Objectives To explore the correlations among social isolation and symptoms of anxiety and depression among patients with breast cancer in China and to further verify the mediating role of social support in social isolation and symptoms of depression or anxiety. Design A cross‐sectional survey. Settings The cluster sampling method was conducted for 456 female inpatients diagnosed with breast cancer at the Tumor Hospital Affiliated of Harbin Medical University from April 2019–September 2019. Methods Pearson correlation analysis was used for identifying correlations among all the variables. Mediation effect analysis was used to examine the role of social support in social isolation and symptoms of depression or anxiety. Results The results showed a prevalence of 73.26% and 70.44% for anxiety and depression symptoms in patients with breast cancer, respectively. Anxiety was significantly negatively correlated with social support (r = −.334, p < .01) and significantly positively correlated with social isolation (r = .369, p < .01). Similarly, depression was significantly negatively correlated with social support (r = −.289, p < .01) and significantly positively correlated with social isolation (r = .466, p < .01). Social support played a mediating role in social isolation and f symptoms of anxiety or depression among these patients. Conclusions Social isolation was positively correlated with symptoms of anxiety and depression in patients with breast cancer, respectively. Social support for patients with breast cancer has a mediating effect on the patients’ social isolation and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Therefore, the support of family, friends, hospitals, and organizations plays a positive role in reducing social isolation as well as symptoms of depression and anxiety in these patients.

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Black currant extract (BCE) is rich in polyphenols and can induce apoptosis in various cancer cells, but the molecular mechanism by which BCE induces cancer cell apoptosis has not been reported. The aim of this work was to elucidate the antitumor effect of BCE and the signal transduction pathways involved. MTT test results revealed that the viability of MKN-45 and TE-1 cells treated with BCE gradually decreased in a concentration-dependent manner, with significant effects achieved after 12 h of treatment. MKN-45 and TE-1 cells clearly showed characteristics of apoptosis: shrinkage, cytoplasmic condensation, and formation of cytoplasmic filaments, even partial detachment. In addition, these results showed MKN-45 cells showed a higher level of apoptosis than TE-1 cells when treated with BCE. Western blot assays showed that the Bcl-2/Bax ratio decreased in both MKN-45 and TE-1 cells, indicating that BCE induced apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway. In addition, BCE-induced apoptosis was mediated by mitochondrial dysfunction involving the PI3K/Akt pathway in both MKN-45 and TE-1 cells. However, BCE-induced cell apoptosis was mediated by the Fas receptor pathway in MKN-45 cells but not in TE-1 cells. BCE-induced apoptosis in MKN-45 cells was associated with the MAP-kinase signaling pathway through the activation of p38 and JNK and the inactivation of Erk1/2. However, it was associated with the MAP-kinase signaling pathway only by means of activation of p38 and JNK in TE-1 cells. These results showed that BCE induces apoptosis of MKN-45 and TE-1 cells through MAPK- and PI3K/Akt-mediated mitochondrial pathways. Thus, BCE may be a promising anticancer candidate.

ObjectiveAfter the unprecedented coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, the health status of the general population has suffered a huge threat, and the mental health of front-line healthcare providers has also encountered great challenges. Therefore, this study aims to: (1) investigate the prevalence and influencing factors of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among healthcare providers, and (2) verify the moderating role of self-efficacy in the influence of PTSD on mental health.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted using an online survey of 1993 participants. The presence of depression, anxiety, self-efficacy, and PTSD was evaluated using screening tests from March 1. Sociodemographic and COVID-19-related data were also collected. A data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression.ResultsThe prevalence of PTSD among healthcare providers was 9.3%. PTSD was negatively correlated with self-efficacy (r = −0.265, P &lt; 0.01), anxiety (r = −0.453, P &lt; 0.01), and depression (r = 0.708, P &lt; 0.01). Profession, daily working hours, maximum continuous working days, and daily sleep time were influencing factors of PTSD. A binary logistic regression analysis showed that physicians (OR = 2.254, 95% CI = 1.298, 3.914) and nurses (OR = 2.176, 95% CI = 1.337, 3.541) were more likely to experience PTSD than other healthcare providers.ConclusionSelf-efficacy has a moderating effect on the influence of PTSD on anxiety and depression. This suggests that health managers need to respond to the current psychological crisis of healthcare providers, implement appropriate psychological interventions, and minimize the psychological harm caused by COVID-19.

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