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Yan Cui

Publications and source records attributed to Yan Cui.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

Vitamin D, calcium, and breast cancer risk: a review.

Vitamin D and calcium are metabolically interrelated and highly correlated dietary factors. Experimental studies have shown their anticarcinogenic effects due to their participation in regulating cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis in normal and malignant breast cells. Given the emerging interest in their potential roles in the etiology of breast cancer, we review the current epidemiologic literature on dietary and/or supplemental intakes of vitamin D, endogenous circulating levels of vitamin D, and dietary and/or supplemental intakes of calcium in relation to breast cancer risk. To place these studies in context, we also provide a brief review of other supporting epidemiologic evidence. Despite inconsistent results from the epidemiologic studies, several lines of evidence suggest that vitamin D and calcium may be involved in the development of breast cancer. Specifically, (a) there is some epidemiologic evidence for inverse associations between vitamin D and calcium intakes and breast cancer; (b) serum, plasma, and/or blood levels of vitamin D metabolites have been inversely associated with breast cancer risk in some studies; (c) high sunlight exposure, presumably reflecting vitamin D synthesis in the skin, has been associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer; (d) vitamin D and calcium intakes have been inversely related to breast density, an intermediate end point for breast cancer; (e) calcium has been associated with a reduced risk of benign proliferative epithelial disorders of the breast, putative precursors of breast cancer; and (f) certain polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor might modify breast cancer susceptibility. To further confirm the potential protective effects of calcium and vitamin D on breast cancer, well-designed cohort studies and clinical trials are warranted.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed2006

Marijuana use and the risk of lung and upper aerodigestive tract cancers: results of a population-based case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Despite several lines of evidence suggesting the biological plausibility of marijuana being carcinogenic, epidemiologic findings are inconsistent. We conducted a population-based case-control study of the association between marijuana use and the risk of lung and upper aerodigestive tract cancers in Los Angeles. METHODS: Our study included 1,212 incident cancer cases and 1,040 cancer-free controls matched to cases on age, gender, and neighborhood. Subjects were interviewed with a standardized questionnaire. The cumulative use of marijuana was expressed in joint-years, where 1 joint-year is equivalent to smoking one joint per day for 1 year. RESULTS: Although using marijuana for > or =30 joint-years was positively associated in the crude analyses with each cancer type (except pharyngeal cancer), no positive associations were observed when adjusting for several confounders including cigarette smoking. The adjusted odds ratio estimate (and 95% confidence limits) for > or =60 versus 0 joint-years was 1.1 (0.56, 2.1) for oral cancer, 0.84 (0.28, 2.5) for laryngeal cancer, and 0.62 (0.32, 1.2) for lung cancer; the adjusted odds ratio estimate for > or =30 versus 0 joint-years was 0.57 (0.20, 1.6) for pharyngeal cancer, and 0.53 (0.22, 1.3) for esophageal cancer. No association was consistently monotonic across exposure categories, and restriction to subjects who never smoked cigarettes yielded similar findings. CONCLUSIONS: Our results may have been affected by selection bias or error in measuring lifetime exposure and confounder histories; but they suggest that the association of these cancers with marijuana, even long-term or heavy use, is not strong and may be below practically detectable limits.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2006

Dietary mineral and trace element intake and squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus in a Chinese population.

Few studies have been conducted in low-selenium areas of China to assess the relationships between dietary intake of selenium and zinc and the risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus (SCCE). We studied dietary mineral and trace element intake and risk of SCCE in a population- based, case-control study in Taixing, China, in 2000. A total of 218 SCCE patients and 415 population healthy controls were interviewed using a standard dietary and health questionnaire. The median and quartiles were calculated to represent the average level and distribution of selected dietary minerals and trace elements estimated by the Chinese Standard Tables of Food Composition. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) comparing the highest with the lowest quartiles were 0.30 (95% confidence intervals, CIs = 0.13-0.67) for selenium intake and 0.28 (95% CI = 0.11-0.70) for zinc intake with obvious dose-dependent patterns (P values for trend = 0.01). The adjusted OR for the combined effect of selenium and zinc intake was 0.53 (95% CI = 0.29-0.96) after controlling for potential confounding factors, including age, gender, educational level, body mass index, and total energy intake. Our results suggested that the potential joint effect of zinc and selenium might contribute to SCCE risk. Increased dietary intake of selenium and zinc may decrease the risk of SCCE in a low-selenium area of China.

