Sphingosine kinase (SphK), sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) and S1P receptor (S1PR) are involved in the tumor biological processes such as tumor cell proliferation and migration, and play an important role in the development of cancer. In recent years, researchers have increasingly focused on the interaction between cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment. The tumor microenvironment is genetically stable and can be induced to an antitumor phenotype, which has significant therapeutic advantages. Studies have shown that SphK/S1P/S1PR can regulate multiple aspects of the tumor microenvironment. This review summarizes the effects of SphK and S1P/S1PR signaling on the tumor microenvironment from four perspectives: tumor immune microenvironment, cancer associated fibroblasts, tumor angiogenesis and tumor hypoxic microenvironment, and also outlines potential drug research related to these signal molecules, aiming to elucidate the role of SphK/S1P/S1PR in tumor occurrence and development and provide new ideas for the research of anti-tumor drugs.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease driven by antigens and mediated by T cells. Collagen II (CII) and fibrinogen (Fib) are the two main antigens in the pathogenesis of RA. The antigen produced after citrulline modification (Cit) is also one of the inducements to induce the body to produce a pathogenic anti-citrulline protein antibody (ACPA). To provide a reference for RA-related research, this study intends to establish an RA animal model by using CII, Cit-CII, Fib, and Cit-Fib antigens, emulsification with complete Freund's adjuvant and immunization with DBA/1 mice, respectively, to compare the pathological characteristics of RA models induced by different antigens from the aspects of pathology, imaging and serum biochemistry. Animal welfare and experimental process are in accordance with the regulations of the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. The results showed that the CII, Cit-CII, and Cit-Fib induced mice all had symptoms such as joint redness and swelling, and toe deformation and the clinical score and incidence rate were higher than those of the normal group. The CII group had the most serious lesions, with a incidence rate of 100%, and the Cit-CII and Cit-Fib groups had mild symptoms, with a incidence rate of 25% and 37.5%, respectively; pathological and imaging examination results showed that the joints of mice in CII-induced group showed severe synovial inflammation, cartilage and bone destruction, while those in Cit-CII and Cit-Fib group showed only slight inflammatory infiltration, joint cavity stenosis and bone destruction; the results of serum antibody detection showed that CII, Cit-CII and Cit-Fib groups all produced high levels of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibodies, among which, Cit-Fib group > Cit-CII group > CII group > Fib group, and both Cit-CII and Cit-Fib groups produced high levels of citrullinated epitope-specific antibodies, while the total IgG level was the highest in CII group; serum ELISA and RT-PCR analysis of joint tissue showed that the expression of pro-inflammatory factors and bone destruction-related molecules increased most significantly in the CII-induced group, followed by Cit-Fib and Cit-CII. The above results showed that among the four different antigens, the symptoms and conditions of arthritis in RA mice induced by CII were the most serious, and IgG instead of anti-CCP antibody was its typical immunological feature, and CII could be the first choice for the model of RA mice; Cit-Fib has certain immunogenicity, can partially induce the symptoms and conditions of RA arthritis in mice, and produce high-level anti-CCP antibody and anti-Cit-Fib antibody, which is more suitable for the study of citrulline-related RA; although Cit-CII has certain immunogenicity, the incidence, and severity of RA arthritis induced by Cit-CII in mice are low.

The circadian clock is regulated at the molecular level by transcriptional-translational feedback loop of clock genes, which ensures that a variety of physiological processes have a-round 24 h circadian rhythms, including cell metabolism, cell proliferation, cell apoptosis and tumorigenesis, to maintain the homeostasis. Thus, the disturbance of circadian clock will disrupt homeostasis, causing various diseases, including neoplasm, metabolic syndrome, Parkinson's disease, COPD and cardiovascular diseases. Disturbance of circadian clock is closely related with tumorigenesis, and acts on various molecules and pathways leading to tumorigenesis, including oncogene and tumor suppressor gene, cell cycle, metabolic reprogramming, immune escape, endocrine disruption, alteration of gastrointestinal microbiome. This review focuses on changes in clock genes expression which disrupt cell cycle and may play a role in tumorigenesis, and epi-geneties, an important way to regulate gene expression, which can alter clock gene expression, thus playing an important role in the process of " the alternation of clock gene expression-disruption of cell cycle-tumorigenesis".

