An increasing number of studies have reported that lncRNAs are responsible for the development of neuropathic pain. In our current study, chronic constriction injury (CCI) rat models were established and we observed that lncRNA XIST was greatly increased. Knockdown of XIST can relieve pain characteristics including both mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia in CCI rats. Meanwhile, XIST down-regulation could inhibit neuro-inflammation by reducing expression of inflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 and in CCI rats. By performing bioinformatics technology, miR-544 was predicted to have interactions with XIST and dual-luciferase reporter assays validated the correlation between them. A negative correlation between miR-544 and XIST was observed by carrying out XIST loss or gain of function tests. miR-544 markedly alleviated neuropathic pain development in CCI rats via targeting inflammatory cytokines, which was reversed by XIST over-expression. Moreover, STAT3 was manifested to be a target gene of miR-544 by bioinformatics predictions and it was activated in CCI rats. Over-expression of STAT3 was able to induce neuropathic pain and miR-544 inhibited this process in vivo. Furthermore, XIST increased STAT3 expression by sponging miR-544 in neuropathic pain development. To conclude, our present study indicated that XIST can contribute to neuropathic pain progression in rats through down-regulating miR-544 and up-regulating STAT3. Our results suggested that XIST/miR-544/STAT3 axis can serve as a novel therapeutic target in neuropathic pain development.

This research examines the consumer nutrition environment in the selected neighborhoods identified as food deserts, food swamps, and food oases in Austin, Texas, by considering food availability, food price, food quality, and food labeling. A food auditing instrument M-TxNEA-S (He Jin, San Marcos, TX, USA) was developed to capture the unique dietary culture and food preferences in Texas. A total of 93 food items in 14 grocery stores and supermarkets (GS) and 32 convenience stores (CS) were surveyed. The GS in food swamps and food oases were found to offer significantly more healthy foods than the CS. The availability of healthy food in the GS in the food swamps and food oases is significantly higher than that of the GS from the food deserts; CS in the three neighborhoods did not exhibit a significant difference in healthy food availability. There was no significant difference between the price for the healthy items (lower fat, lower calorie, and whole grain) and that for the regular food options. No significant difference was found for food quality or food labeling between the stores from the different types of neighborhoods. The GS in food deserts are small grocery stores carrying limited ranges of foods. The establishment of larger food stores in the food deserts might not be very rewarding, but opening more small grocery stores with healthier options may alleviate food issues.

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Background/Aims: We aimed to explore whether ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide (GLP) exhibits antitumor effect on cervical cancer cells. Methods and Results: Different concentration of GLP was used to treat cervical cell. The data from cell counting kit-8 assay proved that the optimal working concentration and time of GLP were 200 µg/mL and treated for 48 h. The transwell assay demonstrated that GLP could attenuate the invasion and migration abilities of cervical cancer cells. Moreover, flow cytometry illustrated that GLP could promote the apoptosis of cervical cancer cells and limit the cycle of cervical cancer cells. Western blot assay discovered that the expression of proapoptosis proteins including Bax, Cleaved Caspases 3 and 9 increased and the antiapoptosis protein Bcl-2 decreased after treated with GLP. Moreover, we found that the expression of E-cadherin was increased, and N-cadherin, Vimentin, and Slug were decreased. Meanwhile, the expression of phosphorylated-JAK and phosphorylated-STAT5 was also decreased in cervical cancer cells treated by GLP, suggesting the inhibitory effect on JAK/STAT5 pathways. Conclusions: All of these data illustrated that GLP could alleviate the activity and aggressiveness, block the cell cycle, and promote the apoptosis of cervical cancer cells, which were possible via inhibiting epithelial-mesenchymal and JAK/STAT5 pathways.