No abstract

High expression levels of TrkB and BDNF are associated with aggressive malignant behavior in tumor cells and a poor prognosis in patients with various types of cancer. In this study, we aimed to identify the relationship between TrkB and BDNF expression and clinicopathological variables and prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We evaluated TrkB and BDNF expression in the tumor cells of 102 NSCLC patients by immunohistochemistry. Out of all clinicopathological factors examined, only vascular invasion was significantly correlated with TrkB (P=0.010) and BDNF (P=0.015) expression. TrkB-positive tumors had significantly worse disease-free survival (P=0.0094) and overall survival (P=0.0019) than TrkB-negative tumors, and TrkB expression was an independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival (HR 3.735, 95% CI 1.560-11.068, P=0.002) and overall survival (HR 4.335, 95% CI 1.534-15.963, P=0.004) in multivariate analysis. Finally, our analysis revealed that co-expression of TrkB and BDNF conferred poorer prognosis compared with overexpression of either protein alone. Our results indicate that expression of TrkB and BDNF is associated with poor prognosis in NSCLC patients.

Hyperinsulinemia and dyslipidemia are known to be associated with essential hypertension but their role in pregnancy-induced hypertension remains unclear. We performed a case-control study comparing cholesterol, insulin, and glucose levels in the early third trimester of pregnancy among 31 women who developed pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) (either preeclampsia [n ‫؍‬ 6] or nonproteinuric gestational hypertension [n ‫؍‬ 25]), with 31 women remaining normotensive through pregnancy. As compared with women remaining normotensive, women subsequently developing PIH had higher fasting cholesterol levels (279 v 247 mg/dL; P ‫؍‬ ‫؍‬ .02) and higher fasting insulin levels (13.3 v 7.9 U/mL; P ‫؍‬ ‫؍‬ .03), although fasting glucose levels and levels of glucose and insulin after glucose load did not differ significantly between groups. In comparing hypertensive subgroups, fasting insulin levels were significantly higher among women who subsequently developed preeclampsia, but not among those subsequently developing nonproteinuric gestational hypertension. Although women developing PIH had higher pregravid body mass index (25.1 v 22.6 kg/m 2 , P ‫؍‬ ‫؍‬ .06), fasting cholesterol and insulin levels were associated with risk for PIH even after adjustment for body mass index and age (relative risks for one unit increase, respectively: 1.02 (P ‫؍‬ ‫؍‬ .03) and 1.12 (P ‫؍‬ ‫؍‬ .03). Higher fasting cholesterol and insulin levels in mid-to late pregnancy are associated with increased risk for PIH. These observations support a role for insulin resistance in the development of this complication of pregnancy. Am J Hypertens 1999;12:276 -282

This study demonstrates higher circulating levels of ir-Ang II with CEE and droloxifene.