Clinical analysis of uterine torsion and fibroids in full-term pregnancy: A case report and review of the literature.

This study was performed to describe the clinical features, risk factors, and treatment methods of uterine torsion in pregnancy. The most common symptoms are abdominal pain, fetal heart rate changes, and failure of cervical dilatation and are often accompanied by complete or partial placental abruption. Preoperative diagnosis is challenging even with the use of ultrasound. Uterine torsion in the third trimester is correlated with the presence of multiple uterine fibroids. The causes of gravid uterine torsion vary and the clinical manifestations are nonspecific. Early diagnosis and improved detection approaches are the keys to treatment of patients with uterine torsion. However, the preoperative diagnosis remains difficult and the diagnosis is often made during cesarean section.

ß-3 adrenergic receptor gene polymorphisms are associated with gestational diabetes mellitus in a Chinese population.

Increasing studies demonstrated that genetic susceptibility attributes to the development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The polymorphisms of the ß-3 adrenergic receptor(ß-3AR) gene have been found to be of great importance in bodyweight elevation and dyslipidaemias. We aimed to determine the influence of ß-3AR polymorphisms on the GDM risk. Thus, we performed a case-control study including 136 GDM cases and 138 controls to evaluate the relation between the rs201607471 and susceptibility to GDM. Likelihood ratios X analysis showed the distribution of the genotype frequency (rs201607471 in ß-3AR gene) was accorded with the Hardy-Weinberg genetic equilibrium. Although no significant association between rs201607471 alleles and GDM susceptibility (Chi-square test, P > .05), we observed that ß-3AR gene rs201607471 CT genotype was significantly prevalent in GDM (Chi-square test, P < .05). Moreover, we observed that ß-3AR gene rs201607471 C > T was significantly associated with an increased risk of GDM using the recessive model (CC vs CT/TT: P = .026) and the additive model (CC vs CT vs TT: P = .038). These data indicate that ß-3AR rs201607471 may be a helpful susceptibility marker for GDM in Chinese pregnant women.

Clinical relevance of expression of B7-H1 and B7-H4 in ovarian cancer.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of B7-H1 and B7-H4 in ovarian neoplasm tissues and to examine their clinical relevance. A total of 112 ovarian biopsies were collected from patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and 10 were taken from ovarian benign neoplasms. The samples were processed in paraffin tissue chips, and subjected to immunohistochemical staining and analysis. Associations of B7-H1 and B7-H4 expression with patients' clinical parameters, such as histological typing, cell grading, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics staging, tumor size, and metastatic status, were examined by statistical analysis. Survival curves were constructed using the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test. Independent prognostic factors were evaluated using the Cox regression model. The results showed an extremely low or negative expression of B7-H1 and B7-H4 in the 10 benign ovarian neoplasm tissues (control): By contrast, a positive expression of B7-H1 and B7-H4 was observed in 55.4% (62/112) and 37.5% (42/112) of the EOC tissues, respectively. The differences between the two groups were significant. In addition, the co-expression of B7-H1 and B7-H4 was found in 31.3% (35/112) of the EOC cases. Furthermore, the progression-free survival and overall survival were significantly lower in EOC patients with a high expression of B7-H1 and B7-H4 (χ2=45.60 and 37.99, respectively). These results demonstrated that the expression of B7-H1 and B7-H4 in EOC tissues was significantly associated with poor prognosis and high relapse rate of EOC. The findings suggest that B7-H1 and B7-H4 is a negative prognostic marker for EOC and a potential immunotherapeutic target for patients with EOC.