Prognostic Value of Transglutaminase 2 in Patients with Solid Tumors: A Meta-analysis.

Background: Transglutaminase 2 (TG2), a member of the transglutaminase family, also known as tissue transglutaminase, plays a fundamental role in cancer growth and progression. In this study, we aimed to comprehensively review the evidence of TG2 as a prognostic biomarker in solid tumors. Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases were searched for human studies with clearly described cancer types if they presented the relationship between TG2 expression and prognostic indicators from inception to February 2022. Two authors independently screened the eligible studies and extracted the relevant data. The association between TG2 and overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and relapse-free survival (RFS) were described as hazard ratios (HR) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Statistical heterogeneity was assessed using Cochrane Q-test and Higgins I-squared statistic. A sensitivity analysis was conducted by sequentially omitting the impact of each study. Publication bias was assessed by Egger's funnel plot. Results: A total of 2864 patients with various cancers from 11 individual studies were enrolled. Results showed that elevated TG2 protein expression and mRNA expression predicted a shorter OS, with a combined HR of 1.93 (95% CI: 1.41-2.63) or HR of 1.95 (95% CI: 1.27-2.99), respectively. Moreover, data suggested that elevated TG2 protein expression was correlated with a shorter DFS (HR = 1.76, 95% CI: 1.36-2.29); whereas elevated TG2 mRNA expression was associated with a shorter DFS (HR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.30-2.24). Conclusions: Our meta-analysis indicated that TG2 might serve as a promising biomarker of cancer prognosis.

Association Between Preoperative Blood Transfusion and Postoperative Venous Thromboembolism: Review Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have shown that preoperative blood transfusion is associated with postoperative venous thromboembolism (VTE). In this study, a meta-analysis was performed to explore the relationship between preoperative blood transfusion and postoperative VTE. METHODS: Published articles were identified through a comprehensive review of PubMed and EMBASE. Data from studies reporting relative risks, odds ratios, or hazard ratios comparing the risk of postoperative VTE among participants who had preoperative blood transfusion versus those without preoperative blood transfusion were analyzed. A random-effect model was used to calculate pooled odds ratios and 95% confident intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Eight studies, which included 3,504,778 participants, aligned with our inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. Pooled analysis showed an association between preoperative blood transfusion and postoperative VTE, with an odds ratio of 2.95 (95% CI: 1.65-5.30; I2 = 89.1%). In subgroup analyses, the positive association between preoperative blood transfusion and postoperative VTE was still exist in studies with confounders adjustment. Sensitivity analysis by one-study-removed analysis confirmed the robustness of our results. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicated that preoperative blood transfusion was associated with higher odds of postoperative VTE. Further large-scale prospective cohort studies are needed to investigate the causality between preoperative blood transfusion and postoperative VTE.

[Heritability analysis on serum lipids of adult twins in Qingdao City].

OBJECTIVE: To study the level and heritability of serum total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides (TG) in adult twins sampled from Qingdao City of China. METHODS: 316 pairs of healthy twin aged 18 to 60 years were recruited from the database of Qingdao City twin registry. Fasting serum lipids were detected by automatic biochemical analyzer. The zygosity of twins was established by using polymorphic DNA-based microsatellite markers. The heritability was estimated by formulating univariate ACE twin mode in Mx soft. RESULTS: The average levels of fasting serum TC, HDL-C, LDL-C and TG were (4.52 +/- 1.08), (1.46 +/- 0.39), (2.58 +/- 0.79) and (1.11 +/- 0.77) mmol/L, respectively. The best fitting models adjusted by sex and age in Mx soft were AE model for TC, HDL-C and LDL-C, whereas CE model for TG. The heritability of TC, HDL-C, LDL-C and TG were 53% , 62% , 57% and 0, respectively. CONCLUSION: It is considered that both genetic and environmental factors may influence the level of TC, HDL-C and LDL-C, whereas environmental effect may be the factor essential for the level of TG.