Glycoproteomics is an important aspect in the research of cancer biomarker discovery. The objective of our study is to screen the profile of serum glycoproteins in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and to discover differentially expressed glycoproteins in HCC with or without metastasis. We collected serum from HCC patients and divided them into two groups (non-metastatic HCC group and metastatic HCC group) according to 2002 UICC TNM staging system. Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) lectin was used to enrich the serum glycoproteins by lectin affinity chromatography. The enriched glycoproteins were labeled with mass-balanced isobaric tags (iTRAQ) and analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Two differential glycoproteins were validated by Western blot and biochemical methods, respectively. Fifteen differential serum glycoproteins with WGA affinity were identified (p < 0.05). Among them, nine proteins were up-regulated (>1.5-folds) and six were down-regulated (<0.5-folds) in HCC patients with metastasis. Expression of alpha-1-antitrypsin (SERPINA1) and apolipoprotein A-I (APOA1) was validated by Western blot and biochemical methods, respectively (p < 0.05). Our study has obtained a set of HCC metastasis-associated glycoproteins which may serve as novel prognostic candidates and potential therapeutic targets for HCC metastasis. SERPINA1 might act as a potential glycoprotein biomarker of HCC metastasis.

No abstract

BackgroundInterferon-gamma release assays have not been validated in active TB among pregnant women. Therefore, the objective of this retrospective study was to estimate the diagnostic value of T-SPOT.TB in active TB among pregnant women.Material/MethodsBetween May 2012 and May 2015, 26 consecutive pregnant women with suspected TB were enrolled in our study. The clinicopathological characteristics and T-SPOT.TB results were reviewed and analyzed.ResultsPregnant patients were divided into a TB group (n=21) and a Non-TB group (n=5). In the TB group, 5 patients had pulmonary TB, 5 had pulmonary TB+ extrapulmonary TB, and 11 had exclusively extrapulmonary TB. The most common site of extrapulmonary TB was pleural (n=11). Statistical analysis showed that the lymphocyte count in the TB group was lower than in the Non-TB group (P<0.05). For detection of active TB during pregnancy, T-SPOT.TB had a high sensitivity of 100.0% (84.5%–100.0%) and a specificity of 80.0% (37.6–96.4%).ConclusionsT-SPOT.TB shows good performance in detection of active tuberculosis during pregnancy. Interferon gamma release assay for TB screening of pregnant women is recommended in clinical practice because it may be a more appropriate diagnostic tool than the tuberculin skin test.

Various studies have investigated the risk of recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) with plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 ( PAI-1) 4G/5G polymorphism. However, the results have been somewhat contradictory. Therefore, an updated meta-analysis based on 31 studies (5617 cases and 3952 controls) was undertaken to clarify this relationship. The degree of RSA risk was estimated using the odds ratio (OR) and the 95% confidence interval (CI). Overall, the random effects OR was 1.464 (95% CI: 1.269-1.690) for 4G versus 5G, 2.075 (95% CI: 1.563-2.754) for 4G/4G versus 5G/5G, 1.457 (95% CI: 1.211-1.753) for 4G/5G versus 5G/5G, 1.743 (95% CI: 1.358-2.236) for 4G/4G versus 4G/5G + 5G/5G, and 1.600 (95% CI: 1.327-1.930) for 4G/4G + 4G/5G versus 5G/5G, indicating that PAI-1 4G/5G polymorphism could confer an increased risk of RSA. Furthermore, a subgroup analysis showed a significantly elevated susceptibility to RSA in Asians, Caucasians, and Africans. Thus, this study demonstrated that PAI-1 4G/5G polymorphism likely confers a genetic contribution to the development of RSA. The results may aid in developing a theoretical basis for effective strategies to prevent and treat RSA.