Yi-Chuan Zhang

siRNA-mediated Silencing of Notch-1 Enhances Docetaxel Induced Mitotic Arrest and Apoptosis in Prostate Cancer Cells

PURPOSE Notch is an important signaling pathway that regulates cell fate, stem cell maintenance and the initiation of differentiation in many tissues. It has been reported that activation of Notch-1 contributes to tumorigenesis. However, whether Notch signaling might have a role in chemoresistance of prostate cancer is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Notch-1 silencing on the sensitivity of prostate cancer cells to docetaxel treatment. METHODS siRNA against Notch-1 was transfected into PC-3 prostate cancer cells. Proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle distribution were examined in the presence or absence of docetaxel by MTT and flow cytometry. Expression of p21(waf1/cip1) and Akt as well as activation of Akt in PC-3 cells were detected by Western blot and Real-time PCR. RESULTS Silencing of Notch-1 promoted docetaxel induced cell growth inhibition, apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in PC-3 cells. In addition, these effects were associated with increased p21(waf1/cip1) expression and decreased Akt expression and activation in PC-3 cells. CONCLUSION Notch-1 promotes chemoresistance of prostate cancer and could be a potential therapeutic target.

The prognostic role of preoperative serum albumin/globulin ratio in patients with bladder urothelial carcinoma undergoing radical cystectomy

OBJECTIVE To date, only a few studies have demonstrated the prognostic value of pretreatment serum albumin in bladder urothelial carcinoma (BUC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the pretreatment albumin/globulin ratio (AGR) and the survival of patients with BUC treated with radical cystectomy (RC). MATERIALS AND METHODS Data from 296 patients with BUC who underwent RC between June 2000 and June 2013 were analyzed. The AGR was calculated as follows: albumin/(total protein-albumin). The AGR was divided into 2 groups for receiver operating characteristics curve analysis. Survival was estimated using Kaplan-Meier analysis and compared using the log rank test. Cox proportional hazards models were used for univariate and multivariate survival analyses. RESULTS Patients in the high AGR group (AGR≥1.60) had a lower 5-year recurrence-free mortality rate compared with those in the low AGR group (AGR<1.60) (87.0% vs. 48.0%, P<0.001). The median cancer-specific survival (CSS) time was 71.1 months for low AGR patients and 156.0 months for the high AGR patients (P<0.001). After adjusting for confounding variables, the AGR remained an independent predictor of recurrence-free survival (RFS) (hazard rate = 0.356; 95% CI: 0.170-0.748; P = 0.006) and CSS (hazard rate = 0.280; 95% CI: 0.115-0.683; P = 0.005). Moreover, in the subset of 167 patients with normal serum albumin (albumin of≥40.0g/l), serum AGR continues to be an independent predictor of RFS (P = 0.012) and CSS (P = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS High AGR is a strong independent predictor of long-term RFS and CSS in patients with BUC undergoing RC. Additionally, among patients with normal albumin (≥40g/l) levels, patients with higher globulin, but lower AGR have worse survival. The pretreatment AGR is an easily accessible and cheap to use for predicting mortality in patients with BUC treated by RC.

The effect of immediate surgical bipolar plasmakinetic transurethral resection of the prostate on prostatic hyperplasia with acute urinary retention

In the present study, we evaluated the safety and efficacy of immediate surgical bipolar plasmakinetic transurethral resection of the prostate (PK-TURP) for patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) with acute urinary retention (AUR). We conducted a retrospective analysis of clinical data of BPH patients who received PK-TURP. A total of 1126 BPH patients were divided into AUR (n = 348) and non-AUR groups (n = 778). After the urethral catheters were removed, the urine white blood cell (WBC) count in the AUR group significantly increased compared with the non-AUR group (P < 0.01). However, there was no significant difference in international prostate symptom score, painful urination, and maximal urinary flow rate. The duration of hospitalization of the AUR group was longer than that of the non-AUR group (P < 0.001). A total of 87.1% (303/348) patients in the AUR group and 84.1% (654/778) patients in the non-AUR group completed all of the postoperative follow-up visits. The incidence of urinary tract infection in the AUR group within 3 months after surgery was significantly higher than that in the non-AUR group (P < 0.01). The incidence of temporary urinary incontinence in the AUR group did not exhibit significant difference. During 3-12 months after surgery, there were no significant differences in major complications between the two groups. Multivariate regression analyses showed that age, postvoid residual, maximal urinary flow rate, diabetes, and hypertension, but not the presence of AUR, were independent predictors of IPSS post-PK-TURP. In conclusion, immediate PK-TURP surgery on patients accompanied by AUR was safe and effective.

