IKBKE enhances TMZ-chemoresistance through upregulation of MGMT expression in glioblastoma

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and aggressive malignant type of brain tumor. Despite advances in diagnosis and therapy, the prognosis of     

丙戊酸钠通过EGFR下调CD44表达抑制胶质瘤细胞生长

目的:探讨丙戊酸钠通过抑制A172胶质瘤细胞表皮生长因子受体（epidermal growth factor receptor，EGFR）的活化，下调CD44表达，进而调节细胞生长的机制。方法:实时荧光定量PCR和Western blot检测A172胶质瘤细胞中CD44以及siRNA下调CD44表达的情况，MTT检测CD44和丙戊酸钠对细胞生长的影响，Western blot检测丙戊酸钠对细胞中p-EGFR、EGFR和CD44表达影响。结果:丙戊酸钠抑制A172胶质瘤细胞生长，并具有浓度依赖性。A172胶质瘤细胞表达CD44，siRNA下调CD44表达后，细胞生长较正常组显著减缓。活化EGFR促进A172胶质瘤CD44蛋白表达，而EGFR的抑制剂Lapatinib可显著抑制上述效应。丙戊酸钠抑制EGFR磷酸化，下调CD44蛋白表达。结论:丙戊酸钠抑制A172胶质瘤细胞的生长。抑制A172胶质瘤细胞中EGFR的活化，下调CD44的表达，是丙戊酸钠抑制胶质瘤细胞生长的其中一个机制。     

Grappling with complexity: Medical students’ reflective writings about challenging patient encounters as a window into professional identity formation

Aim: Clerkship-specific interactive reflective writing (IRW)-enhanced reflection may enhance professional identity formation (PIF), a fundamental goal of medical education. PIF process as revealed in students? reflective writing (RW) has been understudied.

Methods: The authors developed an IRW curriculum within a Family Medicine Clerkship (FMC) and analyzed students? reflections about challenging/difficult patient encounters using immersion-crystallization qualitative analysis.

Results: The qualitative analysis identified 26 unique emergent themes and five distinct thematic categories (1. Role of emotions, 2. Role of cognition, 3. Behaviorally responding to situational context, 4. Patient factors, and 5. External factors) as well as an emergent PIF model from a directed content analysis. The model describes students? backgrounds, emotions and previous experiences in medicine merging with external factors and processed during student?patient interactions. The RWs also revealed that processing often involves polarities (e.g. empathy/lack of empathy or encouragement/disillusionment) as well as dissonance between idealized visions and lived reality.

Conclusions: IRW facilitates and ideally supports grappling with the lived reality of medicine; uncovering a “positive hidden curriculum” within medical education. The authors propose engaging learners in guided critical reflection about complex experiences for meaning-making within a safe learning climate as a valuable way to cultivate reflective, resilient professionals with “prepared” minds and hearts for inevitable challenges of healthcare practice.     

Factors associated with provision of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate to adolescents by US health care providers

ObjectiveIdentify factors associated with healthcare providers' frequency of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) provision to adolescents.Study designWe analyzed data from surveys mailed to a nationally representative sample of public-sector providers and office-based physicians (n=1984). We estimated adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of factors associated with frequent DMPA provision to adolescents in the past year.ResultsAlthough most providers (>95%) considered DMPA safe for adolescents, fewer reported frequent provision (89% of public-sector providers; 64% of office-based physicians). Among public-sector providers, factors associated with lower odds of frequent provision included working in settings without Title X funding (aOR 0.44, 95% CI 0.30–0.64), reporting primary care as their primary clinical focus versus reproductive or adolescent health (aOR 0.42, 95% CI 0.28–0.61), and providing fewer patients with family planning services. Among office-based physicians, factors associated with lower odds of frequent provision included specializing in obstetrics/gynecology (aOR 0.50, 95% CI 0.27–0.91) and family medicine (aOR 0.21, 95% CI 0.09–0.47) versus adolescent medicine, completing training ≥15 versus <5 years ago (aOR 0.27, 95% CI 0.09–0.83), and reporting that 0–24% of patients pay with Medicaid or other government healthcare assistance versus ≥50% (aOR 0.23, 95% CI 0.09–0.61). The reason most commonly reported by providers for infrequent DMPA provision was patient preference for another method.ConclusionsWhile most providers reported frequently providing DMPA to adolescents, training on evidence-based recommendations for contraception, focused on subgroups of providers with lower odds of frequent DMPA provision, may increase adolescents' access to contraception.ImplicationsAlthough >95% of providers considered depot medroxyprogesterone (DMPA) a safe contraceptive for adolescents, only 89% of public-sector providers and 64% of office-based physicians reported frequently providing DMPA to adolescents. Provider training on evidence-based recommendations for contraception counseling and provision may increase adolescents' access to DMPA and all methods of contraception.     

Impact of Weight Loss During Chemotherapy in Chinese Patients with Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer

Background: Weight loss is frequently observed in pancreatic cancer patients. We aimed to study the prognostic impacts of weight loss early during chemotherapy.

