现已认识到免疫反应、转录因子核因子κB( NF-κB) 的激活、细胞因子、中性粒细胞的激活和肺泡渗入、凝血级联反应、肾素-血管紧张素系统等多种因素构成的复杂网络参与急性肺损伤/急性呼吸窘迫综合征( ALI/ARDS) 的发病过程[ 1-5] 。虽然脓毒症、创伤、肺炎等ALI/ARDS诱发因素很常见, 但仅有部分病人发生ALI/ARDS, 并且具有相似临床特征的ALI/ARDS病人可有截然不同的结果, 这种异质性引起研究者对影响ALI/ARDS 易感性和预后的遗传因子进行鉴别的浓厚兴趣[ 6] 。由于数量庞大的表现型变异, 不完全的基因外显率、复杂的基因-环境相互作用及高度可能的基因座不均一性而使ALI 遗传学的研究受到挑战[ 7] 。近年来基因组学技术被应用于ALI/ARDS 发病机制的研究, 加深了人们对ALI/ARDS的认识并有可能发展出新的治疗策略以降低其发病率和病死率。
急性肺损伤( ALI) 及急性呼吸窘迫综合征( ARDS) 是各种肺内外致病因素导致的急性呼吸衰竭, 以进行性呼吸困难和顽固性低氧血症为特征, 常继发于休克、创伤、严重感染以及大面积烧伤等疾病。病理以双肺弥漫性的渗出为特点。病情进展迅速, 预后极差, 具有很高死亡率。治疗时需要纠正缺氧, 以保证组织氧供。传统的常规机械通气( CMV) 在改善氧合、呼吸力学参数以及肺内炎症反应的同时, 导致肺损伤, 即呼吸机相关性肺损伤( VALI) 。近年认为, 采用高频振荡通气( HFOV) 代替CMV 能明显避免产生VALI, 并能改善ALI/ARDS的呼吸系统顺应性和氧合作用, 减轻肺内炎症反应和VALI, 利于急性损伤肺内塌陷和闭塞的小气道和肺泡重新开放。并且有人提出HFOV 与部分液体通气( PLV)联用( HFOV-PLV) 可进一步改善气体交换, 抑制肺组织的炎性反应, 减少肺损伤及氟碳化合物( PFCs) 用量, 稳定全身血液循环, 减少中枢神经系统( CNS) 并发症[ 1] 。
The quality of reporting practice guidelines is often poor, and there is no widely accepted guidance or standards for such reporting in health care. The international RIGHT (Reporting Items for practice Guidelines in HealThcare) Working Group was established to address this gap. The group followed an existing framework for developing guidelines for health research reporting and the EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) Network approach. It developed a checklist and an explanation and elaboration statement. The RIGHT checklist includes 22 items that are considered essential for good reporting of practice guidelines: basic information (items 1 to 4), background (items 5 to 9), evidence (items 10 to 12), recommendations (items 13 to 15), review and quality assur-ance (items 16 and 17), funding and declaration and management of interests (items 18 and 19), and other information (items 20 to 22). The RIGHT checklist can assist developers in reporting guidelines, support journal editors and peer reviewers when considering guideline reports, and help health care practitioners understand and implement a guideline.
A small amount of research has examined the association between the belief in free will and subjective well-being (SWB) among Western laypersons from individualist cultures. However, no study has examined this association among participants from collectivist cultures (e.g., Eastern Asian cultures). Therefore, in this study, we explored this association among two large, independent cohorts of Chinese adolescents (N-1 = 1,660; N-2 = 639; high school students). The belief in free will was measured by a self-reported questionnaire (Cohorts 1 and 2) and a two-alternative forced choice question regarding the existence of free will (Cohort 2). SWB included cognitive well-being (life satisfaction) and affective well-being (positive and negative affect) in both cohorts. Data analyses indicated that a stronger belief in free will was consistently associated with higher life satisfaction and positive affect in both cohorts. Our investigation provides evidence supporting the cultural generality of the positive effects of believing in free will on SWB.
Precision medicine is a new strategy that aims at preventing and treating human diseases by focusing on individual variations in people's genes, environment and lifestyle. Precision medicine has been used for cancer diagnosis and treatment and shows evident clinical efficacy. Rapid developments in molecular biology, genetics and sequencing technologies, as well as computational technology, has enabled the establishment of "big data", such as the Human Genome Project, which provides a basis for precision medicine. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is an aggressive cancer with a high incidence rate and low survival rate. Current therapies are often aggressive and carry considerable side effects. Much research now indicates that precision medicine can be used for HNSCC and may achieve improved results. From this perspective, we present an overview of the current status, potential strategies, and challenges of precision medicine in HNSCC. We focus on targeted therapy based on cell the surface signaling receptors epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2), and on the PI3K/AKT/mTOR, JAK/STAT3 and RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK cellular signaling pathways. Gene therapy for the treatment of HNSCC is also discussed.
