To investigate the role and possible pathogenesis of high mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS).(1) In vivo, 24 SPFC57BL/6 male mice were randomly divided into normal control group, ALI/ARDS model group, ethyl pyruvate (EP) treatment group and EP control group, with 6 mice in each group. The ALI/ARDS model was established by intraperitoneal injection of 20 mg/kg LPS. Mice in normal control group and EP control group were intraperitoneally injected with the same amount of sterile normal saline. Then, mice in the EP treatment group and EP control group were intraperitoneally injected with 40 mg/kg HMGB1 inhibitor EP. After 6 hours, the mice were sacrificed and lung tissues were collected. The expressions of heparan sulfate (HS), syndecans-1 (SDC-1), heparanase (HPA) and matrix metalloproteinases-9 (MMP-9) in lung tissues were detected by immunofluorescence technique. Orbital blood of mice was collected and serum was extracted to detect the content of HMGB1 by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). (2) In vitro, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were randomly divided into 6 groups: normal control group, HUVECs damage group (treated with 1 mg/L LPS for 6 hours), HMGB1 group (treated with 1 μmol/L recombinant HMGB1 for 6 hours), HMGB1+EP group (treated with recombinant HMGB1 for 1 hour and then added 1 μmol/L EP for 6 hours), LPS+EP group (treated with LPS for 1 hour and then added 1 μmol/L EP for 6 hours), EP group (treated with 1 μmol/L EP for 6 hours). The expressions of HS, SDC-1, HPA and MMP-9 in endothelial cells were detected by immunofluorescence technique.(1) In vivo, light microscopy showed that the alveolar space was thickened after LPS stimulation, and there were a large number of inflammatory cells infiltrating in the alveolar space. Compared with ALI/ARDS model group, the expressions of HS and SDC-1 in lung tissue of EP treatment group were significantly increased [HS (fluorescence intensity): 0.80±0.20 vs. 0.53±0.02, SDC-1 (fluorescence intensity): 0.72±0.02 vs. 0.51±0.01, both P < 0.05], and the expressions of HPA and MMP-9 were significantly decreased [HPA (fluorescence intensity): 2.36±0.05 vs. 3.00±0.04, MMP-9 (fluorescence intensity): 2.55±0.13 vs. 3.26±0.05, both P < 0.05]; there were no significant changes of the above indexes in EP control group. Compared with ALI/ARDS model group, the content of serum HMGB1 in EP treatment group decreased significantly (μg/L: 131.88±16.67 vs. 341.13±22.47, P < 0.05); there was no significant change in the EP control group. (2) In vitro, compared with HMGB1 group, the expressions of HS and SDC-1 in HMGB1+EP group were significantly higher [HS (fluorescence intensity): 0.83±0.07 vs. 0.56±0.03, SDC-1 (fluorescence intensity): 0.80±0.01 vs. 0.61±0.01, both P < 0.05], and the expressions of HPA and MMP-9 were significantly lower [HPA (fluorescence intensity): 1.30±0.02 vs. 2.29±0.05, MMP-9 (fluorescence intensity): 1.55±0.04 vs. 2.50±0.06, both P < 0.05]; the expression of HS, SDC-1, HPA and MMP-9 had no significant changes in EP group.HMGB1 participates in LPS-induced injury of endothelial cell glycocalyx, leading to increased lung permeability, and inhibition of HMGB1 can alleviate lung injury.
Most lung cancer patients worldwide [stage IV nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC)] have a poor survival: 25%-30% die <3 months. Yet, of those surviving >3 months, 10%-15% (70,000-105,000 new patients worldwide per year) survive (very) long. Surprisingly, little scientific attention has been paid to the question, which factors cause the good prognosis in these NSCLC stage IV long survivors. Therefore, "How long do I still have?" currently cannot be accurately answered. We evaluated in a large group of 737 stage IV NSCLC patients surviving 3.2-120.0 months, the accuracies of short- and long-term survival predictive values of baseline factors, radiotherapy (RT), platinum-based chemotherapy (PBT), and tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeted therapy (TKI-TT).This is a noninterventional study of 998 consecutive first-onset stage IV NSCLC patients. A total of 737 (74%) survived 3.2-120.0 months, 47 refused RT, PBT, and TKI-TT. Single and multivariate survival analysis and receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis were used with dead of disease (DOD) or alive with disease (AWD) as endpoints.The median survival (16.1 months) of 47 patients who refused PBT, RT, and TKI-TT was significantly worse than those with RT, PBT, and/or TKI-TT (23.3 months, HR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.06-2.42, p = 0.04). Of these latter 690 patients, 42% were females, 58% males, median age 63 years (range 27-85), 1-, 2-, 5-, and 10-year survival rates were 74%, 49%, 16%, and 5%. In total, 16% were alive with disease (AWD) at the last follow-up. Pathology subtype (adenocarcinoma vs. all others), performance score, TNM substage, the number of PBT cycles and TKI-TT had independent predictive value. However, with the multivariate combination of these features, identification results of short-term nonsurvivors and long-term survivors were poor.In stage IV NSCLC patients with >3 months survival, baseline features, and systemic therapeutic modalities have strong survival predictive value but do not accurately identify short- and long-term survivors. The predictive value of other features and interventions discussed should be investigated in the worldwide very large group of stage IV NSCLC patients with >3 months survival.
