Circulating miR-107 as a diagnostic biomarker of osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture increases bone formation in vitro and in vivo.

AIMS: This study aimed to examine the key circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) in the plasma of patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture and assess their potential role as diagnostic biomarkers and explore their function in vitro and in vivo. METHODS: Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was applied to identify hub miRNAs for subsequent analysis. The candidate miRNAs were tested using plasma from 144 patients and the results were applied to construct receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to assess their diagnostic value. In addition, the function of the target miRNA was validated in MC3T3-E1 cells, human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs), and an ovariectomized (OVX) mouse model. KEY FINDINGS: Seven modules were obtained by WGCNA analysis. The expression levels of circulating miR-107 in the red module were significantly lower in osteoporotic patients than in healthy controls. In addition, miR-107 provided discrimination with an AUC > 85 % by ROC analyses to differentiate women osteoporosis patients from healthy controls and differentiate women osteoporotic patients with vertebral compression fractures from osteoporotic patients without vertebral compression fractures. In vitro experiments revealed that miR-107 levels were increased in osteogenically induced MC3T3-E1 cells and BMSCs and transfection with synthetic miR-107 could promote bone formation. Lastly, the bone parameters were improved by miR-107 upregulation in OVX mice. SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings show that circulating miR-107 plays an essential role in facilitating osteogenesis and may be a useful diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target in osteoporosis.

Long-term Results Comparing Cervical Disc Arthroplasty to Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

OBJECTIVE: Whether cervical disc arthroplasty (CDA) is superior to anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) remains controversial, especially in relation to long-term results. The present study aimed to evaluate the long-term safety and efficiency of CDA and ACDF for cervical disc disease. METHODS: We performed this study according to the Cochrane methodology. An extensive search was undertaken in PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases up to 1 June 2019 using the following key words: "anterior cervical fusion," "arthroplasty," "replacement" and "artificial disc". RevMan 5.3 (Cochrane, London, UK) was used to analyze data. Safety and efficiency outcome measures included the success rate, functional outcome measures, adverse events (AE), adjacent segment degeneration (ASD), secondary surgery, and patients' satisfaction and recommendation rates. The OR and MD with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to evaluate discontinuous and continuous variables, respectively. The statistically significant level was set at P < 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 11 randomized controlled trials with 3505 patients (CDA/ACDF: 1913/1592) were included in this meta-analysis. Compared with ACDF, CDA achieved significantly higher overall success (2.10, 95% CI [1.70, 2.59]), neck disability index (NDI) success (1.73, 95% CI [1.37, 2.18]), neurological success (1.65, 95% CI [1.24, 2.20]), patients' satisfaction (2.14, 95% CI [1.50, 3.05]), and patients' recommendation rates (3.23, 95% CI [1.79, 5.80]). Functional outcome measures such as visual analog score neck pain (-5.50, 95% CI [-8.49, -2.52]) and arm pain (-3.78, 95% CI [-7.04, -0.53]), the Short Form-36 physical component score (SF-36 PCS) (1.93, 95% CI [0.53, 3.32]), and the Short Form-36 mental component score (SF-36 MCS) (2.62, 95% CI [0.95, 4.29]), revealed superiority in the CDA group. CDA also achieved a significantly lower rate of symptomatic ASD (0.46, 95% CI [0.34, 0.63]), total secondary surgery (0.50, 95% CI [0.29, 0.87]), secondary surgery at the index level (0.46, 95% CI [0.29, 0.74]), and secondary surgery at the adjacent level (0.37, 95% CI [0.28, 0.49]). However, no significant difference was found in radiological success (1.35, 95% CI [0.88, 2.08]), NDI score (-2.88, 95% CI [-5.93, 0.17]), total reported AE (1.14, 95% CI [0.92, 1.42]), serious AE (0.89, 95% CI [0.71, 1.11]), device/surgery-related AE (0.90, 95% CI [0.68, 1.18]), radiological superior ASD (0.63, 95% CI [0.28, 1.43]), inferior ASD (0.45, 95% CI [0.19, 1.11]), and work status (1.33, 95% CI [0.78, 2.25]). Furthermore, subgroup analysis showed different results between US and non-US groups. CONCLUSION: Our study provided further evidence that compared to ACDF, CDA had a higher long-term clinical success rate and better functional outcome measurements, and resulted in less symptomatic ASD and fewer secondary surgeries. However, worldwide multicenter RCT with long-term follow up are still needed for further evaluation in the future.

