Hongxing Li

Hirschsprung disease (HSCR) is a well-known congenital digestive disease that originates due to the developmental disorder of neural crest cells. MiR-206 is kown to have a relationship with digestive malfunctions. Therefore, we investigated whether or not miR-206 was involved in the pathogenesis of HSCR. qRT-PCR and Western blot assays were used to detect the expression levels of miRNA and mRNAs, and proteins in case and control tissue samples and two cell lines (293T and SH-SY5Y). The functions of miR-206 in vitro were measured by transwell assay, CCK8 assay and flow cytometry. Finally, we conducted dual-luciferase reporter assay to verify the connections between miR-206 and the target mRNA SDPR . Down-regulation of miR-206 was found in HSCR case tissue samples compared with controls, which was validated to be connected with the increased level of mRNA and protein of SDPR by qRT-PCR and dual-luciferase reporter assay. Moreover, miR-206 suppressed the cell migration and proliferation and silencing of SDPR could rescue the extent of the suppressing effects by miR-206 inhibitor. The findings suggest that miR-206 may play a significant role in the pathogenesis of HSCR, as well as inhibiting the cell migration and proliferation by targeting SDPR in disease models.

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to compare the diagnostic value of galactomannan (GM) detection in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and serum samples from nonneutropenic patients with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) and determine the optimal BALF GM cutoff value for pulmonary aspergillosis. GM detection in BALF and serum samples was performed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 128 patients with clinically suspected nonneutropenic pulmonary aspergillosis between June 2014 and June 2016. On the basis of the clinical and pathological diagnoses, 8 patients were excluded because their diagnosis was uncertain. The remaining 120 patients were diagnosed with either IPA ( n = 37), community-acquired pneumonia (CAP; n = 59), noninfectious diseases ( n = 19), or tuberculosis ( n = 5). At a cutoff optical density index (ODI) value of ≥0.5, the sensitivity of BALF GM detection was much higher than that of serum GM detection (75.68% versus 37.84%; P = 0.001), but there was no significant difference between their specificities (80.72% versus 87.14%; P = 0.286). At a cutoff value of ≥1.0, the sensitivity of BALF GM detection was still much higher than that of serum GM detection (64.86% versus 24.32%; P < 0.001), and their specificities were similar (90.36% versus 95.71%; P = 0.202). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that when the BALF GM detection cutoff value was 0.7, its diagnostic value for pulmonary aspergillosis was optimized, and the sensitivity and specificity reached 72.97% and 89.16%, respectively. BALF GM detection was valuable for the diagnosis of IPA in nonneutropenic patients, and its diagnostic value was superior to that of serum GM detection. The optimal BALF GM cutoff value was 0.7.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its co-morbidities in patients with primary knee osteoarthritis and to assess if the severity of metabolic syndrome, and components, correlates with the severity of osteoarthritis symptoms. METHODS: A case controlled analysis of 70 patients with osteoarthritis compared to a control group of 81 patients. Each patient underwent clinical review including history, examination, and pathology tests. The case-group all had stage IV osteoarthritis as determined by radiographs and intra-operative assessment. In addition a visual analogue scale (VAS), Hospital for Special Surgery knee score (HSS), and Hamilton Depression scores were completed. RESULTS: The prevalence of hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome was significantly higher in the patients with osteoarthritis compared to the control group. There is a significant correlation between the degree of hypertension, the presence of dyslipidemia or hyperglycemia and the severity of osteoarthritis symptoms. Variables hypertension, low HDL-C levels, and the number of co-morbidities were all identified as risk factors for increased osteoarthritis symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: There is a correlation between the number of metabolic disorders, the severity of hypertension and severity of osteoarthritis symptoms. Hypertension and decreased HDL-cholesterol were positive risk factors for increased osteoarthritis symptomatology.