Very brief physician advice and supplemental proactive telephone calls to promote smoking reduction and cessation in Chinese male smokers with no intention to quit: a randomized trial.

Background And Aims: There is inconsistent evidence that behavioural support to promote smoking reduction is effective at increasing smoking cessation. We examined the effectiveness of brief physician advice together with four very brief telephone calls in promoting smoking cessation among Chinese men via reduction compared with equivalent advice on diet and exercise.

Design: A two-group pragmatic randomized controlled trial.

Gene expression profile analysis in response to α1,2-fucosyl transferase (FUT1) gene transfection in epithelial ovarian carcinoma cells.

The aim of this study was to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in response to α1,2-fucosyl transferase (FUT1) gene transfection in epithelial ovarian cancer cells. Human whole-genome oligonucleotide microarrays were used to determine whether gene expression profile may differentiate the epithelial ovarian cell line Caov-3 transfected with FUT1 from the empty plasmid-transfected cells. Quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemical staining validated the microarray results.

The prognostic value of regional lymph node metastases in patients of Guangdong Province, China with differentiated thyroid cancer: A multicenter retrospective clinical study.

Although the prognostic value of nodal metastases in differentiated thyroid cancer remains controversial, it is of interest to evaluate and understand the different characteristics of predictive outcomes.A multicenter retrospective study was conducted in 215 untreated patients with differentiated thyroid cancer from July 1997 to July 2015 in 4 medical centers of Guangdong Province. A total of 107 patients with nodal metastases (group A) were compared to 108 patients without metastases (group B).

Dopamine D1 Receptor Agonist A-68930 Inhibits NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation, Controls Inflammation, and Alleviates Histopathology in a Rat Model of Spinal Cord Injury.

Study Design: A randomized experimental study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic efficacy and molecular mechanisms of dopamine D1 receptor agonist A-68930 in spinal cord injury (SCI) rats.

Summary Of Background Data: The inflammation induced by SCI includes maturation and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18 mediated by nucleotide-binding domain -like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome.

Cytokeratin Expression at Different Stages in Sweat Gland Development of C57BL/6J Mice.

Sweat glands exhibit a documented role in epidermal reepithelialization after wounding. However, the regenerative potential of sweat glands has remained underappreciated due to the absence of useful markers for the analysis of determination and differentiation processes in the developing eccrine sweat gland from epithelium. Although the current knowledge of keratin expression in most of the different origins has been described, it remains widely shared and not unified in eccrine sweat glands of C57BL/6J mice that are commonly used as animal models for sweat gland and wound healing studies, both at the molecular and cellular levels.

Ghrelin protects human umbilical vein endothelial cells against advanced glycation end products-induced apoptosis via NO/cGMP signaling.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the intracellular mechanism involved in the anti-apoptotic effect of ghrelin on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).

Methods: HUVECs were pretreated with ghrelin before exposure to 200 μg/ml advanced glycation end products (AGEs)-BSA for 48 h. Cell viability and apoptosis were determined by MTT assay and Annexin V/PI staining.

Mesenchymal stem cells suppress fibroblast proliferation and reduce skin fibrosis through a TGF-β3-dependent activation.

Recent studies showed that transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) significantly decreased tissue fibrosis; however, little attention has been paid to its efficacy on attenuating skin fibrosis, and the mechanism involved in its effect is poorly understood. In this work, we investigated the effects of MSCs on keloid fibroblasts and extracellular matrix deposition through paracrine actions and whether the antifibrotic properties of MSCs involved transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)-dependent activation. In vitro experiments showed that conditioned media (CM) from MSCs decreased viability, a-smooth muscle actin expression, and collagen secretion of human keloid fibroblasts.

STAT3 regulates the migration and invasion of a stem‑like subpopulation through microRNA‑21 and multiple targets in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Despite advances in the detection and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the prognosis remains poor partly due to recurrence or extra/intrahepatic metastasis. Stem‑like cancer cells are considered the source of malignant phenotypes including metastasis in various types of cancer. HCC side population (SP), considered as stem‑like cancer cells, plays an important role in the migration and invasion in HCC, while the mechanisms involved remain unknown.