Objective: To investigate the association between blood pressure and all-cause mortality in Shanxi, China. Methods: The '2002 China Nutrition and Health Survey' baseline data in Shanxi province was used. A retrospective investigation was performed in 2015. The effects of SBP and DBP on the all-cause mortality were analyzed using the Cox regression model. The hazard ratio ( Results: The follow-up rate was 76.52% over 13 years, while the cumulative mortality rate for all participants was 917.12/100,000 person-years. The mortality rose with an increasing SBP ( Conclusion Adults with SBP > 160 mmHg and DBP > 100 mmHg had a higher mortality risk. Sex and age difference was noted in both DBP and mortality risk.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Blood Pressure ; China ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Hypertension/mortality* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mortality/trends* ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Young Adult

Objective: This study aimed to assess the association of waist circumference (WC) with all-cause mortality among Chinese adults. Methods: The baseline data were from Shanxi Province of 2002 China Nutrition and Health Survey. The death investigation and follow-up visit were conducted from December 2015 to March 2016. The visits covered up to 5,360 of 7,007 participants, representing a response rate of 76.5%. The Cox regression model and floating absolute risk were used to estimate hazard ratio and 95% floating of death by gender and age groups (≥ 60 and < 60 years old). Sensitivity analysis was performed by excluding current smokers; participants with stroke, hypertension, and diabetes; participants who accidentally died; and participants who died during the first 2 years of follow-up. Results: This study followed 67,129 person-years for 12.5 years on average, including 615 deaths. The mortality density was 916 per 100,000 person-years. Low WC was associated with all-cause mortality among men. Multifactor-adjusted hazard ratios ( ) were 1.60 (1.35-1.90) for WC < 75.0 cm and 1.40 (1.11-1.76) for WC ranging from 75.0 cm to 79.9 cm. Low WC (< 70.0 cm and 70.0-74.9 cm) and high WC (≥ 95.0 cm) groups had a high risk of mortality among women. The adjusted s of death were 1.43 (1.11-1.83), 1.39 (1.05-1.84), and 1.91 (1.13-3.22). Conclusion WC was an important predictor of death independent of body mass index (BMI). WC should be used as a simple rapid screening and predictive indicator of the risk of death.
Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; China ; epidemiology ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mortality ; Obesity, Abdominal ; complications ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Risk Factors ; Sex Factors ; Waist Circumference ; Young Adult

Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics and gene mutation, and analyze the association between genotype and phenotype of hereditary protein S deficiency in a Chinese pedigree. Methods: Hereditary protein S deficiency was diagnosed in January 2016 in our hospital. A total of 26 family members were surveyed in this study. Blood samples and clinical data were collected from them, and mutations were identified by Sanger sequencing. Pathogenicity of gene mutations was predicted by protein function prediction software including SIFT, PolyPhen_2, nsSNPAnalyzer and MutPred2. Swiss Model (https://swissmodel.expasy.org/) was used to perform homology modeling of the tertiary structure of the protein S wild-type and mutant-type, and observe the impact of gene mutation on the tertiary structure of the protein. Results: Four out of 26 family members of 4 generations were clinically diagnosed with hereditary protein S deficiency. The proband presented with recurrent pulmonary embolism and venous thromboembolism of the lower extremities, and her uncle and mother had a history of venous thromboembolism. Sequencing revealed a mutation in the c.200A>C gene in the second exon of the PROS1 gene of proband and part of her families (Ⅱ2, Ⅱ6, Ⅲ4, Ⅳ2). The prediction results of this gene mutation performed by SIFT, PolyPhen_2, nsSNPAnalyzer, MutPred2 were all harmful. The results of Swiss-Model homology modeling showed that the 67th amino acid was mutated from glutamic acid to alanine because of this gene mutation. Conclusion: A gene mutation cDNA (c. 200A>T) is identified in a Chinese pedigree with hereditary protein S deficiency. This gene mutation may reduce protein S activity, which may cause recurrent pulmonary embolism and venous thromboembolism of the patients.
Asians/genetics* ; Exons ; Female ; Humans ; Pedigree ; Protein S Deficiency ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Objective To compare the efficacy and safety of tacrolimus with those of cyclosporine in treating idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) via network meta-analysis. Methods Databases including PubMed,Embase,CENTRAL (Cochrane),Wanfang Database,CNKI,and VIP citation database were searched for relevant studies according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Package Meta 4.5.0 and Gemtc 0.8.1 in R 3.3.1 were used to analyze the included studies. Results In this network meta-analysis,the complete remission rate (RR=0.98,95% CI:0.70-1.40)and the total remission rate (RR=1.00,95% CI:0.90-1.20)of idiopathic membranous nephropathy did not differ significantly between IMN patients treated with cyclosporine A or tacrolimusand,nor did the incidences of hepatic dysfunction(RR=1.40,95% CI:0.52-4.00),infection(RR=0.75,95% CI:0.18-3.10),or gastrointestinal syndrome(RR=2.1,95% CI:0.36-28.00). Conclusion Cyclosporine A seems to have similar effectiveness and safety to tacrolimus in treating IMN.

