• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.1624-1632
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• 2020

Objective: A total of three hundred unsexed ducks were utilized to estimate net energy requirements of maintenance (NE_m) and weight gain (NE_g) for 2 to 3-week-old Cherry Valley ducks and to establish a model equation to predict NE requirements using the factorial method. Methods: To determine the apparent metabolizable energy (AME) of the diet, fifty 7-day-old ducks at approximately equal body weights (BWs) were randomly assigned into five groups that were fed at different levels (ad libitum, 85%, 75%, 65%, and 55% of ad libitum intake), and the endogenous acid-insoluble ash as indigestible marker. The two hundred and fifty 7-day-old ducks were used for a comparative slaughter experiment. At the beginning of the experiment, ten ducks were sacrificed to determine the initial body composition and energy content. The remaining ducks were randomly assigned into five groups (same as metabolic experiment). Ducks of the ad libitum group were slaughtered at 14 and 21-day-old. At the end of the experiment, two ducks were selected from each replicate and slaughtered to determine the body composition and energy content. Results: The results of the metabolizable experiment showed AME values of 13.43 to 13.77 MJ/kg for ducks at different feed intakes. The results of the comparative slaughter experiment showed the NE_m value for 2 to 3-week-old Cherry Valley ducks was 549.54 kJ/kg of BW^0.75/d, and the NE_g value was 10.41 kJ/g. The deposition efficiency values of fat (K_f) and crude protein (K_p) were 0.96 and 0.60, respectively, and the values of efficiency of energy utilization (K_g) and maintenance efficiency (K_m) were 0.75 and 0.88, respectively. Conclusion: The equation for the prediction of NE requirements for 2 to 3-week-old Cherry Valley ducks was the following: NE = 549.54 BW^0.75+10.41 ΔW, where ΔW is the weight gain (g).

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.3223-3228
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• 2012

HMGN5 is a typical member of the HMGN (high mobility group nucleosome-binding protein) family which may function as a nucleosomal binding and transcriptional activating protein. Overexpression of HMGN5 has been observed in several human tumors but its role in tumorigenesis has not been fully clarified. To investigate its significance for human lung cancer progression, we successfully constructed a shRNA expression lentiviral vector in which sense and antisense sequences targeting the human HMGN5 were linked with a 9-nucleotide loop. Inhibitory effects of siRNA on endogenous HMGN5 gene expression and protein synthesis were demonstrated via real-time RT-PCR and western blotting. We found HMGN5 silencing to significantly inhibit A549 and H1299 cell proliferation assessed by MTT, BrdU incorporation and colony formation assays. Furthermore, flow cytometry analysis showed that specific knockdown of HMGN5 slowed down the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase and decreased the populations of A549 and H1299 cells at the S and G2/M phases. Taken together, these results suggest that HMGN5 is directly involved in regulation cell proliferation in A549 and H1299 cells by influencing signaling pathways involved in cell cycle progression. Thus, our finding suggests that targeting HMGN5 may be an effective strategy for human lung cancer treatment.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8947-8950
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• 2014

Immunological functions of heat shock proteins (HSPs) have long been recognized. In this study we aimed to efficiently purify HSP70 from renal cell carcinoma and test it as a tumor antigen for pulsing dendritic cells in vitro. HSP70 was purified from renal cell carcinoma specimens by serial column chromatography on Con A-sepharose, PD-10, ADP-agarose and DEAE-cellulose, and finally subjected to fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC). Dendritic cells derived from the adherent fraction of peripheral blood mononuclear cells were cultured in the presence of IL-4 and GM-CSF and exposed to tumor HSP70. After 24 hours, dendritic cells were phenotypically characterized by flow cytometry. T cells obtained from the non-adherent fraction of peripheral blood mononuclear cells were then co-cultured with HSP70-pulsed dendritic cells and after 3 days T cell cytotoxicity towards primary cultured renal cell carcinoma cells was examined by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Dendritic cells pulsed in vitro with tumor-derived HSP70 expressed higher levels of CD83, CD80, CD86 and HLA-DR maturation markers than those pulsed with tumor cell lysate and comparable to that of dendritic cells pulsed with tumor cell lysate plus TNF-${\alpha}$. Concomitantly, cytotoxic T-lymphocytes induced by HSP70-pulsed dendritic cells presented the highest cytotoxic activity. There were no significant differences when using homologous or autologous HSP70 as the tumor antigen. HSP70 can be efficiently purified by chromatography and induces in vitro dendritic cell maturation in the absence of TNF-${\alpha}$. Conspecific HSP70 may effectively be used as a tumor antigen to pulse dendritic cells in vitro.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.15
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• pp.6295-6300
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• 2014

