Compliance with clinical guidelines and adherence to antiretroviral therapy among patients living with HIV

Objective: Evaluation of provider compliance with antiretroviral (ARV) treatment guidelines and patient adherence to ARVs is important for HIV care quality assessment; however, there are few current real-world data for guideline compliance and ARV adherence in the US. This study evaluated provider compliance with US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) guidelines and patient adherence to ARVs in a US population of patients with HIV.

Methods: This was a retrospective claims study of adults with HIV-1 receiving ARV treatment between January 2010–December 2014. Follow-up began at first ARV treatment and ended at health plan disenrollment or study end. ARV regimens for treatment-naïve patients were categorized as “preferred/recommended”, “alternative”, or “non-preferred/recommended/alternative” according to DHHS guidelines. ARV adherence was evaluated using proportion of days covered (PDC) and medication possession ratio (MPR).

Results: The analysis included 25,320 patients (84.4% male, mean age 45.3 years) and 39,071 regimens. Preferred/recommended regimens were most common during each study year, but the proportion of non-preferred/recommended/alternative regimens was substantial (15.9–20.6%). Only 53.6% of patients had optimal adherence by PDC ≥0.95, and 57.9% by MPR ≥0.95. Guideline non-compliance and sub-optimal adherence were more prevalent among female vs male patients (22.6% vs 14.8% [in 2014] and 65.9% vs 53.7%, respectively).

Conclusions: Provider non-compliance with DHHS guidelines and sub-optimal ARV adherence among patients with HIV remain common in real-world practice, particularly for female patients. Healthcare providers should follow the latest clinical guidelines to ensure that patients receive recommended therapy, and address non-adherence when selecting ARV regimens.     

补骨脂酚通过MAPK途径诱导人肝癌HepG2细胞凋亡的研究

目的:研究补骨脂酚对人肝癌细胞凋亡的影响及其作用机制。方法:应用噻唑蓝法（MTT法）和倒置显微镜技术考察补骨脂酚对HepG2细胞生长的影响；采用荧光显微镜观察补骨脂酚处理后细胞凋亡；利用蛋白免疫印迹法检测补骨脂酚对HepG2细胞中凋亡相关蛋白及MAPK家族蛋白表达的影响；引入MAPK家族蛋白抑制剂考察生长抑制率和凋亡相关蛋白表达的变化。结果:补骨脂酚可以剂量依赖性地抑制人肝癌HepG2细胞增殖，其生长抑制作用明显强于临床上常用的抗肿瘤药5-氟尿嘧啶，并且补骨脂酚对人正常肝L02细胞具有较低的毒性。进一步研究发现，补骨脂酚可以诱导HepG2细胞发生凋亡。此外，MAPK家族参与到补骨脂酚诱导的HepG2细胞凋亡过程中，补骨脂酚可以剂量依赖性激活JNK的表达发挥促凋亡的作用，同时抑制了ERK促存活通路，然而对p38无明显影响。结论:本研究首次阐明了补骨脂酚诱导人肝癌HepG2细胞生长抑制作用机制，为进一步的临床应用提供了理论依据。     

ATP6L promotes metastasis of colorectal cancer by inducing epithelial‐mesenchymal transition

ATP6L, the C subunit of the V‐ATPase V0 domain, is involved in regulating the acidic tumor micro‐environment and may promote tumor progression. However, the expression and functional role of ATP6L in tumors have not yet been well explored. In this study, we found that ATP6L protein overexpression was related to colorectal cancer histological differentiation (P < 0.001), presence of metastasis (P < 0.001) and recurrence (P = 0.02). ATP6L expression in the liver metastatic foci was higher than in the primary foci (P = 0.04). ATP6L expression was notably concomitant with epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) immunohistochemical features, such as reduced expression of the epithelial marker E‐cadherin (P = 0.021) and increased expression of the mesenchymal marker vimentin (P = 0.004). Results of in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that ATP6L expression could alter cell morphology, regulate EMT‐associated protein expression, and enhance migration and invasion. The effect of ATP6L on metastasis was further demonstrated in a tail vein injection mice model. In addition, the mouse xenograft model showed that ATP6L‐overexpressing HCT116 cells grew into larger tumor masses, showed less necrosis and formed more micro‐vessels than the control cells. Taken together, our results suggest that ATP6L promotes metastasis of colorectal cancer by inducing EMT and angiogenesis, and is a potential target for tumor therapy.     

