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Recent studies suggested that vitamin D is linked with obesity, but evidence in infants is scarce. Therefore, we aimed to make an exploration in infants. A total of 414 infants at one year old who visited Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital of Wuxi in China were recruited. Finger‐stick blood sampling was conducted in all the subjects, and serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations were measured. Maternal characteristics during pregnancy and infantile information were collected by questionnaires or extracting from medical records. Multivariable linear models were performed to assess the relationship between 25(OH)D and body mass index (BMI), while multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine the association between 25(OH)D and obesity. Among the 414 infants, 69 (16.67%) and 81 (19.57%) infants were defined as obesity and vitamin D deficiency [25(OH)D, Serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were significantly lower in obese infants than their counterparts. Vitamin D levels < 50 nmol/L may be a risk factor for infantile obesity. ​

Backgrounds Salivary biomarkers hold huge potential for the non-invasive diagnosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma. Angiogenic factors and matrix-metalloproteinases (MMPs) are highly expressed in OSCC tissue, but their expression patterns in the saliva are unknown. This study aimed to analyze the levels of angiogenic factors and MMPs in tumor tissue and saliva of OSCC patients. Methods OSCC-tissue, adjacent normal tissue (ANT), saliva from OSCC patients, and healthy controls were obtained. The expression patterns of angiogenic factors and MMPs were analyzed by immunohistochemistry, protein chip array, and RT-qPCR. Results Results showed higher expression of ANG, ANG-2, HGF, PIGF, VEGF, MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-8, MMP-9, MMP-10, MMP-13, TIMP-1, and TIMP-2 in OSCC-tissues compared to the ANT. Among the overexpressed markers in OSCC-tissues, HGF, VEGF, PIGF, PDGF-BB, MMP-1, MMP-3, MMP-8, MMP-9, MMP-10, MMP-13, and TIMP-2 were significantly upregulated in the saliva of OSCC patients compared to healthy controls. Conclusions The levels of HGF, VEGF, PIGF, MMP-1, MMP-3, MMP-8, MMP-9, MMP-10, MMP-13, and TIMP-2 were upregulated both in OSCC tissue and saliva of OSCC patients. Bioinformatic analysis revealed the correlation of these factors with patient survival and cancer functional states in head and neck cancer, indicating these factors as possible saliva-based non-invasive diagnostic/prognostic markers and therapeutic targets of OSCC.

Background: Head and neck squamous carcinoma (HNSC) poses a major threat to human life. The role of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in the initiation and progression of HNSC is becoming more widely accepted. HPV-positive (HPV+) HNSC has shown unique responses to cancer therapies, which may be due to differences in immune cell infiltration. It is critical to determine how the immune responses to HPV in HNSC are regulated. Methods: Transcriptome data of HNSC from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were analyzed. Then, the CIBERSORT algorithm was used to calculate immune cell infiltration in HNSC. FDCSP expression level was detected by qPCR in the HNSC tissues collected from the Nanfang Hospital. Results: Follicular dendritic cell secreted protein (FDCSP) was highly expressed in HPV+ HNSC, and higher expression of FDSCP was associated with a favorable prognosis. In HPV+ HNSC samples, FDCSP significantly increased the proportion of T follicular helper cells (TFHs). FDCSP expression was also found to be associated with TP53 mutation status in HPV+ HNSC. The function of FDCSP was intimately connected to chemokine pathways, particularly with the C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 13 (CXCL13). We verified that the high expression of FDCSP in HPV+ HNSC and higher FDCSP is closely related to prognosis in HNSC samples we collected by qPCR. Conclusions: Collectively, these findings may provide fresh evidence that FDCSP is a potential chemokine-associated prognostic biomarker in HPV+ HNSC.

