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Background/Aim: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive type of breast cancer that still requires improvement in treatment. Magnolol extract, derived from the bark of Magnolia officinalis, has traditionally been used in Asia to treat sleeping disorders and anxiety, and as an anti-inflammatory agent. Several reports have indicated that magnolol may have the potential to inhibit the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma and glioblastoma. However, the anti-tumor effect of magnolol on TNBC remains unknown. Materials and Methods: In this study, we used two TNBC cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and 4T1, to examine the cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and metastasis effects of magnolol. These were evaluated using MTT assay, flow cytometry, western blotting, and invasion/migration transwell assay, respectively. Results: Magnolol significantly induced cytotoxicity and extrinsic/intrinsic apoptosis in both TNBC cell lines. It also decreased metastasis and associated protein expression in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the anti-tumor effect was associated with the inactivation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT3) signaling pathway. Conclusion: Magnolol may not only induce cell death in TNBC through apoptosis signaling activation but also by down-regulating EGFR/JAK/STAT3 signaling, which mediates TNBC progression.

Supplementary Material 1

Atrial fibrillation (Af) is frequently seen in the emergency department (ED), and the main concern of which is the potential to lead to blockage of blood flow. Cardiac tumors can also present with Af, which are often overlooked due to the rarity but clinically significant. A 70-year-old woman presented at our ED with intermittent palpitation and dizziness for several weeks. She has an underlying disease of right thyroid follicular carcinoma status-post surgery many years ago, but no history of heart disease. Her electrocardiogram (ECG) showed Af, and the transthoracic echocardiography showed a huge mass occupying the left atrium. The patient underwent an open-heart surgery with tumor excision. The pathology revealed metastatic thyroid follicular carcinoma. The patient recovered smoothly, and her ECG showed normal sinus rhythm after the operation. Most cardiac secondary tumors remain clinically silent and are often diagnosed postmortem. These conditions are rare but clinically significant; therefore, the physician should always raise suspicion of metastatic cardiac tumor as the differential diagnosis when patient presents with an unexplained Af.

The reverse shock index (rSI), a ratio of systolic blood pressure (SBP) to heart rate (HR), is used to identify prognosis in trauma patients. Multiplying rSI by Glasgow Coma Scale (rSIG) can possibly predict better in-hospital mortality in patients with trauma. However, rSIG has never been used to evaluate the mortality risk in adult severe trauma patients (Injury Severity Score [ISS] ≥ 16) with head injury (head Abbreviated Injury Scale [AIS] ≥ 2) in the emergency department (ED). This retrospective case control study recruited adult severe trauma patients (ISS ≥ 16) with head injury (head AIS ≥ 2) who presented to the ED of two major trauma centers between January 01, 2014 and May 31, 2017. Demographic data, vital signs, ISS scores, injury mechanisms, laboratory data, managements, and outcomes were included for the analysis. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic analysis were used to evaluate the accuracy of rSIG score in predicting in-hospital mortality. In total, 438 patients (mean age: 56.48 years; 68.5% were males) were included in this study. In-hospital mortality occurred in 24.7% patients. The median (interquartile range) ISS score was 20 (17–26). Patients with rSIG ≤ 14 had seven-fold increased risks of mortality than those without rSIG ≤ 14 (odds ratio: 7.64; 95% confidence interval: 4.69–12.42). Hosmer–Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test and area under the curve values for rSIG score were 0.29 and 0.76, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive values of rSIG ≤ 14 were 0.71, 0.75, 0.49, and 0.89, respectively. The rSIG score is a prompt and simple tool to predict in-hospital mortality among adult severe trauma patients with head injury.

Inferior mesentery artery (IMA) aneurysm rupture is easily overlooked in patients with abdominal pain due to its uncommon occurrence. It may result in catastrophic consequence once misdiagnosed as spontaneous bowel hematoma in patients with anticoagulant overdose and intra-abdominal hematoma, as treatment strategy for both diseases varies differently. We present a case of a 70-year-old male who came to our emergency department with the chief complaint of abdominal pain over periumbilical area, eventually diagnosed as anticoagulant overdose associated IMA aneurysm rupture without occlusion of superior mesentery artery (SMA) and celiac artery (CA). This case report alerts us to consider the rare other source of bleeding, for instance ruptured inferior mesentery aneurysm, while encountering such an extraordinary large intra-abdominal hematoma in patients on anticoagulant.