AimTo assess the effect of Lactobacillus supplementation on Helicobacter pylori eradication rates and side effects of the triple therapy.MethodsPubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane Library were searched for articles published up to July, 2019. Review Manager 5.3 and Stata 12.0 were used for statistical analyses.ResultsThe initial database search resulted in 852 articles. Through exclusion and screening, 11 randomized controlled trials involving a total of 724 patients were finally included in this meta-analysis. The H. pylori elimination rate in the Lactobacillus supplement group was significantly higher than that in the control group (RR 1.16, 95% CI 1.08–1.25, P<0.0001). Subgroup analysis showed that the eradication rates were significantly enhanced in both adults and children group, and no significant difference was detected between Asia and Europe group. In addition, sub-analysis based on duration of Lactobacillus supplementation showed the pooled RRs in the long-term and short-term groups were 1.17 (95%CI 1.06–1.30) and 1.16 (95% CI 1.04–1.30), respectively. Regarding the Lactobacillus strains, the pooled RR was 1.33 (95% CI 1.10–1.62) in the L. casei group, 1.18 (95% CI 1.03–1.34) in the L. reuteri group while 1.02 (95% CI 0.87–1.21) in the Lactobacillus GG group. As for the total side effects, Lactobacillus supplementation significantly reduced the incidence of taste disturbance (RR = 0.36, 95% CI 0.17–0.74, P = 0.005).ConclusionsLactobacillus supplementation during the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection can effectively improve the eradication rates, and reduce the incidence of therapy-related taste disturbance.

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Background and Objectives: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis with the aim of determining the relationship between H. pylori infection and psoriasis. Methods: Pubmed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Web of Science were searched for articles published up to July, 2019. Review Manager 5.3 and Stata 12.0 were used for statistical analyses. Results: The initial database search resulted in 204 articles. Through exclusion and screening, 11 studies involving a total of 1741 participants were finally included in this meta-analysis. The odds ratio (OR) of H. pylori infection rate in the psoriasis group was significantly higher than that in the control group (OR = 1.19, 95% CI 1.15–2.52, P = 0.008). Subgroup analysis showed that no significant difference was detected between the Asia group and the Europe group. As for the methods of H. pylori detection, a statistically significant increase of H. pylori infection in the IgG ELISA test group was detected, compared with the urea breath test group. In addition, analysis based on the severity of psoriasis showed a statistically significant increase of H. pylori infection in moderate and severe psoriasis patients (OR = 2.27; 95% CI: 1.42–3.63, I2 = 27%), but not in the mild psoriasis patients (OR = 1.10; 95% CI: 0.79–1.54, I2 = 0%). Conclusion: H. pylori infection is associated with psoriasis, and psoriasis patients with H. pylori infection have higher Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores. The findings are of considerable significance for the clinical practices.

Background and objectives: The prognostic role of a disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM) 17 has been widely assessed in gastric cancer. However, the results are inconsistent. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the prognostic significance of ADAM17 and its association with clinicopathological parameters. Methods: The databases of PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase were searched for relevant articles published up to April 2020. The reported hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled to evaluate the strength of the association. Stata 12.1 was used to perform statistical analyses. Results: Seven studies, including 1757 patients, were screened for the meta-analysis. Compared with the high ADAM17 expression group, the pooled HR was higher in the low ADAM17 expression group (HR = 2.04, 95% CI 1.66–2.50; I2 = 18.1%; p = 0.299). High ADAM17 expression was also related to the tumor node metastasis (TNM) stages (OR = 4.09, 95% CI 1.85–9.04; I2 = 84.1%; p = 0.000), lymph node metastasis (OR = 3.08, 95% CI 1.13–8.36; I2 = 79.7%; p = 0.007), and ages (OR = 1.65, 95% CI 1.24–2.21; I2 = 0%; p = 0.692) of the gastric patients. Conclusions: This meta-analysis revealed that ADAM17 is a significant biomarker for poor prognosis in gastric cancer.

The CRISPR/Cas system is a protective adaptive immune system against attacks from foreign mobile genetic elements. Since the discovery of the excellent target-specific sequence recognition ability of the CRISPR/Cas system, the CRISPR/Cas system has shown excellent performance in the development of pathogen nucleic-acid-detection technology. In combination with various biosensing technologies, researchers have made many rapid, convenient, and feasible innovations in pathogen nucleic-acid-detection technology. With an in-depth understanding and development of the CRISPR/Cas system, it is no longer limited to CRISPR/Cas9, CRISPR/Cas12, and other systems that had been widely used in the past; other CRISPR/Cas families are designed for nucleic acid detection. We summarized the application of CRISPR/Cas-related technology in infectious-disease detection and its development in SARS-CoV-2 detection.

Background Homocysteine, a key component in one-carbon metabolism, is of great importance in remethylation. Many epidemiologic studies have assessed the association between homocysteine and risk of digestive tract cancer, but the results are inconsistent. Objective The objective of our meta-analysis is to assess the association between homocysteine and digestive tract cancer risk. Methods Comprehensive searches were performed on the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases up to September 25, 2018, to identify relevant studies. Thirteen studies were included in the meta-analysis. Odds ratios (ORs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were used to estimate the strength of the relationship between homocysteine and the risk of digestive tract cancer. Results The pooled OR of digestive tract cancer risk for patients with the highest categories of blood homocysteine levels versus the lowest categories was 1.27 (95% CI, 1.15, 1.39) with no significant heterogeneity observed (P = 0.798, I2 = 0.0%). Moreover, the dose-response analysis revealed that each 5μmol/L increase in homocysteine increased the incidence of digestive tract cancer by 7%. Conclusion Generally, our results indicated that elevated homocysteine was associated with higher risk of digestive tract cancer. That is, homocysteine concentration may be a potential biomarker for occurrence of digestive tract cancer.

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Chromobox (CBX) proteins were suggested to exert epigenetic regulatory and transcriptionally repressing effects on target genes and might play key roles in the carcinogenesis of a variety of carcinomas. Nevertheless, the functions and prognostic significance of CBXs in gastric cancer (GC) remain unclear. The current study investigated the roles of CBXs in the prognosis of GC using the Oncomine, The Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA), UALCAN, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and cBioPortal databases. CBX1/2/3/4/5 were significantly upregulated in GC tissues compared with normal tissues, and CBX7 was downregulated. Multivariate analysis showed that high mRNA expression levels of CBX3/8 were independent prognostic factors for prolonged OS in GC patients. In addition, the genetic mutation rate of CBXs was 37% in GC patients, and genetic alterations in CBXs showed no association with OS or disease-free survival (DFS) in GC patients. These results indicated that CBX3/8 can be prognostic biomarkers for the survival of GC patients.