NF-κB signaling and integrin-β1 inhibition attenuates osteosarcoma metastasis via increased cell apoptosis.

Osteosarcoma is a common primary bone malignancy, and distant metastasis limited the cure estimate during last decades. Detailed investigation of osteosarcoma metastasis is valuable for improving therapeutic strategy. Our study indicated increased integrin-β1 expression and NF-kB signaling activation in metastatic osteosarcoma tissues.

Red Blood Cell Distribution Width in Rheumatoid Arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis and Osteoarthritis: True Inflammatory Index or Effect of Anemia?

Objective: To date, there have been no studies systematically comparing red blood cell distribution width (RDW) among rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and osteoarthritis (OA). Therefore, this study aimed to make comparisons and to explore whether erythrocytopenia and hemoglobin (Hb) reduction could influence RDW level and its association with conventional inflammatory or immune markers in RA, AS and OA.

Methods: A total of 222 patients with RA, 150 with AS, 78 with OA and 126 healthy controls (HC) were enrolled.

Elevated MIC Values of Imidazole Drugs against Aspergillus fumigatus Isolates with TR/L98H/S297T/F495I Mutation.

The use of azole fungicides in agriculture is believed to be one of the main reasons for the emergence of azole resistance in Though widely used in agriculture, imidazole fungicides have not been linked to resistance in This study showed that elevated MIC values of imidazole drugs were observed against isolates with TR/L98H/S297T/F495I mutation, but not among isolates with TR/L98H mutation. Short-tandem-repeat (STR) typing analysis of 580 isolates from 20 countries suggested that the majority of TR/L98H/S297T/F495I strains from China were genetically different from the predominant major clade comprising most of the azole-resistant strains and the strains with the same mutation from the Netherlands and Denmark. Alignments of sterol 14α-demethylase sequences suggested that F495I in was orthologous to F506I in and F489L in , which have been reported to be associated with imidazole resistance.

Assessing antibiotic therapy effectiveness against the major bacterial pathogens in a hospital using an integrated index.

Aim: To assess the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy against five indicator bacteria in a Chinese hospital using an index-based approach.

Methods: The study population comprises 1031 patients who had one clinically significant bacterial isolate in 2008, 2010 and 2013. Drug resistance index (DRI) based on pathogens was calculated.

Conjugated bilirubin as a reflex test for increased total bilirubin in apparently healthy population.

Background: Total, unconjugated and conjugated bilirubin levels are usually ordered together in health check-up populations. The aim of this study was to investigate whether using increased total bilirubin (TBIL) as a reflex test can reduce conjugated bilirubin (CBIL) test.

Methods: Medical records of 8433 males and 4496 females who visited Shuyang People's Hospital for health check-ups were retrospectively reviewed and the fasting serum TBIL, unconjugated bilirubin (UBIL) and CBIL of patients were extracted.

Red blood cell distribution width and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio are associated with outcomes of adult subarachnoid haemorrhage patients admitted to intensive care unit.

Background Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) have been reported to be associated with outcomes of acute cerebral infarction. However, their prognostic value in patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) remains largely unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of RDW and NLR in SAH patients.

Protective effect of α-lipoic acid against antimycin A cytotoxicity in MC3T3-E1 osteoblastic cells.

Oxidative stress represents a major cause of cellular damage and death in the process of osteoporosis. Antimycin A (AMA) has been shown to stimulate mitochondrial superoxide anions and reactive oxygen species (ROS). α-Lipoic acid (α-LA) is a naturally occurring essential coenzyme in mitochondrial multienzyme complexes and acts as a key player in mitochondrial energy production.

Epidemiology and Molecular Characterizations of Azole Resistance in Clinical and Environmental Aspergillus fumigatus Isolates from China.

Azole resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus has emerged as a worldwide public health problem. We sought here to demonstrate the occurrence and characteristics of azole resistance in A. fumigatus from different parts of China.

Lower mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration is associated with poorer outcomes in intensive care unit admitted patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Accumulated studies have shown that hematological parameters [e.g., red blood cell distribution width (RDW), hemoglobin, platelet count] and serum potassium level can impact the prognosis of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

The effective combination therapy against human osteosarcoma: doxorubicin plus curcumin co-encapsulated lipid-coated polymeric nanoparticulate drug delivery system.

Objective: To overcome both the dose-limiting side effects of conventional chemotherapeutic agents and the therapeutic failure incurred from multidrug resistant (MDR) in osteosarcoma (OS), biodegradable lipid-coated polymeric nanoparticles (LPNs) were explored for the loading of doxorubicin (DOX) and curcumin (CUR).

Methods: DOX plus CUR co-encapsulated LPNs (DOX + CUR LPNs) of mixed lipid monolayer shell and biodegradable polymer core were prepared. The cytotoxicity effect of DOX + CUR LPNs, single drug loaded LPNs, and free drug solutions were evaluated on human OS cell line KHOS cells and mice KHOS cells xenograft in vivo.

[Research progress of endoscopic submucosal dissection with traction].

