Establishment of Reference Values for Pepsinogens in Healthy Subjects of the Gansu Province: a Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: At present, the pepsinogen reference values applicable to subjects from Gansu province have not been established. Therefore, the current study aimed to establish reference values for PGI, PGII, and the PGI/ PGII ratio in Gansu Province, Northwest China. METHODS: The present study was a cross-sectional study. Following screening in the physical examination center of Gansu Provincial Hospital, 2,130 healthy subjects were enrolled (age range 18 - 88 years; BMI range 15.35 - 38.89 kg/m2) from March 2018 to December 2020. Serum PGI and PG II concentration levels were detected by chemiluminescence. The reference values were defined according to age and gender by non-parametric 95th percentile intervals. RESULTS: The increase in age caused a gradual increase in the levels of PG I and PG II, while PG I/PG II ratio gradually decreased. The PG I, PG II and PG I/PG II ratio in males were significantly higher than those in females. The reference values for PG I, PG II and PG I/PG II ratio in males: < 40 years old were 22.79 - 119.79 ng/mL, 3.02 - 21.57 ng/mL, and 2.99 - 10.25, respectively; ≥ 40 years old were 17.58 - 125.12 ng/mL, 3.70 - 25.84 ng/mL, and 1.52 - 10.53, respectively. The reference values for PG I, PG II, and PG I/PG II ratio in females: < 40 years old were 22.57 - 103.90 ng/mL, 3.17 - 20.73 ng/mL, and 2.28 - 10.46, respectively; ≥ 40 years old were 14.24 - 117.81 ng/mL, 3.36 - 29.57 ng/mL, and 1.26 - 9.85, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The present study determined the missing reference values of serum PGs for healthy subjects of different gender and ages in Gansu Province.

The Role of Splicing Factor SF3B4 in Congenital Diseases and Tumors.

In eukaryotes, spliceosomes catalyze the splicing of pre-mRNA to mature mRNA. As the core subunit of U2 spliceosome, splicing factor SF3b4 plays not only a crucial role in the splicing process, but also a role in transcription, translation, and cell signal transduction, and participates in the regulation of cell cycle, cell differentiation, and immune deficiency. In recent years, more and more research studies on SF3b4-related diseases, such as Nager syndrome and cancer, have been conducted. It has been found that SF3b4 mutations led to abnormal cell growth and were involved in the development and occurrence of these diseases. In this review, the diseases, mainly congenital diseases and tumors, in which SF3B4 is involved and the pathogenesis of them were summarized, aiming to provide a better understanding of the roles of SF3B4 in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in the future.