Both diabetes and periodontal disease are prevalent in China. Poor oral hygiene practice is the major cause of periodontal disease. An association between oral hygiene practice and blood glucose level was reported in individuals with diabetes, but not in the general population. We examined the association in a population-based random survey recruiting 2,105 adults without previously diagnosed diabetes in Chongqing city, China. Plasma glucose and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were measured, and a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test was conducted for each respondent. Self-reported toothbrushing frequency was used as a proxy for oral hygiene practice. In a linear model controlling for potential confounders (demographic characteristics, socio-economic status, lifestyle risk factors, BMI, dental visit frequency, etc.), urban residents who barely brushed their teeth had an increase of 0.50 (95% CI: 0.10–0.90) mmol/L in fasting plasma glucose, and an increase of 0.26% (0.04–0.47%) in HbA1c, relative to those brushing ≥twice daily; for rural residents, the effects were 0.26 (0.05–0.48) mmol/L in fasting plasma glucose and 0.20% (0.09–0.31%) in HbA1c. Individuals with better oral practice tended to have lower level of blood glucose and HbA1c. Establishing good oral health behavioral habits may be conducive to diabetes prevention and control in the general population.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most serious life-threatening malignancies. Although chemotherapeutic targets and agents for ESCC have made much progress recently, the efficacy is still unsatisfactory. Therefore, there is still an unmet medical need for patients with ESCC. Here, we report the expression status of HDAC1 in human ESCC and matched paracancerous tissues, and the results indicated that HDAC1 was generally upregulated in ESCC specimens. Furthermore, we comprehensively assessed the anti-ESCC activity of a highly active HDAC1 inhibitor quisinostat. Quisinostat could effectively suppress cellular viability and proliferation of ESCC cells, as well as induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis even at low treatment concentrations. The effectiveness was also observed in KYSE150 xenograft model when quisinostat was administered at tolerated doses (3 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg). Meanwhile, quisinostat also had the ability to suppress the migration and invasion (pivotal steps of tumor metastasis) of ESCC cells. Western blot analysis indicated that quisinostat exerted its anti-ESCC effects mainly through blockade of Akt/mTOR and MAPK/ERK signaling cascades. Overall, HDAC1 may serve as a potential therapeutic target for ESCC, and quisinostat deserves to be further assessed as a promising drug candidate for the treatment of ESCC.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. Although great progress has been made in diagnosis and treatment strategies in recent years, the 5-year survival rate of OSCC patients is still disappointingly low. Hence, there is still an unmet medical need for sufferers with OSCC. As a downstream effector of Hippo pathway, TAZ was up-regulated in multiple cancers including OSCC, and considered as an effective therapeutic target. In this study, we constructed a stable transfected cell line HEK293-TAZ to screen TAZ inhibitor using dual-luciferase reporter assay, and found a potential TAZ inhibitor AR-42. The results showed that AR-42 effectively suppressed the viability and proliferation of OSCC cells, and induced cellular apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase. Moreover, AR-42 potently inhibited cell invasion and the capacity of sphere-forming, as well as the expression of EMT and cancer stem cell related proteins in OSCC cells, exhibiting potential efficacy against OSCC metastasis and self-renewal of oral cancer stem cell. Further mechanism studies showed that AR-42 inhibited the total amount of TAZ and its paralog YAP mainly through blockade of TAZ/YAP transcription and promotion of TAZ/YAP protein degradation. Additionally, the inhibitory effect of AR-42 against TAZ, as well as its anti-OSCC activity could be also observed in SCC9 xenograft model. Taken together, AR-42 deserves to be further studied as a TAZ inhibitor, and is worthy to be further assessed as a potential drug candidate for OSCC treatment.