Common genetic determinants of breast-cancer risk in East Asian women: a collaborative study of 23 637 breast cancer cases and 25 579 controls

Zheng, Wei,Zhang, Ben,Cai, Qiuyin,Sung, Hyuna,Michailidou, Kyriaki,Shi, Jiajun,Choi, Ji-Yeob,Long, Jirong,Dennis, Joe,Humphreys, Manjeet K.,Wang, Qin,Lu, Wei,Gao, Yu-Tang,Li, Chun,Cai, Hui,Park, Sue K Oxford University Press 2013 Human Molecular Genetics Vol.22 No.12

<P>In a consortium including 23 637 breast cancer patients and 25 579 controls of East Asian ancestry, we investigated 70 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 67 independent breast cancer susceptibility loci recently identified by genome-wide association studies (GWASs) conducted primarily in European-ancestry populations. SNPs in 31 loci showed an association with breast cancer risk at <I>P</I> < 0.05 in a direction consistent with that reported previously. Twenty-one of them remained statistically significant after adjusting for multiple comparisons with the Bonferroni-corrected significance level of <0.0015. Eight of the 70 SNPs showed a significantly different association with breast cancer risk by estrogen receptor (ER) status at <I>P</I> < 0.05. With the exception of rs2046210 at 6q25.1, the seven other SNPs showed a stronger association with ER-positive than ER-negative cancer. This study replicated all five genetic risk variants initially identified in Asians and provided evidence for associations of breast cancer risk in the East Asian population with nearly half of the genetic risk variants initially reported in GWASs conducted in European descendants. Taken together, these common genetic risk variants explain ∼10% of excess familial risk of breast cancer in Asian populations.</P>

Burden of Total and Cause-Specific Mortality Related to Tobacco Smoking among Adults Aged ≥45 Years in Asia: A Pooled Analysis of 21 Cohorts

Zheng, Wei,McLerran, Dale F.,Rolland, Betsy A.,Fu, Zhenming,Boffetta, Paolo,He, Jiang,Gupta, Prakash Chandra,Ramadas, Kunnambath,Tsugane, Shoichiro,Irie, Fujiko,Tamakoshi, Akiko,Gao, Yu-Tang,Koh, Woon Public Library of Science 2014 PLoS medicine Vol.11 No.4

<▼1><P>Wei Zheng and colleagues quantify the burden of tobacco-smoking-related deaths for adults in Asia.</P><P><I>Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary</I></P></▼1><▼2><P><B>Background</B></P><P>Tobacco smoking is a major risk factor for many diseases. We sought to quantify the burden of tobacco-smoking-related deaths in Asia, in parts of which men's smoking prevalence is among the world's highest.</P><P><B>Methods and Findings</B></P><P>We performed pooled analyses of data from 1,049,929 participants in 21 cohorts in Asia to quantify the risks of total and cause-specific mortality associated with tobacco smoking using adjusted hazard ratios and their 95% confidence intervals. We then estimated smoking-related deaths among adults aged ≥45 y in 2004 in Bangladesh, India, mainland China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan—accounting for ∼71% of Asia's total population. An approximately 1.44-fold (95% CI = 1.37–1.51) and 1.48-fold (1.38–1.58) elevated risk of death from any cause was found in male and female ever-smokers, respectively. In 2004, active tobacco smoking accounted for approximately 15.8% (95% CI = 14.3%–17.2%) and 3.3% (2.6%–4.0%) of deaths, respectively, in men and women aged ≥45 y in the seven countries/regions combined, with a total number of estimated deaths of ∼1,575,500 (95% CI = 1,398,000–1,744,700). Among men, approximately 11.4%, 30.5%, and 19.8% of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and respiratory diseases, respectively, were attributable to tobacco smoking. Corresponding proportions for East Asian women were 3.7%, 4.6%, and 1.7%, respectively. The strongest association with tobacco smoking was found for lung cancer: a 3- to 4-fold elevated risk, accounting for 60.5% and 16.7% of lung cancer deaths, respectively, in Asian men and East Asian women aged ≥45 y.</P><P><B>Conclusions</B></P><P>Tobacco smoking is associated with a substantially elevated risk of mortality, accounting for approximately 2 million deaths in adults aged ≥45 y throughout Asia in 2004. It is likely that smoking-related deaths in Asia will continue to rise over the next few decades if no effective smoking control programs are implemented.</P><P><I>Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary</I></P></▼2><▼3><P><B>Editors' Summary</B></P><P><B>Background</B></P><P>Every year, more than 5 million smokers die from tobacco-related diseases. Tobacco smoking is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (conditions that affect the heart and the circulation), respiratory disease (conditions that affect breathing), lung cancer, and several other types of cancer. All told, tobacco smoking kills up to half its users. The ongoing global “epidemic” of tobacco smoking and tobacco-related diseases initially affected people living in the US and other Western countries, where the prevalence of smoking (the proportion of the population that smokes) in men began to rise in the early 1900s, peaking in the 1960s. A similar epidemic occurred in women about 40 years later. Smoking-related deaths began to increase in the second half of the 20th century, and by the 1990s, tobacco smoking accounted for a third of all deaths and about half of cancer deaths among men in the US and other Western countries. More recently, increased awareness of the risks of smoking and the introduction of various tobacco control measures has led to a steady decline in tobacco use and in smoking-related diseases in many developed countries.</P><P><B>Why Was This Study Done?</B></P><P>Unfortunately, less well-developed tobacco control programs, inadequate public awareness of smoking risks, and tobacco company marketing have recently led to sharp increases in the prevalence of smoking in many low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Asia. More than 50% of men in many Asian countries are now smokers, about tw

