Dopamine D2 receptors in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex modulate social hierarchy in male mice.

Social hierarchy greatly influences behavior and health. Both human and animal studies have signaled the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) as specifically related to social hierarchy. Dopamine D1 receptors (D1Rs) and D2 receptors (D2Rs) are abundantly expressed in the mPFC, modulating its functions.

Increased Lactobacillus Abundance Contributes to Stress Resilience in Mice Exposed to Chronic Social Defeat Stress.

Introduction: Accumulating evidence indicates that abnormalities in the composition of gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota play a vital role in stress-related disorders. Both human beings and animals perceive stressful events differently, i.e.

mGlu2/3 receptors within the ventral part of the lateral septal nuclei modulate stress resilience and vulnerability in mice.

Resilience refers to the ability to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions. Identification of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying resilience offers a novel way to the prevention and treatment of stress-induced psychiatric disorders such as depression. The septal nuclei have been described as an important node in emotional regulations.

mGlu2/3 receptor in the prelimbic cortex is implicated in stress resilience and vulnerability in mice.

Resilience, referring to "achieving a positive outcome in the face of adversity", is a common phenomenon in daily life. Elucidating the mechanisms of stress resilience is instrumental to developing more effective treatments for stress-related psychiatric disorders such as depression. Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGlu2/3 and mGlu5) within the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) have been recently recognized as promising therapeutic targets for rapid-acting antidepressant treatment.

The GABA(B1) receptor within the infralimbic cortex is implicated in stress resilience and vulnerability in mice.

Resilience is the capacity to maintain normal psychological and physical functions in the face of stress and adversity. Understanding how one can develop and enhance resilience is of great relevance to not only promoting coping mechanisms but also mitigating maladaptive stress responses in psychiatric illnesses such as depression. Preclinical studies suggest that GABA(B) receptors (GABA(B1) and GABA(B2)) are potential targets for the treatment of major depression.

GABA(B) receptors within the lateral habenula modulate stress resilience and vulnerability in mice.

Resilience means "the ability to withstand or recover quickly in the face of adversity". Elucidating the neural and molecular mechanisms underlying stress resilience will facilitate the development of more effective treatments for stress-induced psychiatric disorders such as depression. The habenular nuclei, which consist of the medial and lateral sub-regions (MHb and LHb, respectively), have been described as a critical node in emotional regulations.

Difference in survival between right- versus left-sided colorectal neuroendocrine neoplasms.

Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are a heterogeneous group of tumors that arise from neuroendocrine cells, and in some cases are capable of producing agents that may cause characteristic hormonal syndromes (Cives and Strosberg, 2018). Such tumors were previously thought to be rare, but the rate of detection of NENs, especially from the gastrointestinal tract, is increasing with the widespread use of colonoscopy, cross-sectional imaging, and biomarkers (Gu et al., 2019).

The underlying microbial mechanism of epizootic rabbit enteropathy triggered by a low fiber diet.

Epizootic rabbit enteropathy (ERE) is reproduced successfully in the present study by feeding rabbits a low-fibre diet, and high-throughput sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) analysis were applied to examine the microbial variations in the stomach, small intestine and caecum. The evenness was disturbed and the richness was decreased in the ERE groups. When the rabbits were suffering from ERE, the abundance of the Firmicutes was decreased in three parts of the digestive tract, whereas the Proteobacteria was increased in the stomach and caecum, the Bacteroidetes and Verrucomicrobia were increased in the small intestine.

Dietary supplements during the cold season increase rumen microbial abundance and improve rumen epithelium development in Tibetan sheep.

Livestock on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau are faced with extreme harsh winters and are often in negative energy balance during this period. Dietary supplementation can improve growth performance of Tibetan sheep and, consequently, we hypothesized that it would also increase microbial abundance and rumen epithelium development. To test this hypothesis, we examined the effect of feed supplementation during the cold season on rumen microbes, fermentation, epithelium development, and absorptive capability in Tibetan sheep.

Efficacy and safety of chemotherapy or tyrosine kinase inhibitors combined with bevacizumab versus chemotherapy or tyrosine kinase inhibitors alone in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The meta-analysis evaluated the efficacy and safety of chemotherapy or tyrosine kinase inhibitors combined with bevacizumab versus chemotherapy or tyrosine kinase inhibitors alone in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The PubMed/MEDLINE, Ovid, Web of Science, CNKI, and the Cochrane Library database were searched for eligible randomized controlled trials comparing the combination of chemotherapy or epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) with bevacizumab to chemotherapy or EGFR-TKI alone. Main outcome measures were overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), and adverse effects.