Aged↗
PubMed2006

[Genetic polymorphisms of Penta D and E loci in Korean racial Chinese of Yanbian area in China].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze genetic polymorphisms of Penta D and E loci in Korean racial Chinese of Yanbian area. METHODS: One hundred unrelated individuals of Korean racial Chinese were analyzed by methods of PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism. RESULTS: Eight alleles and 22 genotypes were observed from Penata D locus, and 16 alleles and 35 genotypes were observed from Penta E locus. CONCLUSION: The distribution of two locus genotypes in Korean racial Chinese of Yanbian area met Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. And the obtained data can be used to individual identity, paternity testing and the study of Korean ethnic group of Chinese population.

Asian People↗
PubMed2006

[Clinical study on preventive effect of fuzheng quxie granule on respiratory viral infection].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of Fuzheng Quxie granule (FQG) on immune cells and cytokines of populations susceptible to respiratory viral infection. METHODS: One thousand four hundred and two subjects selected from 25 hospitals in Shanghai between May and June in 2003, were divided into the FQG group treated with FQG and the control group treated with placebo. Serum levels of interleukin 2 (IL-2), interleukin 4 (IL-4), gamma-interferon (gamma-IFN), blood lymphocyte subsets (CD3+ , CD4+, CD8+), B-cell count and natural killer cell (NK) percent ratio were measured in 130 of the FQG group and 120 of the control group before treatment, by the end of the 2nd week and two weeks after treatment. RESULTS: By the end of the 2nd week of treatment, as compared with before treatment, the levels of IL-2, gamma-IFN, and NK percent in the FQG group increased significantly (P < 0.05), while IL-4 and CD3+, CD4+, CD8+ and B-cell count were unchanged. Besides, levels of Th1/Th2 ratio markedly increased at the end of the 2nd week and two weeks after treatment, in comparing with that before treatment and in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: FQG could improve immune function of population susceptible to respiratory viral infection certain extent.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

[Efficacy of 5-fluorouracil polyactic acid microsphere in prevention of proliferative vitreoretinopathy].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of 5-fluorouracil polyactic acid microsphere in prevention of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). METHODS: 5-fluorouracil polyactic acid microsphere or 5-fluorouracil were used to implant into rabbits vitreous cavity. 48 healthy rabbits were divided into 3 groups: rabbits in Group 1 received implantation of 5-fluorouracil polyactic acid microsphere; rabbits Group 2 served as polyactic acid microsphere control; rabbits in Group 3 received only 5-fluorouracil powder. Macrophages were injected into vitreous cavity of rabbit to induce PVR. 0.2 ml BSS containing 25 mg microsphere with 2.6 mg 5-fluorouracil was injected into vitreous cavity of two eyes in Group 1. 0.2 ml BSS containing 25 mg microsphere without medicine and 0.2 ml BSS containing 2.6 mg 5-fluorouracil were injected into rabbits vitreous cavity in Group 2 and 3 respectively, Drug content in aqueous humor was measured regularly. Release feature of 5-fluorouracil polyactic acid microsphere in vivo was observed. The efficacy of the inhibition of PVR was evaluated according to Ryan's grade of proliferative vitreoretinopathy. RESULTS: The releasing time of 5-fluorouracil polyactic acid microsphere was much longer than 5-fluorouracil powder. Its half life T(1/2) was 379.05 h with low clearance rate. The attack rate of retinal detachment in Group 2 was 62.5% and 71.9% on the 21st and 28th day respectively. The attack rate of retinal detachment in Group 3 was 64.3% and 78.6% whereas that of Group 1 was 13.3% and 13.3% on the 21st and 28th day. There was statistical difference in retinal detachment rate in Group 1 and 2 or 3 (P < 0.01). No differences was found in retinal detachment ration in Group 2 and 3 (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Implantation of 5-fluorouracil polyactic acid microsphere into vitreous cavity can effectively prevent proliferative vitreoretinopathy induced by macrophages in rabbit model.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

[Changes of reactive oxygen species in mitochondria of retinal endothelial cells and pericytes induced by high glucose].

OBJECTIVE: To study changes of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in mitochondria of bovine retinal endothelial cells and pericytes cultured in high-glucose and its relevance with the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy. METHODS: Bovine retinal endothelial cells and pericytes were cultured with selective culture media. ROS changes in mitochondria of retinal endothelial cells and pericytes in response to different concentrations of glucose were detected with scanning laser confocal microscope. The mitochondria membrane potential (MMP) and cell death ratio (CDR) were measured with flow cytometry. Expression of MnSOD and uncoupling protein (UCP) were detected with reverse-transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR). RESULTS: In high-glucose, increased ROS was seen in mitochondria of retinal endothelial cells and pericytes. However MMP and CDR only increased in endothelial cells, no change was found in pericytes. UCP1, 2 mRNA expressed in cultured cells whereas UCP3 was negative. The expression of UCP1, 2, MnSOD mRNA changed with the variation of glucose concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: Increasing of ROS production in mitochondria of retinal endothelial cells and pericytes can be induced by high glucose. There is feedback accommodation mechanism between ROS increasing and MMP elevation in endothelial cells. The different features of endothelial cells and pericytes in high glucose demonstrate their roles in pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy are different.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

[Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy study on the interaction of 4,4'-bipyridine and Zn electrode].

