Increased endostatin/collagen XVIII expression correlates with elevated VEGF level and poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Liver is the primary source for collagen XVIII, the precursor of angiogenesis inhibitor, endostatin. However, the role of endostatin/collagen XVIII expression during liver carcinogenesis remains elusive. Therefore, we studied its expression in five hepatoma cell lines and 105 hepatocellular carcinoma specimens. The poorly differentiated hepatoma cell lines exhibited increased endostatin/collagen XVIII levels compared with the well-differentiated ones. In hepatoma tissues, endostatin/collagen XVIII expression was detected in various types of liver cells and was significantly stronger in adjacent nontumor tissues than that in tumors (P<0.001). Endostatin/collagen XVIII expression in nontumor tissues correlated with tumor stages (P=0.014) and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (P=0.007), but not the stages of hepatic fibrosis (P>0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with higher endostatin/collagen XVIII expression had significantly shorter overall survival (P=0.011) and disease-free survival (P=0.0034). Moreover, endostatin/collagen XVIII level was an independent prognostic factor for tumor recurrence (P=0.034) by multivariate analysis. In conclusion, increased endostatin/collagen XVIII expression correlated with hepatoma progression and predicted poor prognosis for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.     

CTT triplex系统各基因座位等位基因在葡萄胎基因组中的分布及其意义

我们对采用PCR和聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳鉴别出的37例DNA完全来自父方的遗传学完全性葡萄胎(g-CHM)进行基因组中CTTtriplex系统各基因座位(CSF1PO、TPOX和TH01)等位基因分布的分析,并初步研究了这些等位基因分布与临床预后的关系。结果显示,在37例g-CHM中,CSF1PO座位中3个等位基因(11,12和14)和TPOX座位中的1个等位基因(11)的出现率与它们在北京地区人群中的基因频率差异显著;g-CHM中CSF1PO、TPOX和TH01基因座位杂合度显著低于北京地区人群的杂合度(P值均远小于0.01);在23例良性g-CHM和10例侵袭性g-CHM中:CSF1PO座位的等位基因10、11在良性中的出现率高于在侵袭性g-CHM中(P=0.026148),等位基因12在良性中的出现率低于在侵袭性g-CHM中(P=0.023879);TPOX座位的等位基因8在良性中的出现率高于在侵袭性g-CHM中(P=0.004322),而等位基因11在良性中的出现率低于其在侵袭性g-CHM中(P=0.008671)。上述结果提示,葡萄胎基因组中存在某些等位基因分布与在人群中的分布不同,而且葡萄胎是否具有侵袭性也和某些等位基因的出现率过高或过低有相关性,这些与侵袭性有关的等位基因可能成为预测葡萄胎是否具有侵袭性的标志物。     

湖南省两地区成瘾物质使用状况调查报告：使用率及相关因素

本文采用整群抽样的方法，对湖南两地区城乡共２３７７人（１５岁以上）的成瘾物质使用状况进行调查，其中男１１７９（４９．６％）人，女１１９９（５０．４％人），平均年龄男女分别为４１．２（ＳＤ＝１７．５）和４３．４（ＳＤ＝１８．６）。结果表明，饮酒率男性为５７．５％，女性为１７．３％，吸烟率男女分别为６８．２％和１１．７％；饮酒者多集中在每月饮１次左右的人群中（男５７．９％，女７７．９％），但吸烟者多集中在每日吸２０支及以上（男５２．４％，女４２．９％）的人群中。除解热镇痛剂外，男性各种精神活性物质的使用频率及剂量皆男高于女性，开始使用的年龄及成瘾的年龄男性低于女性；性别、使用频度、最早使用的年龄、婚姻与饮酒、吸烟量关系最为密切。有１４人使用过鸦片类物质，４人使用过兴奋剂。作者讨论了我国成瘾物质使用的特点，指出经济水平、社会文化背景等因素与我国社会性成瘾物质的使用有密切关系。     

Dipeptidyl peptidase 9 sets a threshold for CARD8 inflammasome formation by sequestering its active C-terminal fragment

1. Download : Download high-res image (167KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

     

Specific pattern of ionic channel gene expression associated with pacemaker activity in the mouse heart

