RESUMO Introdução A dança esportiva é uma competição esportiva emergente que integra esportes competitivos e dança; estudantes universitárias têm recorrido aos treinos para fins estéticos no delineamento corporal, porém as alterações bioquímicas ainda são pouco exploradas. Objetivo Explorar as alterações fisiológicas e bioquímicas ocasionadas pela dança esportiva. Métodos As voluntárias foram submetidas a um protocolo de dança esportiva de alta intensidade com duração de duas semanas. As alterações nos indicadores fisiológicos e bioquímicos foram monitoradas antes e depois do experimento. Resultados Os atletas exibiram alterações individuais nos indicadores bioquímicos (P<0,05), com ênfase no aumento de hemoglobina (de 152,3g/L para 169,2g/L). Os índices fisiológicos também mudaram significativamente, com uma redução de gordura corporal média superior a 5%. Conclusão A dança esportiva mostrou-se útil para melhorar a função física e bioquímica de seus praticantes. Nível de evidência II; Estudos Terapêuticos - Investigação de Resultados.

ABSTRACT Introduction The dancesport is an emerging sports competition that integrates competitive sports and dance; college students have been using the training for aesthetic purposes in body delineation. However, the biochemical alterations are still underexplored. Objective Explore the physiological and biochemical changes caused by dancesport. Methods The volunteers were submitted to a two-week high-intensity dancesport protocol. Changes in physiological and biochemical indicators were monitored before and after the experiment. Results The athletes exhibited individual changes in biochemical indicators (P<0.05), with emphasis on an increase in hemoglobin (from 152.3g/L to 169.2g/L). The physiological indices also changed significantly, with an average body fat reduction of over 5%. Conclusion Dancesport proved to help improve its practitioners’ physical and biochemical function. Evidence Level II; Therapeutic Studies – Investigating the results.

RESUMEN Introducción El baile deportivo es una competición deportiva emergente que integra el deporte de competición y la danza; estudiantes universitarias han estado utilizando el entrenamiento con fines estéticos en la delineación del cuerpo, sin embargo, las alteraciones bioquímicas son todavía poco exploradas. Objetivo Explorar las alteraciones fisiológicas y bioquímicas causadas por la danza deportiva. Métodos Las voluntarias fueron sometidos a un protocolo de danza deportiva de alta intensidad de dos semanas. Los cambios en los indicadores fisiológicos y bioquímicos fueron monitoreados antes y después del experimento. Resultados Los atletas mostraron cambios individuales en los indicadores bioquímicos (P<0,05), destacando el aumento de la hemoglobina (de 152,3g/L a 169,2g/L). Los índices fisiológicos también cambiaron significativamente, con una reducción media de la grasa corporal de más del 5%. Conclusión La danza deportiva demostró ser útil para mejorar la función física y bioquímica de sus practicantes. Nivel de evidencia II; Estudios terapéuticos - Investigación de resultados.

Brown earth-based subsurface wastewater infiltration systems (SWISs) inoculated with/without dewatered sludge were constructed and operated under the same conditions to boost the application of SWIS in brown soil areas. Start-up period of SWIS with dewatered sludge was 28 days, 12 days shorter than that of SWIS without dewatered sludge. COD, NH3-N and TN removal efficiencies of dewatered sludge as microbial inoculum for SWIS were higher than that of SWIS without dewatered sludge under hydraulic loading rates (HLR) of 0.04, 0.07, 0.1 and 0.13 m³·m−2·d−1. Effluent concentrations of COD, NH3-N and TN in the SWIS inoculated with dewatered sludge were 44.51±4.13, 7.35 ± 0.24 and 14.03 ± 0.31 mg·L−1 under HLR of 0.13 m³·m−2·d−1, which were simultaneously lower than Chinese criteria for water discharge from municipal wastewater treatment plants. The number of bacteria, nitrifying bacteria and denitrifying bacteria in dewatered sludge as microbial inoculum for SWIS were higher than that in SWIS without dewatered sludge under the same HLR. The results will be helpful in promoting the application of dewatered sludge as microbial inoculum in brown earth-based SWISs for the purpose of shortening start-up period, effecting high levels of pollutant removal and recycling waste.

A recent study showed that miR-26a is downregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and that this downregulation is an independent predictor of survival. Interestingly, the same study also reported that miR-26a downregulation causes a concomitant elevation of IL-6 expression. Because miR-26a expression was found to be transcriptionally downregulated by oncogene c-Myc in various cancers, and the expression of c-Myc was increased by IL-6 stimulation, we hypothesized that IL-6 contributes to reduction of miR-26a in hepatocellular carcinoma. Serum IL-6 was measured by ELISA and miR-26a was detected by qRT-PCR. The data of 30 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who had undergone surgical tumor resection revealed that serum IL-6 could be considered to be a predictor of survival up to 5 years for hepatocellular carcinoma patients (log-rank test, P < 0.05). We observed that the serum IL-6 concentration was inversely correlated with miR-26a expression in cancerous tissues (Pearson correlation test, r = -0.651, P < 0.01). Furthermore, by in vitro experiments with HepG2 cells, we showed that IL-6 stimulation can lead to miR-26a suppression via c-Myc activation, whereas in normal hepatocyte LO2 cells incubation with IL-6 had no significant effect on miR-26a expression. Taken together, these results indicate that miR-26a reduction in hepatocellular carcinoma might be due to IL-6 upregulation.