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is a widely accepted treatment for early gastrointestinal cancer. However, the steep learning curve of standard ESD procedures makes it less widely applied in clinical practice. Therefore, various traction devices and techniques have been applied previously to facilitate ESD, such as clip-with-line method, Spring-assisted method, S-O clip method, magnetic anchor method, and robot-assisted method.

Diagnostic Value of Presepsin for Sepsis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Several individual studies have reported the diagnostic accuracy of presepsin (sCD14-ST) for sepsis, but the results are inconsistent.The present systematic review and meta-analysis pooled data to better ascertain the value of circulatory presepsin as a biomarker for sepsis.Studies published in English before November 7, 2014 and assessing the diagnostic accuracy of presepsin for sepsis were retrieved from medical databases.

How to analyze tumor stage data in clinical research.

Tumor staging serves as an important prognostic factor in cancer patient care. It also plays critical roles in cancer-related clinical research. Aimed to shed lights on how to analyze tumor staging related data and deliver proper interpretation, various statistical methods, from categorical data analysis to modeling techniques, were introduced through the examples.

Hemosuccus pancreaticus following Parathyroidectomy for Primary parathyroid adenoma.

Hemosuccus pancreaticus is defined as intermittent bleeding from the pancreatic duct into the GI tract, usually caused by the rupture of an pseudoaneurysm, which is usually associated with pancreatitis, abdominal surgery, and can result in life-threatening hemorrhage. Hyperparathyroidism is a rare cause of pancreatitis, it should be suspected in all patients with a history of primary hyperpara¬t hyroidism, When these diseases coexist, the course of pancreatitis can be rather severe and often complicated. This report detail a case of Hemosuccus pancreaticus due to hyperparathyroidism associated pancreatitis and its successful emergency conservative management by Embolization Techniques.

Prognostic value of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio for gastric cancer.

Background: Although the prognostic value of the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in gastric cancer (GC) patients has been investigated by many studies, the results are heterogeneous. The objective of this systematic review is to ascertain the prognostic value of NLR in GC patients.

Methods: PubMed and Embase were retrieved to identify potential studies published before 8 June, 2014.

Short-course preoperative radiotherapy with immediate surgery versus long-course chemoradiation with delayed surgery in the treatment of rectal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Long-course chemoradiotherapy (LCRT) with delayed surgery or short-course radiotherapy (SCRT) with immediate surgery is probably the most frequent regimen in the treatment of rectal cancer. Debate is still going on whether SCRT or LCRT is more effective. So we performed this meta-analysis to evaluate the safety and efficacy of SCRT with immediate surgery versus LCRT with delayed surgery for the management of rectal cancer.

Characteristics of qacA/B-positive Staphylococcus aureus isolated from patients and a hospital environment in China.

Objectives: This study was designed to demonstrate the characteristics of qacA/B-positive Staphylococcus aureus in China.

Methods: One hundred and forty-five MRSA and 178 MSSA from clinical specimens from seven hospitals in different regions of China, 70 MRSA from superficial sites of patients and 106 MRSA from environmental samples from an ICU were collected and screened for the presence of the qacA/B gene. The qacA/B-positive isolates and 72 randomly selected qacA/B-negative control isolates were further characterized by MLST, spa typing and detection of toxin genes, as well as antimicrobial and chlorhexidine susceptibility.

Diagnostic value of total plasma lysophosphatidic acid in ovarian cancer: a meta-analysis.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the diagnostic value of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) in ovarian cancer.

Methods: A systematic review of related studies was performed; sensitivity, specificity, and other measures about the accuracy of serum LPA in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer were pooled using random-effects models. Summary receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to summarize the overall test performance.

Parathyroid hormone induces epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition via the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in human renal proximal tubular cells.

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been shown to play an important role in renal fibrogenesis. Recent studies suggested parathyroid hormone (PTH) could accelerate EMT and subsequent organ fibrosis. However, the precise molecular mechanisms underlying PTH-induced EMT remain unknown.

Red blood cell distribution width and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio are positively correlated with disease activity in primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Objective: The red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) are increased in various inflammation related diseases, but their clinical significance in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) has not been reported. The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinical significance of RDW and NLR in pSS patients.

Methods: The medical records of pSS patients who were admitted to Changhai Hospital of the Second Military Medical University between April 2012 and December 2013 were retrospectively reviewed.

Autoantibodies in pre-clinical autoimmune disease.

The presence of autoantibodies is characteristic of autoimmune diseases. It is widely accepted that autoantibodies provide crucial diagnostic and prognostic information for autoimmune diseases. Indeed, numerous studies have demonstrated that the appearance of autoantibodies precedes the clinical onset of autoimmune diseases.

Non-radiation endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in the management of choledocholithiasis during pregnancy.

Gallstone diseases are common during pregnancy. In most cases, patients are asymptomatic and do not require any treatment. However, choledocholithiasis, cholangitis, and gallstone pancreatitis may potentially become life-threatening for both mother and fetus and often require urgent intervention.