Angelica sinensis polysaccharide promotes apoptosis by inhibiting JAK/STAT pathway in breast cancer cells

Purpose: To determine whether Angelica polysaccharide (APS) induced apoptosis via regulation of the Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) pathway in breast cancer cells. Methods: Human MCF-7 cells were treated with APS. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, expression of apoptotic proteins, and the phosphorylation level of Janus kinase (JAK) and STAT were measured, respectively. For further analysis, MCF-7 cells were transfected with a JAK2 overexpression plasmid or treated with a classical JAK inhibitor, ruxolitinib. Results: Treatment with APS dose-dependently reduced cell proliferation, induced apoptosis, and downregulated the levels of phosphorylated JAK and STAT in MCF-7 cells. JAK inhibitor, ruxolitinib, blocked JAK/STAT pathway and induced cell apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. Besides, JAK2 overexpression reversed the effects of APS on cell viability and apoptosis. Conclusion: The results indicate that polysaccharide isolated from Angelica sinensis promotes apoptosis by inhibiting JAK/STAT pathway in breast cancer cells. Thus, APS may be useful as a potential therapeutic agent for breast cancer

Role of the membrane-spanning 4A gene family in lung adenocarcinoma

Lung adenocarcinoma, which is the second most prevalent cancer in the world, has a poor prognosis and a low 5-year survival rate. The MS4A protein family is crucial to disease development and progression, particularly for cancers, allergies, metabolic disorders, autoimmune diseases, infections, and neurodegenerative disorders. However, its involvement in lung adenocarcinoma remains unclear. In this study, we found that 11 MS4A family genes were upregulated or downregulated in lung adenocarcinoma. Furthermore, we described the genetic variation landscape of the MS4A family in lung adenocarcinoma. Notably, through functional enrichment analysis, we discovered that the MS4A family is involved in the immune response regulatory signaling pathway and the immune response regulatory cell surface receptor signaling pathway. According to the Kaplan–Meier curve, patients with lung adenocarcinoma having poor expression of MS4A2, MS4A7, MS4A14, and MS4A15 had a low overall survival rate. These four prognostic genes are substantially associated with immune-infiltrating cells, and a prognosis model incorporating them may more accurately predict the overall survival rate of patients with lung adenocarcinoma than current models. The findings of this study may offer creative suggestions and recommendations for the identification and management of lung adenocarcinoma

Correlation between serum cystatin C, thrombomodulin and T lymphocyte subsets in children with Henoch-Schonlein purpura

Henoch-Schönlein Purpura (HSP) is a systemic small vessel, leucocytoclastic vasculitis disease affecting children, and the abdominal pain and joint pain are its classic triad. Here, we studied the correlation between serum cystatin C (CysC), thrombomodulin (TM), and T lymphocyte subsets in HSP cases, and the diagnostic values of these indices. A total of 120 HSP children treated at The 940th Hospital of Joint Logistics Support Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army from January 2019 to May 2020 participated in this study. Another 64 healthy children receiving routine physical examination in the same time range were enrolled as a control group. In the early morning of the next day after admission, the cubital venous blood was collected. The serum levels of CysC were measured by immunoturbidimetry, the TM was detected using ELISA, while the T lymphocyte subsets were detected by flow cytometry. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the susceptibility factors. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to evaluate the predictive values of CysC, TM and T lymphocyte subset alone and their combination for HSP. The serum levels of CysC, TM, and cluster of differentiation 8 (CD8+) of HSP children significantly increased and their CD3+, CD4+ levels and CD4+/CD8+ ratio significantly decreased compared with those of control group (P<0.05). The serum levels of CysC and TM were significantly correlated negatively with CD3+, CD4+ levels and CD4+/CD8+, whereas positively with CD8+ level (P<0.05). Diet, infection, drugs, exercise-induced tiredness, air pollution, family environment, family inheritance, age, winter and spring were the susceptibility factors for children with HSP. The diagnosis using CysC, TM and T lymphocyte subsets had an AUC of 0.901, sensitivity of 93.1%, and specificity of 90.2%. In conclusion, the combined monitoring of serum CysC, TM, and T lymphocyte subsets in children with HSP can raise the accurate diagnosis rate

Correlation between serum cystatin C, thrombomodulin and T lymphocyte subsets in children with Henoch-Schonlein purpura