[Diagnostic value of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin for bacterial infection in acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the value of C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) in diagnosis of the bacterial infection in acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) patients by detecting the change of CRP and PCT. METHODS A total of 369 AECOPD patients were divided into infective group and non-infective group. The values of CRP, PCT, WBC, N and ESR were tested and compared before and after treatment in each group. RESULTS Before treatment, the levels of CRP, PCT, WBC, and N in the infective group were significantly higher than that in the non-infective group (P<0.05 or P<0.01), while there was no significant difference in ESR level between the 2 groups (P>0.05). In the infective group, the levels of CRP, PCT, WBC, N and ESR after the treatment were much lower than those before treatment (P<0.05). After treatment, the levels of CRP, PCT, WBC, and N in the infective group were significantly higher compared with that in the non-infective group (P<0.05), while there was no significant difference of ESR level between the 2 groups (P>0.05). There was a positive relationship between PCT and CRP, ESR and WBC (r=0.46, 0.38, 0.20; P<0.05), CRP and WBC as well as N and ESR (r=0.56, 0.43, 0.30; P<0.05). CONCLUSION It is a sensitive method for diagnosis and treatment of the bacterial infection in AECOPD patients through the combination of CRP with PCT and also for evaluation of the prognosis of patients with AECOPD.

Serum omentin-1 concentration and bone mineral density in postmenopausal women

OBJECTIVE To determine the relationship between serum omentin-1 concentration and bone mineral desity in postmenopausal women, and the adipose influence of tissue on bone mineral density (BMD). METHODS BMD values of 336 participants were measured by dual-energy-x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) at various skeletal sites: the anteroposterior spine, femeral neck, total hip (T-hip) and total body BMD (TBMD). Body compositions including lean tissue mass (LTM) and body fat mass (FBM) were measured by DEXA. The plasma concentrations of adipocytokines (omentin-1, adiponectin, leptin, resistin, visfatin, and apelin) were measured by ELISA. RESULTS The overweight and obese groups had higher T-hip, femerol neck, intertrochanter BMD than the nomal weight group. Plasma omentin-1 was negatively correlated with anteroposterior spine, femeral neck, trochanter, intertrochanter, T-hip and Wards BMD, after adjustment for age, BMI and fat body mass, and the correlation was not significant. Multiple stepwise regression anlysis revealed that lean body mass, menopause duration and estrogen level were the most important variables affecting the BMD and each explained 12.2%-13.7%, 6.9%-13.1%, 0.9%-1.7% of the variance. Serum adiponectin was independently associated with T-hip, lumbar spine and total BMD. CONCLUSION Plasma omentin-1 is not significantly correlated with BMD in postmenopausal women. Lean body mass, menopause duration and estrogen level are the most important variables affecting the BMD. Serum adiponectin is an independent predictor of T-hip, lumbar spine and total BMD.

MicroRNA‑124 inhibits cell proliferation, invasion and migration by targeting CAV1 in bladder cancer

MicroRNAs (miRs) may have promotive or suppressive roles in various human cancers types, but the molecular mechanisms underlying the role of miR-124 in bladder cancer (BC) progression have remained largely elusive. In the present study, it was observed that miR-124 was significantly downregulated in BC tissues compared with that in adjacent non-neoplastic tissues. Furthermore, its expression was also reduced in several human BC cell lines (T24, HT-1376 and 5637) compared with that in the normal bladder epithelial SV-HUC-1 cell line. A low expression of miR-124 in BC patients was significantly associated with advanced malignancy and a poor prognosis. Caveolin 1 (CAV1) was identified as a novel target gene of miR-124, and the expression of CAV1 was negatively regulated by miR-124 in T24 cells. Furthermore, CAV1 was identified to be significantly upregulated in BC tissues and cell lines, and a negative correlation was observed between the expression of miR-124 and CAV1 in BC tissues. Furthermore, restoration of miR-124 expression significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of T24 cells, and these effects were impaired following overexpression of CAV1. Taken together, the present results demonstrate that miR-124 has a suppressive role in the proliferation, migration and invasion of BC cells by targeting CAV1, which suggests that miR-124 is a potential therapeutic candidate for BC.

