No abstract

Aberrant DNA methylation can be a potential genetic mechanism in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, inconsistent findings existed among the recent association studies between cigarette smoking and gene methylation in lung cancer. The purpose of our meta-analysis was to evaluate the role of gene methylation in the smoking behavior of NSCLC patients. A total of 116 genes were obtained from 97 eligible publications in the current meta-analyses. Our results showed that 7 hypermethylated genes (including CDKN2A, RASSF1, MGMT, RARB, DAPK, WIF1 and FHIT) were significantly associated with the smoking behavior in NSCLC patients. The further population-based subgroup meta-analyses showed that the CDKN2A hypermethylation was significantly associated with cigarette smoking in Japanese, Chinese and Americans. In contrast, a significant association of RARB hypermethylation and smoking behavior was only detected in Chinese but not in Japanese. The genes with altered DNA methylation were likely to be potentially useful biomarkers in the early diagnosis of NSCLC.

The present study aimed to investigate whether Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBP) would protect against doxorubicin (DOX)-induced testicular toxicity. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with distilled water (4 mL/kg) or LBP (200 mg/kg, p.o.) daily for 10 days and followed by saline (0.9 %, 10 mL/kg) or DOX (10 mg/kg) intravenous injection at day 7. Pretreatment with LBP ameliorated DOX-induced reduction in the testicular weights, sperm concentrations and percentage of motile sperms, as well as the increase in abnormal sperm rate. LBP administration to DOX-treated rats successfully reversed the changes in MDA and GHS-Px levels. Compared with the control, pretreatment with LBP significantly increased the plasma testosterone level in the LBP + DOX group. The histopathology examinations further confirmed that LBP effectively attenuated DOX-induced severe degenerative changes of seminiferous tubules. This study illustrated the capability of LBP in attenuating testicular oxidative stress and protecting testis-specific toxicity in DOX-exposed rats.

Nitric oxide (NO), a second messenger, is synthesized by NO synthase that catalyzes the oxidation of L-arginine to form NO and L-citrulline.

The goal of our study is to investigate the contribution of promoter DNA methylation of α-adducin (ADD1) gene to the risk of essential hypertension (EH). Using the bisulphite pyrosequencing technology, DNA methylation levels of five CpG dinucleotides on ADD1 promoter were measured among 33 EH cases and 28 healthy controls. Significantly higher ADD1 DNA methylation levels were observed in the females than in the males (CpG1: P = 0.016; CpG2-5: P = 0.021). A breakdown analysis by gender showed that lower CpG1 methylation was associated with an increased risk of EH in females (adjusted P = 0.042). A much more significant association between lower CpG2-5 methylation levels and the increased risk of EH was found in males (adjusted P = 0.008). CpG1 methylation was inversely correlated with age in females (r = −0.407, P = 0.019) but not in males. ADD1 CpG1 and CpG2-5 methylation levels were significantly lower in post-menopausal (>50 years) women than pre-menopausal (≤50 years) women (CpG1: P = 0.006; CpG2-5: P = 0.034). A significant interaction between CpG1 methylation and age was found in females (CpG1*age: P = 0.029). CpG2-5 methylation was shown as a significant predictor of EH in males [area under curve (AUC) = 0.855, P = 0.001], in contrast that CpG1 methylation was a trend toward indicator in females (AUC = 0.699, P = 0.054). In addition, significant differences were observed between males and females for alanine aminotransferase (ALT, P = 0.001), aspartate aminotransferase (AST, P = 0.005) and uric acid (P<0.001). The concentration of AST was inversely correlated with ADD1 CpG2-5 methylation levels in female controls (r = −0.644, P = 0.024). These observations may bring new hints to elaborate the pathogenesis of EH.