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Focal cerebral ischemia results in an increased expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), which induces vasogenic brain edema via disrupting the blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity. Recent studies from our laboratory showed that baicalin reduces ischemic brain damage by inhibiting inflammatory reaction and neuronal apoptosis in a rat model of focal cerebral ischemia. In the present study, we first explored the effect of baicalin on the neuronal damage, brain edema and BBB permeability, then further investigated its potential mechanisms. Sprague-Dawley rats underwent permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Baicalin was administrated by intraperitoneally injected twice at 2 and 12 h after the onset of MCAO. Neuronal damage, brain edema and BBB permeability were measured 24 h following MCAO. Expression of MMP-9 protein and mRNA were determined by western blot and RT-PCR, respectively. Expression of tight junction protein (TJP) occludin was detected by western blot. Neuronal damage, brain edema and BBB permeability were significantly reduced by baicalin administration following focal cerebral ischemia. Elevated expression of MMP-9 protein and mRNA were significantly down-regulated by baicalin administration. In addition, MCAO caused the decreased expression of occludin, which was significantly up-regulated by baicalin administration. Our study suggested that baicalin reduces MCAO-induced neuronal damage, brain edema and BBB permeability, which might be associated with the inhibition of MMP-9 expression and MMP-9-mediated occludin degradation.

Studies with circulating ribonucleic acid (RNA) not only provide new targets for cancer detection, but also open up the possibility of noninvasive gene expression profiling for cancer. In this paper, we developed a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), platform for detection and differentiation of serum RNAs of colorectal cancer. A novel three-dimensional (3-D), Ag nanofilm formed by dry MgSO(4) aggregated silver nanoparticles, Ag NP, as the SERS-active substrate was presented to effectively enhance the RNA Raman signals. SERS measurements were performed on two groups of serum RNA samples. One group from patients, n=55 with pathologically diagnosed colorectal cancer and the other group from healthy controls, n=45. Tentative assignments of the Raman bands in the normalized SERS spectra demonstrated that there are differential expressions of cancer-related RNAs between the two groups. Linear discriminate analysis, based on principal component analysis, generated features can differentiate the colorectal cancer SERS spectra from normal SERS spectra with sensitivity of 89.1 percent and specificity of 95.6 percent. This exploratory study demonstrated great potential for developing serum RNA SERS analysis into a useful clinical tool for label-free, noninvasive screening and detection of colorectal cancers.

Background and Aims: We sought to evaluate the prognosis of preoperative blood routine parameters for the mortality of colorectal cancer patients after surgery by eliciting a subset of data from the ongoing Fujian prospective investigation of cancer (FIESTA) study.Methods: 1318 colorectal cancer patients with completed survival data were enrolled between 2000 and 2008. Effect-size estimates are expressed as hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI).Results: The median follow-up time was 58.6 months. Elevated levels of neutrophil (adjusted HR, 95% CI, P: 1.22, 1.06-1.41, 0.006) and monocyte (1.32, 1.06-1.65, 0.013) were significantly associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer mortality, whereas that of lymphocyte (0.60, 0.44-0.82, 0.001) and red blood cell count (0.20, 0.09-0.43, <0.001) were significantly associated with a reduced risk. Additionally, remarkable significance was reached for the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (1.12, 1.06-1.19, <0.001) and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (0.60, 0.46-0.79, <0.001). Based on individual effect-estimates, a new derivate, monocyte to red blood cell count ratio namely MRR was created, and its association with colorectal cancer mortality was strikingly significant (1.48, 1.18-1.85, 0.001). Notably, elevated MRR was significantly associated with the mortality of early stage colorectal cancer, especially in patients with stage I-II (1.63, 1.04-2.56, 0.034), invasion depth T1-T2 (2.85, 1.45-5.61, 0.002), regional lymph node metastasis N0 (1.89, 1.29-2.77, 0.001) and tumor size ≤ 4.5 cm (1.84, 1.25-2.70, 0.002).Conclusions: We created a new derivate MRR, which was superior over classic blood routine derivates, and importantly the MRR exhibited a stronger ability in predicting poor prognosis of colorectal cancer, especially at the early stage.