In the present paper, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was employed to study the interaction of 4,4'-bipyridine(BiPy) and Zn electrode. The results indicate that BiPy is adsorced with a vertical (or incline) orientation on the Zn electrode via one N atom of BiPy, and the two pyridine rings still remain on the same plane. BiPy has relatively stronger interaction with zinc metal than pyridine. The larger Raman scattering cross section and the existence of the two pyridine rings make it easy for 4,4'-BiPy to have stronger interaction with zinc metal.

English Abstract↗
PubMed2006

[Application of p-aminothiophenol as a SERS reporter in immunoassay].

The adsorption of p-aminothiophenol (PATP) molecule on the gold electrode was investigated. The result suggests that PATP was adsorbed perpendicularly onto the substrate. By immobilizing goat anti-mouse IgG on a glass slide modified by special organic molecules, the antibody/antigen/reporter-labeled immunogold nanoparticle sandwich assay was build for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) measurements. The p-aminothiophenol (PATP) was used as SERS-reporter molecule. Thus the authors can identify the single type biospecific species by SERS signal of the reporter molecules which are coimmobilized with antibody molecules in gold colloids.

Antibodies↗
PubMed2005

Integrative genetic analysis of transcription modules: towards filling the gap between genetic loci and inherited traits.

Genetic loci that regulate inherited traits are routinely identified using quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping methods. However, the genotype-phenotype associations do not provide information on the gene expression program through which the genetic loci regulate the traits. Transcription modules are 'self-consistent regulatory units' and are closely related to the modular components of gene regulatory network [Ihmels, J., Friedlander, G., Bergmann, S., Sarig, O., Ziv, Y. and Barkai, N. (2002) Revealing modular organization in the yeast transcriptional network. Nat. Genet., 31, 370-377; Segal, E., Shapira, M., Regev, A., Pe'er, D., Botstein, D., Koller, D. and Friedman, N. (2003) Module networks: identifying regulatory modules and their condition-specific regulators from gene expression data. Nat. Genet., 34, 166-176]. We used genome-wide genotype and gene expression data of a genetic reference population that consists of mice of 32 recombinant inbred strains to identify the transcription modules and the genetic loci regulating them. Twenty-nine transcription modules defined by genetic variations were identified. Statistically significant associations between the transcription modules and 18 classical physiological and behavioral traits were found. Genome-wide interval mapping showed that major QTLs regulating the transcription modules are often co-localized with the QTLs regulating the associated classical traits. The association and the possible co-regulation of the classical trait and transcription module indicate that the transcription module may be involved in the gene pathways connecting the QTL and the classical trait. Our results show that a transcription module may associate with multiple seemingly unrelated classical traits and a classical trait may associate with different modules. Literature mining results provided strong independent evidences for the relations among genes of the transcription modules, genes in the regions of the QTLs regulating the transcription modules and the keywords representing the classical traits.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Organization of the Caenorhabditis elegans small non-coding transcriptome: genomic features, biogenesis, and expression.

Recent evidence points to considerable transcription occurring in non-protein-coding regions of eukaryote genomes. However, their lack of conservation and demonstrated function have created controversy over whether these transcripts are functional. Applying a novel cloning strategy, we have cloned 100 novel and 61 known or predicted Caenorhabditis elegans full-length ncRNAs. Studying the genomic environment and transcriptional characteristics have shown that two-thirds of all ncRNAs, including many intronic snoRNAs, are independently transcribed under the control of ncRNA-specific upstream promoter elements. Furthermore, the transcription levels of at least 60% of the ncRNAs vary with developmental stages. We identified two new classes of ncRNAs, stem-bulge RNAs (sbRNAs) and snRNA-like RNAs (snlRNAs), both featuring distinct internal motifs, secondary structures, upstream elements, and high and developmentally variable expression. Most of the novel ncRNAs are conserved in Caenorhabditis briggsae, but only one homolog was found outside the nematodes. Preliminary estimates indicate that the C. elegans transcriptome contains approximately 2700 small non-coding RNAs, potentially acting as regulatory elements in nematode development.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Hepatitis C virus infection in former commercial plasma/blood donors in rural Shanxi Province, China: the China Integrated Programs for Research on AIDS.

