour, and the response rate is <10-20%. To this end, alternative medicines are being actively sought from other sources with hopes to halt the disease's progression or even eliminate the tumours. Traditional Chinese herbal medicine has begun to gain popularity worldwide for promoting healthcare as well as disease prevention, and been used as conventional or complementary medicines for both treatable and incurable diseases in Asia and the West. In this article, we discuss the laboratory findings and clinical trial studies of Chinese herbal medicines (particularly small molecule compounds) for the treatment of liver disease ranging from fibrosis to liver cancer. © 2007 Blackwell Munksgaard.link_to_subscribed_fulltex