Annexin A2 (AnxA2) is a highly conserved Ca2(+)-regulated membrane binding protein, which affects cell mobility and tumor progression. Adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma (AdaCP) are a kind of epithelial tumors of the sellar region with high tendency to recur. Robust biomarkers are required to predict tumor behavior and to establish follow-up individualized treatment approaches. In this study, we firstly compared four surgical AdaCP samples with normal brain by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) proteomic analysis. Potential prognostic biomarkers were further validated in a large cohort of 65 AdaCPs by immunohistochemistry. The effects of AnxA2 on AdaCP cells proliferation and migration were analyzed in vitro with isolated primary AdaCP cells as well as SV40T-immortalized cells. Finally, the gefitinib sensitivity of AdaCPs with differentially expressed AnxA2 and the potential molecular mechanisms were examined by flow cytometric analysis, Real-time PCR and immunoblot assays. Proteomic analysis indicated that AnxA2 was the protein spot with the most elevated expression in AdaCP samples. Immunohistochemistry assays indicated the expression level of AnxA2 was significantly higher in recurrent AdaCPs compared with primary ones. Moreover, AnxA2(+) AdaCP cells exhibited enhanced proliferation and migration ability compared with AnxA2(-) AdaCP cells in vitro. Further, we show that AnxA2(+) AdaCP cells exhibited elevated expression of EGFR and downstream p-AKT (S308) and p-AKT (S473), and were more sensitive to tyrosine kinase inhibitor gefitinib. Our data suggest that AnxA2 may serve as a promising biomarker for AdaCP progression, recurrence and drug susceptibility. Our data support potential clinical implications for the follow-up treatment of AdaCP patients with high AnxA2 expression.
Objectives: To compare the proportion of stage I lung cancer and population mortality in China to those in U.S. and Europe where lung cancer screening by low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) has been already well practiced. Methods: The proportions of stage I lung cancer in LDCT screening population in U.S. and Europe were retrieved from NLST and NELSON trials. The general proportion of stage I lung cancer in China was retrieved from a rapid meta-analysis, based on a literature search in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure database. The lung cancer mortality and prevalence of China, U.S. and Europe was retrieved from Globocan 2012 fact sheet. Mortality-to-prevalence ratio (MPR) was applied to compare the population survival outcome of lung cancer. Results: The estimated proportion of stage I lung cancer in China is merely 20.8% among hospital-based cross-sectional population, with relative ratios (RRs) being 2.40 (95% CI 2.18-2.65) and 2.98 (95% CI 2.62-3.38) compared by LDCT-screening population in U.S. and Europe trials, respectively. MPR of lung cancer is as high as 58.9% in China, with RRs being 0.46 (95% CI 0.31-0.67) and 0.58 (95% CI 0.39-0.85) compared by U.S. and Europe, respectively. Conclusions: By the epidemiological inference, the LDCT mass screening might be associated with increasing stage I lung cancer and therefore improving population survival outcome. How to translate the experiences of lung cancer screening by LDCT from developed counties to China in a cost-effective manner needs to be further investigated.
Objective To investigate the effects of high dose ulinastatin with lung protective ventilatory strategies on respiratory function and prognosis in critical disease patients combined with acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome. Methods Using retrospective analysis, we involved the critical disease patients combined with ALI/ARDS in ICU of The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University. According to whether they were treated with high dose ulinastatin with lung protective ventilatory strategies or not, the patients were divided into the treatment group and the control group. Then pulmonary vascular permeability index (PVPI), extravascular lung water index (EVLWI), oxygenation index, length of SIRS, length of stay in ICU and APACHE Ⅱ score were observed. Statistic analysis was conducted using SPSS 19.0 software. Results A total of 24 patients were included, 13 cases in the treatment group and 11 cases in the control group. After 72 h, PVPI (P=0.016), EVLWI (P=0.045), length of SIRS (P=0.002), length of stay in ICU (P=0.024) and APACHE Ⅱ score (P=0.002) decreased significantly, while oxygenation index (P=0.004) increased significantly in the treatment group compared with the control group. Conclusion High dose ulinastatin with lung protective ventilatory strategies decreased lung capillary permeability, reduced lung blood capillary leakage and extravascular lung water, resulted in the improvement of lung oxygenation function, decreased of length of stay in ICU and the improvement of prognosis in critical disease patients combined with acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Background: The association between CD14-159C/T polymorphism and sepsis has been assessed but results of current studies appeared conflicting and inconstant. This analysis was aimed to determine whether the CD14-159C/T polymorphism confers susceptibility to sepsis or is associated with increased risk of death from sepsis. Method: The authors conducted a comprehensive search of PubMed, EMBASE, ISI Web of Science, Cochrane library, ScienceDirect, Wiley Online Library and CNKI databases according to a prespecified protocol. Language limits were restricted to English and Chinese. Two reviewers independently selected the articles and extracted relevant data onto standardized forms. Disagreements were settled by discussion and suggestions from senior consultants. The strength of association were evaluated by odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Studies failed to fit the Hardy-Weinberg-Equilibrium were excluded. Results: The research identified a total of 2317 full-text articles of which 14 articles met the predefined inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis was performed for allele frequency of C versus T, as well as genotypes CC + CT versus TT (dominant model), CC versus TT + CT (recessive model), CT versus TT and CC versus TT (additive model). All control samples were in Hardy-Weinberg proportion. No significant association between CD14-159C/T polymorphism and sepsis susceptibility or mortality were detected in the overall population. Nonetheless, subgroup analysis of Asian ethnicity revealed significant association between the CD14-159C/T polymorphism and susceptibility to sepsis in additive model (CC versus TT: OR = 0.52, 95% CI 0.29-0.92, p = 0.03) and recessive model (CC versus CT + TT: OR = 0.50, 95% CI 0.30-0.84, p = 0.009). Of note, three out of the five papers included in the subgroup focused exclusively on burn ICU patients. Conclusions: This meta-analysis demonstrated that CD14-159C/T polymorphism is likely to be associated with susceptibility to sepsis in Asian population, especially for the TT genotype. However, bias may rise for etiologic reasons because the majority of subjects in the subgroup came from burn ICU. CD14-159C/T polymorphism is not relevant to sepsis mortality in any genetic models, regardless of the ethnicities. Due to the exploratory nature of the study, no adjustment for multiple testing was adopted, and therefore the results should be interpreted with precaution. Well-designed studies with larger sample size and more ethnic groups are required to further validate the results.