Acta biochimica Polonica最新文献

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was a risk factor for lung cancer tumorigenesis. This study aimed to discover novel diagnostic biomarkers for COPD patients and determine their underlying pathogenetic mechanisms.

Materials and methods: Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in COPD samples and normal controls were analyzed and utilized to construct a network associated with a high risk for COPD occurrence. Enrichment analysis was applied on the strength of Gene Ontology (GO) annotations and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis. The RT-qPCR analysis was performed to determine 10 hub genes in COPD. ELISA assay was utilized to measure IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-10 levels. Spearman's correlation analysis was conducted to detect the correlation between inflammatory cytokines and AHNAK expression. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were evaluated by CCK-8 and flow cytometry assays.

Results: AHNAK was significantly increased in COPD serum samples compared with non-COPD smokers and strongly correlated with inflammation. AHNAK level could also discriminate COPD from non-COPD with high accuracy.

Conclusion: AHNAK may be a feasible biomarker playing crucial functions in the diagnosis and progression of COPD.

Objective: To investigate the prognostic value of serum albumin (SA) levels before chemotherapy in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) after receiving chemotherapy.

Methods: This is a retrospective study, and 127 patients with DLBCL including 71 males (55.9%) and 56 females (44.1%) were included. Patients' gender, age, Ann Arbor staging, eastern cooperative oncology group (ECOG) score, treatment options, international prognostic index, response rate, overall survival (OS), and progression-free survival (PFS) were obtained for statistical analysis.

Results: Univariate analysis showed that SA≤34 g/L, Ann Arbor III-IV, B symptoms, ECOG≥2, and bone marrow involvement suggest a poor prognosis in patients with DLBCL. Patients with persistent SA>34 g/L had significantly longer OS than patients with persistent SA≤34 g/L (P=0.020). Multivariate analysis showed that SA≤34 g/L (HR=0.48, 95% CI=0.26-0.90, P=0.022) and R-CHOP-like treatment regimen (HR=0.43, 95% CI=0.24-0.76, P=0.004) are independent factors that could affect the prognosis of patients with DLBCL.

Conclusion: SA can be used as an indicator of prognosis in patients with DLBCL before the first chemotherapy. DLBCL patients with SA≤34 g/L are associated with short OS and poor prognosis, which may potentially provide guidance for the clinician to pay more attention to this population before the first chemotherapy.

Wound healing is a considerable problem for clinicians. Ever greater attention has been paid to the role of Chinese herbal monomers and compounds on wound healing. This study aims to elucidate the wound healing mechanism of Modified Hongyu Decoction (MHD) in vivo and in vitro. MHD wound healing activity in vivo was evaluated using an excision rat model. H and E staining, Masson's staining and immunofluorescence of wound tissue on days 7 and 14 were performed to evaluate the efficacy of MHD on wound healing. Subsequently, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were used to evaluate wound healing characteristics in vitro. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and scratch assays were conducted to assess the effects of MHD on the proliferation and migration of HUVECs. The involvement of the VEGF/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway was assessed by western blotting. The rats in the MHD group displayed more neovascularization and collagen fibers. Western blotting of wound tissue showed that VEGF, PI3K, p-Akt and p-eNOS expression were significantly increased (p<0.05) in the MHD group. Cell Counting Kit-8 and scratch assays demonstrated that MHD promoted HUVECs proliferation and migration. MHD treatment significantly increased VEGF, PI3K, p-Akt and p-eNOS expression in HUVECs (p<0.05), which was inhibited by LY294002. Both in vivo and in vitro data indicated that MHD promotes wound healing by regulating the VEGF/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

The cell adhesion protein cadherin 19 (CDH19) has been reported to be involved in various types of cancer, but its role in cervical carcinoma remains unknown. We collected and analyzed the patients' data using the GEPIA Kaplan-Meier plotter databases. CDH19 was overexpressed in cervical carcinoma cells to assess its effect on cell proliferation and activation of AKT and NF-κB signaling pathways. A xenograft mouse model was established to study the function of CDH19 in vivo. We found that CDH19 expression was significantly downregulated in cervical carcinoma tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues. Patients with high expression of CDH19 had a significantly better overall survival rate than those with low CDH19 expression. CDH19 expression was negatively correlated with the expression of the proliferation marker Ki-67, and overexpression of CDH19 significantly inhibited cervical carcinoma cell proliferation. Furthermore, overexpression of CDH19 suppressed the activation of the AKT and NF-κB signaling pathways, and CDH19-overexpressing cervical carcinoma tumors exhibited significantly slower growth in vivo. CDH19 plays an important role in cervical carcinoma by suppressing both cell proliferation and the activation of AKT and NF-κB signaling pathways. Therefore, CDH19 may be a potential therapeutic target for cervical carcinoma.

