Hongxia Dan

IFN-Gamma and IL-4 in Saliva of Patients with Oral Lichen Planus: A Study in an Ethnic Chinese Population

Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) represent T helper 1 (Th1) and T helper 2 (Th2) cytokines involved in oral lichen planus (OLP), respectively. This study was to investigate the expression profile of IFN-γ and IL-4 in saliva of OLP patients. Seventy-nine ethnic Chinese patients with OLP were recruited for this study, together with 41 age–sex-matched healthy volunteers served as control group. IFN-γ and IL-4 levels in whole unstimulated saliva were screened by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. OLP patient showed a low-level IFN-γ but high-level IL-4 expression profile in saliva, with a lower ratio of salivary IFN-γ/IL-4 compared to healthy controls. With regards to subtypes, salivary IL-4 level in erythematous/ulcerative group was significantly higher than that in reticular group. Imbalance of Th1/Th2 cytokines with Th2-predominant profile in saliva may be involved in OLP. Salivary IL-4 level may be a fine biomarker reflecting the severity of OLP.

Lycopene: features and potential significance in the oral cancer and precancerous lesions

Data from epidemiological studies have indicated that diets rich in fruits and vegetables are likely to benefit many aspects of the prevention of oral malignancy. Lycopene is a red-coloured carotenoid predominantly accumulated in tomatoes as well as other fruits and vegetables. It has been claimed to alleviate chronic diseases such as cancers and cardiovascular disease. Hence, the aim of this review is to summarize the features and its potential significance of lycopene in the development, prevention and treatment of oral premalignant lesions and oral cancer. Studies showed that lycopene might have beneficial effects in the management of some premalignant lesions in the oral cavity including oral submucous fibrosis and oral leukoplakia and may be an adjunct in the prevention and therapy of oral cancer. However, more mechanistic studies and randomized controlled trials of large sample size are necessary to further confirm these effects and to eventually make lycopene to be used in the community prevention and clinically routine management of these diseases.

Honokiol: a promising small molecular weight natural agent for the growth inhibition of oral squamous cell carcinoma cells

Honokiol (HNK) is a small organic molecule purified from magnolia species and has demonstrated anticancer activities in a variety of cancer cell lines; however, its effect on oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells is unknown. We investigated the antitumor activities of HNK on OSCC cells in vitro for the first time. The inhibitory effects of HNK on the growth and proliferation of OSCC cells were demonstrated via in vitro 3‐(4,5‐dimethyl thiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and propidium iodide (PI) assays, and the apoptotic cells were investigated by the observation of morphological changes and detection of DNA fragmentation via PI, TdT‐mediated dUTP‐biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL), and DNA ladder assays, as well as flow cytometry assay. The results showed that HNK inhibited the growth and proliferation of OSCC cells in vitro in a time and dose‐dependent manner. The inhibitory effect was associated with the cell apoptosis induced by HNK, evidenced by the morphological features of apoptotic cells, TUNEL‐positive cells and a degradation of chromosomal DNA into small internucleosomal fragments. The study also demonstrated here that the inhibition or apoptosis mediated by 15 μg·mL−1 or 20 μg·mL−1 of HNK were more stronger compared with those of 20 μg·mL−1 5‐fluorouracil (5‐Fu, the control) applied to OSCC cells, when the ratio of OSCC cell numbers were measured between the treatment of different concentrations of HNK to the 5‐Fu treatment for 48 h. HNK is a promising compound that can be potentially used as a novel treatment agent for human OSCC.

Association of Interleukin-8 Gene Polymorphisms and Haplotypes with Oral Lichen Planus in a Chinese Population

Interleukin-8 (IL-8), a CXC chemokine with multiple biological functions, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of oral lichen planus (OLP). The aim of this study was to investigate the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of IL-8 gene with OLP in a Chinese population. Four SNPs of the IL-8 gene at positions −845 T/C (rs2227532), −738 T/A, −251 A/T (rs4073) and +781 C/T (rs2227306) were analyzed in 109 patients with OLP and 101 normal controls using polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. The data revealed that the −251 AA genotype and −251 A allele frequency was significantly lower in the erosive OLP (eOLP) group than in the control group (P = 0.012 and P = 0.031, respectively). Haplotype analysis revealed that the −251 A/+781 C haplotype frequency was lower in the eOLP group than in the control group (P = 0.029) while the −251 T/+781 C haplotype frequency was higher in the eOLP patients than in the healthy controls (P = 0.028). The study suggests that the IL-8 polymorphisms may be associated with the severity of OLP in this Chinese cohort.