Even though sequencing of the mammalian genome has led to the discovery of a large number of ionic channel genes, identification of the molecular determinants of cellular electrical properties in different regions of the heart has been rarely obtained. We developed a high-throughput approach capable of simultaneously assessing the expression pattern of ionic channel repertoires from different regions of the mouse heart. By using large-scale real-time RT-PCR, we have profiled 71 channels and related genes in the sinoatrial node (SAN), atrioventricular node (AVN), the atria (A) and ventricles (V). Hearts from 30 adult male C57BL/6 mice were microdissected and RNA was isolated from six pools of five mice each. TaqMan data were analysed using the threshold cycle ( C _t) relative quantification method. Cross-contamination of each region was checked with expression of the atrial and ventricular myosin light chains. Two-way hierarchical clustering analysis of the 71 genes successfully classified the six pools from the four distinct regions. In comparison with the A, the SAN and AVN were characterized by higher expression of Navβ1, Navβ3, Cav1.3, Cav3.1 and Cavα2δ2, and lower expression of Kv4.2, Cx40, Cx43 and Kir3.1. In addition, the SAN was characterized by higher expression of HCN1 and HCN4, and lower expression of RYR2, Kir6.2, Cavβ2 and Cavγ4. The AVN was characterized by higher expression of Nav1.1, Nav1.7, Kv1.6, Kvβ1, MinK and Cavγ7. Other gene expression profiles discriminate between the ventricular and the atrial myocardium. The present study provides the first genome-scale regional ionic channel expression profile in the mouse heart.     

Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis of HER-2/neu in brushings of normal oral mucosa

Oncogene alterations have been clearly demonstrated to be related to the carcinogenesis and progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). However, the analysis of these alterations for screening and early diagnostic purposes generally requires invasive techniques for surgical removal of pathological epithelium. The aim of the present study was to assess the feasibility of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis of HER-2/neu amplification in oral mucosa brushings and to compare the HER-2/neu status with the history and smoking and drinking habits of healthy subjects. Cells obtained by centrifugation of oral brushings from 21 subjects (overall no. of cells: 5125) were suspended in physiological saline and fixed onto two slides for cytological evaluation and FISH analysis (dual-target, dual-color fluorescence assay) of the HER-2/neu gene and CEP17 centromere. A mean of 89.8% of the cells showed two HER-2/neu signals and a mean of 94% had two CEP17 signals at fluorescent microscopy. Finally, a mean of 96% of cells with HER-2/neu / CEP17 had a ratio equal to 1. No association between smoking and drinking habits, age and the HER-2/neu and CEP17 characteristics evaluated by FISH was found.     

Impact of Dissection after Drug-Coated Balloon Treatment of De Novo Coronary Lesions: Angiographic and Clinical Outcomes

PurposeDissection after plain balloon angioplasty is required to achieve adequate luminal area; however, it is associated with a high risk of vascular events. This study aimed to examine the relationship between non-flow limiting coronary dissections and subsequent lumen loss and long-term clinical outcomes following successful drug-coated balloon (DCB) treatment of de novo coronary lesions.Materials and MethodsA total of 227 patients with good distal flow (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction flow grade 3) following DCB treatment were retrospectively enrolled and stratified according to the presence or absence of a non-flow limiting dissection. The primary endpoint was late lumen loss (LLL) at 6-month angiography, and the secondary endpoint was target vessel failure (TVF, a composite of cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularization, and target vessel thrombosis).ResultsThe cohort consisted of 95 patients with and 132 patients without a dissection. There were no between-group differences in LLL (90.8%) returning for angiography at 6 months (0.05±0.19 mm in non-dissection and 0.05±0.30 mm in dissection group, p=0.886) or in TVF (6.8% in non-dissection and 8.4% in dissection group, p=0.799) at a median follow-up of 3.4 years. In a multivariate analysis, the presence of dissection and its severity were not associated with LLL or TVF. Almost dissections (93.9%) were completely healed, and there was no newly developed dissection at 6-month angiography.ConclusionThe presence of a dissection following successful DCB treatment of a de novo coronary lesion may not be associated with an increased risk of LLL or TVF (Impact of Drug-coated Balloon Treatment in de Novo Coronary Lesion; {"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT04619277","term_id":"NCT04619277"}}NCT04619277).