Publications by authors named "Xiao-Fang Tao"

Article Synopsis
  • Mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF) plays a key role in reducing inflammation in macrophages and is linked to immune regulation, making it a candidate for therapeutic use in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
  • In studies involving both human IBD patients and mice with induced colitis, it was found that MANF levels were significantly higher in macrophages, and a deficiency in MANF led to worse colitis symptoms.
  • Treatment with recombinant human MANF improved colitis symptoms in mice and indicated that MANF helps control inflammation by modulating immune responses and preventing the transformation of macrophages into a more inflammatory state.
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Consumption of alcohol in immoderate quantity induces endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response (alcohol-induced ER stress). Mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF), an ER stress-inducible protein, works as an evolutionarily conserved regulator of systemic and liver metabolic homeostasis. In this study, the effects of MANF on alcohol-induced liver injury were explored by using hepatocyte-specific MANF-knockout mice (MANF ) in a chronic-plus-binge alcohol feeding model.

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Background: Many studies investigated the association between alcohol drinking and gastric cancer risk, but the results were controversial. We performed a meta-analysis of observational studies to explore the association.

Materials And Methods: We searched PubMed to identify the relevant studies that reported the association between alcohol drinking and gastric cancer risk up to December 31, 2016.

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Insufficient number of examined lymph nodes (eLNs) was considered to increase significantly the risk of stage migration in gastric cancer patients. The aim of our study is to establish a nomogram predicting the overall survival (OS) for patients with an insufficient number of eLNs. A total of 872 gastric cancer patients with extended lymphadenectomies were assigned randomly (2:1) to the development cohort and the validation cohort.

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Background: Relaxin is a peptide hormone which has been demonstrated to be safe and has a therapeutic effect on acute heart failure in clinic trials. However, its effect on diastolic function is still unknown. The aims of the study were to determine whether relaxin could improve the diastolic function in pressure-overloaded rat model and to analyze potential mechanisms.

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This study aimed to assess the predictive effect of soluble ST2 (sST2) and depressive symptoms in patients with heart failure (HF) and to determine whether the prognosis of HF patients with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) differs from those with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). A cohort of 233 HF patients was followed for 1 year. Depressive symptoms were evaluated by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.

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