Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an infectious disease that causes tubal occlusion and other pelvic and abdominal adhesions. The incidence of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) has increased due to the sexually active status of the young population. This leads to a more serious problem and a larger effect than previously observed. However, there have been few studies on this topic in Asian populations. We aimed to evaluate the risk of preterm labor and/or ectopic pregnancy in Taiwanese women following PID. Using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database, we designed a retrospective cohort study that included 12- to 55-year-old pregnant women between 2000 and 2010. We selected a 1:3 age-matched control group of non-PID women. The endpoint was any episode of preterm labor or ectopic pregnancy; otherwise, the patients were tracked until 31 December 2010. The risk factors for preterm labor or ectopic pregnancy were explored. For cases included from the index date until the end of 2010, we analyzed the risk of incident preterm labor or ectopic pregnancy. With the use of a multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis, we calculated the hazard ratio (HR) with a 95% CI and compared it with that of the control group. This study examined 30,450 patients with PID and 91,350 controls. During the follow-up period, patients in the PID group were more likely to develop preterm labor or ectopic pregnancy than patients in the control group. The cumulative incidence rates for developing preterm labor were 1.84% (561/30,450 individuals) in patients with PID and 1.63% (1492/91,350 individuals) in patients without PID. On the other hand, the cumulative incidence rate for developing ectopic pregnancy in patients with PID was 0.05% (14/30,450 individuals) but was only 0.04% (33/91,350 individuals) in patients without PID. Compared with those without PID, the patients with PID had a 1.864 times (P<0.001) higher risk of developing preterm labor and a 2.121 times (P = 0.003) higher risk of developing ectopic pregnancy. Our study provided evidence of an increased risk of preterm labor or ectopic pregnancy in PID patients.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been known to be implicated in tumorigenesis, metastasis, and drug resistance in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC). In this study, we aimed to investigate whether magnolol, a polyphenolic component derived from Magnolia officinalis, exhibited the anti-CSCs properties. The cytotoxicity of magnolol was tested using normal gingival epithelioid SG cells and sphere-forming OSCC-CSCs isolated from SAS, OECM1, and GNM cells. Secondary sphere-forming ability, the proportion of ALDH1 positive cells, Transwell migration, and invasion capacities were examined as well. The chemosensitive effects of magnolol were investigated using MTT, secondary sphere-forming, and invasion assays. Magnolol exerted a higher cytotoxicity of OSCC-CSCs and cancer stemness features, including self-renewal ability, the expression CSC marker, migration, and invasion capacities were all downregulated in magnolol-treated OSCC-CSCs. Moreover, administration of magnolol potentiated the effect of cisplatin, including a decrease in cell viability, self-renewal, and invasion activities. In addition, we observed that the secretion of IL-6 and phosphorylation of Stat3 were decreased in OSCC-CSCs treated with magnolol. Our data suggest that magnolol is able to target CSCs and suppress the cancer stemness properties, at least in part, via IL-6/Stat3 signaling. Besides, a dietary supplement of magnolol may function as an adjunct to cisplatin treatment.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is an active natural compound that is extracted from Cannabis sativa. Previous studies show that CBD is a nonpsychotropic compound with significant anticancer effects. This study determines its cytotoxic effect on oral cancer cells and OEC-M1 cells and compares the outcomes with a chemotherapeutic drug, cisplatin. This study has investigated the effect of CBD on the viability, apoptosis, morphology, and migration of OEC-M1 cells. Electric cell–substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) is used to measure the change in cell impedance for cells that are treated with a series concentration of CBD for 24 h. AlamarBlue and annexin V/7-AAD staining assays show that CBD has a cytotoxic effect on cell viability and induces cell apoptosis. ECIS analysis shows that CBD decreases the overall resistance and morphological parameters at 4 kHz in a concentration-dependent manner. There is a significant reduction in the wound-healing recovery rate for cells that are treated with 30 μM CBD. This study demonstrates that ECIS can be used for in vitro screening of new chemotherapy and is more sensitive, functional, and comprehensive than traditional biochemical assays. CBD also increases cytotoxicity on cell survival and the migration of oral cancer cells, so it may be a therapeutic drug for oral cancer.

