Search

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the antitumor activity of CIK cells in vitro and investigate the clinical efficacy of cytokine-induced killer (CIK) therapy following operation of renal cell carcinoma patients in North China. Method: In vitro experiments, the secretion of IFN-γ and IL-2 in CIK cells were detected by ELISA and the degranulation was detected by flow cytometry. From January 1, 2012 to October 1, 2015, 202 patients were enrolled in the study and were followed up for at least 36 months. The information of 101 patients who received CIK treatment following nephrectomy and other 101 patients who only received nephrectomy was retrospectively collected. In addition, the correlation of CIK treatment to prognosis of patients following nephrectomy, including disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS), was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier analyses. COX proportional hazards analyses were used to investigate the benefited population. Results: In vitro, DC-CIK group exhibited the highest cytokines secretion and cytotoxicity followed by the CIK group. In addition, survival analysis showed that patients in North China who received CIK therapy has better prognosis compared to the control group. And the COX proportional hazards analyses demonstrated that in North China, patients with different characteristics can benefit from CIK treatment at the same. Conclusions: CIK immunotherapy is an effective and safety adjuvant for the patients with ccRCC following nephrectomy in North China.

IntroductionTuberculosis is one of the main infectious diseases threatening global health, which is also the main cause of death from a single source of infection (above HIV/AIDS). China is a country with a high burden of tuberculosis in the world, ranking only behind India and Indonesia. However, there are few ecological studies on the burden of tuberculosis in China. This study aims to provide more research basis for the government to formulate tuberculosis policies by exploring the ecological factors associated with the incidence of tuberculosis, so as to achieve the goal of eliminating tuberculosis by 2030.MethodsWe collected data on the incidence of tuberculosis and ecological factors of 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in Mainland China (excluding Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau) from 2002 to 2018. We constructed a framework of ecological factors affecting the incidence, which consists of 5 secondary indicators and 35 tertiary indicators. And we construct a dynamic panel data model based on the Lasso Regression to select variables to test the effect of each ecological factor on the incidence.ResultsAmong the 35 tertiary indicators, economy 3,4,6,7, environment 1, recourses 1,3, demography 3, and lifecare 2,4,8,9,13 passed the significance test at the 1% level, economy 1,2,5, environment 2,9, lifecare 6,12 passed the significance test at the 5% level, lifecare 10 passed the significance test at the 10% level. Only economy 5 and economy 6 have a positive impact on the incidence, other statistically significant ecological indicators are negatively correlated with the incidence.ConclusionsOur study indicated that many ecological factors, including residents' income, unemployment rate, educational level, medical resources, population density, sunshine duration and dietary structure, are closely related to the incidence of tuberculosis. These findings contribute the government to taking targeted measures for tuberculosis prevention and control, including improving the level of economic development, increasing employment, expanding the scale of enrollment in colleges and universities, and ensuring that the prices of sources of animal protein are reasonable to meet the residents' intake of protein.

Abstract Background Few studies have investigated the associations between outdoor air pollution and outpatient visits for respiratory diseases (RDs) in general population. Methods We collected daily outpatient data of primary RDs from five hospitals in Jinan during January 2012 and December 2016, as well as daily measurements of air pollutants from the Jinan Environmental Monitoring Center and daily meteorological variables from the China Meteorological Data Sharing Service System. A generalized additive model (GAM) with quasi-Poisson regression was constructed to estimate the associations between daily average concentrations of outdoor air pollutants (PM2.5,PM10, SO2, NO2, CO and O3) and daily outpatient visits of RDs after adjusting for long-time trends, seasonality, the “day of the week” effect, and weather conditions. Subgroup analysis stratified by gender, age group and the type of RDs was conducted. Results A total of 1,373,658 outpatient visits for RDs were identified. Increases of 10 μg/m3 in PM2.5, PM10, NO2, CO and O3 were associated with0.168% (95% CI, 0.072–0.265%), 0.149% (95% CI, 0.082–0.215%), 0.527% (95% CI, 0.211–0.843%), 0.013% (95% CI, 0.003–0.023%), and 0.189% (95% CI, 0.032–0.347%) increases in daily outpatient visits for RDs, respectively. PM2.5 and PM10 showed instant and continuous effects, while NO2, CO and O3 showed delayed effects on outpatient visits for RDs. In stratification analysis, PM2.5 and PM10 were associated with acute RDs only. Conclusions Exposure to outdoor air pollutants including PM2.5, PM10, NO2, CO and O3 associated with increased risk of outpatient visits for RDs.

Abstract Background Few epidemiological studies have explored the effects of air pollution on the risk of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB). Objective To investigate the short and long term residential concentrations of ambient air pollutants (particulate matter <10 μm in diameter (PM 10) and particulate matter≤2.5 μm in diameter (PM 2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2), sulfur dioxide (SO 2), ozone (O 3), and carbon monoxide (CO)) in relation to the risk of DR-TB in a typical air pollution city, Jinan city, China. Methods A total of 752 new culture-confirmed TB cases reported in TB prevention and control institutions of Jinan from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2015 were included. Average individual-level concentrations of air pollution for 5 different exposure windows, vary from 90 days to 720 days to diagnosis were estimated using measurements from monitor closest to the patient home addresses. Logistic regression model adjusted for potential confounders was employed to evaluate correlation between air pollution and DR-TB risk at different five exposure windows individually. Results There were substantially increased mono-drug resistance and poly-drug resistance risks for ambient PM 2.5 , PM 10 , O 3 , and CO exposures. High exposure to PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and CO was also significantly associated with increased incidence of multi-drug resistance (MDR) both in the single- and multi-pollutants regression models. The dominant positive associations for PM 2.5 was observed at 540 days exposure, for O 3 was observed at 180 days exposure, and for PM 10 and CO was observed from 90 days to 540 days exposures. Conclusions Our finding suggest that exposure to ambient air pollution (PM 2.5 , PM 10 , O 3 , and CO) are associated with increased risk of DR-TB. We provided epidemiological evidence of association between pollution exposure and mono-, poly- and multi-drug resistance. Highlights • To investigate the association of residential concentrations of air pollutants and the risk of drug resistant (DR) TB. • There were substantially increased mono- and poly-DR TB risks for ambient PM 2.5 , PM 10 , O 3 , and CO exposures. • High exposure to PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and CO was also significantly associated with increased risk of MDR. • The positive effect for PM 10 and CO was observed from 90 days to 540 days exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]