The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that administration of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a polyphenol present in abundance in widely consumed tea, inhibits cell proliferation, invasion, and angiogenesis in breast cancer patients. EGCG in 400 mg capsules was orally administered three times daily to breast cancer patients undergoing treatment with radiotherapy. Parameters related to cell proliferation, invasion, and angiogenesis were analyzed while blood samples were collected at different time points to determine efficacy of the EGCG treatment. Compared to patients who received radiotherapy alone, those given radiotherapy plus EGCG for an extended time period (two to eight weeks) showed significantly lower serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and reduced activation of metalloproteinase-9 and metalloproteinase-2 (MMP9/MMP2). Addition of sera obtained from patients treated with combination of radiotherapy and EGCG feeding for 2–8 weeks to in vitro cultures of highly-metastatic human MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells resulted in the following significant changes: (1) suppression of cell proliferation and invasion; (2) arrest of cell cycles at the G0/G1 phase; (3) reduction of activation of MMP9/MMP2, expressions of Bcl-2/Bax, c-Met receptor, NF-κB, and the phosphorylation of Akt. MDA-MB-231 cells exposed to 5–10 µM EGCG also showed significant augmentation of the apoptosis inducing effects of γ-radiation, concomitant with reduced NF-κB protein level and AKT phosphorylation. These results provide hitherto unreported evidence that EGCG potentiated efficacy of radiotherapy in breast cancer patients, and raise the possibility that this tea polyphenol has potential to be a therapeutic adjuvant against human metastatic breast cancer.

Preoperative NLR and PLR were closely related to prognosis of patients with GBC and might be useful for the evaluation of prognosis of patients with GBC.

Objective Traditionally, oestrogens were considered to be protective for the cardiovascular system for premenopausal women. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective case-control study to examine the association between endogenous oestrogens and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) risk among postmenopausal women. Methods A case-control study was performed among 30 primary AMI patients and 60 control subjects. Baseline characteristics data was collected and endogenous sex hormones levels were determined using chemoluminescence and radioimmunoassay methods. Conditional logistic regression models were developed with adjustment for confounders. Results Compared with controls, the circulating oestrone, oestradiol, androstenedione and testosterone levels were significantly higher in AMI patients (P < 0.05) while the sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) level was lower (P<0.05). Spearman correlation coefficients showed oestradiol was positively correlated with body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) in cases, but not in controls. In univariable conditional logistic regression models, oestrone, oestradiol, testosterone, WHR, BMI, diabetes and hypertension were all found to be positively associated with AMI (P<0.05). After adjusting for these factors, oestradiol (odds ratio (OR)04.75; 95 % confidence interval (CI)01.07-21.10; P00.04) and WHR (OR06.46; 95 % CI01.09-38.39; P00.04) continued to demonstrate strong positive associations with AMI. Conclusions A higher level of oestradiol was potentially associated with primary AMI risk among postmenopausal women.

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We investigated the expression of salivary α2-macroglobulin (α2-MG) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) to investigate its value for predicting damage to the salivary glands. A total of 116 patients with T2DM and 60 patients with impaired fasting glucose (IFG) were included in this study. Sixty health volunteers were enrolled as a control group. Unstimulated saliva was collected at 8 a.m. prior to breakfast. Expression of α2-MG was determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The correlation between salivary α2-MG, serum α2-MG, and concentration of fasting glucose was analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis. No significant difference was observed in the expression of serum α2-MG in the T2DM group, IFG group, and control group (P > 0.05). Compared with the control group and IFG group, a statistical difference was observed in the salivary α2-MG in the T2DM group (P < 0.01). No statistical difference was observed in the salivary α2-MG in the IFG group compared with the control group (P > 0.05). In the patients with T2DM, a close correlation was identified in the expression of serum α2-MG and salivary α2-MG (r = 0.52, P < 0.01). A poor correlation was identified between salivary α2-MG and blood sugar level (r = -0.12, P = 0.199). The expression of salivary α2-MG showed a remarkable increase in T2DM patients, which may be associated with functional disorders of the salivary gland.

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