19-24Henoch-Schönlein Purpura (HSP) is a systemic small vessel, leucocytoclastic vasculitis disease affecting children, and the abdominal pain and joint pain are its classic triad. Here, we studied the correlation between serum cystatin C (CysC), thrombomodulin (TM), and T lymphocyte subsets in HSP cases, and the diagnostic values of these indices. A total of 120 HSP children treated at The 940th Hospital of Joint Logistics Support Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army from January 2019 to May 2020 participated in this study. Another 64 healthy children receiving routine physical examination in the same time range were enrolled as a control group. In the early morning of the next day after admission, the cubital venous blood was collected. The serum levels of CysC were measured by immunoturbidimetry, the TM was detected using ELISA, while the T lymphocyte subsets were detected by flow cytometry. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the susceptibility factors. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to evaluate the predictive values of CysC, TM and T lymphocyte subset alone and their combination for HSP. The serum levels of CysC, TM, and cluster of differentiation 8 (CD8+) of HSP children significantly increased and their CD3+, CD4+ levels and CD4+/CD8+ ratio significantly decreased compared with those of control group (P+, CD4+ levels and CD4+/CD8+, whereas positively with CD8+ level (P<0.05). Diet, infection, drugs, exercise-induced tiredness, air pollution, family environment, family inheritance, age, winter and spring were the susceptibility factors for children with HSP. The diagnosis using CysC, TM and T lymphocyte subsets had an AUC of 0.901, sensitivity of 93.1%, and specificity of 90.2%. In conclusion, the combined monitoring of serum CysC, TM, and T lymphocyte subsets in children with HSP can raise the accurate diagnosis rate

Association of blood pressure with development of metabolic syndrome components: a five-year retrospective cohort study in Beijing

Background: Raised blood pressure (BP) is associated with the incidence of metabolic syndrome (MetS). It is unknown if subjects with different BP levels may develop certain components of MetS over time. We investigated the incidence of MetS relative to different levels of BP over a 5-year period in a Chinese population in Tongren Hospital, Beijing. Methods: During the period of 2006–2011, we recruited 2,781 participants with no MetS, or self-reported type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, or cardiovascular disease at baseline. Association rule was used to identify the transitions of MetS components over time. Results: The incidence of MetS at follow-up was 9.74% for men and 3.21% for women in the group with optimal BP; 10.29% and 7.22%, respectively, in the group with normal BP; 10.49% and 10.84%, respectively, in the group with high-normal BP; and 14.48% and 23.21%, respectively in the group with high BP. The most common transition was from healthy to healthy in the groups with optimal or normal BP (17.9–49.3%), whereas in the high-normal BP group, 16.9-22.1% of subjects with raised BP returned to healthy status or stayed unchanged, while 13.8-21.4% of people with high BP tended to develop raised fasting glucose levels. Conclusions: The incidence of MetS increased in parallel with the increase in BP. People with optimal and normal BP levels were less susceptible to developing MetS over time, whereas abnormal BP seemed to be a pre-existing phase of MetS. High-normal BP was a crucial status for MetS prevention

Association between γ-glutamyl transferase and metabolic syndrome: A cross-sectional study of an adult population in Beijing

The relationship between liver enzymes and clustered components of metabolic syndrome (MetS) is explored and the predictive power of γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT) for the diagnosis of MetS in an adult population in Beijing is investigated. A total of 10,553 adults aged 20-65 years who underwent health examinations at Beijing Tongren Hospital in 2012 were enrolled in the study. Multivariate logistic regression analysis is conducted to determine the associations between the levels of various liver enzymes and clustered components of MetS. A receiver operating characteristic analysis is used to determine the optimal cut-off value of GGT for the diagnosis of MetS. A high level of GGT is found to be positively associated with clustered components of MetS in both men and women after adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI), history of alcoholic fatty liver, and the presence of taking anti-hypertensive, anti-dyslipidemic, and anti-diabetic drugs. Among all components of MetS, GGT is more predictive of triglyceride, and BMI. The area-under-the-curve values of GGT for discriminating MetS from normal metabolic status in men and women are 0.73 and 0.80, respectively. The optimal cut-off value of GGT for men is 31.50 U/L, demonstrating a sensitivity of 74.00% and specificity of 62.00%. For women, it is 19.50 U/L (sensitivity 76.00% and specificity 70.00%). GGT is therefore recommended as a useful diagnostic marker for MetS, because the test is inexpensive, highly sensitive, and frequently encountered in clinical practice

Risk factors for cerebrovascular disease mortality among the elderly in Beijing: A competing risk analysis