Our aim was to investigate the value of combined detection of serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9, CA 242 and CA 50 in diagnosis and assessment of prognosis in consecutive gastric cancer patients. Clinical data including preoperative serum CEA, CA 19-9, CA 242, and CA 50 values and information on clinical pathological factors were collected and analyzed retrospectively. Univariate and multivariate survival analyses were used to explore the relationship between tumor markers and survival. Positive rates of tumor markers CEA, CA 19-9, CA 242 and CA 50 in the diagnosis of gastric cancer were 17.7, 17.1, 20.4 and 13.8%, respectively, and the positive rate for all four markers combined was 36.6%. Patients with elevated preoperative serum concentrations of CEA, CA 19-9, CA 242 and CA 50, had late clinical tumor stage and significantly poorer overall survival. Five-year survival rates in patients with elevated CEA, CA 19-9, CA 242 and CA 50 were 28.1, 25.8, 27.0 and 24.1%, respectively, compared with 55.0, 55.4, 56.4 and 54.5% in patients with these markers at normal levels (p<0.01). In multivariate Cox proportional hazards analyses, an elevated CA 242 level was determined to be an independent prognostic marker in gastric cancer patients. Combined detection of four tumor markers increased the positive rate for gastric cancer diagnosis. CA 242 showed higher diagnostic value and CA 50 showed lower diagnostic value. In resectable gastric carcinoma, preoperative CA 242 level was associated with disease stage, and was found to be a significant independent prognostic marker in gastric cancer patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3705-3713
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• 2014

E-Cadherin (CDH1) genetic variations may be involved in invasion and metastasis of various cancers by altering gene transcriptional activity of epithelial cells. However, published studies on the association of CDH1 gene polymorphisms and cancer risk remain contradictory, owing to differences in living habits and genetic backgrounds. To derive a more better and comprehensive conclusion, the present meta-analysis was performed including 57 eligible studies of the association between polymorphisms of CDH1 gene promoter -160 C>A, -347 G>GA and 3'-UTR +54 C>T and cancer risk. Results showed that these three polymorphisms of CDH1 were significantly associated with cancer risk. For -160 C>A polymorphism, -160A allele carriers (CA and CA+AA) had an increased risk of cancer compared with the homozygotes (CC), and the similar result was discovered for the -160A allele in the overall analyses. In the subgroup analyses, obvious elevated risk was found with -160A allele carriers (AA, CA, CA+AA and A allele) for prostate cancer, while a decreased colorectal cancer risk was shown with the AA genotype. For the -347 G>GA polymorphism, the GAGA genotype was associated with increased cancer risk in the overall analysis with homozygous and recessive models. In addition, results of subgroup analysis indicated that the elevated risks were observed in colorectal cancer and Asian descendants. For +54 C>T polymorphism, a decreased risk of cancer was found in heterozygous, dominant and allele models. Moreover, +54T allele carriers (CT, CT+TT genotype and T allele) showed a potential protective factor in gastric cancer and Asian descendants.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3629-3633
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• 2014