Methods: A total of 72 patients of Chinese ethnicity with unresectable pancreatic cancer who underwent chemotherapy were reviewed. Critical weight loss (CWL) was defined as weight loss ≥ 5% within one month after treatment. The prognostic impact of weight loss and CWL were analyzed.

Results: 47 patients (65.3%) had weight loss after one month of treatment, with 14 (19.4%) suffering from CWL. Baseline characteristics were similar between patients with and without CWL. The median OS and Time-to-treatment-failure (TTF) of patients with CWL were shorter than those without CWL (OS: 4.8?months [CWL] versus [vs.] OS 7.1?months [No CWL]; TTF 1.6?months [CWL] vs. 3.2?months [No CWL]; both P?<?0.01). CWL was an independent adverse prognosticator for OS (Hazard Ratio [HR]?=?2.50; P?=?0.01) and TTF (HR = 2.71; P?<?0.01). Other independent prognosticators for OS were serum albumin <35?mg/dl and CA19-9?≥?1000?IU/ml, while CWL was the only independent prognosticator for TTF (HR 2.71 [95% CI 1.33–5.52]; P?<?0.01).

Conclusions: Development of CWL in early course of chemotherapy was associated with worse prognosis in Chinese patients with unresectable pancreatic cancers.     

灰毡毛忍冬LmC3H1基因的克隆及表达模式与绿原酸含量相关性分析

目的:以灰毡毛忍冬为材料,克隆对-香豆酸3-羟化酶(LmC3H1)基因,进行生物信息学和表达模式分析,结合绿原酸含量,研究推测灰毡毛忍冬LmC3H1基因的功能。方法:通过逆转录聚合酶链式反应(RT-PCR)和RACE技术克隆LmC3H1基因的全长c DNA序列,对该序列进行生物信息学分析,并利用实时荧光定量PCR(Real-time PCR)和HPLC分别测定灰毡毛忍冬茎、叶及不同花期花中LmC3H1的相对表达量及绿原酸含量。结果:克隆得LmC3H1(Gen Bank:MN177695)基因,开放阅读框(ORF)长度为1 533 bp,编码510个氨基酸,推测其分子式为C_(2618)H_(4134)N_(718)O_(727)S_(22),相对分子质量为58 005.32,等电点8.92,为亲水性蛋白,定位于叶绿体中,具有跨膜区域LLLIPAVLFLISLVYPLI,含有细胞色素P450的保守结构域CYTOCHROME_P450(422-433 aa);Real-time PCR结果显示,LmC3H1在灰毡毛忍冬茎、叶及不同花期花有不同程度的表达,其中在花发育阶段,白色花蕾期相对表达量最高,花蕾初期及白色开花期次之;白色花蕾期花与茎、叶比,花的相对表达量最高,叶的最低;HPLC结果显示,从绿白色花蕾期到金黄色开花期绿原酸含量呈上升趋势,金黄色开花期含量最高,不同器官中,花中绿原酸最高,茎最低。结论:克隆得到灰毡毛忍冬LmC3H1基因,推测LmC3H1可能参与灰毡毛忍冬花绿原酸的生物合成。该研究为进一步研究该基因的功能及探究灰毡毛忍冬绿原酸生物合成和调节机制提供了依据,同时为遗传改良灰毡毛忍冬品质奠定了基础。     

Magnesium intake and primary liver cancer incidence and mortality in the Prostate,Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial

Epidemiological studies on magnesium intake and primary liver cancer (PLC) are scarce, and no prospective studies have examined the associations of magnesium intake with PLC incidence and mortality. We sought to clarify whether higher magnesium intake from diet and supplements was associated with lower risks of PLC incidence and mortality in the US population. Magnesium intake from diet and supplements was evaluated through a food frequency questionnaire in a cohort of 104,025 participants. Cox regression was employed to calculate hazard ratios for PLC incidence and competing risk regression was employed to calculate subdistribution hazard ratios for PLC mortality. Restricted cubic spline regression was employed to test nonlinearity. We documented 116 PLC cases during 1,193,513.5 person-years of follow-up and 100 PLC deaths during 1,198,021.3 person-years of follow-up. Total (diet + supplements) magnesium intake was found to be inversely associated with risks of PLC incidence (hazard ratio_{tertile 3 vs. 1}: 0.44; 95% confidence interval: 0.24, 0.80; p_trend = 0.0065) and mortality (subdistribution hazard ratio_{tertile 3 vs. 1}: 0.37; 95% confidence interval: 0.19, 0.71; p_trend = 0.0008). Similar results were obtained for dietary magnesium intake. Nonlinear inverse dose–response associations with PLC incidence and mortality were observed for both total and dietary magnesium intakes (all p_nonlinearity < 0.05). In summary, in the US population, a high magnesium intake is associated with decreased risks of PLC incidence and mortality in a nonlinear dose–response manner. These findings support that increasing the consumption of foods rich in magnesium may be beneficial in reducing PLC incidence and mortality.