Objective: To examine the associations of combined lifestyle factors and physical conditions with cerebrovascular diseases (CBVD) mortality, after accounting for competing risk events, including death from cardiovascular diseases, cancers and other diseases. Methods: Data on 2010 subjects aged over 55 years were finally analyzed using competing risk models. All the subjects were interviewed by the Beijing Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA), in China, between 1 January 1992 and 30 August 2009. Results: Elderly females were at a lower risk of death from CBVD than elderly males (HR = 0.639, 95% CI = 0.457-0.895). Increasing age (HR = 1.543, 95% CI = 1.013-2.349), poor self-rated health (HR = 1.652, 95% CI = 1.198-2.277), hypertension (HR = 2.201, 95% CI = 1.524-3.178) and overweight (HR = 1.473, 95% CI = 1.013-2.142) or obesity (HR = 1.711, 95% CI = 1.1754-2.490) was associated with higher CBVD mortality risk. Normal cognition function (HR = 0.650, 95% CI = 0.434-0.973) and living in urban (HR = 0.456, 95% CI = 0.286-0.727) was associated with lower CBVD mortality risk. Gray\u27s test also confirmed the cumulative incidence (CIF) of CBVD was lower in the \u27married\u27 group than those without spouse, and the mortality was lowest in the \u27nutrition sufficient\u27 group among the \u27frequent consumption of meat group\u27 and the \u27medial type group\u27 (P valu

Empagliflozin in Patients With Heart Failure: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of empagliflozin in patients with heart failure (HF).Method: We performed a systematic search of PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library database through January 20, 2021. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included that compared empagliflozin and placebo in patients with HF. Dichotomous variables were expressed as risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Continuous variables were calculated and expressed as mean differences (MD) and standard deviation (SD). Meta-analysis was conducted using a random-effects model on outcomes with high heterogeneity.Results: Seven studies were included in our meta-analysis (n = 5,150). Significant differences were observed in a composite of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for worsening heart failure [RR: 0.77 (95% CI 0.68–0.87); I2 = 18%; P &lt; 0.0001), hospitalization for worsening heart failure [RR: 0.71 (95% CI 0.61–0.82); I2 = 0%; P &lt; 0.00001], changes in Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) score [MD: 1.70 (95% CI 1.67–1.73); I2 = 0%; P &lt; 0.00001], and changes in body weight [MD: −1.43 (95% CI −2.15 to −0.72); I2 = 84%; P &lt; 0.0001) from baseline. However, empagliflozin did not show a better change in the 6-min walk test (6MWT) [MD: 34.06 (95% CI −29.75–97.88); I2 = 97%; P = 0.30] or NT-proBNP [MD: −98.36 (95% CI, −225.83–29.11); I2 = 68%; P = 0.13] from baseline.Conclusion: The findings suggest that empagliflozin was effective in reducing a composite of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for worsening heart failure. Further well-designed RCTs are needed to evaluate the long-term effect of empagliflozin in patients with HF.PROSPERO: CRD42021231712

Effects of Dietary Fish Oil on the Depletion of Carcinogenic PAH-DNA Adduct Levels in the Liver of B6C3F1 Mouse

Many carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their metabolites can bind covalently to DNA. Carcinogen-DNA adducts may lead to mutations in critical genes, eventually leading to cancer. In this study we report that fish oil (FO) blocks the formation of DNA adducts by detoxification of PAHs. B6C3F1 male mice were fed a FO or corn oil (CO) diet for 30 days. The animals were then treated with seven carcinogenic PAHs including benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) with one of two doses via a single intraperitoneal injection. Animals were terminated at 1, 3, or 7 d after treatment. The levels of DNA adducts were analyzed by the 32P-postlabeling assay. Our results showed that the levels of total hepatic DNA adducts were significantly decreased in FO groups compared to CO groups with an exception of low PAH dose at 3 d (P = 0.067). Total adduct levels in the high dose PAH groups were 41.36±6.48 (Mean±SEM) and 78.72±8.03 in 109 nucleotides (P = 0.011), respectively, for the FO and CO groups at 7 d. Animals treated with the low dose (2.5 fold lower) PAHs displayed similar trends. Total adduct levels were 12.21±2.33 in the FO group and 24.07±1.99 in the CO group, P = 0.008. BPDE-dG adduct values at 7 d after treatment of high dose PAHs were 32.34±1.94 (CO group) and 21.82±3.37 (FO group) in 109 nucleotides with P value being 0.035. Low dose groups showed similar trends for BPDE-dG adduct in the two diet groups. FO significantly enhanced gene expression of Cyp1a1 in both the high and low dose PAH groups. Gstt1 at low dose of PAHs showed high levels in FO compared to CO groups with P values being 0.014. Histological observations indicated that FO played a hepatoprotective role during the early stages. Our results suggest that FO has a potential to be developed as a cancer chemopreventive agent