Antioxidative, cytoprotective and whitening activities of fragrant pear fruits at different growth stages.

Pear is one of the most popular fruits in the world. With the fruit ripening, a series of physiological changes have taken place in fragrant pear, but up to now, the research on the metabolism and biological activity of phenolic compounds in different growth stages of fragrant pear is still lacking. In this study, four kinds of Xinjiang pears were selected as research objects, and the changes of phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, cell protection and whitening activity during fruit development were analyzed.

Chloroquine increases the anti-cancer activity of epirubicin in A549 lung cancer cells.

The present study investigated whether the autophagy inhibitor chloroquine (CQ) can improve the sensitivity of the A549 lung cancer cell line to epirubicin (EPI). The Cell Counting Kit 8 (CCK8) assay was used to determine the EPI IC in A549 cells treated for 72 h. A549 cells were treated with Western blot analysis was performed to detect the expression level of the autophagy-associated protein, microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3 β (LC3B), and apoptosis-associated proteins such as cleaved caspase-9 and cleaved caspase-3.

The status of proton pump inhibitor use: a prescription survey of 45 hospitals in China.

Background: proton pump inhibitors (PPI) have been widely used in the clinic but inappropriate prescribing has also increased dramatically.

Objective: to describe the prescribing patterns and assess the appropriateness of the prescribed PPI use in 45 hospitals in China.

Materials And Methods: PPI prescriptions for non-hospitalized patients were collected from hospitals in Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Hangzhou of China over a 40-day period in 2016.

Screening miRNAs associated with resistance gemcitabine from exosomes in A549 lung cancer cells.

Purpose: To establish a gemcitabine-resistant lung adenocarcinoma cell line, A549/G+, and to screen the differences of miRNA expression in exosomes from A549 and A549/G+ cells.

Methods: A549 cells were exposed in gemcitabine until they were resistant to gemcitabine, and extracted exosomes from A549 and A549/G+. The RNAs from exosomes were subjected to miRNA expression microarray experiments.

Tubulocystic oncocytoma of the kidney: a case study and review of literature with focus on implications for differential diagnosis.

Renal oncocytoma (RO) can rarely present with a multilocular or tubulocystic growth pattern that may cause significant diagnostic difficulties with a variety of cystic renal cell carcinomas (RCC). Distinguishing these RO variants from their many RCC mimickers is critical because of its typical benign clinical course. Herein, we report a case of RO with extensive tubulocystic architectures on a 42-year-old female patient and discuss the clinicopathologic characterizations of this unusual RO variant with an emphasis on the wide spectrum of differential diagnoses of a variety of primary or secondary renal tumors that are featuring of both oncocytic cell changes and tubulocystic growth patterns.

MiRNA-10b sponge: An anti-breast cancer study in vitro.

Breast cancer is a malignant tumor with the highest incidence among women. Breast cancer metastasis is the major cause of treatment failure and mortality among such patients. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small molecular non-coding regulatory RNAs, which act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors in breast cancer.

Immunophenotype and increased presence of CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), cancer of the white blood cells, is a heterogeneous disease that mainly occurs due to the malignant cloning of original and naive lymphocytes. The aim of this study was to explore the immunophenotype, the percentage of CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) and the expression of cytokines interleukin (IL)-2, IL-10 and TGF-β in patients with ALL. The immunophenotype and levels of CD4(+)CD25(+) Tregs were detected using flow cytometry in the peripheral blood of 35 ALL patients, with 18 healthy individuals being selected as controls.