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Background: The role of polymorphisms on ADH1B and ALDH2 in patients with chronic hepatitis B is unclear. This study aims to examine whether alcohol drinking mediates the association between two ADH1B and ALDH2 polymorphisms and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma among chronic hepatitis B patients. Methods: A total of 3,824 individuals were enrolled in this study. Two SNPs, rs1229984 (ADH1B) and rs671 (ALDH2), were genotyped using the Affymetrix Axiom Genome-Wide CHB1 Array (Affymetrix, Inc). Multivariate unconditional logistic regression and mediation analyses were used, comparing CT or TT with CC for rs1229984 and GA and AA with GG for rs671. Results: There were 602 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma and 3,222 controls. Frequencies of the rs1229984 (ADH1B) T allele and rs671 (ALDH2) A allele were 72.9% and 28.8%, respectively. Individuals who carried at least one deficient allele for both SNPs were significantly less likely to become habitual alcohol drinkers, with an OR and 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.24 (0.15-0.40). Alleles for rs1229984 (ADH1B) and rs671 (ALDH2) were not associated with hepatocellular carcinoma in multivariate analyses. However, mediation analyses showed that the rs1229984 T allele, rs671 A allele, and two SNPs combined were significantly associated with decreased hepatocellular carcinoma risk, mediated through alcohol drinking, with an OR (95% CI) of 0.87 (0.79-0.96), 0.70 (0.61-0.82), and 0.73 (0.58-0.88), respectively. Conclusions: Polymorphisms on ADH1B and ALDH2 had significant indirect effects on hepatocellular carcinoma risk, mediated through alcohol drinking. Impact: Future genetic studies of chronic hepatitis B and hepatocellular carcinoma must take mediation effects into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) may promote hepatic tumorgenesis through low-grade inflammation. Therefore, we assessed the association of long-term exposure levels of PM2.5 and subsequent risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and investigated the mediation effect of inflammation as represented by alanine aminotransferase (ALT) on this association.Methods: Between 1991 and 1992, we recruited 23 820 participants in Taiwan with no history of HCC. Case patients of HCC were ascertained through computerized data linkage with the National Cancer Registry and death certification systems. Participants' exposures to PM2.5 were based on a four-year average retrieved from stationary monitoring sites. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the association between PM2.5 exposure and HCC incidence. Mediation effects of ALT on PM2.5-associated HCC incidence were estimated.Results: A total of 464 HCC cases were newly diagnosed with a median follow-up of 16.9 years. Statistically significantly increasing trends between PM2.5 exposures and ALT were observed on the Main Island and Penghu Islets. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for HCC on the Penghu Islets was 1.22 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.02 to 1.47) per PM2.5 interquartile range (IQR) increment (0.73 µg/m(3)) exposure. We also found a positive association between PM2.5 exposure (per IQR increment, 13.1 µg/m(3)) and HCC incidence on the Main Island. Furthermore, ALT had a statistically significant mediation effect on PM2.5-associated HCC incidence (HR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.02 to1.52 on the Main Island; HR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.03 to 1.07 on the Penghu Islets) per PM2.5 IQR increment.Conclusions: Long-term PM2.5 exposure increased the risk for liver cancer, and chronic inflammation of the liver may underlie the pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to make satisfied customers generate loyalty? This study proposes a mediating model to explain the psychological process of generating customer's brand loyalty from the view of 'cognitive-affective-intention'. According to the view, this study suggests that customer's satisfaction and loyalty must be reached through the mediation effect. To verify the above model, this study selects Taiwanese smart phone users as research object. By the survey method, 313 questionnaires were collected; the study mainly employs the structural equation modeling to empirically test the proposed mediating model. The empirical results are as follows. The satisfaction of Taiwan's consumers of smart phones who formed the attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty must mediate by the intervening variables which are brand trust and brand love. Simply, customer satisfaction will first affect brand trust; brand trust will affect brand love; and then brand love will affect attitudinal loyalty, finally, attitudinal loyalty will affect behavioral loyalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To elucidate the association between antiviral therapy and extrahepatic outcomes in individuals infected with HCV. Methods: This nationwide cohort study screened 293 480 Taiwanese residents with HCV infection and excluded those with substantial comorbidity. A total of 12 384 eligible patients who had received pegylated interferon plus ribavirin between 1 October 2003 and 31 December 2010 were enrolled in the treated cohort; they were matched 1 : 2 with 24 768 untreated controls in the propensity score and post-diagnosis treatment-free period. The incidences of end-stage renal disease (ESRD), acute coronary syndrome (ACS), ischaemic stroke and catastrophic autoimmune diseases were calculated after adjustment for competing mortality. Results: The treated and untreated cohorts were followed up for a mean (±SD) duration of 3.3 (±2.5) and 3.2 (±2.4) years, respectively, until 31 December 2011. The calculated 8-year cumulative incidences of ESRD, ACS, ischaemic stroke and autoimmune catastrophes between treated and untreated patients were 0.15% vs 1.32% (p<0.001), 2.21% vs 2.96% (p=0.027), 1.31% vs 1.76% (p=0.001) and 0.57% vs 0.49% (p=0.816), respectively. Multivariate-adjusted Cox regression revealed that antiviral treatment was associated with lower risks of ESRD (HR 0.15; 95% CI 0.07 to 0.31; p<0.001), ACS (HR 0.77; 95% CI 0.62 to 0.97; p=0.026) and ischaemic stroke (HR 0.62; 95% CI 0.46 to 0.83; p=0.001), but unrelated to autoimmune catastrophes. These favourable associations were invalid in incompletely treated patients with duration <16 weeks. Conclusions: Antiviral treatment for HCV is associated with improved renal and circulatory outcomes, but unrelated to catastrophic autoimmune diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the research that investigates the shared molecular pathways and gene networks for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) in women across different ethnicities including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Caucasian American women. It states the identification of ethnicity-specific pathways such as cell cycle and tight junction. It mentions that ethnicity-specific susceptibility genes and process are involved in CVD and T2D.

The article presents a study that assessed the effect of thyroid transcription factor on the clinical outcome of patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma who have received epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors during the treatment course. The study focused on 496 patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma. It reveals that the 443 patients with TTF-1 positive adenocarcinoma have shorter result of survival.

The cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein CPEB1 (CPEB) regulates germ cell development, synaptic plasticity, and cellular senescence. A microarray analysis of mRNAs regulated by CPEB unexpectedly showed that several encoded proteins are involved in insulin signaling. An investigation of Cpeb1 knockout mice revealed that the expression of two particular negative regulators of insulin action, PTEN and Stat3, were aberrantly increased. Insulin signaling to Akt was attenuated in livers of CPEB--deficient mice, suggesting that they might be defective in regulating glucose homeostasis. Indeed, when the Cpeb1 knockout mice were fed a high-fat diet, their livers became insulin-resistant. Analysis of HepG2 cells, a human liver cell line, depleted of CPEB demonstrated that this protein directly regulates the translation of PTEN and Stat3 mRNAs. Our results show that CPEB regulated translation is a key process involved in insulin signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]