Interaction Between Oral Lichen Planus and Chronic Periodontitis with Th17-Associated Cytokines in Serum

The objective of this study was to compare the expression levels of interleukin (IL)-17 IL-17 and IL-23 in serum from patients with both oral lichen planus and chronic periodontitis (OLP-CP), patients only with oral lichen planus (OLP), patients only with chronic periodontitis (CP), and healthy controls (HC). The serum samples were collected from 35 OLP-CP patients, 35 OLP patients, 30 CP patients, and 30 healthy controls. ELISA test was used to detect expression levels of IL-17 and IL-23 in serum from these four groups. ELISA analysis showed significantly elevated levels of serum IL-17 in OLP-CP group compared with OLP group (P < 0.05) and HC group (P < 0.01). Serum IL-23 result showed that there was an increased expression level in OLP-CP compared with HC group (P < 0.01). Additionally, female OLP-CP group showed elevated level of serum IL-17 compared with female OLP group, and also erosive OLP-CP group demonstrated increased serum IL-17 level compared with erosive OLP group. Moreover, analysis showed positive significant correlations of serum IL-17 level with probing depth (P < 0.05) and plaque index (P < 0.05) in erosive OLP-CP patients. This study indicates that OLP-CP patients get higher expression level of serum IL-17 and had susceptibility to erosive or female subtype, which indicated that IL-17 may participate in the disease immunopathogenesis of both common oral diseases.

Association between -308 G/A polymorphism in TNF-α gene and lichen planus: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND Different studies have conflicting opinions on the association between the -308 G/A polymorphism in TNF-α gene and genetic risk of lichen planus (LP). OBJECTIVE The purpose of this meta-analysis is to comprehensively evaluate interactions on this polymorphism and LP risk. METHODS A meta-analysis was employed to assess genetic risk of -308 G/A polymorphism in TNF-α gene for lichen planus. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were also included. RESULTS Five studies including 8 comparisons were involved in this meta-analysis. The result showed that no association was found between this polymorphism and LP risk in combined analyses (OR=1.42 and 95% CI=0.85-2.37, P=0.180 for AA+GA vs. GG model). In the subgroup analysis by subtypes of LP (cutaneous LP and OLP) and OLP (eOLP, neOLP and mixed), no significant connections of risks were obtained from the two groups for AA+GA vs. GG comparison. In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, significant increased OLP risks were found among population with mixed ethnicity (OR=3.26, 95%CI=1.46-7.26, P=0.004), but not in Asians (OR=1.19, 95%CI=0.69-2.05, P=0.528) and Caucasians (OR=1.32, 95%CI=0.41-4.27, P=0.645) for AA+GA vs. GG comparison. For the population presence or absence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, significant increased risk of OLP was found among patients without HCV infection (OR=2.16, 95%CI=1.05-4.43, P=0.037), but not in LP-HCV +ve patients (OR=0.48, 95%CI=0.13-1.69, P=0.251) and mixed HCV status LP patient (OR=1.24, 95%CI=0.62-2.50, P=0.546). However, the negative results could have been biased because some included papers were lack of some information, which mainly related to HCV-status and clinical variety. That is the limitation of this meta-analysis. CONCLUSIONS The -308 G/A polymorphism may be a risk factor for OLP patients without HCV infection and those with mixed ethnicity. More studies are needed to validate these associations.

Focal dermal hypoplasia: updates

Focal dermal hypoplasia (FDH), or Goltz-Gorlin syndrome, is a rare syndrome and may result in multisystem disorders. Several reviews of FDH have been published. However, the last comprehensive review of this disorder appeared more than 20 years ago. To date, a number of new clinical manifestations have been reported and considerable knowledge has accumulated regarding etiology and pathogenetic mechanisms. The purpose of this review is to gather these more recent data and to provide organized and reliable information. So we reviewed 159 cases of FDH that had been reported from 1990 to 2012, summarized the new discoveries, and suggested a potential standard for the diagnosis of FDH. We also reported on a Chinese girl with FDH, who was clinically and histologically in accord with FDH, as an example.

