Wang (2021) Single-cell RNA-seq reveals invasive trajectory and determines cancer stem cell-related prognostic genes in pancreatic cancer,

Pancreatic cancer has a low survival rate globally. Anillin (ANLN) is involved in the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer (PC). The present study used databases and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR to investigate the association between ANLN expression, clinical variables and the survival rate of patients with pancreatic cancer. Gene expression of ANLN in normal and cancer tissues was analyzed using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, Oncomine and Gene Expression database of Normal and Tumor tissues 2 and ANOVA, and the association between ANLN mRNA expression and ANLN genovariation was analyzed using cBioPortal. The association between ANLN expression and the survival, clinical, pathological and prognostic characteristics of PC was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier (K-M) survival analysis, Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney-U tests, and logistic and Cox regression models. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) revealed the molecular pathways underpinning ANLN function in PC. Overexpression of ANLN was observed in PC cells (normal vs. tumor, P<0.01) and tissues (normal vs. tumor, P=0.008). Enhanced ANLN expression was associated with high tumor grade (grade 1 vs. grade 3, odds ratio: 5.662, P<0.001). However, ANLN expression was not associated with other clinical features (all P>0.05). K-M analysis suggested that increased ANLN expression was associated with poor survival (P=0.002). Univariate and multivariate analysis revealed the ANLN is an independent prognostic factor for PC (P<0.001). GSEA demonstrated the p53, cell cycle, DNA replication, mismatch repair, nucleotide excision repair and PC pathways were associated with low expression of ANLN. Overall, ANLN is more highly expressed in PC compared with in normal tissue, and is associated with poor differentiation. The expression of ANLN may be a novel prognostic marker of poor survival. Finally, ANLN exert its functions in PC through the p53, cell cycle, DNA replication, mismatch repair and nucleotide excision repair and pathways.

Objective. To evaluate Roux-en-Y and Billroth II reconstruction following pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). Methods. PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and the Web of Science were searched to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and controlled clinical trials that compared Roux-en-Y and Billroth II reconstruction following PD up to December 2019. RevMan 5.3 software was used for the statistical analysis. Results. Four RCTs and five controlled clinical trials were included, with a total of 1,072 patients (500 and 572 patients in the Roux-en-Y and Billroth II groups, respectively). No significant differences in delayed gastric emptying (DGE), A-grade DGE, B-grade DGE, or C-grade DGE were observed between the Roux-en-Y and Billroth II reconstruction groups after PD ( odds   ratio   OR = 1.01 , 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.50–2.03, P = 0.98 ; OR = 0.49 , 95% CI: 0.17–1.45, P = 0.20 ; OR = 0.63 , 95% CI: 0.29–1.38, P = 0.25 ; and OR = 2.13 , 95% CI: 0.38–11.99, P = 0.39 ). No significant difference in the incidence of postoperative pancreatic fistula, abscess, bile leaks, infection, postoperative bleeding, or the length of the postoperative hospital stay was observed between the Roux-en-Y and Billroth II groups ( P > 0.05 ), but the operation time was significantly different ( mean   difference [MD] = 31.65 , 95% CI: 7.14–56.17, P = 0.01 ). Conclusions. Billroth II reconstruction after PD did not significantly reduce the incidence of DGE or other complications but shortened the operation time compared to Roux-en-Y reconstruction. However, the results must be verified by further high-quality, large RCTs or controlled clinical trials.

Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) as one of the main bioactive constituents of the fruit of Lycium barbarum L. (LBL.) has many pharmacological activities, but its antihyperglycemic activity is not fully understood yet. This study investigated the hypoglycemic and renal protective effects of LBP on high-fat diet/streptozotocin- (HFD/STZ-) induced diabetic nephropathy (DN) in mice. Blood glucose was assessed before and after 8-week administration of LBP, and the homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index was calculated for evaluating the antidiabetic effect of LBP. Additionally, serum creatinine (sCr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and urine microalbumin were tested to evaluate the renal function. HE and PAS stainings were performed to evaluate the morphology and injury of the kidney. The results showed that LBP significantly reduces the glucose level and ameliorates the insulin resistance of diabetic mice. Importantly, LBP improves renal function by lowering the levels of sCr, BUN, and microalbumin in diabetic mice and relieves the injury in the renal glomeruli and tubules of the DN mice. Furthermore, LBP attenuates renal inflammation as evidenced by downregulating the mRNA levels of TNFα, IL1 β, IL6, and SAA3 in the renal cortex, as well as reducing the elevated circulating level and protein depositions of SAA3 in the kidney. In addition, our western blot results showed that NF-κB p65 nuclear translocation and the degradation of inhibitory κB-α (IκBα) occurred during the progress of inflammation, and such activated signaling was restrained by LBP. In conclusion, our findings suggest that LBP is a potential antidiabetic agent, which ameliorates the inflammation in DN through inhibiting NF-κB activation.

Background Gastric cancer is a malignant tumor originating from the gastric mucosal epithelium, ranking fourth in the incidence of male malignant tumors and third in mortality rate. The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy and adverse reactions of DCF and FOLFOXs regimens in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer. Methods Relevant prospective clinical controlled studies were retrieved from WanFang Data, CBM, CNKI, PubMed, The Cochrane Library and Embase databases and meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software. Results The effective rates of DCF group and FOLFOXs group were basically the same (RR 1.06, 95% CI: 0.92–1.23, P=0.41). The incidence of nausea and vomiting (RR 1.36, 95% CI: 1.15–1.60), anemia (RR 2.04, 95% CI: 1.55–2.68), thrombocytopenia (RR 1.52, 95% CI: 1.15–2.01) and leukopenia (RR 1.70, 95% CI: 1.44–2.01) with FOLFOXs regimen were significantly lower than DCF regimen, while the incidence of sensory neurotoxicity was significantly higher than DCF regimen (RR 0.53, 95% CI: 0.38–0.74). There were no significant differences in efficacy, ORR and DCR between different doses in the FOLFOXs group (P=0.233). Conclusions The efficacy of FOLFOXs regimen was comparable to that of DCF regimen in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer, but the incidence of adverse reactions was significantly lower, and there were no significant differences between different therapeutic doses.

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