Objective: This study is an exploration of the relationship between chemical industrial environment and allergic skin diseases.

Methods: In this retrospective analysis, 200 patients with allergic skin diseases who worked or lived in a chemical industrial zone and were admitted in our hospital between January 2018 and January 2020 were enrolled as Group A. Besides, 500 patients with allergic skin disease who lived in Zhenhai New District, five kilometers away from the chemical radiation zone, were selected as Group B. The specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels were determined by Western blotting. The allergen positivity, as well as allergen positivity between different age, sex and body mass index (BMI) were compared between the two groups. The positive food-specific allergen IgE antibody (sIgE) and positive inhalational sIgE were compared between the two groups.

Results: The positive rate of total IgE and inhalational sIgE in Group A was higher than that in Group B (P<0.05), while there was no significant difference in positive rate in food sIgE between the two groups (P>0.05). In Group A, the differences in positive rates of total IgE, food-induced sIgE and inhalational sIgE were not significant between patients with different ages, sexes and BMI (P>0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups in sIgE positive rates of wheat, mango, soybean/peanut/cashew nut combination, limb/beef combination, crab/shrimp/fish combination, milk and egg white (P>0.05). The positive rates of inhalational sIgE in tree combination and dust mites/household dust mites combination in Group A were higher than those in Group B (P<0.05), but had no significant difference between the two groups in the positive rates of inhalational sIgE in Humulus japonicus, mold combination 1, cockroach, cat/dog hair combination, and ragweed/artemisia combination (P>0.05).

Conclusion: Chemical industrial environment is closely associated with allergic dermatosis, and the positive rate of total IgE and inhalational sIgE increases significantly in patients living there.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are zinc-dependent endoproteases responsible for the metabolism of extracellular matrix (ECM). MMPs can degrade the various ECM components as a variety of non-ECM molecules. Hyperactivity of MMPs and improper regulation or inhibition could lead to certain disorders, like non-healing chronic wounds. In chronic wounds, unlike in acute ones, there are always higher levels of MMPs due to the accompanying inflammation. Different proteases are responsible for this condition; nonetheless, blocking MMPs can help restore the wound's healing ability. The level of MMPs can help indicate the prognosis of chronic wounds. In some cases, the healing process is delayed by microbial wound infections. Bacterial proteases may up-regulate the levels of MMPs produced by host cells. That means that both host MMPs as proteases secreted by the infecting bacteria need to be targeted to increase the healing capacity of the wound. MMPs activity modulating treatments by superabsorbent polymer dressings can improve healing rates of chronic wounds. The main goal of this review was presentation the specific role of metalloproteinases in the pathology and therapy of hard-to-heal wounds.

Objective: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most common psychiatric issues in hemodialysis population. However, the research on proper diagnostic tools and its treatment is still insufficient. The study was performed to investigate the safety and effectiveness of sertraline and agomelatine in a group of hemodialysis patients.

Patients and methods: 78 adult patients from one dialysis centre in Poland were included into the study. The Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) was used to screen for depressive symptoms and was followed by the clinical interview with the psychiatrist. Nine patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder received antidepressant treatment with sertraline or agomelatine, according to the best clinical practice. The additional treatment with vortioxetine was used if the initial one was not effective. The time of observation was 24 weeks. The psychiatric follow up as well as the laboratory data were obtained during the course of observation.

Results: All patients receiving sertraline achieved remission of depressive symptoms. In patients receiving agomelatine no remission was observed despite dose augmentation. The side effects of antidepressants were mild and did not result in treatment discontinuation. No abnormalities in liver enzymes levels were observed. In five cases the significant decrease of haemoglobin level was noticed, with no cases of bleeding reported.

Conclusion: In patients receiving sertraline the antidepressant effect was satisfactory. No remission of depressive symptoms was observed in patients taking agomelatine. The side effects of antidepressants were mild and transient. Further research on depression treatment in hemodialysis patients is needed, including newer medications.