New Triterpenoids from the Fruits of Schisandra wilsoniana and Their Biological Activities

Gao, Xue-Mei,Li, Yun-Qi,Shu, Li-Dan,Shen, Yan-Qiong,Yang, Li-Ying,Yang, Liu-Meng,Zheng, Yong-Tang,Sun, Han-Dong,Xiao, Wei-Lie,Hu, Qiu-Fen Korean Chemical Society 2013 Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol.34 No.3

Investigation of an organic extract of the fruits Schisandra wilsoniana led to the isolation of two new highly oxygenated nortriterpenoids, named schilancidilactones V-W (1-2). Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic evidence. Compounds 1-2 feature a double bond between C-7 and C-8 compared with related known nortriterpenoids isolated from the genus Schisandra. Compounds 1 and 2 were tested for their anti-HIV-1 activities and cytotoxicity. The results revealed that compounds 1 and 2 showed moderate anti-HIV-1 activities with $EC_{50}$ 3.05 and 2.87 ${\mu}g/mL$, respectively, and compound 1 showed high cytotoxicity against KB and MDA-MB-231 cell with $IC_{50}$ values of 3.18 and 5.22 ${\mu}M$, respectively.

Detection of Powdery Mildew of Bitter Gourd Based on NIR/Fluorescence Spectra

Gao Jia Yu,Wei Dong Zheng,Wang Xiang,Tang Jin Cheng,Xu Ji Tong,Zhao Ping,Ning Xiao Feng 한국농업기계학회 2023 바이오시스템공학 Vol.48 No.3

Purpose Powdery mildew as one of the common vegetable diseases has very rapid infection. Its outbreak will bring about disastrous consequences to vegetable output; thus, it is of key importance to do rapid identifi cation and prevention of powdery mildew. Methods In this test, 100 bitter gourd leaves were collected as research samples, and the data of near-infrared spectra, fl uorescence spectra, and chromatic values L*a*b* , and the classic K-S algorithm was adopted to divide the sample sets; then, the quantitative forecasting and qualitative discrimination models were established. First, Pearson’s correlation analysis was carried out to fi nd the feasibility of taking a * as the modeling parameter, through cross-validation; the quantitative forecasting model was optimized by the PLSR (partial least squares regression) method. The model is also optimized by extracting the spectral feature bands using the continuous projection SPA method. Results The optimization results showed that the MSC + SPA + PLSR quantitative forecasting model of near-infrared spectra could eff ectively improve model precision, which was signifi cantly higher than that of fl uorescence spectra. Classifi cation Leaner was used to establish the quantitative forecasting model. Compared with the model of near-infrared spectra, the SPA + SVM qualitative discrimination model of fl uorescence spectra could improve the identifi cation precision of powdery mildew of bitter gourd as high as 98% through training. Conclusion This study proposed diff erent combination methods based on quantitative forecasting and qualitative discrimination and could provide a method and reference to the identifi cation of powdery mildew of bitter gourd.

