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Oxidative stress is involved in a variety of diseases. Prospective studies investigating the relationship between oxidative stress biomarkers and the status and development of colorectal cancer (CRC) are scarce; previous studies have failed to establish a relationship between the serum total oxidant/antioxidant status and CRC. Therefore, we compared the total serum oxidant/antioxidant levels of CRC patients and healthy subjects, and analyzed their clinical significance in the CRC. Fasting blood samples from 132 CRC patients and 64 healthy subjects were collected. Oxidative stress parameters, including total oxidant status (TOS) and total antioxidant status (TAS), were measured, and the oxidative stress index (OSI) was calculated. The TOS and OSI levels increased significantly (P<0.001) and the TAS level significantly decreased (P<0.001) in the CRC group compared to those in the healthy control group. Oxidative stress parameters differed significantly depending on the patient’s smoking and drinking status (P<0.05). The preoperative and postoperative levels of TOS, TAS, and OSI did not differ significantly between primary sites (colon/rectum) and clinical stages (P>0.05).However, the levels of TOS, TAS, and OSI were significantly different between patients with no metastasis and those with metastases to two organs (P<0.05) Finally, the parameters are affected by smoking and drinking, and subsequent research should be conducted excluding the relevant influencing factors.

Abstract. 5-Lipoxygenase (5-LOX) has been implicated in the development and progression of lung, pancreatic and esophageal cancers. However, its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the role of 5-LOX in the pathogenesis of HCC. The expression of 5-LOX was detected in human HCC, HepG2 cells and diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced rat HCC using immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining or reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Apoptosis in rat HCC was evaluated by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end-labeling (TUNEL) assay. Cell viability and apoptosis were determined in HepG2 cells by MTT assay and flow cytometry, respectively. IHC staining showed that the 5-LOX protein was highly expressed in human HCC, HepG2 cells and rat HCC, but not in the normal liver tissues. 5-LOX mRNA expression in human and rat HCC was also significantly increased compared to normal liver tissues. Zileuton, a 5-LOX inhibitor, reduced the nodule incidence and the mean number of nodules per nodule-bearing liver in DEN-induced rats. Further study using TUNEL assay showed that zileuton treatment induced apoptosis in the liver as the result of inhibition on 5-LOX levels. This result is consistent with our observation of significantly higher apoptotic indices in rats treated with DEN/zileuton, which were significantly higher compared to those from the control groups. In addition, zileuton reduced cell viability and induced apoptosis in a concentration-and time-dependent manner as detected using HepG2 cells in our in vitro analysis. In conclusion, 5-LOX is expressed in HCC, and the inhibition of 5-LOX blocks the development of HCC via the induction of apoptosis in tumor cells.

Chronic inflammation and an immunosuppressive microenvironment promote prostate cancer (PCa) progression and diminish the response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapies. However, it remains unclear how and to what extent these two events are coordinated. Here, we show that ARID1A, a subunit of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, functions downstream of inflammation-induced IKKβ activation to shape the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Prostate-specific deletion of Arid1a cooperates with Pten loss to accelerate prostate tumorigenesis. We identify polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells (PMN-MDSCs) as the major infiltrating immune cell type that causes immune evasion and reveal that neutralization of PMN-MDSCs restricts the progression of Arid1a-deficient tumors. Mechanistically, inflammatory cues activate IKKβ to phosphorylate ARID1A, leading to its degradation via β-TRCP. ARID1A downregulation in turn silences the enhancer of A20 deubiquitinase, a critical negative regulator of NF-κB signaling, and thereby unleashes CXCR2 ligand-mediated MDSC chemotaxis. Importantly, our results support the therapeutic strategy of anti-NF-κB antibody or targeting CXCR2 combined with ICB for advanced PCa. Together, our findings highlight that the IKKβ/ARID1A/NF-κB feedback axis integrates inflammation and immunosuppression to promote PCa progression.

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Noncanonical NF-κB pathway is essential for the B cell activation and antibody production, which centralize the critical role of B cells in regulating the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We have previously demonstrated that Pellino1 (Peli1) negatively regulates noncanonical NF-κB activation and lupus autoimmunity. Here, we showed that poly IC is a potent inducer of Peli1 protein in mouse splenic B cells in dose- and time-dependent manners, and poly IC-induced Peli1 protein dramatically suppressed the activation of noncanonical NF-κB pathway. In addition, poly IC-pretreated B cells failed to induce lupus-like disease in BM12 CD4+ T cell-immunized mice. Accordingly, the induction of antibody-producing plasma cells and germinal center B cells, as well as the production of autoantibodies were significantly impaired in immunized μMT mice that were transferred with poly IC-pretreated B cells. Our findings demonstrate that poly IC-induced Peli1 negatively regulates the noncanonical NF-κB pathway in the context of restraining the pathogenesis of lupus-like disease.

BackgroundOxidative stress parameters such as total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant status (TAS), and oxidative stress index (OSI) have been studied in breast, thyroid, and simple esophageal cancers (EC). We evaluated these parameters in patients with EC and analyzed their correlations with treatment outcomes.Material/MethodSerum TOS, TAS, and OSI in 92 patients with EC at different clinical stages and in 64 healthy people (controls) were measured.ResultsSerum TOS, TAS, and OSI were significantly different between patients with EC and healthy controls (all p<0.001); however, there were no significant differences across different clinical stages (all p>0.05). These factors are not correlated with smoking or drinking history (all p>0.05). Patients with EC with higher TOS and OSI and lower TAS had better responses to chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, but there was no significant correlation with different responses (all p>0.05). In a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis comparing patients with EC with healthy controls, the Youden indices were 0.391, 0.886, and 1, respectively.ConclusionsSerum TOS, TAS, and OSI were significantly different between patients with EC and healthy controls. In patients with EC, these factors were not correlated with smoking or drinking history or with clinical stage. Patients with EC with higher TOS and OSI and lower TAS had a trend towards better outcomes but it did not reach significance. Serum TOS and OSI are potential diagnostic biomarkers that can be used to identify cases of EC.