The prognostic value of programmed cell death ligand 1expression in non-Hodgkin lymphoma:a meta-analysis

Objective: Although the prognostic value of programmed cell death-ligand 1(PD-L1) expression in non-Hodgkin lymphoma(NHL) has been evaluated in many studies, the results remain controversial. To investigate the prognostic role of PD-L1 expression and the association between PD-L1 expression and clinicopathological features of NHL, we performed a meta-analysis.Methods: The Pub Med, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases were searched up to November 30, 2017. The hazard ratio(HR), 95% confidence interval(CI), and odds ratios(OR) with 95% CIs were combined to evaluate the association of PD-L1 expression with overall survival(OS) and clinicopathological features. Review manager 5.3 and STATA 12.0 were used in this meta-analysis.Results: A total of 2,005 patients across nine studies were enrolled in our meta-analysis, and the pooled results showed that high PD-L1 expression was associated with a poor prognosis(HR=2.04, 95% CI: 1.18–3.54, P=0.01). In the subgroup analysis according to histology types, pooled results demonstrated that an increased PD-L1 expression was an unfavorable prognostic factor for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma(HR=1.92, 95% CI: 1.06–3.48, P=0.03) but not for natural killer/T-cell lymphoma(HR=2.41, 95%CI: 0.47–12.22, P=0.29). Pooled ORs indicated that PD-L1 expression was higher in NHL with international prognostic indices of≥3. However, PD-L1 expression had no correlation with gender, age, disease stage, lactate dehydrogenase level, B symptoms, and germinal center B-cell-like lymphoma.Conclusions: High PD-L1 expression was a poor prognostic biomarker in patients with NHL. Because of our limited sample size,high-quality studies with larger sample sizes are needed to validate our results.

Aluminum neurotoxicity effects on intracellular Ca^(2+) homeostasis in the rat cerebral cortex

Studies have suggested that aluminum, a neurotoxic metal, is involved in the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. Previous studies have confirmed that aluminum influences intracellular Ca^2＋ homeostasis. However, it remains unclear whether aluminum increases or decreases intracellular Ca^2＋ concentrations. The present study demonstrated that Al^3＋ competitively binds to calmodulin （CAM）, together with Ca^2＋, which resulted in loss of capacity of CaM to bind to Ca^2＋, leading to increased [Ca^2＋]i. Al^3＋ stimulated voltage-gated calcium channels on cell membranes, which allowed a small quantity of Ca^2＋ into the cells. Al^3＋ also promoted calcium release from organelles by stimulating L-Ca^2＋αlc to trigger calcium-induced calcium release. Although Al^3＋ upregulated expression of Na＋/Ca^2＋exchanger mRNA, increased levels of Ca^2＋ and Na＋/Ca^2＋ exchanger did not maintain a normal Ca^2＋ balance. Al^3＋ resulted in disordered intracellular calcium homeostasis by affecting calcium channels, calcium buffering, and calcium expulsion.

Prevalence of hypertension and risk factors in Heilongjiang province in 2007

Approximately 2/3 of cardiovascular diseases in the Asia-Pacific region are closely associated with hypertension.1 And statistics indicates the existence of 160 million hypertension patients in China in 2004 with approximately 1 billion patients simultaneously suffering from other cardiovascular diseases.2 It is evident that hypertension control plays a crucial role in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to find the epidemiological features of hypertension in Heilongjiang province and to gather statistical information about the prevalence and causative factors of hypertension.

Family-based association study of ZNF533, DOCK4 and IMMP2L gene polymorphisms linked to autism in a northeastern Chinese Han population

Objective： A study in a Caucasian population has identified two single-nucleotide polymorphisms （SNPs） in ZNF533, one in DOCK4, and two in IMMP2L, which were all significantly associated with autism. They are located in AUTS1 and AUTS5, which have been identified as autism susceptibility loci in several genome-wide screens. The present study aimed to investigate whether ZNF533, DOCK4, and IMMP2L genes are also associated with autism in a northeastern Chinese Han population. Methods： We performed a similar association study using families with three individuals （one autistic child and two unaffected parents）. A family-based transmission disequilibrium test （TDT） was used to analyze the results. Results： There were significant associations between autism and the two SNPs of ZNF533 gene （rs11885327： X^2=4.5200, P=0.0335; rs1964081 ：）（2=4.2610, P=0.0390） and the SNP of DOCK4 gene （rs2217262 X^2=5.3430, P=0.0208）. Conclusions： Our data suggest that ZNF533 and DOCK4 genes are linked to a predisposition to autism in the northeastern Chinese Han population.