Background: The incidence of female stroke has increased gradually and has begun occurring at a younger age in recent years. Given that women live longer than men, stroke would cause more negative and longer-term impacts on the rest of the lives of women. There are few related studies on Asian women. We aimed to evaluate stroke risk in Asian women following hypertensive pregnancy disorders. Methods: Using the Taiwan National Health Insurance database, we designed a retrospective study that included pregnant women between 2000 and 2013. We selected an age-matched control group of women without hypertensive pregnancy disorders at a 1:3 ratio. The endpoint was any episode of stroke; otherwise, the patients were tracked until December 31, 2013. After the index date until the end of 2013, Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to compare the risk of incident stroke. The risk factors for stroke were determined using Cox proportional regression to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) compared with the control group. Results: During the follow-up period, the Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that patients with hypertensive pregnancy disorders had a significantly higher risk of developing stroke than did patients without hypertensive pregnancy disorders (log-rank test P < 0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that the case group had a 2.134-fold increased risk of stroke (HR = 2.134; 95% CI = 1.817–2.505; P < 0.001). Conclusion: Our study provided evidence of an increased risk of stroke in patients with hypertensive pregnancy disorders. Compared with those without such disorders, the patients who had experienced the disorders had a 2.134-fold (P < 0.001) higher risk of developing stroke in the future.

Electric Cell-substrate Impedance Sensing (ECIS) is an impedance-based, real-time, and label-free measuring system for monitoring cellular activities in tissue culture. Previously, ECIS wound healing assay has been used to wound cells with high electric current and monitor the subsequent cell migration. In this study, we applied ECIS electric fence (EF) method, an alternative to electrical wounding, to assess the effects of different surface coatings on human keratinocyte (HaCaT) migration. The EF prevents inoculated cells from attaching or migrating to the fenced electrode surface while maintaining the integrity of the surface coating. After the EF is turned off, cells migrate into the cell-free area, and the increase in measured impedance is monitored. We cultured HaCaT cells on gold electrodes without coating or coated with poly-L-lysin (PLL), poly-D-lysine (PDL), or type-I collagen. We quantified migration rates according to the different slopes in the impedance time series. It was observed that either poly-L-lysine (PLL) or poly-D-lysine (PDL) limits cell adhesion and migration rates. Furthermore, the surface charge of the coated substrate in the culture condition positively correlates with the cell adhesion and migration process. Our results indicate that the EF method is useful for determining cell migration rates on specific surface coatings.

Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is a chronic fibrotic remodeling disease that can progress to oral cancer. However, efficient clinical diagnosis and treatment methods for OSF are still lacking. This study investigated the anti-fibrotic effect of fucoidan on oral fibrosis. To evaluate the fibrotic ability (myofibroblast activities), we performed wound-healing, Transwell migration, and collagen contraction assays by using patient-derived normal and fibrotic buccal submucous fibroblasts (BMFs and fBMFs, respectively). RNA-sequencing and dual-luciferase reporter and RNA immunoprecipitation chip assays were performed to identify the clinical significance and molecular mechanism of non-coding RNAs. Fucoidan suppressed the myofibroblast activities and inhibited the MEG3 in fBMFs. MEG3 was overexpressed in the OSF tissue and was positively associated with myofibroblast markers. Knockdown of MEG3 markedly inhibited myofibroblast activities, which were restored by inhibiting miR-181a and overexpressing Egr1. The results from luciferase reporter and RIP assays confirmed that MEG3 functioned as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) and could directly target miR-181a, thereby preventing the miR-181a-mediated translational repression of Egr1. This study demonstrated that MEG3 exerts a profibrotic effect on OSF by targeting miR-181a/Egr1. Therefore, the administration of fucoidan may serve as a potential therapeutic strategy for OSF by targeting the overexpression of MEG3.