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Background: Allergic rhinitis is a frequent disorder during pregnancy, while in children it is triggered by significantly lower serum vitamin E level. This research aimed to investigate whether serum vitamin E level exhibited clinical significance in pregnant women with allergic rhinitis. Methods: In this study, 37 pregnant women with allergic rhinitis and 35 healthy pregnant women were recruited. Allergic rhinitis severity was analyzed by the Total Nasal Symptom Score (TNSS) questionnaire. Blood samples were collected to evaluate serum vitamin E, interleukin (IL), and total IgE levels. Results: In pregnant women with allergic rhinitis, serum level of vitamin E was significantly lower than in healthy pregnant women. Serum vitamin E level in pregnant women with allergic rhinitis showed a negative correlation with TNSS, IL-13, IL-4, and total IgE levels. Conclusion:In conclusion, this research has demonstrated that pregnant women with allergic rhinitis showed significantly lower serum level of vitamin E. The decreased vitamin E showed a correlation with the pathogenesis of allergic rhinitis in pregnant women.

Phosphodiesterase 4D (PDE4D) is a subtype of metallohydrolases, and it has been reported that PDE4D functions as a proliferation promoting factor in certain types of cancer, including head and neck cancer. The present study first investigated the function of PDE4D in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Western blot analysis was applied to detect PDE4D expression in NPC samples and cells. A lentiviral infection technique was used to stabilize the knockdown of PDE4D, which was subsequently examined in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that PDE4D was overexpressed in the NPC tissues and cells. Knockdown of PDE4D inhibited the growth of CNE2 and 5–8F, inducing cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase in CNE2. These effects could be reversed by epidermal growth factor (EGF) stimulation. Furthermore, knockdown of PDE4D significantly inhibited the phosphorylation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and AKT. The results were further validated in an NPC xenograft in nude mice. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that PDE4D may function as a proliferation promoting factor in NPC, by affecting the EGFR/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Therefore, the targeting of PDE4D may be a rational strategy in the treatment of NPC.

BackgroundTo compare the frequency of appearance of complications, anatomical success and functional success after conventional endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomies (EN-DCRs) or EN-DCR with otologic T-Type ventilation tube combined with silicone tube intubation in repeated revision cases.MethodsTwenty-two patients who had epiphora and recurrent dacryocystitis after at least a previous failed revision DCR as well as 22 patients receiving conventional EN-DCR only were enrolled in the study between January 2008 and December 2011. Operations were performed by using an otologic T-tube combined with silicone tube intubation. Oral antibiotics, nasal steroids, oral antihistamines, and antibiotic eyedrops were given to all cases. The ventilation tubes were removed 6 to 20 weeks after surgery.ResultsOf 22 cases, all cases achieved anatomical success, 19 cases were symptom free, and 3 cases had decreased continuation in complications with a functional success rate of 81.8%. The overall success rates were significantly higher than those in patients undertaking conventional EN-DCR only (P < 0.01).ConclusionThe revision endoscopic DCR has a high rate of failure. The usage of a T-type ventilation tube can significantly improve the success rate of surgery.Trial registration numberChiCTR-INR-17012160, retrospectively registered on July 27th, 2017.

Background: Accumulated evidence shows that DNA repair gene X-ray repair cross complementing group 1 (XRCC1) may determine individual susceptibility to head and neck cancer (HNC) as a major DNA repair gene. However, the results from previous studies have been conflictive and inconsistent. In order to more accurately estimate and integrate the association between XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism and HNC risk, we conducted a meta-analysis including 14586 subjects. Methods: In this meta-analysis, literatures were collected up until September 15, 2020 through multifarious retrieval strategies by searching through electronic databases of PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Medline, Web of Science and CNKI. The association between the XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism and HNC was analyzed through calculating summary odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Thirty-one studies consisting of 6025 cases and 8561 controls were identified and analyzed. No significant association between XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphisms and HNC risk was found under the allelic (OR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.82-1.07, P = 0.35), homozygous (OR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.81-1.21, P = 0.91), heterozygous (OR = 1.01, 95% CI: 0.90-1.13, P = 0.91), dominant (OR = 1.05, 95% CI: 0.85-1.29, P = 0.67) or recessive (OR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.80-1.08, P = 0.35) genetic models in the overall comparison. In addition, subgroup analyses according to tumor site also displayed no significant association between XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphisms and HNC risk. However, subgroup analyses based on ethnicity indicated that HNC risk was significantly related to Arg399Gln genetic heterozygous model (OR = 1.21, 95%CI: 1.04-1.42, P = 0.02) and dominant model (OR = 1.27, 95%CI: 1.02-1.60, P = 0.04) in Caucasians populations. Conclusion: The results from this meta-analysis suggest that the XRCC1 Arg399Gln variants (Arg/Gln and Arg/Arg+Arg/Gln) may contribute to high HNC risk among Caucasians. Further well-designed studies and larger sample sizes are needed to validate our findings.

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