Epidemiological Investigation of Asymptomatic Dogs with Leishmania Infection in Southwestern China Where Visceral Leishmaniasis is Intractable

Gui-Hua Zhao,Kun Yin,Wei-Xia Zhong,Ting Xiao,Qing-Kuan Wei,Yong Cui,Gong-Zhen Liu,Chao Xu,Hong-Fa Wang 대한기생충학열대의학회 2016 The Korean Journal of Parasitology Vol.54 No.6

Heishui county, located in northwest Sichuan province, southwestern China, is an endemic area of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and is the most intractable area. VL is never destroyed in it. Asymptomatic dogs (Leishmania parasites have been diagnosed but clinically healthy) are considered to be a potential reservoir host in zoonotic VL area, and most can lead to infection of individuals, that is a new challenge for controlling VL in humans. The present study aimed to assess the Leishmania infection rate of asymptomatic dogs in Heishui county. Total 105 asymptomatic domestic dogs were gathered from 4 districts in Heishui county to investigate the infection rate with serological and molecular methods based on ELISA and kinetoplast minicircle DNA(kDNA) PCR, respectively. Out of 105 dogs, 44 (41.9%) were positive by more than 1 method; 21 (20.0%) were positive by ELISA, and 30 (28.6%) were positive by kDNA-PCR. Our study showed that Leishmania infection of domestic dogs which is clinically healthy is prevalent in the studied district, and the asymptomatic dogs infected by Leishmania may be the primary reason for the prevalence of visceral leishmaniasis in the area.

Plenary Session : Small Cell Carcinoma of The Esophagus: Analysis of 126 Cases

( Gui Qi Wang ),( Zhao Hui Xiong ),( Bao Qing Li ) 대한소화기학회 2007 SIDDS Vol.9 No.-

Background/Aims: Small cell carcinoma of the esophagus (ESCC) is a rare and aggressive tumor with early wide-spread dissemination. Although the rarity of this tumor has impeded statistical evaluation. We reviewed records of 5.164 esophageal cancer patients treated in Shijiazhuang Municipal No.1 Hospital and Hebei tumor hospital from May, 1996 to Dec. 2006. Of 5.164 cases, 126 patients were diagnosed ESOC, with a relative frequency of 2.44%. This is one of the largest single institution series in the world literature. The purpose of this study was to analyze the clinical manifestations, pathological features and treatment of primary small cell carcinoma of the esophagus. Methods: The records of 126 patients with primary esophageal small cell carcinoma were reviewed to summarize the clinical characteristics and impact of therapy modality on the survival. Results: The median survival time of the 102 patients was 16.2 months; the 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates were 64.7%, 32.4%, and 9.8% respectively, 59 of the cases were followed up to exceed 5 years. Of the 59 cases, only 3 survival time were exceeded 5 years. Clinical stage was the most important prognostic factor. The median survival time of the patients received local treatment (surgical operation or radiotherapy) was 14.5 months and 9.1 mouths respectively, the 1-, 2-, 3-year survival rates were 45.8%, 27.3%, and 6.3% in local treatment cases respectively. The median survival time of the patients received local treatment plus chemotherapy were 18.0 months; the 1-, 2-, 3-year survival rates were 69.0%, 36.2%, and 10.3%, respectively. Conclusions: Small cell carcinoma of the esophagus should be regarded as a systemic disease, and multimodality treatment, including chemotherapy, should be used. Surgery may be offered in selected patients to manage local disease as part a chemotherapy-based treatment program. ESCC is a very aggressive tumor with poor prognosis.

Seroprevalence of Encephalitozoon cuniculi and Toxoplasma gondii in domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in China

Qing-Feng Meng,Wei-Lin Wang,Xiao-Ting Ni,Hai-Bin Li,Gui-Zhe Yao,Xiao-Lin Sun,Wei-Li Wang,Wei Cong 대한기생충학열대의학회 2015 The Korean Journal of Parasitology Vol.53 No.6

The breeding of domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) for human consumption has a long tradition in China. Infections that can affect the production of meat or even be transmitted from animals to humans are important to monitor, especially for public health reasons as well as for their impact on animal health. Thus, a total of 1,132 domestic rabbit sera from 4 regions in China were collected for serological screening for Encephalitozoon cuniculi and for Toxoplasma gondii by ELISA and modified agglutination test (MAT), respectively. Antibodies to E. cuniculi were detected in 248/1,132 (21.9%) sera tested while antibodies against T. gondii revealed a seroprevalence of 51/1,132 (4.5%). We believe that the present results are of epidemiological implications and public health importance due to the acknowledged susceptibility of humans to E. cuniculi and T. gondii infections. Therefore, routine screening tests of domestic rabbits are proposed considering the zoonotic potential of these parasites.