关节镜辅助下球囊扩张成形术治疗中重度营养不良跟骨关节内骨折

目的 分析关节镜辅助下球囊扩张成形术治疗中重度营养不良跟骨关节内骨折的临床疗效。方法 回顾性分析2014年3月至2017年2月中国人民解放军联勤保障部队第910医院骨科收治的跟骨关节内骨折患者55例。其中，男14例，女41例; 年龄47 ～ 76岁，平均（61.2±8.7）岁; 骨折Sanders分型: Ⅱ型12例，Ⅲ型17例，Ⅳ型26例。营养不良程度：中度40例，重度15例; 跟骨骨密度T值-5.2 ～ -2.7，平均-（4.1±0.6）。根据手术方式分为“关节镜+球囊”组15例、单纯球囊组12例、螺钉组8例和钢板组20例。记录手术时间、术中术后出血量、住院时间、术后B?hler角和Gissane角、各时间点关节面塌陷高度及各时间点VAS评分和AOFAS评分。结果 “关节镜+球囊”组手术时间长于单纯球囊组和螺钉组（P<0.01），但低于钢板组（P<0.01）；而术中、术后出血量和住院时间方面，与单纯球囊组、螺钉组差异无统计学意义（P>0.05），但低于钢板组（P<0.01）。“关节镜+球囊”组和单纯球囊组各时间点的VAS评分和AOFAS评分比较，差异无统计学意义（P>0.05）; 但“关节镜+球囊组”、单纯球囊组与螺钉组、钢板组比较，差异有统计学意义（P<0.01）。四组间术后B?hler角和Gissane角比较，差异无统计学意义（P>0.05）。在术后6、12、24个月时“关节镜+球囊”组和单纯球囊组比较关节面塌陷高度比较，差异无统计学意义（P>0.05）; 螺钉组和钢板组关节面塌陷高度比较，差异也无统计学意义（P>0.05）; 但“关节镜+球囊”组与螺钉组、钢板组，单纯球囊组与螺钉组、钢板组关节面塌陷高度比较，差异有统计学意义（P<0.01）。结论 关节镜辅助下球囊扩张成形术治疗中重度营养不良跟骨关节内骨折，具有操作简单、安全、康复期短的优点，值得临床推广。     

Bioinformatic identification of key candidate genes and pathways in axon regeneration after spinal cord injury in zebrafish

Zebrafish and human genomes are highly homologous;however,despite this genomic similarity,adult zebrafish can achieve neuronal proliferation,regeneration and functional restoration within 6–8 weeks after spinal cord injury,whereas humans cannot.To analyze differentially expressed zebrafish genes between axon-regenerated neurons and axon-non-regenerated neurons after spinal cord injury,and to explore the key genes and pathways of axonal regeneration after spinal cord injury,microarray GSE56842 was analyzed using the online tool,GEO2R,in the Gene Expression Omnibus database.Gene ontology and protein-protein interaction networks were used to analyze the identified differentially expressed genes.Finally,we screened for genes and pathways that may play a role in spinal cord injury repair in zebrafish and mammals.A total of 636 differentially expressed genes were obtained,including 255 up-regulated and 381 down-regulated differentially expressed genes in axon-regenerated neurons.Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment results were also obtained.A protein-protein interaction network contained 480 node genes and 1976 node connections.We also obtained the 10 hub genes with the highest correlation and the two modules with the highest score.The results showed that spectrin may promote axonal regeneration after spinal cord injury in zebrafish.Transforming growth factor beta signaling may inhibit repair after spinal cord injury in zebrafish.Focal adhesion or tight junctions may play an important role in the migration and proliferation of some cells,such as Schwann cells or neural progenitor cells,after spinal cord injury in zebrafish.Bioinformatic analysis identified key candidate genes and pathways in axonal regeneration after spinal cord injury in zebrafish,providing targets for treatment of spinal cord injury in mammals.     

The NEDD4-1 E3 ubiquitin ligase: A potential molecular target for bortezomib sensitivity in multiple myeloma

E3 ubiquitin ligases primarily determine the substrate specificity of the ubiquitin-proteasome system and play an essential role in the resistance to bortezomib in multiple myeloma (MM). Neural precursor cell-expressed developmentally downregulated gene 4-1 (NEDD4-1, also known as NEDD4) is a founding member of the NEDD4 family of E3 ligases and is involved in the proliferation, migration, invasion and drug sensitivity of cancer cells. In the present study, we investigated the role of NEDD4-1 in MM cells and explored its underlying mechanism. Clinically, low NEDD4-1 expression has been linked to poor prognosis in patients with MM. Functionally, NEDD4-1 knockdown (KD) resulted in bortezomib resistance in MM cells in vitro and in vivo. The overexpression (OE) of NEDD4-1, but not an enzyme-dead NEDD4-1-C867S mutant, had the opposite effect. Furthermore, the overexpression of NEDD4-1 in NEDD4-1 KD cells resensitized the cells to bortezomib in an add-back rescue experiment. Mechanistically, pAkt-Ser473 levels and Akt signaling were elevated and decreased by NEDD4-1 KD and OE, respectively. NEDD4-1 ubiquitinated Akt and targeted pAkt-Ser473 for proteasomal degradation. More importantly, the NEDD4-1 KD-induced upregulation of Akt expression sensitized MM cells to growth inhibition after treatment with an Akt inhibitor. Collectively, our results suggest that high NEDD4-1 levels may be a potential new therapeutic target in MM.