To evaluate whether Er:YAG laser etching could be an alternative surface treatment to hydrofluoric (HF) acid etching.Surface treatment is important to bonding properties and utility times of computer aided design/computer aided manufacture (CAD/CAM) dental ceramics. The traditional method of HF acid etching is harmful to humans if not handled properly.Four different CAD/CAM ceramics (Vita Mark II, IPS Empress CAD, IPS e.max CAD, and Vita Enamic) were cut into 72 blocks and divided into 6 groups according to different surface treatments (n = 12): Group A: no treatment; Group B: HF acid; and Group C to F: different Er:YAG laser power settings (300, 400, 500, and 600 mJ). Ten blocks of each group were measured for shear bond strength (SBS) and the failure modes were evaluated; the rest blocks were observed by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM).HF acid etching resulted in the highest SBS for Vita Mark II, IPS Empress CAD, and Vita Enamic; however, the difference was not statistically significant (p 0.05) compared to the second highest group of laser with 600 mJ in IPS Empress CAD. For IPS e.max CAD, the highest SBS was obtained from laser group with 400 mJ. The SBS results were consistent with failure modes and surface characterizations in SEM images.Our results showed that Er:YAG laser had little impact on Vita Mark II and Vita Enamic; but proper power settings could be an alternative surface treatment to HF acid etching (600 mJ for IPS Empress CAD and 400 mJ for IPS e.max CAD).

P-element-induced wimpy testis (PIWI)-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), a novel class of noncoding RNAs, are involved in the carcinogenesis. However, the functional significance of piRNAs in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains unknown. In the present study, we used chemical carcinogen 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4NQO) induced OSCC mouse model. piRNAs and mRNAs were profiled using next-generation sequencing in the tongue tumor tissues from 4NQO induction and healthy tongue tissues from control mice. Furthermore, we analyzed the differential gene expression of human OSCC in Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. According to the common differentially expressed genes in the 4NQO model and human OSCC tissues, piRNAs and mRNAs network were established based on informatics method. A total of 14 known piRNAs and 435 novel predicted piRNAs were differently expressed in tumor tissue compared to healthy tissue. Among differently expressed piRNAs 260 were downregulated, and 189 were upregulated. The mRNA targets for the differentially expressed piRNAs were identified using RNAhybrid software. Primary immunodeficiency and herpes simplex infection were the most enriched pathways. A total of 22 mRNAs overlapped in human and mice OSCC. Moreover, we established the regulatory network of 11 mRNAs, including Tmc5, Galnt6, Spedf, Mybl2, Muc5b, Six31, Pigr, Lamc2, Mmp13, Mal, and Mamdc2, and 11 novel piRNAs. Our data showed the interaction between piRNAs and mRNAs in OSCC, which might provide new insights in the development of diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets of OSCC.

Objective Periodontitis is one of the most prevalent chronic inflammatory diseases causing tooth loss in patients. However, effective ways to treat periodontitis are still limited. Metformin has been suggested to have anti-inflammatory effects in the context of periodontitis, but the exact mechanisms remain largely unknown. Methods Human periodontal ligament cells (hPDLCs) was stimulated with P. gingivalis lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to simulate the in vivo conditions that existed in periodontitis. Inflammatory responses were monitored by measuring the protein expression and secretion of the inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-18. High-quality total RNA isolated from P. gingivalis LPS-treated cells along with or without metformin treatment were used for RNA sequencing and corresponding bioinformatics analysis. Results Metformin treatment significantly suppressed the inflammatory responses induced by P. gingivalis LPS in hPDLCs characterized by reduced production and secretion of IL-1β and IL-18. Metformin treatment also significantly reduced expression of nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich-containing family, pyrin domain-containing-3 (NLRP3) and caspase-1 in hPDLCs. RNA-seq analysis showed that metformin treatment altered the expression of more than 300 genes, which belongs to 14 signaling pathways including the NF-κB pathway and TNF-α pathway. Conclusions Our study provided novel insights into the anti-inflammatory effects of metformin against NLRP3 inflammasome activity, which could potentially be used for the prevention and treatment of P. gingivalis-related periodontal diseases.