New Insights into 4-Amino-2-tri-fluoromethyl-phenyl Ester Inhibition of Cell Growth and Migration in the A549 Lung Adenocarcinoma Cell Line

Wang, Hao,Gui, Shu-Yu,Chen, Fei-Hu,Zhou, Qing,Wang, Yuan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.12

Objective: The present study was designed to investigate the probable mechanisms of synthetic retinoid 4-amino-2-tri-fluoromethyl-phenyl ester (ATPR) inhibition of the proliferation and migration of A549 human lung carcinoma cells. Materials and Methods: After the A549 cells were treated with different concentrations of ATPR or all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) for 72 h, scratch-wound assays were performed to assess migration. Immunofluorescence was used to determine the distribution of CAV1 and $RXR{\alpha}$, while expression of CAV1, MLCK, MLC, P38, and phosphorylation of MLC and P38 were detected by Western blotting. Results: ATPR could block the migration of A549 cells. The relative migration rate of ML-7 group had significantly decreased compared with control group. In addition, ATPR decreased the expression of a migration related proteins, MLCK, and phosphorylation of MLC and P38. ATPR could also influence the expression of RARs or RXRs. At the same time, CAV1 accumulated at cell membranes, and $RXR{\alpha}$ relocated to the nucleus after ATPR treatment. Conclusions: Caveolae may be implicate in the transport of ATPR to the nucleus. Change in the expression and distribution of $RXR{\alpha}$ may be implicated in ATPR inhibition of A549 cell proliferation. The mechanisms of ATPR reduction in A549 cell migration may be associated with expression of MLCK and phosphorylation of MLC and P38.

A Novel All-trans Retinoid Acid Derivative Induces Apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 Breast Cancer Cells

Wang, Bei,Yan, Yun-Wen,Zhou, Qing,Gui, Shu-Yu,Chen, Fei-Hu,Wang, Yuan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.24

Aims: To explore the effect and probable mechanism of a synthetic retinoid 4-amino-2-tri-fluoromethylphenyl ester (ATPR) on apoptosis of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Materials and Methods: MTT assays were performed to measure the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells treated with different concentrations of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and ATPR. Morphologic changes were observed by microscopy. The apoptosis rates and cell cycling of MDA-MB-231 cells treated with ATRA or ATPR were assessed using flow cytometry analysis. Expression of retinoic acid receptor and phosphorylation of ERK, JNK, p38 proteins were detected by Western blotting. Results: Treatment of the cells with the addition of $15{\mu}mol/L$ ATPR for 48 h clearly demonstrated reduced cell numbers and deformed cells, whereas no changes in the number and morphology were observed after treatment with ATRA. The apoptosis rate was 33.2% after breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells were treated by ATPR ($15{\mu}mol/L$) whereas ATRA ($15{\mu}mol/L$) had no apoptotic effect. ATPR inhibited the phosphorylation of ERK, JNK, and p38 while ATRA had no significant effect. ATPR inhibited the expression of BiP and increased the expression of Chop at the protein level compared with control groups, ATRA and ATPR both decreased the protein expression of $RXR{\alpha}$, ATPR reduced the protein expression of $RAR{\beta}$ and $RXR{\beta}$ while ATRA did not decrease $RAR{\beta}$ or $RXR{\beta}$. Conclusions: ATPR could induce apoptosis of breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells, possible mechanisms being binding to $RAR{\beta}/RXR{\beta}$ heterodimers, then activation of ER stress involving the MAPK pathway.

