Mounting evidence indicates that microbiome plays an important role in the development and progression of cancer. The dogma that urine in healthy individuals must be sterile has been overturned. Dysbiosis of the urinary microbiome has been revealed responsible for various urological disorders, including prostate cancer. The link between chronic inflammation, microbiome and solid tumors has been established for various neoplastic diseases. However, a detailed and comprehensive analysis of urinary microenvironment of bladder cancer has not been yet reported. We performed this study to characterize the potential urinary microbial community possibly associated with bladder cancer. Mid-stream urine was collected from 31 male patients with bladder cancer and 18 non-neoplastic controls. DNA was extracted from urine pellet samples and processed for high throughput 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of the V4 region using Illumina MiSeq. Sequencing reads were filtered using QIIME and clustered using UPARSE. We observed increased bacterial richness (Observed Species, Chao 1 and Ace indexes; cancer vs. control; 120.0 vs. 56.0; 134.5 vs. 68.3; and 139.6 vs. 72.9, respectively), enrichment of some bacterial genera (e.g., Acinetobacter, Anaerococcus, and Sphingobacterium) and decrease of some bacterial genera (e.g., Serratia, Proteus, and Roseomonas) in cancer group when compared to non-cancer group. Significant difference in beta diversity was found between cancer and non-cancer group, among different risk level, but not among different tumor grade. Enrichment of Herbaspirillum, Porphyrobacter, and Bacteroides was observed in cancer patients with high risk of recurrence and progression, which means these genera maybe potential biomarkers for risk stratification. The PICRUSt showed that various functional pathways were enriched in cancer group, including Staphylococcus aureus infection, glycerolipid metabolism and retinol metabolism. To our knowledge, we performed the most comprehensive study to date to characterize the urinary microbiome associated with bladder cancer. A better understanding of the role of microbiome in the development and progression of bladder cancer could pave a new way for exploring new therapeutic options and biomarkers.

BackgroundFractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) is a useful and noninvasive biomarker for eosinophilic airway inflammation, particularly in asthma. However, its utility in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains controversial. In this study, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate FENO levels in COPD.MethodsA search of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and clinical trial registry was conducted from inception to January 2018. Studies were included if they reported FENO levels in patients with COPD and healthy controls. We then extracted relevant information and analyzed data. Standard mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was applied in this meta-analysis.ResultsA total of 2,073 studies were reviewed for eligibility, with 24 studies pooled for analysis. The FENO levels in patients with COPD were elevated mildly compared with healthy controls (SMD 1.28, 95% CI 0.60–1.96). A similar result was also observed in stable COPD, with an SMD of 1.21 (95% CI 0.47–1.96). On the other hand, we found no association between FENO levels and exacerbated COPD. Additionally, for patients with COPD, ex-smokers had higher levels of FENO than current smokers (SMD 2.05, 95% CI 1.13–2.97).ConclusionOur studies demonstrated a mild elevation of FENO in COPD, and the association between exacerbated COPD and FENO levels needs to be further explored. The potential mechanism is still unknown and conflicting.

Perturbation of the microbiome has numerous associations with the phenotypes and progression in chronic airways disease. However, the differences in the nasal microbiome in asthma and allergic rhinitis (AR) have not been defined. We examined whether the nasal microbiome would vary among different comorbidities in asthma and AR and that those differences may be associated with the severity of asthma. Nasal lavage fluid was collected from 110 participants, including 20 healthy controls, 30 subjects with AR, 30 subjects with asthma and 30 subjects with combined asthma + AR. The Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ-7) was used to evaluate asthma control status. Using 16S rRNA bacterial gene sequencing, we analyzed nasal microbiome in patients with asthma, AR, combined asthma + AR, and healthy controls. Bacterial diversity was analyzed in corresponding with α diversity indices (Chao and Shannon index). Compared with healthy controls, the Chao index tended to be lower in subjects with AR (P = 0.001), asthma (P = 0.001), and combined asthma + AR (P = 0.001) when compared with healthy controls. Furthermore, the Shannon index was significantly lower in subjects with asthma (P = 0.013) and comorbid asthma with AR (P = 0.004) than the control subjects. Disparity in the structure and composition of nasal bacteria were also observed among the four groups. Furthermore, patients with combined asthma + AR and isolated asthma were divided into two groups according to the level of disease control: partially or well-controlled and uncontrolled asthma. The mean relative abundance observed in the groups mentioned the genera of Pseudoflavonifractor were dominated in patients with well and partially controlled disease, in both isolated asthma and combined asthma + AR. In subjects with uncontrolled asthma and combined asthma + AR, a lower evenness and richness (Shannon index, P = 0.040) was observed in nasal microbiome composition. Importantly, lower evenness and richness in the nasal microbiome may be associated with poor disease control in combined asthma + AR. This study showed the upper airway microbiome is associated with airway inflammation disorders and the level of asthma control.

Abstract. Colon cancer is one of the most common, lethal diseases worldwide. Tumor metastasis and chemotherapy resistance are the main reasons for its poor prognosis and high fatality rate. Tumor development is thought of as one of the most complex cellular events as it is a multi-step cascading process involving infinite proliferation, invasion and immigration. Recently, increasing studies have demonstrated that microRNA-126 (miR-126) has an important role in colon cancer. The expression of miR-126 decreased significantly in colon cancer, particularly in highly metastatic cell lines. miR-126 controls tumor cell growth, metastasis and survival via inactivation of the oncogene signaling pathway, indicating that miR-126 may serve as a therapeutic target for anticancer therapy. Potentially, miR-126 was also reported to be an ideal molecular target as a novel biomarker for liver metastasis from colorectal cancer due to its changeable expression level. In the present review, the current knowledge regarding regulatory function of miR-126 is summarized along with its underlying mechanisms in colon cancer.