HHLA2 is a newly discovered B7 family member.HHLA2 appears to have limited expression in normal tissues.TMIGD,one of the receptors HHLA2 is established.Similar to HHLA2,TMIGD2 is absent in mouse and rat while it is found in human and higher primates.HHLA2 with inhibition of CD4 and CD8 T cell proliferation,but also can inhibit the role of T cells secrete some cytokines.HHLA2 protein is absent in most normal tissues,but mainly expressed on epithelial cells of a few tissues.But HHLA2 is widely expressed in various human cancers such as lung cancer,breast cancer and osteosarcoma et al,that make HHLA2 might be a new target for human cancers immunotherapy.

AIM:To compare the clinical effect of 23G and 25G+ vitrectomy for treatment of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).METHODS: A total of 128 PDR patients (195 eyes) requiring vitrectomy in our hospital from November 2013 to May 2016 were randomly divided into 25G+ group and 23G group, 64 cases (97 eyes) in 25G+ group and 64 cases (98 eyes) in 23G group.In 25G+ group, patients were treated by 25G+ vitrectomy.In 23G group, patients were treated by 23G vitrectomy.The visual acuity, as well as intraocular pressure (IOP), iatrogenic injury and complications in two groups were recorded before and 1d, 1wk, 1mo after treatment.The operation time was compared between two groups.RESULTS: The operation time in 25G+ group was lower than that in 23G group (P<0.05).The postoperative visual acuity at 1mo of two groups were improved compared with before surgery (P<0.01).However, visual acuity between two groups in the same period had no significant difference (P>0.05).IOP in 25G+ group before surgery had no significant difference compared with those after surgery at 1d,1wk, and 1mo(P>0.05), which it was the same in 23G group.IOP of two groups in the same period had no significant difference (P>0.05).The incidence rate of iatrogenic injury in 25G+ group was 4.1%, which was significant lower than that of 23G group (13.3%) (P<0.05).The incidence rate of complication in 25G+ group was 3.1%, which was significant lower than that of 23G group (11.2%) (P<0.05).CONCLUSION: Both 23G and 25G+ vitrectomy are safe and effective treatment for PDR.However, 25G+ vitrectomy is the better choice for PDR for the shorter operation time, lower incidence rate of iatrogenic injury and fewer surgical complications.

Objective Currently , the targeted therapy is the first-choice treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, but few studies have been reported on the relationship between immunohistochemical markers and the EGFR mutation.The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship of the EGFR mutation with the ex-pressions of thymidylate synthetase (TS), excision repair cross-com-plementation group 1 ( ERCC1 ) , β-tubulin-III, and ribonucleofide reductase large subunit-l ( RRM1) in NSCLC. Methods We retro-spectively analyzed 336 cases of NSCLC treated in the Department of Medical Oncology , the Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, from June 2014 to December 2015 and examined 29 EGFR mutations.We divided the patients into a mutation and a non-mutation group, performed immunohistochemical staining of the TS, ERCC1,β-tubulin-III and RRM1 proteins and compared their expressions in the NSCLC tissue between the two groups . Results EGFR mutations were found in 138 ( 41.07%) of the 336 NSCLC patients but not in the other 198 ( 58.93%) .The expression of TS was significantly lower in the mutation than in the non-mutation group (9.42%vs 39.39%, P<0.05), and so was that of β-tubulin-III (44.2%vs 60.1%, P<0.05).EGFR mutations were correlated with decreased expressions of TS (r=-0.332, P<0.05) andβ-tubulin-III (r=-0.157, P<0.05).Multivariate regression analysis showed that the risk of EGFR mutations was 2.109 times higher in the fe-male patients than in the males (OR=2.109, 95%CI:1.268-3.509), 24.265 times higher in the adenocarcinoma than in the adeno-squamous carcinoma patients (OR=24.265, 95%CI:3.508-167.845), 15.2 times higher in the squamous carcinoma than in the ade-nocarcinoma patients (OR=15.200, 95%CI:4.480-51.569), 2.364 times higher in the lung biopsy specimens than in the surgically treated patients (OR=2.364, 95%CI:1.266-4.413), and 6.171 times higher in the patients with lowly expressed than in those with highly expressed TS (OR=6.171, 95%CI: 3.145-12.109). Conclusion The decreased expressions of TS and β-tubulin-Ⅲ in NSCLC indicate the mutation of the EGFR gene.