The association between hypoxia-inducible factor-1 α gene G1790A polymorphism and cancer risk: a meta-analysis of 28 case–control studies

PurposeHypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) is a key transcription factor that regulates the cellular adaptation to hypoxia. HIF-1α gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are implicated to be associated with cancer risks. However, results from the published studies remained inconclusive. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship of HIF-1α gene G1790A polymorphism with cancer using meta-analysis.MethodsA comprehensive search in Pubmed, EMBASE and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) was conducted to identify all publications on the association between this polymorphism and cancer until December 13, 2013. Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were used to evaluate the strength of this association. Association between lymph node metastasis and G1790A was also investigated.ResultsA total of 5985 cases and 6809 controls in 28 case–control studies were included in this meta-analysis. The A allele of HIF-1α gene G1790A polymorphism was found to be significantly associated with increased cancer risk in four genetic models: AA + AG vs. GG (dominant model OR = 1.85, 95% CI = 1.27-2.69), AA vs. AG + GG (recessive model OR = 5.69, 95% CI = 3.87-8.37), AA vs. GG (homozygote comparison OR = 6.63, 95% CI = 4.49-9.79), and AG vs. GG (heterozygote comparison OR = 2.39, 95% CI = 1.53-3.75). This variant was also significantly associated with higher risks of pancreatic cancer, head and neck cancer, lung cancer and renal cell carcinoma. However, the A allele of G1790A was not significantly associated with increased lymph node metastasis in the dominant model by overall meta-analysis.ConclusionsOur meta-analysis suggests that the substitution of G with A of HIF-1α gene G1790A polymorphism is a risk factor of cancer, especially for pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, renal cell carcinoma and head and neck cancer. The association is significant in Asian, Caucasian population and public based control subgroups. However, it’s not associated with risk of lymph node metastasis.

Interferon-γ and interleukin-4 detected in serum and saliva from patients with oral lichen planus

Our previous salivary study had demonstrated an apparent T helper 2 (Th2)-predominance in saliva of oral lichen planus (OLP) patients and suggested a potential of salivary interleukin-4 (IL-4) as a biomarker for monitoring disease severity. To further determine the consistency of Th1/Th2 bias of OLP, this study investigated the expression profile of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and IL-4 in serum and the relationship of the serum levels of these cytokines with their saliva partners. Sixty ethnic Chinese patients with OLP (40 of the erythematous/ulcerative form and 20 of the reticular form) were recruited for this study, with 40 age–sex-matched healthy volunteers as control group. IFN-γ and IL-4 levels in serum and paired saliva samples were screened by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. OLP patient showed a low-level IFN-γ but high-level IL-4 expression profile in both serum and saliva, with a lower IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio. Serum IL-4 level in the erythematous/ulcerative group was significantly higher than that in the reticular group. Serum levels of IFN-γ and IL-4 were significantly and positively correlated with their saliva partners. These results provided more evidence for Th2 cytokine-predominant immune imbalance in OLP, as well as the potential of IL-4 as the biomarker for monitoring severity of OLP.

Genetic variants in AKT1 gene were associated with risk and survival of OSCC in Chinese Han Population.

BACKGROUND AKT1 is an important downstream effector of PTEN/PI3K/AKT signal transduction pathway. Aberrant expression and genetic variant of AKT1 gene are suggested to be involved in several types of human cancers, including OSCC. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible association between AKT1 gene polymorphisms and OSCC in Chinese Han Population. METHODS A total of 182 OSCC patients and 207 cancer-free controls were enrolled for this hospital-based study. Five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on AKT1 (rs1130214, rs1130233, rs2494732, rs3730358, rs3803300) were investigated and genotyped by Sequenom Mass ARRAY & iPLEX-MALDI-TOF technology. Chi-square test, SHEsis software, and Kaplan-Meier method were used to evaluate the relationship between selected SNPs and OSCC susceptibility and progression. RESULTS Significant difference of genotype distribution was observed between cases and control group at SNP sites rs1130214 (P = 0.006) and rs3803300 (P = 0.033, P = 0.003 for heterozygote and homozygous mutant, respectively). In the haplotype analysis, haplotype H4 which contained mutant-type allele of rs1130214 and rs3803300 was also related to OSCC risk (OR = 1.974, 95% CI = 1.048-3.718). Moreover, CT genotype of rs3730358 was associated with higher risk of OSCC progression (HR = 2.466, 95% CI = 1.017-5.981). CONCLUSION Our results indicated that rs1130214 and rs3803300 were related to OSCC susceptibility in Chinese Han Population. In addition, rs3730358 might be associated with progression-free survival time of OSCC patients, suggesting that this SNP could be a potential prognosis marker for OSCC.