Our findings suggest that CD8(+) T cells might have a significant role in tumor immunity by expressing CD103 in intratumor regions of bladder urothelial cell carcinoma tissues. Intratumor CD103(+) TILs could potentially serve as a prognostic marker in patients with bladder urothelial cell carcinoma.

In this meta-analysis, UGT1A1*6 polymorphisms were revealed as potential biomarkers, predicting IRI-induced severe toxicity in patients from Asia, and increased incidences of severe neutropenia could occur in both high/medium and low doses of IRI.

Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by dysregulated host response to infection and characterized by redox imbalance and severe oxidative stress. Glutathione (GSH) serves several vital functions, including scavenging free radicals and maintaining intracellular redox balance. Extracellular GSH is unable to be taken into the majority of human cells, and the GSH prodrug N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) does not exhibit promising clinical effects. γ-glutamylcysteine (γ-GC), an intermediate dipeptide of the GSH-synthesis pathway and harboring anti-inflammatory properties, represents a relatively unexplored option for sepsis treatment. The anti-inflammatory efficiency of γ-GC and the associated molecular mechanism need to be explored. In vivo investigation showed that γ-GC reduced sepsis lethality and attenuated systemic inflammatory responses in mice, as well as inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated production of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), and nitric oxide (NO) and the expression of inducible NO synthase and cyclooxygenase 2 in RAW264.7 cells. Moreover, both in vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrated that γ-GC exhibited better therapeutic effects against inflammation compared with N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) and GSH. Mechanistically, γ-GC suppressed LPS-induced reactive oxygen species accumulation and GSH depletion. Inflammatory stimuli, such as LPS treatment, upregulated the expression of glutathione synthetase via activating nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf2) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathways, thereby promoting synthesis of GSH from γ-GC. These findings suggested that γ-GC might represent a potential therapeutic agent for sepsis treatment.

Macrophages (Mφs) are a major cell type that can infiltrate solid tumors and exhibit distinct phenotypes in different tumor microenvironments. This study attempted to investigate the prognostic values of various tumor-infiltrating Mφ phenotypes in patients with urothelial cell carcinoma of the bladder (UCB), with a focus on Mφ tissue microlocalization. Mφs were assessed by immunohistochemistry in tissues from 302 UCB patients using CD68 as a pan-Mφ marker, and CD204 and CD169 as robust pro- and anti-tumoral Mφ phenotype markers, respectively. Our data showed that these Mφ phenotypes were predominately distributed in stromal (ST) rather than in intratumoral (INT) regions (all P < 0.0001). Surprisingly, CD204 and CD169 can be co-expressed by the same CD68+ Mφs. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that all INT- and ST-infiltrating CD204+ or CD169+ Mφ densities were inversely associated with overall survival (all P < 0.01). By multivariate analysis, ST-infiltrating CD204+ Mφ density emerged as an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (HR, 1.981; P = 0.022). Moreover, the density of ST-infiltrating CD204+ Mφs was positively associated with the tumor size (P = 0.001), tumor stage (P < 0.0001), nodal metastasis (P < 0.0001), and histological grade (P < 0.0001). Our findings suggest that CD204+ Mφs might play detrimental protumoral roles and represent the predominant Mφ phenotype in human bladder cancer.

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