Effect of Particle Size Ratios on the Physical and Chemical Properties of Surgical-Grade Calcium Sulfate Hemihydrate.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the optimum particle size or formula ratio of surgical-grade calcium sulfate (CS) for appropriate compressive strength, setting time, and vitro degradation rate. METHODS: Three types of calcium sulfate hemihydrate (CSH) particles with diameters of 0-37.5 µm, 37.5-75 µm, and >75 µm were screened. Based on formulation ratio of different particles, this topic is divided into 10 groups by the unconstrained third-order simplex lattice mixing design scheme in formula design experiment. The optimum formulation ratio of particle diameter for compressive strength, solidification time, and degradation rate in vitro was analyzed. RESULTS: When the percentage of the particle diameter of CS with 0-37.5 µm, 37.5-75 µm and >75 µm are 55.0%, 17.4%, and 27.6% respectively, the compressive strength of the test sample is the highest, which is 14.16 MPa. When the percentage of the particle diameter of CS with 0-37.5 µm, 37.5-75 µm, and >75 µm are 0.00%, 0.00%, and 100.00% respectively, the initial setting time of the sample is the longest, which is 410.0 s. When the percentage of the particle diameter of CS with 0-37.5 µm, 37.5-75 µm, and >75 µm are 0.00%, 0.00%, and 100.00% respectively, the final setting time of the sample is the largest, and the final setting time of the sample is 460.00 s. When the percentage of the particle diameter of CS with 0-37.5 µm, 37.5-75 µm, and >75 µm are 0.00%, 0.00%, and 100.00% respectively, the degradation rate of the sample in vitro is the slowest, which is 18.8%. CONCLUSION: The morphological structure of surgical-grade CS can affect compressive strength, setting time, and in vitro degradation rate. Surgical CS should be prepared based on different uses.

Posterior Cervical Foraminotomy Via Full-Endoscopic Versus Microendoscopic Approach for Radiculopathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Recently posterior cervical foraminotomy (PCF) performed using a minimally-invasive surgery (MIS) approach for cervical radiculopathy due to lateral disc herniation or osseous foraminal stenosis has gained popularity. As 2 dominating MIS techniques, whether FE-PCF or MI-PCF provides superior clinical outcomes remains controversial. OBJECTIVES: To compare clinical success rate, overall incidence of complications and reoperation rate between full-endoscopic posterior cervical foraminotomy (FE-PCF) and microendoscopic posterior cervical foraminotomy (MI-PCF) for cervical radiculopathy. STUDY DESIGN: A systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: A literature search of Pubmed, Embase and Web of Science was conducted to identify comparative or single-arm studies concerning FE-PCF or MI-PCF. The pooled results were performed by calculating the effect size based on the logit event rate and reported with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: A total of 26 articles with 2003 patients (FE-PCF, 377; MI-PCF, 1626) were included. The pooled clinical success rate was 93.6% (CI: 90.0%-95.9%) for the FE group and 89.9% (CI: 86.6%-92.5%) for the MI group, which was not statistically significant (P = 0.908). Overall complication rates were 6.1% (CI: 3.2%-11.3%) and 3.5% (CI: 2.7%-4.6%) for the FE group and the MI group, respectively, with no significant difference (P = 0.128). Nevertheless, the specific constituents showed apparent disparity, with transient nerve root palsy in the FE group (12/16, 75.0%) and dural tear in the MI group (20/47, 42.6%) being the most commonly reported. the pooled reoperation rate, the FE group (4.8%, CI: 2.9%-7.8%) and the MI group (5.3%, CI: 3.4%-8.2%), also demonstrated no statistical difference (P = 0.741). LIMITATIONS: The indirect comparison eroded the reliability of results inevitably due to the paucity of randomized clinical trials or high quality prospective cohort studies. CONCLUSIONS: Both FE-PCF and MI-PCF can offer an effective and relatively secure treatment for cervical radiculopathy. There was no significant difference in the pooled outcomes of clinical success rate, complication rate and reoperation rate between the 2 approaches. KEY WORDS: Cervical radiculopathy, full-endoscopic, microendoscopic, posterior cervical foraminotomy, clinical outcome, complication, reoperation, meta-analysis.

[Application of enzyme-labeled probe in testing of transgenic plant].

Used alkaline-phosphatase-labeled DNA as a probe to examine the expression of foreign UidA gene in transgenic plants. Alkaline phosphatase coupled with polyethyleneimine (PEI) using P-benzoquine as the cross-linking reagent was covalently linked to single-stranded DNA via glutraldehyde. Such DNA-enzyme complexes were used as a probe for dot hybridization and Southern blot. After hybridization and incubation with a substrate solution, results can be observed directly in three to six hours and the results showed that it was a sensitive, specific, rapid, safe and economical probe. Dot hybridization analysis showed that the UidA gene was transformed into the target plants and southern blot showed that there were at least 5 copies of UidA gene in transgenic plants.

The comparison of twinning rates between urban and rural areas in China.

Based on the birth record data from the National Vital Statistics in the 1990 Census of China, the present study analyzed the differences between urban and rural areas on monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twin rates by maternal age in 1989. The twins by zygosity were calculated with Weinberg's differential method. Results show that the MZ and DZ twinning rates in China were associated with maternal age and that there were substantial differences between urban and rural areas. The MZ twinning rates in urban and rural areas were 2.36 pairs and 2.11 pairs per 1000 deliveries respectively, significantly lower than that in most studied populations. Furthermore, our analysis indicated that MZ twinning rates remained relatively constant for mothers under the age group of 36 to 38 years, but rose over this age group in both areas, albeit with a different slope. The DZ twinning rates were strikingly affected by maternal age, but the age for peak DZ rates was found within the age group of 33 to 35 years. In all maternal age groups except for 24 to 26 years, the DZ twinning rates in urban areas were higher than in rural areas. It remains unclear as to why the DZ twinning rates reversed to reach higher values within the older maternal age groups in China, but it is almost certain that the high twinning rates had nothing to do with in vitro fertilization.