About 30% of pulmonary stage IV adenocarcinomas die within 3 months of diagnosis. Western medical treatments with Platinum-Based Chemotherapy=PBC and tyrosine-kinase inhibitors Targeted Therapy=TT can improve prognosis. In China, Traditional Chinese Medicine herbal treatments (TCM) are often used in addition to PBC and TT. A considerable number of patients refuse Western medical treatments and use TCM alone. However, the survival impact of the latter is unknown.Treatment with TCM alone is prognostically superior to PBC alone. Addition of PBC or TT or both TT to TCM improves survival.In this prospective observational, non-interventional study of 1017 consecutive first-onset stage IV NSCLC patients with up to 10 years follow-up, 261 who Died of Disease (DOD) within 3 months were omitted, as they never got the optimal Western medical therapies. All 218 non-adenocarcinomas were also omitted, leaving 538 stage IV adenocarcinomas treated by TCM alone (n = 29), PBC alone (N = 19) and TCM and other Western medical combinations (299 TCM and PBC, 50 TCM and TT, 141 TCM and PBC and TT) with 3 - 120 months follow-up. Survivals were compared using Alive with Disease (AWD) and DOD as endpoints.The patients treated only with TCM had 7 months better median survival than those that received PBC alone (17 and 10 months). The patients that received TCM and PBC had a better median survival (24 months) than TCM alone and much better than PBC alone. None of the patients that received TCM alone survived > 54 months, whereas 18% of TCM and PBC patients survived much longer. Over the observation period of 3 - 120 months, survivals of TCM and TT, TCM and PBC and TT, and TCM and PBC were not different and therefore grouped as TCM and Western medicines. Median survival times of PBC alone and TCM alone were lower than that of TCM and Western medical treatments (p < 0.0001, 10, 17 and 27 months).Pulmonary stage IV adenocarcinoma patients with at least 3 months survival, treated with TCM alone have a significantly better survival than those treated with PBC alone. Adding Western PBC, TT or both to TCM further improves prognosis.
Abstract Introduction Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) has been reported to be associated with sexual function and general psychological health respectively, however, no one has ever examined their mutual relationships in a single study. Aim The aim of the present study was to find out whether DHEAS, general psychological health, and erectile function were all associated with each other. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 34 patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) and 32 healthy controls (HC). The levels of serum DHEAS were assessed by chemiluminescence method. Erectile function and general psychological health were measured by International Index for Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5) and General Health Questionnaire 20(GHQ-20) respectively. Main Outcome measure The primary outcome measure of this study was the mutual correlations of serum DHEAS levels, general psychological health and erectile function. Results Compared to HC, patients with ED had a significant lower serum levels of DHEAS (6.43 ± 2.70 μmol/L vs 9.48 ± 2.82 μmol/L, P < .001) and higher scores on GHQ-20 (35.06 ± 8.56 vs 24.97 ± 2.55, P < .001). Multivariate binary logistic regression showed that both serum levels of DHEAS (OR = 0.667, 95% CI = 0.512–0.869, P = .003) and psychological distress (scores of GHQ-20 > 28) (OR = 6.921, 95% CI = 1.821–26.305, P = .005) were significantly associated with ED. However, no significant association between psychological distress and serum levels of DHEAS was found (OR = 0.798, 95% CI = 0.623–1.021, P = .072) after controlling for ED. Partial correlation analysis revealed that both scores of GHQ-20 (r = −0.595, P < .001) and DHEAS (r = 0.450, P < .001) were significantly correlated with scores of IIEF-5, while no significant relationship was found between scores of GHQ-20 and DHEAS (r = 0.116, P = .363) after controlling for scores of IIEF-5 and age. Conclusion Both serum levels of DHEAS and general psychological health are significantly associated with erectile dysfunction in sexually active adult men but the relationship between general psychological health and erectile function seems to be independent of DHEAS. Li K, Liang S, Shi Y, et al. The Relationships of Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate, Erectile Function and General Psychological Health. Sex Med 2021;9:100386.