OBJECTIVE: Sorafenib is an oral multikinase inhibitor that has been proven effective as a single-agent therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma, and there is a strong rationale for investigating its use in combination with other agents. Vitamin K2 is nearly non-toxic to humans and has been shown to inhibit the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma. In this study, we evaluated the effects of a combination of sorafenib and vitamin K2 on the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. METHODS: Flow cytometry, 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide) and nude mouse xenograft assays were used to examine the effects of sorafenib and vitamin K2 on the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Western blotting was used to elucidate the possible mechanisms underlying these effects. RESULTS: Assays for 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide) revealed a strong synergistic growth-inhibitory effect between sorafenib and vitamin K2. Flow cytometry showed an increase in cell cycle arrest and apoptosis after treatment with a combination of these two drugs at low concentrations. Sorafenib-mediated inhibition of extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation was promoted by vitamin K2, and downregulation of Mcl-1, which is required for sorafenib-induced apoptosis, was observed after combined treatment. Vitamin K2 also attenuated the downregulation of p21 expression induced by sorafenib, which may represent the mechanism by which vitamin K2 promotes the inhibitory effects of sorafenib on cell proliferation. Moreover, the combination of sorafenib and vitamin K2 significantly inhibited the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma xenografts in nude mice. CONCLUSIONS: Our results determined that combined treatment with sorafenib and vitamin K2 can work synergistically to inhibit the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. This finding raises the possibility that this combined treatment strategy might be promising as a new therapy against hepatocellular carcinoma, especially for patients with poor liver tolerance.

OBJECTIVES: Tumor-associated macrophages that generally exhibit an alternatively activated (M2) phenotype have been linked to tumor progression and metastasis. However, the role of M2-polarized macrophages in the growth and metastasis of lung adenocarcinoma remains enigmatic. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of M2 macrophages on the proliferation and migration of mouse Lewis lung carcinoma cells and tumor-induced lymphangiogenesis. METHODS: Trypan blue staining and the Transwell migration assay were performed to evaluate the effects of activated (M1 or M2) macrophages on the proliferation and migration of Lewis cells. Furthermore, vascular endothelial growth factor-C expression in Lewis cells and nitric oxide secretion from activated macrophages were detected during the co-culture assay. Following treatment with activated macrophages, lymphatic endothelial cells differentiated into capillary-like structures, and the induction of Lewis cell migration was assessed using a twodimensional Matrigel-based assay. RESULTS: In the co-culture Transwell system, the proliferation and migration of Lewis cells were promoted by M2 macrophages. Moreover, the co-culture significantly increased the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-C by Lewis cells and reduced the secretion of nitric oxide from M2 macrophages, which subsequently led to the capillary morphogenesis of lymphatic endothelial cells. Interestingly, following co-culture with Lewis cells, the function of RAW264.7 cells was polarized toward that of the M2 macrophage phenotype. CONCLUSION: M2-polarized macrophages promoted the metastatic behavior of Lewis cells by inducing vascular endothelial growth factor-C expression. Thus, the interruption of signaling between M2 macrophages and Lewis cells may be considered to be a new therapeutic strategy.

OBJECTIVES: Tumor-associated macrophages have been implicated in promoting tumor growth, progression and metastasis. However, the activated phenotype (M1 or M2) of tumor-associated macrophages remains unknown in solid tumors. Therefore, this study examined the density and prognostic significance of M2-polarized tumor-associated macrophages in lung adenocarcinoma. METHODS: Tumor specimens from 65 lung adenocarcinoma patients were assessed by ELISA for Th1/Th2 cytokine concentrations. The activated phenotype (M1 or M2) of tumor-associated macrophages was determined utilizing immunofluorescence staining. Additionally, to evaluate lymphangiogenesis, peritumoral lymphatic microvessel density was measured using D2-40. The correlation between tumor-associated macrophage subtype and overall patient survival was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. RESULTS: A shift toward Th2 cytokine expression was detected within lung adenocarcinoma microenvironments. Approximately 79.71±16.27% of tumor-associated macrophages were M2 polarized; the remaining 20.35±5.31% were M1 polarized. The infiltration of M2-polarized macrophages was significantly associated with P-TNM staging and lymph node metastasis. The peritumoral lymphatic microvessel density was significantly higher in the high M2-polarized tumor-associated macrophage group than in the low M2-polarized tumor-associated macrophage group. A significant difference in overall patient survival was detected not only between patients with tumors with high and low macrophage counts but also between patients with tumors with high and low counts of M2-polarized macrophages. CONCLUSION: Tumor-associated macrophages in lung adenocarcinoma have an M2-polarized subtype and are associated with poor prognoses, perhaps resulting from accelerated lymphangiogenesis and lymph node metastasis.