Deciphering the dose-dependent effects of thymoquinone on cellular proliferation and transcriptomic changes in A172 glioblastoma cells

by Rachana Pandey, Purushothaman Natarajan, Umesh K. Reddy, Wei Du, Cristian Sirbu, Moussa Sissoko, Gerald R. Hankins

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most prevalent primary malignant brain tumor in adults, exhibits a dismal 6.9% five-year survival rate post-diagnosis. Thymoquinone (TQ), the most abundant bioactive compound in Nigella sativa, has been extensively researched for its anticancer properties across various human cancers. However, its specific anti-cancer mechanisms and pathways in glioblastoma remain to be completely elucidated. In this study, we assessed the impact of different TQ concentrations on the viability of A172 cells using WST-8 and Toluidine blue assays, followed by RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs). We confirmed their expression levels through quantitative RT-PCR and performed Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses for these DEGs. RNA-seq revealed no significant gene expression changes at 2.5 μM and 5 μM TQ concentrations. However, at 25 μM and 50 μM, TQ significantly reduced cell viability dose-dependently. We identified 1548 DEGs at 25 μM TQ (684 up-regulated, 864 down-regulated) and 2797 DEGs at 50 μM TQ (1528 up-regulated, 1269 downregulated), with 1202 DEGs common to both concentrations. TQ inhibited key pathways such as PI3K-Akt signaling, calcium signaling, focal adhesion, and ECM-receptor interaction in A172 cells. It downregulated several potential oncogenes (e.g., AEBP1, MIAT) and genes linked to GBM proliferation and migration (e.g., SOCS2, HCP5) while modulating Wnt signaling and up-regulating tumor suppressor genes (e.g., SPRY4, BEX2). TQ also affected p53 downstream targets, maintaining p53 levels. This study elucidates the anti-cancer mechanisms of TQ in A172 GBM cells, underscoring its effects on multiple signaling pathways and positioning TQ as a promising candidate for innovative glioblastoma treatment strategies.

Effects of operating room nursing intervention on wound infection in patients undergoing ovarian cysts surgery: A meta‐analysis

Abstract

We conducted this study aimed to explore the effect of operating room nursing intervention on wound infection in patients undergoing ovarian cysts surgery. A computer system was used to search PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Wanfang, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases, from database inception to October 2023, for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on the application of operating room nursing intervention to ovarian cyst surgery. Literature that met the requirements was independently screened by two researchers, and data were extracted and assessed for literature quality. RevMan 5.4 software was applied for data analysis. Fifteen RCTs involving 1187 patients were finally included. The analyses revealed that, compared with routine nursing, the implementation of operating room nursing intervention had a significant advantage in reducing the incidence of wound infections (1.17% vs. 5.44%, odds ratio [OR]: 0.30, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.15–0.58, p = 0.0004) and postoperative complications (6.34% vs. 25.17%, OR: 0.20, 95%CI: 0.13–0.29, p < 0.00001), as well as being able to shorten the operative time (standardised mean difference [SMD]: -3.93, 95%CI: −5.67 to −2.20, p < 0.00001), hospital length of stay (SMD: −2.54, 95%CI: −3.19 to −1.89, p < 0.00001) and gastrointestinal recovery time (SMD: −1.61, 95%CI: −2.24 to −0.98, p < 0.00001) in patients undergoing ovarian cysts surgery. This study confirmed by meta-analysis that the operating room nursing intervention can significantly reduce the incidence of wound infection and complications, shorten the operative time, gastrointestinal recovery time, and hospital length of stay after ovarian cyst surgery.