Definition and risk factors of early recurrence based on affecting prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients after radical resection

Early recurrence after surgery could affect cancerous patients’ prognosis, but the definition of early recurrence and its risk factors for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients are still unclear. This study analyzed the clinical data of 468 post-surgery recurrent ESCC patients retrospectively. A minimum p-value approach was used to evaluate the optimal cut-off value of recurrence free survival (RFS) to define early recurrence. Risk factors of early recurrence were developed based on a Cox model. The optimal cut-off value of RFS to distinguish early recurrence was 21 months (p <0.001). Independent risk factors for early recurrence included tumor locations (HR=0.562, p <0.001), pathological T stage (HR=1.829, p <0.001), tumor diameter (HR=1.344, p = 0.039), positive lymph nodes (HR=1.361, p <0.001), and total resected lymph nodes (HR=1.271, p = 044). For the late recurrent patients, there was a much more significant survival advantage for recurrence after concurrent chemoradiotherapy than that after sequential chemoradiotherapy and radiotherapy alone (p = 0.0066). In conclusion, this study defined 21 months of RFS as early recurrence and also identified its risk factors. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy was suggested as preferred post-relapse treatment for late recurrent ESCC patients.     

丁酸梭菌影响肠炎沙门氏菌对SPF小鼠致病性的作用

【目的】旨在探究丁酸梭菌影响肠炎沙门氏菌(CVCC3377)对SPF小鼠的致病性及对小鼠的保护作用。【方法】选用72只6周龄SPF级雌性C57BL/6小鼠,按照完全随机区组设计分为阴性对照(CON)、饲喂丁酸梭菌组(CB)、沙门氏菌感染组(SE)和丁酸梭菌保护组(CB+SE)4组,每组18只。CON组和SE组饲喂基础日粮和饮水,CB组和CB+SE组饲喂基础日粮和每天更换添加丁酸梭菌(1×10~7CFU/mL)的饮水,连续饲喂一周;第8天进行肠炎沙门氏菌感染实验,分别对SE组和CB+SE组灌服0.2mL 1.1×10~4CFU/只的肠炎沙门氏菌,同时对阴性对照组和丁酸梭菌组灌服0.2mL生理盐水。在感染后第6天处死小鼠并采集肝脏、脾脏和盲肠及内容物样品。采用H.E染色检测肝脏和脾脏组织的病理学变化,免疫组化检测脾脏组织中TLR4、MyD88蛋白的表达水平,荧光定量PCR检测盲肠组织中TNF-α和IL-6的表达水平,并通过高通量测序方法分析其对肠道菌群的影响。【结果】结果显示,丁酸梭菌能够缓解肠炎沙门氏菌感染引起的小鼠体重下降;H.E染色结果显示,丁酸梭菌可以缓解肠炎沙门氏菌感染造成的组织损伤;免疫组化结果显示,丁酸梭菌可降低脾脏组织细胞中TLR4、MyD88蛋白的表达水平,荧光定量PCR结果显示肠炎沙门氏菌能够显著升高盲肠组织中TNF-α(P0.05)和IL-6的表达水平,在此基础上饲喂丁酸梭菌能够降低TNF-α和IL-6的表达水平。高通量测序结果显示,丁酸梭菌组Chao1指数、ACE指数和Shannon指数均高于对照组和沙门氏菌感染组(P0.05),丁酸梭菌可显著降低放线菌门(Actinobacteria)和疣微菌门(Verrucomicrobia)在肠道微生物中的比例(P0.05),另外,丁酸梭菌可以增加乳酸菌属在肠道微生物群落的相对丰度(P0.05)。【结论】结果表明,丁酸梭菌可以提高小鼠免疫力,缓解由于沙门氏菌感染引起的炎症反应,增加肠道微生物多样性,调节肠道菌群结构。     

Blood plasma resonance Raman spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis for esophageal cancer detection

