A Meta-Analysis of Erectile Dysfunction and Alcohol Consumption.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the association between alcohol consumption and risk of erectile dysfunction (ED).

Methods: PubMed was searched for reports published before June 2019. Data were extracted and combined odds ratios (ORs) calculated with random-effects models.

Clinical significance of autophagic protein LC3 levels and its correlation with XIAP expression in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Autophagy is a cellular recycling process to enable cell survival in less favorable conditions through degradation of their unnecessary cellular components and utilization of the breakdown components. Autophagy also plays an important role in tumor pathology. In this study, we detected autophagy protein light chain 3 (LC3) and X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissue specimens to assess their role in HCC tumorigenesis and progression.

Loss of suppressors of cytokine signaling 3 promotes aggressiveness in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers with a high mortality rate. Constitutive activation of STAT3 is found in various types of tumors, including HCC. In addition, suppressors of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) signals for negative feedback to STATs, and is found to be inversely correlated with STAT3 expression.

[Clinical features and therapeutic strategies of acute appendicitis after radical gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma].

Objective: To explore the clinical characteristic and therapeutic strategies of acute appendicitis after radical gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma.

Methods: The clinical data of 31 patients with acute appendicitis after radical gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma from January 2006 to January 2012 was analyzed retrospectively. The profiles of previous operations, symptoms, physical signs, disease duration, progression time, examination results, peri-operative complications, results of bacterial culture and use of antibiotics were used to evaluate the clinical characteristics and therapeutic strategies.

Antiviral therapy and outcomes of patients with pneumonia caused by influenza A pandemic (H1N1) virus.

Background: There is limited data on the clinical outcome of patients with pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) pneumonia who received oseltamivir treatment, especially when the treatment was administered more than 48 hours after symptom onset.

Methods: During the pandemic in 2009, a cohort of pH1N1 influenza pneumonia was built in China, and their clinical information was collected systematically, and analyzed with Cox models.

Results: 920 adults and 541 children with pneumonia who didn't receive corticosteroids were analyzed.

STAT3 activation in monocytes accelerates liver cancer progression.

Background: Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is an important transcription factor ubiquitously expressed in different cell types. STAT3 plays an essential role in cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation. Aberrantly hyper-activated STAT3 signaling in cancer cells and in the tumor microenvironment has been detected in a wide variety of human cancers and is considered an important factor for cancer initiation, development, and progression.

Prognostic significance of phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 and suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Altered expression of phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (pSTAT3) and suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) has been implicated in various types of human cancers. However, the clinical role of pSTAT3 and SOCS3 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is not well established. Immunohistochemical analysis of pSTAT3, SOCS3, Ki67 and VEGF expression was performed on tissue microarrays from 138 HCC patients.