Balloon dilation of epidermolysis bullosa-related esophageal strictures: A report of two cases

Wei-Zhong Zhou,Jing-Guo Xia,Zheng-Qiang Yang,Chun-Gao Zhou,Lin-Bo Zhao,Sheng Liu,Hai Bin Shi 소화기인터벤션의학회 2018 International journal of gastrointestinal interven Vol.7 No.3

Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a very rare inherited disease featured with skin blistering resulting from minor trauma. Sometimes the esophageal mucosa could also be involved, which leads to esophageal strictures. Here we report two cases of EB-related esophageal strictures who were successfully treated with esophageal balloon dilations. The two cases with EB had severe dysphagia. Clinical examination showed signs of malnutrition, skin blisters and loss of toenails due to EB. They underwent careful fluoroscopic balloon dilation with 10- and 16-mm-sized balloon catheters, respectively. They could ingest soft and some solid foods after the procedure and maintained during the 20 months and 16 months follow-up periods.

Balloon dilation of epidermolysis bullosa-related esophageal strictures: A report of two cases

Wei-Zhong Zhou,Jing-Guo Xia,Zheng-Qiang Yang,Chun-Gao Zhou,Lin-Bo Zhao,Sheng Liu,Hai Bin Shi 소화기인터벤션의학회 2018 Gastrointestinal Intervention Vol.7 No.3

Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a very rare inherited disease featured with skin blistering resulting from minor trauma. Sometimes the esophageal mucosa could also be involved, which leads to esophageal strictures. Here we report two cases of EB-related esophageal strictures who were successfully treated with esophageal balloon dilations. The two cases with EB had severe dysphagia. Clinical examination showed signs of malnutrition, skin blisters and loss of toenails due to EB. They underwent careful fluoroscopic balloon dilation with 10- and 16-mm-sized balloon catheters, respectively. They could ingest soft and some solid foods after the procedure and maintained during the 20 months and 16 months follow-up periods.

In Vivo Detection of Lipid-Core Plaques by Coronary CT Angiography: A Head-to-Head Comparison with Histologic Findings

Wei-hua Yin,Yan Zhang,Xiang-nan Li,Hong-yue Wang,Yun-qiang An,Yang Sun,Zhi-hui Hou,Yang Gao,Bin Lu,Zhe Zheng 대한영상의학회 2020 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.21 No.2

Objective: We sought to distinguish lipid plaques using a CT quantitative pixel density histogram, based on the pathological diagnosis of lipid cores as the gold standard. Materials and Methods: Eight patients awaiting heart transplantation due to end-stage coronary heart disease underwent coronary CT angiography (CCTA) spectroscopy prior to heart transplantation; coronary artery pathological analysis was performed for all patients. Lipid-core plaques were defined pathologically as manifesting a lipid core diameter > 200 μm, a circumference > 60 degrees, and a cap thickness < 450 μm. The percentage distributions of CT pixel attenuation ≤ 20, 30, 40, and 50 HU were calculated using quantitative histogram analysis. Results: A total of 271 transverse sections were co-registered between CCTA and pathological analysis. Overall, 26 lipid cores and 16 fibrous plaques were identified by pathological analysis. There was no significant difference in median CT attenuation between the lipid and fibrous plaques (51 HU [interquartile range, 46–63] vs. 57 HU [interquartile range, 50–64], p = 0.659). The median percentage of CT pixel attenuation ≤ 30 HU accounted for 11% (5–17) of lipid-core plaques and 0% (0–2) of fibrous plaques (p < 0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of the method for diagnosing lipid plaques by the average CT pixel attenuation ≤ 30 HU were 80.8% and 87.5%, respectively. The area under the receiver operator characteristics curve was 0.898 (95% confidence interval: 0.765–0.970; 3.0% was the best cut-off value). The diagnostic performance was significantly higher than those of the average pixel CT attenuation percentages ≤ 20, 40, and 50 HU and the mean CT attenuation (p < 0.05). Conclusion: In in vivo conditions, with the pathological lipid core as the gold standard, quantification of the percentage of average CT pixel attenuation ≤ 30 HU in the histogram can be useful for accurate identification of lipid plaques.

