Metformin treatment was associated with reduced risk of HCC in diabetic patients. To clarify this relationship, more high-quality studies are required.

Summary Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have gastrointestinal side effects such as dyspepsia, peptic ulcer, hemorrhage, and perforation. Misoprostol and PPIs have been used to prevent NSAID-induced gastroduodenal injury. Rebamipide increases gastric mucus and stimulates the production of endogenous prostaglandins. The prophylactic effect of rebamipide on NSAID-induced gastrointestinal complications is unknown. The aim of this study was to compare NSAID-induced gastrointestinal complications in rebamipide-and misoprostol-treated groups. Patients were randomized to two groups and took a conventional NSAID plus rebamipide or misoprostol for 12 weeks. Gastric mucosal damage was evaluated by endoscopy at screening and the end of the study. The prevalences of active gastric ulcer were 7/176 (3.9%) in the rebamipide group and 3/156 (1.9%) in the misoprostol group. The prevalences of peptic ulcer were 8/176 (4.5%) in the rebamipide group and 7/156 (4.4%) in the misoprostol group. The cumulative incidences of peptic ulcer in the high-risk subgroup were 6/151 (4.0%) for rebamipide and 6/154 (3.9%) for misoprostol. In conclusion, rebamipide prevented NSAID-induced peptic ulcer as effectively as misoprostol in patients on long-term NSAID therapy. Rebamipide may be a useful therapeutic option for the prevention of NSAIDinduced gastrointestinal ulcer because of its therapeutic effect and safety.Key Words: rebamipide, misoprostol, NSAID, gastrointestinal tract, clinical trial *To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +82-2-3779-3029Fax: +82-2-3779-1331 E-mail: psheon@catholic.ac.kr Abbreviations: NSAID, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug; PPI, proton pump inhibitor; GERD, gastroesophageal reflux disease; H2RA, histamine 2 receptor antagonist; STORM, Study of NSAID-induced GI Toxicity Prevention by Rebamipide and Misoprostol.

Neighbor detection and allelochemical response are important mediators in plant-plant interactions. Despite increasing knowledge of plant allelochemicals in response to the presence of competitors involved in the neighbor-derived signaling chemicals, less is known about which signaling chemicals are responsible for the neighbor-induced allelochemical response. Here, we experimentally demonstrated (-)-loliolide, a carotenoid metabolite, as a signaling chemical in barnyardgrass-rice allelopathic interactions. The production of rice allelochemicals momilactone B and tricin was increased in the presence of five biotypes of barnyardgrass. (-)-Loliolide was found in all biotypes of barnyardgrass and their root exudates and rhizosphere soils. There were significant positive relationships between rice allelechemicals and (-)-loliolide concentrations across biotypes of barnyardgrass. Furthermore, (-)-loliolide elicited the production of momilactone B and tricin. Comparative transcriptome analysis showed regulation of (-)-loliolide on diterpenoid and flavonoid biosynthesis pathway. The expression of key genes involved in the biosynthesis of momilactone B (CPS4, KSL4 and MAS) and tricin (CYP75B3 and CYP75B4) was up-regulated by (-)-loliolide. These findings suggest that (-)-loliolide as a signaling chemical participates in barnyardgrass-rice allelopathic interactions. Through the signaling chemical, allelopathic rice plants can detect competing barnyardgrass and respond by increasing allelochemical levels to provide an advantage for their own growth.

The continuous cropping of sugar beet can result in soil degradation and a decrease in the sugar beet yield and quality. However, the role of continuous sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L. var. saccharifera) cropping in shaping the structure and function of the rhizosphere microbial community remains poorly investigated. In this study, we comparatively investigated the impact of different numbers of years of continuous sugar beet cropping on structural and functional changes in the microbial community of the rhizosphere using high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. We collected rhizosphere soils from fields continuously cropped for one-year (T1), five-year (T5), and thirty-year (T30) periods, as well as one bulk soil (T0), in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The results demonstrated that continuous sugar beet cropping resulted in a significant decline in the community diversity of soil bacterial and fungal populations from T1 to T5. With continuous change in the structure of the microbial community, the Shannon diversity and observed species were increased in T30. With an abundance of pathogenic microbes, including Acidobacteria, Alternaria, and Fusarium, that were highly enriched in T30, soil-borne diseases could be accelerated, deduced by functional predictions based on 16S rRNA genes. Continuous sugar beet cropping also led to significant declines in beneficial bacteria, including Actinobacteria, Pseudomonas spp., and Bacillus spp. In addition, we profiled and analyzed predictive metabolic characteristics (metabolism and detoxification). The abundance of phenolic acid decarboxylase involved in the phenolic acid degradation pathway was significantly lower in groups T5 and T30 than that in T0 and T1, which could result in the phenolic compounds becoming excessive in long-term continuous cropping soil. Our results provide a deeper understanding of the rhizosphere soil microbial community's response to continuous sugar beet cropping, which is important in evaluating the sustainability of this agricultural practice.

Higher serum direct bilirubin concentration was associated with the increased risk of LNM and poor prognosis in our rectal cancers.