Several genome-wide association studies on lung cancer (LC) have reported similar findings of a new susceptibility locus, 15q25. After that, a number of studies reported that rs8034191 and rs1051730 polymorphisms at chromosome 15q25 have been implicated in LC risk. However, studies have yielded contradictory results. To derive a more precise estimation of the relationship, a meta-analysis of 43,742 LC cases and 58,967 controls from 17 published case-control studies was performed. Overall, significantly elevated LC risk was associated with rs8034191-C (OR = 1.26, 95% CI 1.22-1.31, P < 10(-5)) and rs105173-A variant (OR = 1.28, 95% CI 1.20-1.36, P < 10(-5)) when all studies were pooled into the meta-analysis. In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, significantly increased risks were found for rs8034191 and rs105173 polymorphisms among Caucasians and African American, while no significant associations were observed for the two polymorphisms in East Asians. In addition, we found that rs8034191 and rs105173 confer risk, for both adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma when stratified by histological types of LC. Furthermore, our results on stratified analysis according to smoking status showed an increased LC risk in ever-smokers, while no associations were detected among never-smokers for the two polymorphisms. In conclusion, this meta-analysis demonstrated that the two common variations (rs8034191 and rs1051730) at 15q25 are a risk factor associated with increased LC susceptibility, but these associations vary in different ethnic populations.

Pulmonary sequestration is a very important but extremely negligent cause for pulmonary cryptococcal infection.

The pacemaker activity of mammalian sinoatrial node (SAN) of the heart plays a fundamental role in the integration of vital functions. Studying factors such as drugs that influence pacemaker activity of SAN has its significance. In this study, we isolated sinus venosus, SAN from toads (Bufo gargarizans), and analysed its electronic signal, histological characteristics and the influence of acetylcholine (ACh) and ivabradine on its pacemaker activity using PowerLab® and Chart® 5.0 software. We found that when isolated sinus venosus was treated with ACh, its histological distribution was disorganized and inter-beat (RR) interval was also broadened. The high frequency normalized unit (HFnu) and Poincaré plot of heart rate variability (HRV) of the isolated sinus venosus was also altered upon ACh treatment in a time-dependent and dose-dependent manner. When treated with ivabradine, these parameters of HRV such as square root of the mean of the squared differences between adjacent NN intervals (RMSSD) and HFnu were in the upward tendency, but low frequency normalized unit and low frequency/high frequency were in the opposite tendency. Taken together, we have developed a new model for studying the influences of drugs on autorhythmicity using isolated sinus venosus of the toad. With this model, we showed that ACh and ivabradine may affect the pacemaker activity by stimulating muscarinic receptor or inhibiting If current, respectively.