BACKGROUND: Unsafe practices during illegal plasma donation in the late 1980s and early 1990s spread bloodborne infections in central China. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of a random sample of 538 adult residents of 12 villages in rural Shanxi Province, where there had been an illegal commercial plasma-collection center, was conducted in 2003. Structured questionnaires were administered, and blood samples were tested for hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies. RESULTS: HCV seroprevalence rates were 8.2% in all subjects, 27.7% in former commercial plasma/blood donors, and 2.6% in nondonors. Selling blood or plasma was the strongest independent predictor of HCV seropositivity (odds ratio [OR], 14.4 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 7.1-31.6]). A history of blood transfusion was also independently associated with HCV seropositivity (OR, 8.3 [95% CI, 2.1-32.0]). Plasma donors had a higher risk of being HCV seropositive than did whole-blood donors (OR, 7.6 [95% CI, 2.9-20.9]), and female donors had a lower risk than did male donors (OR, 0.32 [95% CI, 0.12-0.80]). The strength of the association between selling blood and HCV seropositivity was weaker when plasma donors were excluded (OR, 8.0 vs. 14.4). CONCLUSIONS: Unsafe practices during illegal plasma donation led to a high risk of HCV seropositivity for donors during the 1980s and 1990s. Failure to screen for HCV increased the risk of seropositivity for transfusion recipients during this same period. China has taken steps to halt illegal plasma collection and to improve blood-banking methods. However, there will be an ongoing challenge to care for patients with HCV infection, even as its incidence decreases.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

nsSNPAnalyzer: identifying disease-associated nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms.

Nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) are prevalent in genomes and are closely associated with inherited diseases. To facilitate identifying disease-associated nsSNPs from a large number of neutral nsSNPs, it is important to develop computational tools to predict the nsSNP's phenotypic effect (disease-associated versus neutral). nsSNPAnalyzer, a web-based software developed for this purpose, extracts structural and evolutionary information from a query nsSNP and uses a machine learning method called Random Forest to predict the nsSNP's phenotypic effect. nsSNPAnalyzer server is available at http://snpanalyzer.utmem.edu/.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2005

Sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor agonist FTY720-phosphate causes marginal zone B cell displacement.

FTY720 is an immunosuppressive agent that modulates lymphocyte trafficking. It is phosphorylated in vivo to FTY720-phosphate (FTY-P) and binds to a family of G protein-coupled receptors recognizing sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) as the natural ligand. It has previously been reported that FTY-P blocks egress of lymphocytes from the thymus and lymph nodes, resulting in peripheral blood lymphopenia. We now report that FTY-P also causes displacement of marginal zone (MZ) B cells to the splenic follicles, an effect that is similar to that observed after in vivo administration of lipopolysaccharide. This effect is specific to B cells in the MZ, as treatment with FTY-P does not cause redistribution of the resident macrophage population. A small but statistically significant decrease in the expression of beta1 integrin on MZ B cells was observed with FTY-P treatment. The redistribution of MZ B cells from the MZ sinuses does not abolish the ability of these cells to respond to the T-independent antigen, trinitrophenol-Ficoll. It has been proposed that the displacement of MZ B cells to the follicles is an indication of cell activation. Consistent with this, FTY-P caused an increase in percentage of MZ B cells expressing activation markers CD9, CD1d, and CD24. These results suggest that S1P receptors on MZ B cells are responsible for their mobilization to follicles.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Inferring gene transcriptional modulatory relations: a genetical genomics approach.

Bayesian network modeling is a promising approach to define and evaluate gene expression circuits in diverse tissues and cell types under different experimental conditions. The power and practicality of this approach can be improved by restricting the number of potential interactions among genes and by defining causal relations before evaluating posterior probabilities for billions of networks. A newly developed genetical genomics method that combines transcriptome profiling with complex trait analysis now provides strong constraints on network architecture. This method detects those chromosomal intervals responsible for differences in mRNA expression using quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping. We have developed an efficient Bayesian approach that exploits the genetical genomics method to focus computational effort on the most plausible gene modulatory networks. We exploit a dense marker map for a genetic reference population (GRP) that consists of 32 BXD strains of mice made by intercrossing two progenitor strains--C57BL/6J and DBA/2J. These progenitors differ at approximately 1.3 million known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), all of which can be exploited to estimate the probability that a gene contains functional polymorphisms that segregate within the GRP. We constructed 66 candidate networks that include all the candidate modulator genes located in the 209 statistically significant trans-acting QTL regions. SNPs that distinguish between the two progenitor strains were used to further winnow the list of candidate modulators. Bayesian network was then used to identify the genetic modulatory relations that best explain the microarray data.

Algorithms↗