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is an immunosuppressive tumor whose median survival time is only 12-15 months, and patients with GBM have a uniformly poor prognosis. It is known that heredity contributes to formation of glioma, but there are few genetic studies concerning GBM. Materials and Methods: We genotyped six tagging SNPs (tSNP) in Han Chinese GBM and control patients. We used Microsoft Excel and SPSS 16.0 statistical package for statistical analysis and SNP Stats to test for associations between certain tSNPs and risk of GBM in five different models. ORs and 95%CIs were calculated for unconditional logistic-regression analysis with adjustment for age and gender. The SHEsis software platform was applied for analysis of linkage disequilibrium, haplotype construction, and genetic associations at polymorphism loci. Results: We found rs891835 in CCDC26 to be associated with GBM susceptibility at a level of p=0.009. The following genotypes of rs891835 were found to be associated with GBM risk in four different models of gene action: i) genotype GT (OR=2.26; 95%CI, 1.29-3.97; p=0.019) or GG (OR=1.33; 95%CI, 0.23-7.81; p=0.019) in the codominant model; ii) genotypes GT and GG (OR=2.18; 95%CI, 1.26-3.78; p=0.0061) in the dominant model; iii) GT (OR=2.24; 95%CI, 1.28-3.92; p=0.0053) in the overdominant model; iv) the allele G of rs891835 (OR=1.85; 95%CI, 1.14-3.00; p=0.015) in the additive model. In addition, "CG" and "CGGAG" were found by haplotype analysis to be associated with increased GBM risk. In contrast, genotype GG of CCDC26 rs6470745 was associated with decreased GBM risk (OR=0.34; 95%CI, 0.12-1.01; p=0.029) in the recessive model. Conclusions: Our results, combined with those from previous studies, suggest a potential genetic contribution of CCDC26 to GBM progression among Han Chinese.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3419-3424
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• 2014

Background: Our aim was to conduct a meta-analysis to compare the efficacy and safety of pemetrexed and docetaxel for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Materials and Methods: We systematically searched the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, China Biology Medicine Database for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the efficacy and toxicities of pemetrexed versus docetaxel as a treatment for advanced NSCLC. We limited the languages to English and Chinese. Two reviewers independently screened articles to identify eligible trials according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria and assessed the methodological quality of included trials, and then extracted data. The meta-analysis was performed using STATA12.0. Results: Six RCTs involving 1,414 patients were identified. We found that there was no statistically significant differences in overall response rate, survival time, progression-free survival, disease control rate, and 1-2yr survival rate (p>0.050) but it is worthy of mention that patients in the pemetrexed arms had significantly higher 3-yr survival rate (P=0.002). With regard to the grade 3 or 4 hematological toxicity, compared with docetaxel, pemetrexed led to lower rate of grade 3-4 febrile neutropenia, neutropenia, and leukocyts toxicity (p<0.001). There was no significant difference in anemia between the two arms (p=0.08). In addition, pemetrexed led to higher rate of grade 3-4 thrombocytopenia toxicity (p=0.03). As for the non-hematological toxicities, compared with docetaxel, pemetrexed group had lower rate of grade 3-4 diarrhea and alopecia. Conclusions: Pemetrexed was almost as effective as docetaxel in patients with advanced NSCLC. At the same time, pemetrexed might increase the 3-yr survival rate. As for safety, pemetrexed led to lower rate of grade 3-4 febrile neutropenia, neutropenia, leukocytes, diarrhea and alopecia toxicity. However, it was associated with a higher rate of grade 3-4 thrombocytopenia.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1729-1735
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• 2004

