Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound and Strain Elastography for Differentiating Benign and Malignant Parotid Tumors.

OBJECTIVES: Preoperative differentiation between benign parotid tumors (BPT) and malignant parotid tumors (MPT) is crucial for treatment decisions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the benefits of combining contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and strain elastography (SE) for preoperative differentiation between BPT and MPT. METHODS: A total of 115 patients with BPT (n=72) or MPT (n=43) who underwent ultrasound (US), SE, and CEUS were enrolled. US and CEUS features and the elasticity score were evaluated. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was used to assess the diagnostic performance of SE, CEUS, and SE + CEUS with respect to identifying MPT from BPT. RESULTS: Solitary presentation, larger diameter, irregular shape, ill-defined margin, heterogeneous echogenicity, and calcification on US and higher elasticity score on SE had a significant association with malignancy. MPT also presented an unclear margin, larger size after enhancement, and "fast-in and fast-out" pattern on CEUS. The combination of SE and CEUS was effective for differentiating MPT from BPT (AUC: 0.88, 0.80-0.95), with a sensitivity of 86.0%, specificity of 88.9%, and accuracy of 87.8%, which were significantly higher than the values for SE (AUC: 0.75, 0.66-0.85) and CEUS (AUC: 0.82, 0.73-0.91) alone. CONCLUSION: The combination of CEUS and SE is valuable for distinguishing MPT from BPT.

The Different Effects of Skeletal Muscle and Fat Mass on Height Increment in Children and Adolescents Aged 6-11 Years: A Cohort Study From China.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the contribution of body composition including skeletal muscle mass (SMM) and body fat mass (BFM) to longitudinal growth among children and adolescents aged 6-11 years old. Methods: This cohort study was conducted from the annual health examination between 2019 and 2020. Annual height gain and weight gain and changes in SMM and BFM were calculated and compared between sexes, different nutritional status, and growth curve shifting mode. Spearman analyses and multiple linear regression analysis were performed to identify the impact of SMM, BFM, or body mass index (BMI) on height gain. Results: Of the 584 subjects, the annual height gains of boys (4.76 cm in the 6-9-year group and 4.63 cm in the 10-11-year group) were significantly lower than those of girls (5.48 and 5.74 cm, respectively). Spearman analysis showed that SMM gain and height gain were positively and significantly correlated in each examination of all children (r = 0.535 for boys and 0.734 for girls, p < 0.001). Conversely, BFM and height gains were negatively (r = -0.5240 for boys and -0.232 for girls, p < 0.001) correlated. Multiple linear regression analysis identified SMM gain as an independent predictor (95% CI: 1.20,1.44) of height gain after adjusting for age, gender, BMI, BFM gain, and percentage of body fat (PBF). Conclusion: SMM gains, rather than BFM gains, were associated with height gains in children and adolescents aged 6-11 years. Monitoring SMM changes in routine healthcare might motivate children and adolescents to achieve dietary and exercise recommendations, thereby growing taller without gaining excessive weight.

SS-31 protect retinal pigment epithelial cells from H2 O2 -induced cell injury by reducing apoptosis.

Evidence has shown that effects from oxidative stress induced damage of retinal or human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. Antioxidant supplementation is a plausible strategy to avoid oxidative stress and maintain the function of retina. d-Arg-2,6-dimethyltyrosine-Lys-Phe-NH2 (SS-31) has been used in the treatment of many diseases. In this study, we found that SS-31 attenuated hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 )-induced loss of cell viability, reduced oxidative damage and cell apoptosis in RPE cells. HO-1, Trx-1 and Nrf-2 expression levels significantly increased on pre-treatment with SS-31 compared with the H2 O2 group. SS-31 inhibited apoptosis through the downregulation of Bax and the upregulation of Bcl-2. Our results suggest that SS-31 had a protective effect against H2 O2 treatment in ARPE-19 cells by enhancing the antioxidative enzymes expression and decreasing apoptosis, which could be considered a promising therapeutic intervention for retinal degeneration.

Long noncoding RNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 12 promotes papillary thyroid carcinoma cell growth and invasion by targeting miR-16-5p.

Emerging evidence has shown that long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) plays an important role in various types of malignant cancer. Small nucleolar RNA host gene 12 (SNHG12) was found to be upregulated and to act as an oncogene in several cancers. However, the function and regulatory mechanism of SNHG12 remain unclear in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). In this study, SNHG12 was found to be increased in PTC tissues and cell lines using quantitative real-time PCR. Knockdown of SNHG12 significantly inhibited PTC cell proliferation, migration and invasion and induced apoptosis in vitro. Mechanistic investigations revealed that SNHG12 functions as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to sponge miR-16-5p, which was downregulated in PTC tissues. In addition, rescue assays further confirmed that SNHG12 contributed to the progression of PTC through regulating miR-16-5p expression. These results indicated that SNHG12 might contribute to tumor progression in PTC by acting as a ceRNA to sponge miR-16-5p.