We herein report a novel, reliable and inexpensive method for detecting esophageal cancer using blood plasma resonance Raman spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis methods. The blood plasma samples were divided into late stage cancer group (n = 164), early stage cancer group (n = 35) and normal group (n = 135) based on clinical pathological diagnosis. Using a specially designed quartz capillary tube as sample holder, we obtained higher quality resonance Raman spectra of blood plasma than existing method. The study demonstrated that the carotenoids levels in blood plasma were reduced in esophageal cancer patients. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (and 95% confidence interval) calculated by wavenumber selection and principal component analysis combined with linear discriminant analysis (PC-LDA) algorithm were 0.894 (0.858-0.929), 0.901 (0.841-0.960) and 0.871 (0.799-0.942) for differentiating late cancer from normal, late cancer from early cancer, and early cancer from normal respectively. The contribution from the two carotenoids wavenumber regions of 1155 and 1515 cm⁻¹ were more than 84.2%. The results show that the plasma carotenoids could be a potential biomarker for screening esophageal cancer using resonance Raman spectroscopy combined with wavenumber selection and PC-LDA algorithms.      

药用野生稻拮抗稻瘟病内生细菌的筛选、鉴定及发酵条件优化

【背景】稻瘟病是水稻的三大重要病害之一，每年对水稻生产都会造成较大的损失，生物防治稻瘟病已成防治该病害的重要手段，而目前鲜少有报道从药用野生稻中分离内生菌用以防治稻瘟病。【目的】从药用野生稻内生菌中挖掘对稻瘟病具有拮抗作用的微生物资源。【方法】采用分离法从勐遮药用野生稻中先分离出内生菌，再通过平板对峙法筛选对稻瘟病菌具有拮抗作用的菌株，通过形态学和16S rRNA基因序列分析对菌株进行鉴定，同时筛选该菌株的最适培养基、pH、培养温度和摇床转速。【结果】筛选得到拮抗菌株Z5，在LB培养基上对稻瘟病菌菌丝生长的抑制率达到96.43%，经形态学和16S rRNA基因序列分析，初步鉴定为短小芽孢杆菌(Bacillus pumilus)。在NYBD、CM、LB、NA和YSP这5种培养基中，菌株Z5的最适培养基为NYBD培养基、最适pH值为8.0-9.0、最适培养温度为35℃、最适摇床转速为250 r/min。【结论】短小芽孢杆菌Z5对稻瘟病菌的生长具有较好的抑制作用，且该菌株耐高温、较耐酸碱，作为稻瘟病生防制剂研发具有一定的价值。     

Clinical significance and prognostic value of Porphyromonas gingivalis infection in lung cancer

A variety of pathogenic microorganisms can promote the occurrence and development of malignant tumors by colonizing in the body. It has been shown that Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) can be colonized for a long time in upper gastrointestinal tumors and is closely related to the occurrence and development of esophageal cancer in previous studies of our team. Because the esophagus and trachea are closely adjacent and P. gingivalis can instantly enter and colonize in cells, we speculate that P. gingivalis may be colonized in lung cancer cells through oral or blood, promoting the malignant progression of lung cancer. In this study, we investigated P. gingivalis infection in lung carcinoma tissues and adjacent lung tissues, and found that the colonization rate of P. gingivalis in carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that in adjacent lung tissues. Therefore, we propose that the microenvironment of cancer cells is more conducive to the survival of P. gingivalis. Then, we analyzed the correlation between P. gingivalis infection and clinicopathological features and survival prognosis of patients with lung cancer. It was found that P. gingivalis infection was closely related to smoking, drinking, lymph node metastasis and clinical stage. Moreover, the survival rate and median survival time of patients with P. gingivalis infection were significantly shortened. Therefore, we put forward the view that long term smoking and drinking will cause a bad oral environment, increasing the risk of P. gingivalis infection, then P. gingivalis infection will promote the malignant progression of lung cancer.