Association Between Pancreatitis and Subsequent Risk of Pancreatic Cancer: a Systematic Review of Epidemiological Studies

Tong, Gui-Xian,Geng, Qing-Qing,Chai, Jing,Cheng, Jing,Chen, Peng-Lai,Liang, Han,Shen, Xing-Rong,Wang, De-Bin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.12

This study aimed to summarize published epidemiological evidence for the relationship between pancreatitis and subsequent risk of pancreatic cancer (PC). We searched Medline and Embase for epidemiological studies published by February $5^{th}$, 2014 examining the risk of PC in pancreatitis patients using highly inclusive algorithms. Information about first author, year of publication, country of study, recruitment period, type of pancreatitis, study design, sample size, source of controls and attained age of subjects were extracted by two researchers and Stata 11.0 was used to perform the statistical analyses and examine publication bias. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with the random effects model. A total of 17 articles documenting 3 cohort and 14 case-control studies containing 14,667 PC cases and 17,587 pancreatitis cases were included in this study. The pooled OR between pancreatitis and PC risk was 7.05 (95%CI: 6.42-7.75). Howeever, the pooled ORs of case-control and cohort studies were 4.62 (95%CI: 4.08-5.22) and 16.3 (95%CI: 14.3-18.6) respectively. The risk of PC was the highest in patients with chronic pancreatitis (pooled OR=10.35; 95%CI: 9.13-11.75), followed by unspecified type of pancreatitis (pooled OR=6.41; 95%CI: 4.93-8.34), both acute and chronic pancreatitis (pooled OR=6.13; 95%CI: 5.00-7.52), and acute pancreatitis (pooled OR=2.12; 95%CI: 1.59-2.83). The pooled OR of PC in pancreatitis cases diagnosed within 1 year was the highest (pooled OR=23.3; 95%CI: 14.0-38.9); and the risk in subjects diagnosed with pancreatitis for no less than 2, 5 and 10 years were 3.03 (95%CI: 2.41-3.81), 2.82 (95%CI: 2.12-3.76) and 2.25 (95%CI: 1.59-3.19) respectively. Pancreatitis, especially chronic pancreatitis, was associated with a significantly increased risk of PC; and the risk decreased with increasing duration since diagnosis of pancreatitis.

Association of Risk of Gastric Cancer and Consumption of Tobacco, Alcohol and Tea in the Chinese Population

Tong, Gui-Xian,Liang, Han,Chai, Jing,Cheng, Jing,Feng, Rui,Chen, Peng-Lai,Geng, Qing-Qing,Shen, Xing-Rong,Wang, De-Bin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.20

This study aimed at summarizing epidemiological research findings on associations between tobacco, alcohol and tea consumption and risk of gastric cancer (GC) in the Chinese population. The review searched PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and China Biology Medicine (CBM) databases and reference lists of review papers for all studies published in English or Chinese languages. Information extracted, via two independent researchers, from retrieved articles included first author, year of publication, study design, sample size, source of controls and adjusted odds ratio (OR) or relative risk (RR) with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each category. Statistical analyses used software STATA version 12.0. The systematic search found 89 articles containing 25,821 GC cases and 135,298 non-cases. The overall random effects in terms of pooled OR and 95%CI for tobacco, alcohol and tea consumption were 1.62 (95%CI: 1.50-1.74), 1.57 (95%CI: 1.41-1.76) and 0.67 (95%CI: 0.59-0.76) respectively; while the heterogeneity among included studies ranged from 80.1% to 87.5%. The majority of subgroup analyses revealed consistent results with the overall analyses. All three behavioral factors showed statistically significant dose-dependent effects on GC (P<0.05). The study revealed that tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking were associated with over 1/2 added risk of GC, while tea drinking conferred about 1/3 lower risk of GC in the Chinese population. However, these results should be interpreted with caution given the fact that most of the included studies were based on a retrospective design and heterogeneity among studies was relatively high.

Association Between Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Subsequent Risk of Cancer: a Systematic Review of Epidemiological Studies

Tong, Gui-Xian,Cheng, Jing,Chai, Jing,Geng, Qing-Qing,Chen, Peng-Lai,Shen, Xin-Rong,Liang, Han,Wang, De-Bin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.10

