Int J Med Sci
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Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the third most common female cancer in Taiwan. EZH2 plays an important role in cancer development through transcriptional repression by chromatin remodeling. However, the expression of EZH2 in breast cancer is highly correlated with tumorigenesis, and patient survival is not matched to TNBC. ⋯ Four single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of EZH2 (rs6950683, rs2302427, rs3757441, and rs41277434) were analyzed by real-time PCR genotyping in 176 patients with TNBC and 1000 cancer-free controls. The results showed that TNBC patients under 60 years old who carried a TC or CC genotype at EZH2 rs6950683 and re3757441 had a tumor size of 20 mm or smaller (T1). Thus, this study is the first to examine the age and mutant genes associated with EZH2 SNPs in TNBC progression and development in Taiwan.
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Bladder carcinoma is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, and >90% of all bladder cancers are classified as urothelial carcinomas (UC). Surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy are evidence-based treatments that are administered depending on the clinical stage of UC. All these treatments exhibited limited effects in cases of metastatic UC, and UC with specific location, invasiveness, and recurrence. ⋯ It also induced the activation of both extrinsic and intrinsic caspase-dependent apoptotic pathways. Further investigation revealed that ivermectin induced apoptosis in UC cells is mediated via c-Jun N-terminal kinase signaling. Herein, we demonstrated that ivermectin can be used as a new therapeutic agent for treating UC cells.
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Background: Liver function parameters, particularly serum total bilirubin (TB), are closely associated with cardiovascular diseases. However, the impact of serum TB among patients with myocardial infarction and non-obstructive coronary (MINOCA) remains unknown. Our study investigated the relationship between serum TB at admission and long-term adverse clinical outcomes in MINOCA patients. ⋯ After adjusting for numerous clinical variables, the high serum TB remained significantly associated with an increased risk of MACE (HR=2.04, 95%CI: 1.05-3.94, P=0.034). Conclusion: High initial serum TB (>0.9mg/dl) is a robust predictor of poor clinical outcomes among MINOCA patients. In clinical settings, assessing serum TB at admission may help identify high-risk patients presenting with MINOCA.
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Endometrial cancer is one of the most common malignancy affecting women in developed countries. Resection uterus or lesion area is usually the first option for a simple and efficient therapy. Therefore, it is necessary to find a new therapeutic drug to reduce surgery areas to preserve fertility. ⋯ Moreover, lipo-PEI-PEG-complex (LPPC) was used to enhance Q7 anticancer activity in vitro and efficiently show its effects on HEC-1-A cells. Furthermore, LPPC-Q7 exhibited a synergistic effect in combination with doxorubicin or paclitaxel. To summarize, Q7 was firstly proved to exhibit an anticancer effect on endometrial cancer cells and combined with LPPC efficiently improved the cytotoxicity of Q7.
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Objective: Due to high levels of serum gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), perimenopausal or menopausal women, girls with central precocious puberty, women of polycystic ovary syndrome, and females receiving long-term GnRH agonist (GnRHa) treatment are at substantially higher risk of developing obesity. However, it remains poorly understood how GnRH affects body weight. Here, we explored whether the gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor (GnRHR) was expressed in adipocytes and how GnRHR mediated lipid accumulation and the development of obesity. ⋯ GnRHa stimulates the proliferation of HPA-s, promotes adipocyte maturation, increases the formation of lipid droplets in mature adipocytes, and inhibits the activation of the AMPK pathway in adipocytes. Our findings may elucidate the mechanism of obesity in these female populations and provide some evidence on how GnRH contributes to obesity. Additionally, these results provide theoretical support for further research on the mechanisms of obesity, thus enhancing our understanding of the functional diversity of GnRH and establishing a new theoretical basis for the impact of GnRH on metabolism.