A Lactobacillus Combination Ameliorates Lung Inflammation in an Elastase/LPS-induced Mouse Model of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the world's leading lung disease and lacks effective and specific clinical strategies. Probiotics are increasingly used to support the improvement of the course of inflammatory diseases. In this study, we evaluated the potential of a lactic acid bacteria (LAB) combination containing Limosilactobacillus reuteri GMNL-89 and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei GMNL-133 to decrease lung inflammation and emphysema in a COPD mouse model.

CD47-mediated immune evasion in early-stage lung cancer progression.

Alveolar and interstitial macrophages play crucial roles in eradicating pathogens and transformed cells in the lungs. The immune checkpoint CD47, found on normal and malignant cells, interacts with the SIRPα ligand on macrophages, inhibiting phagocytosis, antigen presentation, and promoting immune evasion. In this study, we demonstrated that CD47 is not only a transmembrane protein, but that it is also highly concentrated in extracellular vesicles from lung cancer cell lines and patient plasma.

Increased serum adipokines are associated with sarcopenia in non-obese women with rheumatoid arthritis.

Large cohort studies have disclosed the association between obesity and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) risk. The sarcopenia prevalence in RA patients can be up to 31%. However, there is little information linking adipokines to sarcopenia in RA, so this study aimed to investigate whether adipokines were indeed involved in secondary sarcopenia in RA with a focus on non-obese females.

Supportive Care Needs Trajectories in Patients With Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy: A Longitudinal Study.

Background: The supportive care needs trajectories in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) during chemotherapy and the related factors have yet to be explored or addressed in the literature.

Purpose: This study was designed to investigate supportive care needs trajectories in patients with advanced NSCLC receiving chemotherapy and the association between the sociodemographic and disease characteristics of these patients over the four cycles of chemotherapy.

Methods: For this longitudinal study, 95 patients with advanced NSCLC were recruited using convenience sampling at a medical center in Taiwan.

Impact of Gut Dysbiosis on the Risk of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

Background: The imbalance of gut microbiota, dysbiosis, is associated with various malignant diseases. This study aimed to identify the characteristics of gut microbiota in age-matched treatment-naïve non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and healthy individuals to investigate possible gut-microbe-related pathways involved in the development of NSCLC. Methods: We enrolled 34 age-matched NSCLC patients and 268 healthy individuals.

Recalibrating Risk Prediction Models by Synthesizing Data Sources: Adapting the Lung Cancer PLCO Model for Taiwan.

Background: Methods synthesizing multiple data sources without prospective datasets have been proposed for absolute risk model development. This study proposed methods for adapting risk models for another population without prospective cohorts, which would help alleviate the health disparities caused by advances in absolute risk models. To exemplify, we adapted the lung cancer risk model PLCOM2012, well studied in the west, for Taiwan.

FAK Executes Anti-Senescence via Regulating EZH2 Signaling in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells.

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase overexpressed in various cancer types that plays a critical role in tumor progression. Accumulating evidence suggests that targeting FAK, either alone or in combination with other agents, may serve as an effective therapeutic strategy for numerous cancers. In addition to retarding proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenesis, FAK inhibition triggers cellular senescence in lung cancer cells.

The aberrant cancer metabolic gene carbohydrate sulfotransferase 11 promotes non-small cell lung cancer cell metastasis via dysregulation of ceruloplasmin and intracellular iron balance.

Aberrant metabolism has been proposed as one of the emerging hallmarks of cancer. However, the interplay between metabolic disorders and cancer metastasis remains to be defined. To explore the sophisticated metabolic processes during metastatic progression, we analyzed differentially expressed metabolic genes during the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of lung cancer cells and defined the EMT-associated metabolic gene signature in lung adenocarcinoma patients.

Environmental risks and sphingolipid signatures in adult asthma and its phenotypic clusters: a multicentre study.

Background: Adult asthma is phenotypically heterogeneous with unclear aetiology. We aimed to evaluate the potential contribution of environmental exposure and its ensuing response to asthma and its heterogeneity.

Methods: Environmental risk was evaluated by assessing the records of National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) and residence-based air pollution (particulate matter with diameter less than 2.

Comparative safety of immune checkpoint inhibitors and chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Backgrounds: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) alone or in combination with chemotherapy (CT) are the standard of care for first-line therapy in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients without actionable mutations. The safety ranking of different ICI and CT combination regimens has not been investigated. This study was aimed to provide a toxicity profile and safety ranking of different ICI and CT combination regimens.

FAK in Cancer: From Mechanisms to Therapeutic Strategies.

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK), a non-receptor tyrosine kinase, is overexpressed and activated in many cancer types. FAK regulates diverse cellular processes, including growth factor signaling, cell cycle progression, cell survival, cell motility, angiogenesis, and the establishment of immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments through kinase-dependent and kinase-independent scaffolding functions in the cytoplasm and nucleus. Mounting evidence has indicated that targeting FAK, either alone or in combination with other agents, may represent a promising therapeutic strategy for various cancers.

Potential Clinical Value of 5-Hydroxytryptamine Receptor 3C as a Prognostic Biomarker for Lung Cancer.

Ion channels and pumps not only regulate membrane potential, ion homeostasis, and electric signaling in excitable cells but also contribute to cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis, and differentiation. Channel proteins and ion pumps can form macromolecular complexes with signaling molecules, including growth factors and cell adhesion molecules. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)) promotes the proliferation of various cancer cell types mediated through the activation of the 5-HT receptor (HTR).

Lower starting dose of afatinib for the treatment of metastatic lung adenocarcinoma harboring exon 21 and exon 19 mutations.

Background: Afatinib has shown favorable response rates (RRs) and longer progression free survival (PFS) in lung cancer patients harboring EGFR mutations compared with standard platinum-based chemotherapy. However, serious adverse drug reactions (ADRs) limit the clinical application of afatinib.

Methods: We designed a retrospective study, enrolling all patients with metastatic lung adenocarcinoma who were diagnosed and treated with 30 or 40 mg daily afatinib as their initial treatment in three Kaohsiung Medical University-affiliated hospitals in Taiwan.

Targeting Pin1 for Modulation of Cell Motility and Cancer Therapy.

Peptidyl-prolyl isomerase NIMA-interacting 1 (Pin1) specifically binds and isomerizes the phosphorylated serine/threonine-proline (pSer/Thr-Pro) motif, which leads to changes in protein conformation and function. Pin1 is widely overexpressed in cancers and plays an important role in tumorigenesis. Mounting evidence has revealed that targeting Pin1 is a potential therapeutic approach for various cancers by inhibiting cell proliferation, reducing metastasis, and maintaining genome stability.

Quality Classification of Injection-Molded Components by Using Quality Indices, Grading, and Machine Learning.

Conventional methods for assessing the quality of components mass produced using injection molding are expensive and time-consuming or involve imprecise statistical process control parameters. A suitable alternative would be to employ machine learning to classify the quality of parts by using quality indices and quality grading. In this study, we used a multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network along with a few quality indices to accurately predict the quality of "qualified" and "unqualified" geometric shapes of a finished product.