The mechanisms whereby hepatic fibrosis develops in chronic liver diseases remain incompletely defined. Here, we sought to examine whether microRNA (miRNA) became dysregulated in dimethylnitrosamine‐induced hepatic fibrosis in rats. Our microarray analysis revealed that the miR‐34 family was upregulated along with other miRNAs in liver fibrotic tissues. Six miRNAs, such as rno‐miR‐878, were downregulated. The findings were confirmed by RT‐PCR assays. Gene ontology analysis further showed that many of these dysregulated miRNAs were involved in lipid/fatty acid metabolism. The acyl‐CoA synthetase long‐chain family member 1 (ACSL1) gene contained specific binding sites for miR‐34a/miR‐34c. Additional enhanced green fluorescence protein reporter activity assays indicated that the miR‐34 family targeted ACSL1. Our RT‐PCR and immunoblotting assays further demonstrated that both the mRNA and protein levels of ACSL1 were markedly reduced in fibrotic liver tissues. Our findings suggest that miRNA becomes dysregulated during hepatic fibrosis, and that the miR‐34 family may be involved in the process by targeting ACSL1.

Skin undergoes degenerative changes as it ages, which include the loss of elasticity, reductions in the epidermal thickness and collagen content, elastic fiber degeneration, and increased wrinkling and dryness. Skin aging can be significantly delayed by the administration of estrogen. Estrogen deficiency following menopause results in atrophic skin changes and the acceleration of skin aging. Estrogen administration has positive effects on human skin by delaying or preventing skin aging manifestations, but the use of estrogen replacement is a risk factor for breast and uterine cancer. Phytoestrogens are a large family of plant‐derived molecules possessing various degrees of estrogen‐like activity; they exhibit agonist or antagonist estrogenic properties depending on the tissue. These molecules could be ideal candidates to combat skin aging and other detrimental effects of hypoestrogenism. In this paper, we review the effects of phytoestrogens on human skin and the mechanisms by which phytoestrogens can alleviate the changes due to aging.

Purpose: Recent studies showed that oncolytic adenoviruses not only have capacity for destruction of tumors but also can be used as potential vectors to express therapeutic genes for therapy of cancer. However, better specificity and mode of transgene expression are required to improve the efficacy and safety if this vector is applied for clinical application. Experimental Design: In this study, we have created adenoviral replication-based transgene expression system by replacement of 6.7K/gp19K of E3 genes with EGFP and IL-24 genes so that expression of transgenes should be controlled by adenoviral E3 promoter. Transgene expression, viral replication capacity, and cytotoxicity have been studied in tumor and normal cells. Antitumor efficacy was evaluated in animal model with established tumor. Results: Our data showed that expression of IL-24 could be detected at 6 h and reached the maximal level at 48 h after infection in tumor cells. The expression level was 14 times higher than that induced by cytomegalovirus promoter. Low level of IL-24 could be detected in normal cells only until 72 h after infection.The substitution of 6.7K/gp19K of E3 genes with transgenes did not affect viral replication in tumor cells. Strong cytotoxicity was observed only in tumor cells after infection with AdCN205-IL-24. Treatment of the established tumors induced high level of local expression of IL-24 in tumor cells and resulted in tumor regression. Conclusions: Our data showed that AdCN205-IL-24 can provide potent and safe vector for the therapy of cancer.

No abstract

Background Previous studies of primarily Western populations have reported contrasting associations of dairy consumption with certain cancers, including a positive association with prostate cancer and inverse associations with colorectal and premenopausal breast cancers. However, there are limited data from China where cancer rates and levels of dairy consumption differ importantly from those in Western populations. Methods The prospective China Kadoorie Biobank study recruited ~0.5 million adults from ten diverse (five urban, five rural) areas across China during 2004–2008. Consumption frequency of major food groups, including dairy products, was collected at baseline and subsequent resurveys, using a validated interviewer-administered laptop-based food frequency questionnaire. To quantify the linear association of dairy intake and cancer risk and to account for regression dilution bias, the mean usual consumption amount for each baseline group was estimated via combining the consumption level at both baseline and the second resurvey. During a mean follow-up of 10.8 (SD 2.0) years, 29,277 incident cancer cases were recorded among the 510,146 participants who were free of cancer at baseline. Cox regression analyses for incident cancers associated with usual dairy intake were stratified by age-at-risk, sex and region and adjusted for cancer family history, education, income, alcohol intake, smoking, physical activity, soy and fresh fruit intake, and body mass index. Results Overall, 20.4% of participants reported consuming dairy products (mainly milk) regularly (i.e. ≥1 day/week), with the estimated mean consumption of 80.8 g/day among regular consumers and of 37.9 g/day among all participants. There were significant positive associations of dairy consumption with risks of total and certain site-specific cancers, with adjusted HRs per 50 g/day usual consumption being 1.07 (95% CI 1.04–1.10), 1.12 (1.02–1.22), 1.19 (1.01–1.41) and 1.17 (1.07–1.29) for total cancer, liver cancer (n = 3191), female breast cancer (n = 2582) and lymphoma (n=915), respectively. However, the association with lymphoma was not statistically significant after correcting for multiple testing. No significant associations were observed for colorectal cancer (n = 3350, 1.08 [1.00–1.17]) or other site-specific cancers. Conclusion Among Chinese adults who had relatively lower dairy consumption than Western populations, higher dairy intake was associated with higher risks of liver cancer, female breast cancer and, possibly, lymphoma.