Pretreatment serum albumin/globulin ratio as a prognostic biomarker in metastatic prostate cancer patients treated with maximal androgen blockade

The pretreatment serum albumin/globulin ratio (AGR) has been used as a prognostic biomarker for various cancer types. However, the prognostic value of the AGR for prostate cancer, especially for metastatic prostate cancer (mPCa) after maximal androgen blockade (MAB), remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of the pretreatment serum AGR for mPCa treated with MAB. This retrospective study included 214 mPCa patients receiving MAB from October 2007 to March 2017. The correlation of the AGR with survival was estimated using Kaplan–Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards models. The cutoff value of the AGR was 1.45 according to the receiver operating characteristic curve. Kaplan–Meier analysis demonstrated that patients with a low AGR (<1.45) had poor outcomes in terms of progression-free survival (PFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS). Multivariate Cox analyses showed that the AGR was an independent predictor of PFS (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.642; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.430–0.957; P = 0.030) and CSS (HR = 0.412; 95% CI: 0.259–0.654; P < 0.001). Furthermore, in a subset of 79 patients with normal serum albumin levels (≥40.0 g l−1), the serum AGR remained an independent predictor of CSS (P = 0.009). The pretreatment AGR was an independent prognostic biomarker for PFS and CSS in patients with mPCa receiving MAB. In addition, the AGR remained effective for the prediction of CSS in patients with normal albumin levels (≥40 g l−1). However, further prospective studies are needed to confirm our conclusions.

[Effects of age on left ventricular twist-displacement loop assessed by velocity vector imaging].

OBJECTIVE To assess effect of age on the characteristic of left ventricular (LV) twist-displacement loop in health volunteers by velocity vector imaging (VVI) and to provide a new method for LV function evaluation in clinic. METHODS After obtaining basal and apical LV short-axis images in 98 healthy volunteers (18-75 years old) by 2-dimensional echocardiography, we use VVI software to analysis LV twist motion and radial displacement at each plane off-line. The peak LV twist (Ptw), the peak untwist velocity (PutwV), the proportion of untwist in isovolumetric relaxation period (Iutw%) and LV radial displacement (Dis) were measured and calculated. Then we constructed LV twist-displacement loop and compared the characteristic of them among different groups. RESULTS Ptw increased gradually with the increase in age. The biggest PutwV was in the group of 30-60 years old. Iutw% increased gradually before 60 years old, then decreased after that. Dis was not obviously different among the three groups. The characteristic of LV twist-displacement loop was like the configuration of 8. There was a linear relation between twist and displacement during systole, and the slope increased gradually with the increase in age. During early diastole, the relatively small radial expanding displacement displayed with untwisting, resulting in a much steeper twist-displacement relationship curve occurred in each group, which was getting smooth gradually when the radial expanding displacement increased during mid to late diastole. CONCLUSIONS VVI can be used to effectively and noninvasively assess LV twist-displacement loop with change in age and provide important information for LV function. The effect of age must take into account when evaluate the LV function by the twist-displacement loop.

Clinical analysis of benign prostate hyperplasia with prostatitis

OBJECTIVE To analyze the clinical features of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) with prostatitis and the role of prostatitis in progression of BPH. METHODS From July 2003 to Feb. 2009, 466 patients diagnosed BPH were enrolled in this study. Several items including age, history, IPSS, volume of prostate, prostatic special antigen (PSA) and related parameters, Qmax, acute urinary retention (AUR) and the way of treatment were analyzed. RESULTS A total of 423 patients were diagnosed as BPH with prostatitis (90.77%, PS/BPH group), and 43 were BPH without prostatitis (9.23%, BPH group). Compared with the BPH group, patients history of the PS/BPH group was longer, IPSS/QOL was increased, the volume of total prostate and transitional zone were larger, maximum flow rate was decreased and risk of AUR was increased, and the proportion of BPH-related surgery was higher.There was no significant difference in patients age, tPSA, fPSA, f/tPSA, and PSAD between the 2 groups. CONCLUSION Prostatitis may be one etiological factor for BPH. Patients with inflammation were more likely to progress clinically in terms of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), acute urinary retention (AUR), or BPH-related surgery.