A total of 140 weaning pigs were used to determine the effects of digestive enzyme supplementation to corn-soybean meal diets on growth performance, physiological changes of small intestine, microorganisms and pH in the gastrointestinal tract. Two kinds of enzyme complex (A, B) were used in this experiment. Pigs were allotted in a completely random design (CRD) to five replicates with four pigs per pen. Diets and water were provided for ad libitum consumption. Treatments included 1) Control: without enzyme supplementation, 2) Enzyme A 0.05%, 3) Enzyme A 0.10%, 4) Enzyme A 0.15%, 5) Enzyme B 0.05%, 6) Enzyme B 0.10%, 7) Enzyme B 0.15% in the diets. A total of 24 crossbred barrows 25.78${\pm}$0.55 kg BW fitted with simple ileal T-cannulas were used to evaluate the effect the enzyme addition on the nutrient digstibility. Pigs were allotted 4 treatments (No enzyme, enzyme A 0.05%, enzyme A 0.1%, enzyme A 0.15%), 6 replicates according to a completely random design (CRD). Another digestibility trial was followed for enzyme complex B. Twenty pigs, average 31.92${\pm}$0.37 kg BW, fitted with simple ileal T-cannulas for digestibility trial. Neither enzyme A nor enzyme B affected on fecal or ileal digestibility of dry matter, gross energy, crude protein, crude fat and crude ash (p>0.05). The apparent fecal digestibilities of all the nutrients were higher in total feces collection method than in indirect method. At the end of feeding trial, 21 pigs were slaughtered for examining the morphological changes of small intestine and the concentration of microorganisms in the ileum and the colon. Growth performance, intestinal morphology and pH of ileum and colon were not affected by the either enzyme complex supplementation (p>0.05). These results suggested that enzyme complex A and enzyme complex B were of no benefit to early-weaned pigs when corn-soybean meal based diet was provided.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.4421-4427
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• 2015

Objectives: To investigate the prognosis significance of preoperative serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and the correlation with clinicopathological factors of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who underwent hepatectomy. Materials and Methods: Clinicopathological data of retrospective analysis were collected for 251 HCC patients undergoing hepatectomy in this study. According to preoperative AFP level, patients were categorized into AFP-negative (0-20ng/mL) and AFP-positive (>20 ng/mL) groups for Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazard regression modeling. Results: The results demonstrated that increased AFP was associated with longer prothrombin time (PTs), liver capsule invasion, low grade differentiation, and late Barcelona Clinic Liver Center (BCLC) stage. Moreover, the female patients had a greater prevalence of increased preoperative AFP than male patients [284.8 (3.975-3167.5) vs (3.653-140.65); Z-2.895, p=0.004]. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were 78.1, 57.5, and 40.6 % in the AFP-negative group and 61.8, 37.7, and 31.4 %, respectively, in the AFP-positive group (log-rank test 8.312, p=0.004). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates were 94.4, 83.8, and 62.3% in the AFP-negative group and 87.2, 60.0, and 36.7%, respectively, in the AFP-positive group. The difference was statistically significant (log-rank test, 16.884, p=0.000). Cox proportional-hazards model identified preoperative AFP to be an independent prognostic predictor of overall survival. Conclusions: Preoperative serum AFP is an independent predictor of prognosis among HCC patients following surgical resection. Female patients have a higher preoperative AFP than their male counterparts.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.2139-2144
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• 2012

Objective: Gastric cancer remains a major health problem in China. We hypothesized that XRCC1 Arg194Trp and ADPRT Val762Ala may be associated with risk. Methods: We designed a multicenter 1:1 matched case-control study of 307 pairs of gastric cancers and controls between October 2010 and August 2011. XRCC1 Arg194Trp and ADPRT Val762Ala were sequenced, and demographic data as well as lifestyle factors were collected using a self-designed questionnaire. Results: Individuals carrying XRCC1 Trp/Trp or Arg/Trp variant genotype had a significantly increased risk of gastric cancer (OR, 1.718; 95% CI, 1.190-2.479), while the OR for ADPRT Val762Ala variant genotype (Ala/Ala or Val/Ala) was 1.175 (95% CI, 0.796-1.737). No gene-gene or gene-environment interactions were found. In addition, family history of cancer and drinkers proportion were higher among cases than among controls (P<0.05). Conclusions: XRCC1 194 Arg/Trp or Trp/Trp genotype, family history of cancer, and drinking are suspected risk factors of gastric cancer from our study. Our findings may offer insight into further similar large gene-environment and gene-gene studies in this region.