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The Dangguikushen (DGKS) pill is a proprietary traditional Chinese medicine that has shown superior efficacy in the treatment of acne vulgaris for many years. A network pharmacology‐based analysis was performed to explore the potential anti‐acne compounds, core therapeutic targets, and the main pathways, involved in the DGKS pill bioactivity. The matching results between the predicted targets of the DGKS pill and the well‐known targets of acne vulgaris were collected, followed by network establishment using protein‐protein interaction (PPI) data. Cytoscape was utilized to analyze the network and screen the core targets. Furthermore, the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID), and ClueGO were used for the enrichment analysis of the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomics (KEGG) pathways and Gene Ontology biological processes (GO‐BP). Finally, the "compound‐target‐pathway" network was constructed. This approach identified 19 active compounds, 46 therapeutic targets, and 12 core therapeutic targets of the DGKS pill. The biological processes were primarily related to reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolic process, gland morphogenesis, and female gonad development. The DGKS pill was significantly associated with eight pathways including the PI3K‐Akt, TNF, NF‐kappa B, and p53 signaling pathways. DGKS pill might have a synergistic effect on the inhibition of excessive sebaceous lipogenesis and sebocyte differentiation, and likewise, anti‐inflammatory effects via the different signaling pathways (PI3K‐Akt, TNF, NF‐kappa B, and p53). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homeobox-containing 1 (HMBOX1) has been described as a transcription factor involved in the occurrence of some tumors, but its roles in ovarian cancer have never been reported. Here we aimed to investigate the roles of HMBOX1 on high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC). In this present study, HMBOX1 expression was decreased in HGSOC tissues and ovarian cancer cell lines (HO8910 and A2780) compared with ovarian surface epithelial tissues or normal human ovarian surface epithelial cell line (HOSEpiC). The cell proliferation of HOSEpiC was weaker than ovarian cancer cell lines. By altering the expression of HMBOX1 in A2780 and HOSEpiC, we demonstrated that HMBOX1 inhibited the cell proliferation and promoted the cell apoptosis. Furthermore, our study revealed that HMBOX1 downregulated the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins (Bcl-2, Bcl-xL), raised the expression of pro-apoptotic-regulated proteins (Bad, Bax), apoptotic executionior (Caspase3), and P53. In conclusion, HMBOX1 played important roles in occurrence of HGSOC through regulation of proliferation and apoptosis, which implied that HMBOX1 might serve as a new therapeutic target for HGSOC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the diagnostic value of spectral parameters in differentiating adrenal adenomas from metastases based on dual-layer detector spectral CT (DLSCT). Materials and methods: Patients with adenomas or metastases who underwent enhanced DLSCT of the adrenals were enrolled. The CT values of virtual non-contrast images (CTVNC), iodine density (ID) values, and Z-effective (Z-eff) values, the normalized iodine density (NID) values, slopes of spectral HU curves (s-SHC), and iodine-to-CTVNC ratios of the tumors were measured in each phase. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to compare the diagnostic values. Results: Ninety-nine patients with 106 adrenal lesions (63 adenomas, 43 metastases) were included. In the venous phase, all spectral parameters were significantly different between adenomas and metastases (all p < 0.05). The combined spectral parameters showed a better diagnostic performance in the venous phase than in other phase (p < 0.05). The iodine-to-CTVNC value had a larger area under the ROC curve (AUC) than the other spectral parameters in the differential diagnosis of adenomas and metastases, with a diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of 74.4% and 91.9%, respectively. In the differential diagnosis of lipid-rich adenomas, lipid-poor adenomas and metastases, the CTVNC value and s-SHC value also had a larger AUC than the other spectral parameters, with a diagnostic sensitivity of 97.7%, 79.1% and specificity of 91.2%, 93.1%, respectively. Conclusion: On DLSCT, the combined spectral parameters in the venous phase could help better distinguish adrenal adenomas from metastases. The iodine-to-CTVNC, CTVNC and s-SHC values had the highest AUC values in differentiating adenomas, lipid-rich adenomas and lipid-poor adenomas from metastases, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive malignant tumor with rapid progression and poor prognosis. In the present study, 11 high-quality microarray datasets, comprising 334 tumor samples and 151 non-tumor samples from the Gene Expression Omnibus, were screened, and integrative meta-analysis of expression data was used to identify gene signatures that differentiate between PDAC and normal pancreatic tissues. Following the identification of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), two-way hierarchical clustering analysis was performed for all DEGs using the gplots package in R software. Hub genes were then determined through protein-protein interaction network analysis using NetworkAnalyst. In addition, functional annotation and pathway enrichment analyses of all DEGs were conducted in the Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery. The expression levels and Kaplan-Meier analysis of the top 10 upregulated and downregulated genes were verified in The Cancer Genome Atlas. A total of 1,587 DEGs, including 1,004 upregulated and 583 downregulated genes, were obtained by comparing PDAC with normal tissues. Of these, hematological and neurological expressed 1, integrin subunit α2 (ITGA2) and S100 calcium-binding protein A6 (S100A6) were the top upregulated genes, and kinesin family member 1A, Dymeclin and β-secretase 1 were the top downregulated genes. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR was performed to examine the expression levels of S100A6, KRT19 and GNG7, and the results suggested that S100A6 was significantly upregulated in PDAC compared with normal pancreatic tissues. ITGA2 overexpression was significantly associated with shorter overall survival times, whereas family with sequence similarity 46 member C overexpression was strongly associated with longer overall survival times. In addition, network-based meta-analysis confirmed growth factor receptor-bound protein 2 and histone deacetylase 5 as pivotal hub genes in PDAC compared with normal tissue. In conclusion, the results of the present meta-analysis identified PDAC-related gene signatures, providing new perspectives and potential targets for PDAC diagnosis and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of left coronary bifurcation angles and plaque characteristics for prediction of coronary stenosis by dual-source CT. Methods: 106 patients suspected of coronary artery disease undergoing both coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) and invasive coronary angiography (CAG) within three months were included. Left coronary bifurcation angles including the angles between the left anterior descending artery and left circumflex artery (LAD-LCx), left main coronary artery and left anterior descending artery (LM-LAD), left main coronary artery and left circumflex artery (LM-LCx) were measured on CT images. CCTA plaque parameters were calculated by plaque analysis software. Coronary stenosis ≥ 50% by CAG was defined as significant. Results: 106 patients with 318 left coronary bifurcation angles and 126 vessels were analyzed. The bifurcation angle of LAD-LCx was significantly larger in left coronary stenosis ≥ 50% than stenosis < 50%, and significantly wider in the non-calcified plaque group than calcified. Multivariable analyses showed the bifurcation angle of LAD-LCx was an independent predictor for significant left coronary stenosis (OR = 1.423, P = 0.002). In ROC curve analysis, LAD-LCx predicted significant left coronary stenosis with a sensitivity of 66.7%, specificity of 78.4%, positive predictive value of 85.2% and negative predictive value of 55.8%. The lipid plaque volume improved the diagnostic performance of CCTA diameter stenosis (AUC: 0.854 vs. 0.900, P = 0.045) in significant coronary stenosis. Conclusions: The bifurcation angle of LAD-LCx could predict significant left coronary stenosis. Wider LAD-LCx is related to non-calcified lesions. Lipid plaque volume could improve the diagnostic performance of CCTA for coronary stenosis prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]