Effects of different levels of protein supplementary diet on gene expressions related to intramuscular deposition in early-weaned yaks.

This study was conducted to estimate different levels of protein supplementary diet on gene expressions related to intramuscular deposition in early-weaned yaks. Results showed that supplementary dietary protein significantly increased final weight, average daily gain (ADG), intramuscular fat (IMF), serum free fatty acid (FFA), total triglycerides, total cholesterol (Ch), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) content. There was a quadratic response of ADG, IMF, FFA, Ch, HDL and LDL to dietary crude protein (CP) level.

Concordant KRAS mutations in primary and metastatic colorectal cancer tissue specimens: a meta-analysis and systematic review.

A meta-analysis was performed to compare KRAS gene mutations in colorectal cancer tissue samples with primary and metastatic colorectal cancers. A total of 19 publications with 986 paired primary and distant metastases and 171 paired primary and lymph node metastases showed that KRAS genotype was highly concordant in primary and distant metastatic tumors, indicating that either type of tumor tissue could be useful as a source to detect KRAS mutations for selection of anti-EGFR therapy. However, lymph-node-metastatic tumors might not be suitable for diagnostic analysis of KRAS mutations due to an obvious discordant rate between primary and lymph-node-metastatic tumors.

Synergistic cytotoxic effects of recombinant human adenovirus p53 and radiation at various time points in A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of recombinant human adenovirus p53 (rAd-p53; Gendicine) transfection and radiation at various time points following transfection. Cytotoxic effects and p53 protein expression levels were analyzed. rAd-p53 containing the human wild-type p53 gene was introduced into the human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549, and cells were irradiated with a single dose of 6 MeV 4 Gy β rays.

Altered expression of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I and NADH dehydrogenase 4 transcripts associated with gastric tumorigenesis and tumor dedifferentiation.

This study aimed to detect the expression of mitochondrial mRNA in normal and cancerous gastric tissues and discuss their association with clinicopathological characteristics. Semi-quantitative reverse-transcription PCR was used to analyze mitochondrial transcripts in 42 cases of matched cancerous and normal gastric tissues. Expression of these genes was then statistically analyzed to determine the correlation with the clinicopathological characteristics from the patients.

EGFR and KRAS mutations and altered c-Met gene copy numbers in primary non-small cell lung cancer and associated stage N2 lymph node-metastasis.

This study aimed to detect mutations in EGFR and KRAS and alterations of c-Met gene copy number (GCN) changes in primary and lymph node-metastatic NSCLCs. The data showed the concordant rate of EGFR genotype in primary and stage N2 lymph node-metastatic tumors was 95.45%.

[Value of serum carcinoembryonic antigen in prediction of chemotherapy efficacy and prognosis in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer treated with EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor].

Objective: The aim of this study was to detect the pre- and post-treatment serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels after 4 weeks of EGFR-TKIs treatment in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients to evaluate the clinical value of CEA in the prediction of chemotherapy response and prognosis in those patients.

Methods: Pre- and post-treatment serum CEA levels of the patients were measured with immunoradiometric kits after 4 weeks of EGFR-TKIs treatment to evaluate the relationship between chemotherapy response and prognosis.

Results: After 4 weeks of EGFR-TKIs treatment, one patient in the total of 75 patients (1.

Current evidences on XPC polymorphisms and breast cancer susceptibility: a meta-analysis.

Published data on the association between three polymorphisms (Lys939Gln, Ala499Val, and PAT±) of Xeroderma Pigmentosum group C (XPC) and breast cancer risk are inconclusive. To derive a more precise estimation of the relationship, a meta-analysis was performed. Crude ORs with 95% CIs were used to assess the strength of association between them.

Identification of microRNA target genes in vivo.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs transcribed from intergenic or intronic sequences as long precursors that are sequentially processed by the endonucleases Drosha and Dicer into short double-stranded sequences. It is clear that miRNAs play essential roles in gene expression, development, and cell fate specification in animals. However, one of the barriers of miRNA research is how to find the target genes.