Background Radioactive seed is a method for treating drug-resistant, late-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but has undesirable side effects. Gambogic acid (GA), an ingredient of traditional Chinese medicine, exerts broad-spectrum antitumour activities via several pathways. This study aimed to elucidate the mechanism involved in the combined effect of low-dose GA and NaI131 to sensitize the antitumour activity of NaI131 in drug-resistant NSCLC cells. Methods Human NSCLC cell line A549 and drug-resistant cell lines A549/DDP and A549/Taxol were treated with NaI131, low-dose GA or a combination of both; control group of each cell line was treated with phosphate-buffered saline. Following treatment, cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle, and levels of expression of apoptosis-related proteins namely CDK1, Cyclin B, mtp53, HSP90, and Bax, Bcl-2 respectively, and P-glycoprotein 1 (P-gp) known to confer resistance to chemotherapy, were detected using western blotting and immunofluorescence. mRNA levels of mtp53 and HSP90 were measured using qRT-PCR. Results Compared to the control group, A549, A549/DDP, and A549/Taxol cells treated with NaI131, GA or combination of drugs exhibited G2/M arrest, increased percentage of total apoptotic cells, significantly reduced protein levels of CDK1, Cyclin B, mtp53, HSP90, Bcl-2 and P-gp, increased protein levels of Bax and decreased mRNA levels of mtp53 and HSP90. The changes in the combination group were significantly different from the other groups. Conclusion In NSCLC cell lines, low-dose GA could enhance the effect of NaI131 on G2/M arrest, promote cell apoptosis, reduce drug-resistance and hence could be explored as a potential radionuclide sensitizer.
Objective To investigate the clinical manifestations and imaging characteristics of pulmonary cryptococcosis, and discuss its guidance in diagnosing. Methods The clinical data of patients diagnosed with cryptococcosis in our hospital from January 2014 to May 2020 were collected and retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into the immunocompromised group and the immunocompetent group. The symptomatic features, laboratory examination, imaging manifestations, and curative effect were analyzed. Results The most common symptoms of patients were cough and sputum production, followed by fever. The immunocompetent group has a significantly higher accident rate of cough and fever than the immunocompromised group, while the immunocompromised group has a significantly higher accident rate of headache and dizziness (P < 0.05). The positive rate of serum cryptococcal capsular antigen (CrAg) test of the two groups were 83.33% and 86.96%, respectively. While the positive rate of CrAg test in cerebrospinal fluid of the immunocompromised group was significantly higher than that of the immunocompetent group (P < 0.05). The lesions of pulmonary cryptococcosis were predominantly present in the lower part of the lung periphery and significantly distributed in the right lung (P < 0.05). The most common imaging finding of pulmonary cryptococcosis was halo sign (64.58%), followed by multiple nodules, and trachea sign was significantly more common in the immunocompetent group. Conclusions Cryptococcosis has an insidious onset, which can infect healthy people as well. Conducting a CrAg test is good for screening and diagnosing cryptococcosis. We should be alert for the high risk of cryptococcal meningoencephalitis in patients with compromised immune function.
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