BackgroundNasal NK/T-cell lymphoma is a rare type of lymphoma in Caucasian individuals, but is relatively common in Asian populations. Genetic variants in immune and inflammatory response genes may thus be associated with the risk of developing lymphoma. Here, we investigated the association between immuno-modulatory gene polymorphisms and risk for nasal NK/T-cell lymphoma in a Chinese population.MethodsAnalysis of 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in IL-10, TNF-α, lymphotoxin-α (LTA), and CTLA-4 genes was performed for 125 patients with NK/T-cell lymphoma and 300 healthy controls by PCR-ligase detection reactions.ResultsThe LTA +252 GA + AA genotypes were associated with increased risk for NK/T-cell lymphoma (OR = 2.96, 95 % CI = 1.42–6.19, P = 0.004 for GA + AA genotype). Haplotype C-G-G-A (TNF-α -857, -308, −238 and LTA +252) also conferred an increased risk (OR = 1.52, 95 % CI = 1.14–2.06, P = 0.005). Additionally, the LTA +252 GA + AA genotype was associated with an even higher risk in populations positive for Epstein–Barr virus (OR = 5.20, 95 % CI = 1.22–23.41, P = 0.03 for the GA + AA genotype).ConclusionsOur data suggest that the LTA +252 A > G polymorphism is associated with the risk of developing NK/T-cell lymphoma, especially for Epstein–Barr virus-positive NK/T-cell lymphoma in the Chinese population.

Chronic cigarette smoking increases the risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC) and causes higher mortality of CRC patients. To improve our understanding of the underlying mechanism and devise treatment strategies specifically targeted at chronic smoking CRC patients, we examined the immune system of healthy and CRC patients who are complete nonsmokers or chronic primary smokers. We found that the serum concentrations of CRC nonsmokers and CRC smokers were skewed toward Th17-type cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-17 and IL-22. Notably, smoking CRC subjects had significantly higher levels of IL-22 than nonsmoking CRC patients. We also observed higher percentages of CCR4(+)CCR6(+) Th17 cells in circulating blood and higher secretion of IL-17 and IL-22 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of nonsmoking CRC and smoking CRC patients, compared to healthy individuals. Again, we observed elevated IL-17 and IL-22 secretion by CRC smokers than nonsmokers. Since IL-22 has been shown to stimulate tumorigenesis, which was also replicated in our experiments using cancer cell line model, we tested whether CRC patients' cell culture supernatant could also support tumor growth using this model. We found that both HT29 cells and LoVo cells had the highest proliferation in the supernatant from smoking CRC patients. Moreover, the proliferation of LoVo cells in smoking CRC supernatant was significantly higher than that in nonsmoking CRC supernatant. In addition, we found that the IL-22 concentration in normal gut tissue of the smoking CRC patients was significantly increased compared to that in nonsmoking CRC subjects, while no significant differences were observed in tumor tissues. Our results suggest that chronic smokers may have higher risk for CRC and worse prognosis due to dysregulated IL-22 production.

Chitosan (CHI) and whey protein are usually used to prepare edible films for food preservation. However, the composite film composed of the two components does not yield satisfactory properties for chestnut preservation. In this study, nano‐cellulose and cinnamaldehyde (CMA) were added to CHI and whey protein, creating a new composite film with strong water retention, bacteriostatic, and mechanical properties. The water vapor permeability (WVP) of the film decreased by 21.61% with the addition of 0.5% (w/v) nano‐cellulose, and 23.02% with the addition of 0.3% (w/v) CMA. Furthermore, water solubility (WS) decreased 22.05%, and the density of the film was significantly improved with the addition of 0.3% (w/v) CMA. The optimized formula of the film was CHI 2.5% (w/v), whey protein 3.0% (w/v), nano‐cellulose 0.5% (w/v), CMA 0.3% (w/v), and pH 3.8, as determined by orthogonal testing L9(34), with fuzzy comprehensive assessment, of WVP, WS, tensile strength, and elongation at break. The film clearly inhibited the growth of E. coli, S. aureus, and Chinese chestnut fungus, destroying the mycelial structure of the fungus. In addition, coating effectively reduced the weight loss, mildew rate, and calcification index during 16 days of storage of chestnuts at 25 °C.

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