Gene Expression Profiles of HeLa Cells Impacted by Hepatitis C Virus Non-structural Protein NS4B

Zheng, Yi,Ye, Lin-Bai,Liu, Jing,Jing, Wei,Timani, Khalid A.,Yang, Xiao-Jun,Yang, Fan,Wang, Wei,Gao, Bo,Wu, Zhen-Hui Korean Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biol 2005 Journal of biochemistry and molecular biology Vol.38 No.2

By a cDNA array representing 2308 signal transduction related genes, we studied the expression profiles of HeLa cells stably transfected by Hepatitis C virus nonstructural protein 4B (HCV-NS4B). The alterations of the expression of four genes were confirmed by real-time quantitative RT-PCR; and the aldo-keto reductase family 1, member C1 (AKR1C1) enzyme activity was detected in HCV-NS4B transiently transfected HeLa cells and Huh-7, a human hepatoma cell line. Of the 2,308 genes we examined, 34 were up-regulated and 56 were down-regulated. These 90 genes involved oncogenes, tumor suppressors, cell receptors, complements, adhesions, transcription and translation, cytoskeletion and cellular stress. The expression profiling suggested that multiple regulatory pathways were affected by HCV-NS4B directly or indirectly. And since these genes are related to carcinogenesis, host defense system and cell homeostatic mechanism, we can conclude that HCV-NS4B could play some important roles in the pathogenesis mechanism of HCV.

Vasodilation Effect of 2-benzyl-5-hydroxy-6-methoxy-3, 4-dihydroisoquinolin- 1-one

Wei-Qi,Yong-Xiao Cao,Zhi-Zheng Xiong,Ting-Ting Chen,Xiao-Yan Gao,Hang Yu,San-Qi Zhang 대한약학회 2012 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.35 No.8

A 2-Benzyl-5-hydroxy-6-methoxy-3, 4-dihydroisoquinolin-1-one (ZC2) is a newly synthesized isoquinolinone compound. Its effect on vasodilation was evaluated in the present study. Isometric tension of rat artery rings was recorded by a sensitive myography system in vitro. The results showed that ZC2 relaxed rat mesenteric arteries pre-contracted by KCl, phenylephrine and 9, 11- dideoxy- 11α, 9α-epoxymethano-prostaglandin F2α (U46619), and abdominal aorta pre-contracted by KCl in a concentration-dependent manner. The ZC2-induced vasodilation was not affected by an endothelium denudation. ZC2 rightwards shifted the concentration-contraction curves, induced by KCl, phenylephrine, and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in a non-parallel manner, which suggests that the vasodilation effects are most likely via voltage-dependent calcium channel (VDCC) and receptor-operated calcium channel (ROCC). Moreover, in Ca2+-free medium, ZC2 concentration-dependently depressed the vasoconstrictions induced by phenylephrine and CaCl2, and decreased a contractile response induced by caffeine, which indicates a role of extracellular Ca2+ influx inhibition through VDCC and ROCC, and intracellular Ca2+ release from Ca2+ store via the ryanodine receptors. Glibenclamide did not affect the vasodilation induced by ZC2, suggesting that ATP sensitive potassium channel is not involved in the vasodilation. The results indicate that ZC2 induces vasodilation by inhibiting the VDCC and ROCC, and receptormediated Ca2+ influx and release. The inhibition of intracellular Ca2+ release may be mediated via the ryanodine receptors.

Effects of Tourism Disturbance on the Ecological Stoichiometry Characteristics of C, N and P of Common Species, Community and Soil in Mountain Meadow of Kanas Scenic Area

Wei Zheng,Jin-Zhong Zhu,Gao-Rong Tang 한국초지조사료학회 2016 한국초지조사료학회 학술대회논문집 Vol.2016 No.08