Clinical significance of combining salivary mRNAs and carcinoembryonic antigen for ovarian cancer detection.

Salivary mRNA biomarkers and serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) have been recognized as promising liquid biopsy methods for detection of multiple cancers. However, current tests normally use solitary type of biomarkers, and are limited by unsatisfactory sensitivity and specificity when applied to differentiate cancer patients from healthy controls. In this study, a combined approach of CEA and salivary mRNA biomarkers was evaluated for discriminatory performance of ovarian cancer patients from healthy controls. We designed our study with two phases: a discovery phase to find and evaluate multiple biomarkers, and an independent validation phase to confirm the applicability of the selected biomarkers. In the discovery phase, a total of 140 ovarian cancer patients and 140 healthy controls were recruited. The CEA level in blood as well as five mRNA biomarkers in saliva (i.e. AGPAT1, B2M, BASP1, IER3 and IL1ß) were measured, followed by developing a machine-learning model to differentiate ovarian cancer patients and healthy controls. We found a novel panel of biomarkers, which could differentiate ovarian cancer patients from healthy controls with high sensitivity (89.3%) and high specificity (82.9%). Next, we applied this panel of biomarkers in an independent validation study that consisted of 60 ovarian cancer patients and 60 healthy controls. The ovarian cancer patients were successfully differentiated from healthy controls in the validation phase, with sensitivity reaching 85.0% and specificity reaching 88.3%. To our best knowledge, it is the first time that a combined use of CEA and salivary mRNA biomarkers were applied for non-invasive detection of ovarian cancer.

Magnesium Sulfate in combination with Nifedipine in the treatment of Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of magnesium sulfate combined with nifedipine in the treatment of pregnancy-induced hypertension syndrome (PIHS). METHODS: Total 118 pregnant women with PIHS who were admitted to our hospital from April 2017 to June 2018 were randomly divided into control group (59 cases) and observation group (59 cases). The observation group was treated by magnesium sulfate in combination with nifedipine, while the control group was treated by magnesium sulfate. The therapeutic effect, serum leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF), Apelin level, blood pressure, blood viscosity, urinary protein, S/D and Umbilical Artery Resistance Index (UARI) were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The effective rate of the observation group was 94.9%, higher than 83.1% of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The decrease level of systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the observation group was better than that in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The decrease of blood viscosity, urinary protein, S/D and UARI in the observation group was greater than that in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The improvement of serum LIF and Apelin levels in the observation group was better than that in the control group (P<0.05), and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Magnesium sulfate combined with nifedipine in the treatment of PIHS has a significant effect, which can effectively control edema, blood pressure, proteinuria and protect kidney. It is worth clinical promotion.

miR-132 serves as a diagnostic biomarker in gestational diabetes mellitus and its regulatory effect on trophoblast cell viability.

BACKGROUND: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) leads to poor pregnancy outcomes. Strategies that improve trophoblast cell function are important methods for GDM treatment. This study aimed to investigate the expression and diagnostic potential of microRNA-132 (miR-132) in GDM patients, and further analyzed the effects of miR-132 on HTR-8/SVneo cell proliferation. METHODS: Quantitative real-time PCR was applied to estimate the expression of miR-132. A receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) analysis was performed to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum miR-132 in GDM patients. In vitro regulation of miR-132 in trophoblast cell HTR-8/SVneo was achieved by cell transfection, and the effects of miR-132 on cell proliferation were assessed using CCK-8 assay. RESULTS: Expression of miR-132 was decreased in serum and placenta tissues in GDM patients compared with the healthy women. A negative correlation was found between the serum miR-132 levels and fasting blood glucose of the GDM patients. A ROC curve shown the serum miR-132 had considerable diagnostic accuracy with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.898. High glucose (HG) treatment induced an inhibition in HTR-8/SVneo cell proliferation and the expression of miR-132. The overexpression of miR-132 in HTR-8/SVneo cells could markedly rescued the HG - induced suppressed cell proliferation. CONCLUSION: All the data of this study revealed the reduced expression of miR-132 in serum and placenta tissues of GDM, and serum miR-132 serves a candidate biomarker in the diagnosis of GDM. miR-132 may act a protective role against GDM via enhancing the trophoblast cell proliferation.