Purpose: This study aimed at summarizing epidemiological evidence of the association between gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and subsequent risk of cancer. Materials and Methods: We searched Medline, Embase, Cancer Lit and CINAHL for epidemiological studies published by February 1, 2014 examining the risk of cancer in patients with history of GDM using highly inclusive algorithms. Information about first author, year of publication, country of study, study design, cancer sites, sample sizes, attained age of subjects and methods used for determining GDM status were extracted by two researchers and Stata version 11.0 was used to perform the meta-analysis and estimate the pooled effects. Results: A total of 9 articles documented 5 cohort and 4 case-control studies containing 10,630 cancer cases and 14,608 women with a history of GDM were included in this review. Taken together, the pooled odds ratio (OR) between GDM and breast cancer risk was 1.01 (0.87-1.17); yet the same pooled ORs of case-control and cohort studies were 0.87 (0.71-1.06) and 1.25 (1.00-1.56) respectively. There are indications that GDM is strongly associated with higher risk of pancreatic cancer (HR=8.68) and hematologic malignancies (HR=4.53), but no relationships were detected between GDM and other types of cancer. Conclusions: Although GDM increases the risk of certain types of cancer, these results should be interpreted with caution becuase of some methodological flaws. The issue merits added investigation and coordinated efforts between researchers, antenatal clinics and cancer treatment and registration agencies to help attain better understanding.

Protective Effect of Ultra Low Molecular Weight Heparin on Glutamate-Induced Apoptosis in Cortical Cells

Tian-Gui Yu,Qing-Zhu Zhang,Zhi-Guo Zhang,Wei-Wei Wang,Sheng-Li Ji,Guan-Hua Du 연세대학교의과대학 2008 Yonsei medical journal Vol.49 No.3

Purpose: To investigate the effect of ultra low molecular weight heparin (ULMWH) on glutamate induced apoptosis in rat cortical cells and to explore the possible mechanisms. Materials and Methods: Cell viability was measured using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Apoptosis was first analyzed with Hoechst 33258 and then confirmed by DNA fragmentation. The concentration of free intracellular calcium ([Ca²+]i) was determined with fura-2/AM fluorometry. The expression of Bcl-2 family protein and caspase-3 were evaluated with Western blot. Results: Typical apoptotic morphological change in rat cortical cells treated with 100μmol/L glutamate for 24h was detected by Hoechst 33258 staining, which was then confirmed by the DNA ladder of agarose gel electrophoresis. The apoptotic rate of the glutamate treated cells was up to 33.21%, and 24 h of treatment with glutamate increased [Ca²+]i, down-regulated Bcl-2 expression, up-regulated Bax expression, and increased caspase-3 activation in rat cortical cells. Our research demonstrated that ULMWH pretreatment can prevent the glutamate- induced apoptosis, attenuate the increase of [Ca²+]i not only in medium containing Ca²+ but also in Ca²+-free medium, up-regulate the expression of Bcl-2, down-regulate the expression of Bax, and decrease caspase-3 activation. Conclusion: ULMWH has neuroprotective capacity to antagonize glutamate-induced apoptosis in cortical cells, through decrease of Ca²+ release and modulation of apoptotic processes.

Acupotomy for scapulohumeral periarthritis

Chang-qing Guo,Shi Ning Ma,Xin Yi Fu,Quan Gui Wang,Mira Lee 대한침구의학회 2020 대한침구의학회지 Vol.37 No.4

Background: Scapulohumeral periarthritis causes pain and stiffness, and limits movement but it is a treatable condition. This was a clinical study of acupotomy treatment for scapulohumeral periarthritis. Methods: There were 80 patients randomly assigned to the traditional Chinese Medicine group (acupotomy) and the Western medicine group (naproxen), with 40 cases in each group. All patients had adjunct physiotherapy exercises for 14 days. Patients received acupotomy treatment 3 times for 14 days (Day 0, 7 and 14) or naproxen (0.22 g capsule; a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) 3 times a day, for 14 days. The visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, range of motion (ROM) values, and the Melle scale, together with the therapeutic standard of diseases and syndromes in traditional Chinese Medicine were used for diagnosis and evaluation. Results: There were significant differences in the VAS scores, ROM, Melle scores, cure rate and total effective rate in the group which took naproxen and the acupotomy group, before and after treatment (p < 0.01). There were significant differences in the changes in VAS, ROM and Melle scores between the 2 groups (p < 0.01), and the acupotomy group was better than the naproxen group. Conclusion: Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western medicine can improve functional activity and reduce the level of pain experienced by patients suffering from scapulohumeral periarthritis. However, improvement of functional activity of the shoulder joint following acupotomy treatment was more obvious than the use of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, and the cure rate, and total effective rate of acupotomy was better.