Prevalence of macro- and microvascular complications in patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease with or without albuminuria in a single Chinese Diabetes Centre.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between diabetic retinopathy, neuropathy and low ankle-brachial index in mild-to-moderate chronic kidney disease of type 2 diabetic patients. METHODS: We enrolled 875 type 2 diabetic patients who were divided into two phenotypes (with or without albuminuria) and stratified into three groups (stage 1 with estimated glomerular filtration rate ⩾ 90 mL/min/1.73 m(2), stage 2 with estimated glomerular filtration rate of 60-89, stage 3 with estimated glomerular filtration rate of 30-59). The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy, neuropathy and low ankle-brachial index was compared and the risk factors of renal impairment were determined. RESULTS: Among chronic kidney disease stages, the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy increased from 42.5%, 56.6% to 66.7% in albuminuric subjects and from 29.4%, 33.0% to 50.0% with no significant trend in normoalbuminuric subjects (p = 0.005, 0.007 and 0.399 compared with albuminuric subjects in each stage). There was a significantly increased prevalence of low ankle-brachial index (17.5%, 22.6% and 44.4%) in normoalbuminuric subjects but no significant trend in albuminuric subjects. Diabetic retinopathy (odds ratio = 2.474, 95% confidence interval = 1.009-6.068) was an independent risk factor of declining kidney function in albuminuric patients. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy was graded according to the estimated glomerular filtration rate declining in albuminuric patients while the prevalence of low ankle-brachial index was gradually increased in normoalbuminuric patients, indicating the diverse underlying mechanisms of mild to moderate chronic kidney disease between these two phenotypes.

MicroRNA-141 inhibits migration of gastric cancer by targeting zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox 2.

Human microRNA (miR)-141 is a member of the miR­200 family, which has been reported to be downregulated in gastric cancer, and involved in the proliferation of gastric cancer cells. However, little is currently known regarding its role in the migration of gastric cancer. The present study investigated the function of miR­141 in gastric cancer cell migration, and evaluated the contribution of zinc finger E­box­binding homeobox 1 and 2 (ZEB1/2) in miR­141 mediated migration of gastric cancer cells. The expression levels of miR­141 and its potential ZEB1/2 targets were examined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and western blotting, respectively. The migration of SGC­7901 and HGC­27 gastric cancer cells, which had been transfected with an miRNA precursor, was examined by cell migration and wound healing assays. A luciferase activity assay was used to validate whether ZEB1/2 was a direct target of miR­141. The results demonstrated that overexpression of miR­141 markedly inhibited the migration of gastric cancer cells in vitro. Forced overexpression of miR­141 significantly reduced the luciferase activity of the 3'­untranslated region of ZEB2 in gastric cancer cells. Furthermore, the mRNA and protein expression levels of ZEB2 were reduced in cells overexpressing miR­141, whereas the protein expression levels of E­cadherin were increased. In gastric tumor samples the expression levels of ZEB2 were inversely correlated with the expression of miR­141. These results suggest that miR­141 may be involved in the inhibition of gastric cancer cell migration, and that ZEB2 is a target gene of miR-141.

Low ankle-brachial index is associated with early-stage chronic kidney disease in type 2 diabetic patients independent of albuminuria.

AIMS: The role of low ankle-brachial index (ABI) in early-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) is not fully known. This study was designed to investigate the prevalence of low ABI in early-stage CKD defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) between 60-89 ml/min/1.73 m2 of type 2 diabetic patients without albuminuria and to determine the association between the low ABI and mildly decreased eGFR. METHODS: The cross-sectional study enrolled 448 type 2 diabetic patients with normoalbuminuria. The patients were stratified into two groups according to the CKD-EPI eGFR level: the normal group with eGFR level ≥ 90 mL/min/1.73 m2 and the lower group with eGFR of 60-89. ABI was categorized as normal (1.0-1.39), low-normal (0.9-0.99), and low (<0.9). Both stepwise forward multiple linear regression and binary logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the association between ABI categories and eGFR levels and to assess the relation of low ABI and early-stage CKD. RESULTS: The prevalence of low ABI in early-stage CKD of type 2 diabetic patients without albuminuria was 39.5%. Low ABI was associated with an approximate 3-fold greater risk of early-stage CKD in bivariate logistic regression analysis, and remained significantly associated with a 2.2 fold risk (95% confidence interval: 1.188-4.077; P = 0.012) after adjusting traditional chronic kidney disease risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: There was a high prevalence of low ABI in early-stage CKD patients of type 2 diabetes with normoalbuminuria and a close relation between low ABI and early-stage CKD, suggesting that we should pay much more attention to the patients who have only mildly decreased eGFR and normoalbuminuria but have already had a low ABI in clinic work and consider the preventive therapy in early stage.