Circular RNA CCDC66 facilitates abdominal aortic aneurysm through the overexpression of CCDC66.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is fatal meanwhile unpredictable asymptomatic cardiovascular disease. Available data suggests the potential participation of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in AAA pathogenesis. But direct evidence is limited. The present study is to functionally and mechanically characterize circRNA CCDC66 (circCCDC66) in AAA. Previous work indicated the differentially expressed circCCDC66 in AAA. At molecular level, circCCDC66, miR-342-3p and CCDC66 transcript were measured through real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay. Functionally, we examined the cellular behaviours of circCCDC66-depleted or CCDC66-depleted vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) including proliferation and apoptosis. It elucidated that depletion of circCCDC66 induced proliferation facilitation and apoptosis reduction. Mechanically, we addressed the interplay among circCCDC66, miR-342-3p and CCDC66 transcript using RNA immunoprecipitation, RNA pull-down and luciferase reporter experiments. Through mechanical validation, we discovered the positive regulation of circCCDC66 on its host gene CCDC66. Loss of CCDC66 mimicked the effects of circCCDC66 silencing on VSMC growth. Moreover, it uncovered that circCCDC66 regulated CCDC66-dependent VSMC growth through sponging miR-342-3p. Rescue experiments aimed to address the functional role of regulatory network formed by circCCDC66, miR-342-3p and CCDC66 in VSMC growth and apoptosis. Suppressing miR-342-3p or overexpressing CCDC66 could reverse VSMC growth caused by circCCDC66 deficiency. Our study further emphasized and first unveiled the function of circCCDC66 in VSMC proliferation. CircCCDC66 upregulated its host gene through its role of miR-342-3p sponge, and hinted a novel molecular mechanism in AAA. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY: It was firstly displayed in our study that depletion of circCCDC66 induced proliferation augmentation and apoptosis reduction of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Meanwhile, circCCDC66/miR-342-3p/CCDC66 axis was proved can play the function of modulating the cell proliferation and apoptosis of VSMCs, which provided us a novel molecular mechanism in AAA.

[Multiplicity and prevention for patients with hydrocephalus secondary to severe traumatic brain injury after surgery].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the factors for hydrocephalus secondary to severe traumatic brain injury after surgery, and to explore a new theory and guideline for clinical early prevention and treatment for hydrocephalus.
 METHODS: The clinical data regarding 107 patients with severe traumatic brain injury, who were admitted to our hospital from June 2010 to June 2013, were analyzed. Logistic multi-factor regression was used to analyze the different factors including ages, gender, the Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score before or after surgery, the situation of ventricular system bleeding secondary to surgery, the situation of midbrain aqueduct and ambient cistern before or after surgery, the relationship between early lumbar puncture and the hydrocephalus. The risk and protective factors for postoperative hydrocephalus were discussed.
 RESULTS: The results showed that patients with low GCS score in pre/postoperative (OR=0.099, 95%CI: 0.028-0.350)/(OR=0.088, 95%CI: 0.012-0.649), ventricular system bleeding in postoperative (OR=0.168, 95%CI: 0.029-0.979) and dim CT image for midbrain aqueduct and ambient cistern (OR=0.134, 95%CI: 0.038-0.473)/(OR=0.221, 95%CI: 0.055-0.882) are risk factors. Whereas lumbar puncture (OR=75.885, 95%CI: 9.612-599.122) is a protective factor for postoperative hydrocephalus in STBI patients. The secondary hydrocephalus was mainly occurred in 2 weeks and 2 weeks to 3 months after operation. The incidence of the control group that occurred secondary hydrocephalus is higher than that of the lumbar puncture group (P<0.05). The secondary hydrocephalus were mainly occurred in 2 weeks and 2 weeks to 3 months after operation, with no statistical significance between the 2 groups after 3 months of operation (P>0.05).
 CONCLUSION: For patients with stable vital signs, early lumbar puncture could significantly reduce the incidence of secondary hydrocephalus in acute and subacute stage after severe traumatic brain injury.

Bibliometric analysis of worldwide research trends on breast cancer about inflammation.

Background: The most prevalent cancer and the second-leading cause of cancer-related mortality in women is breast cancer. Growing interest has been shown in recent years in learning more about the processes behind the development of breast cancer. It has been shown that persistent inflammation may play a significant role in the advancement of breast cancer. However, a comprehensive and objective analysis on the state of inflammation in breast cancer research is still lacking. This study was aim to undertake a bibliometric analysis of breast cancer research associated with inflammation between 2013 and 2022 in order to identify the trends, dynamics, and scientific outputs in the field. Methods: From 2013 to 2022, original and review publications on breast cancer and inflammation-associated research were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) database. To examine the position of yearly publications, journals, nations, institutions, and authors, we employed two bibliometric tools (CiteSpace and VOSviewer). After that, by examining keyword visualization and keyword bursts, we determined the hot research fields related to inflammation in breast cancer. Results: we discovered 6902 publications regarding inflammation in breast cancer by using our retrieval approach. In terms of the number of publications, The United States ranked first in the global study, followed by China and Italy. In terms of institutions, the University of Texas System, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, and University of California System are in the top 3 for the quantity of publications published. The most popular journal for this field research is "CANCERS." Ueno NT, Woodward WA, Cristofanilli M, and others have made significant contributions to the understanding of inflammation in breast cancer. In the end, we conducted a biclustering analysis on keywords and discovered three clusters that represent research hotspots. Conclusion: According to the global trend, the research output of inflammation in breast cancer is increasing. The information provided in this article, including the cooperation network information of authors, nations, journals, and institutions, may help researchers to better understand hotspots and developing patterns in this discipline. At present, the focus of study gradually shifts from "phenotype study" to "therapeutic research". It is recommended to pay attention to the latest hot spots, such as targeted therapy, antimicrobial activity and nanoparticle.

Survival for patients with metastatic colon cancer underwent cytoreductive colectomy in the era of rapid development of anticancer drugs: A real-world analysis based on updated population dataset of 2004-2018.

Objective: Metastatic colon cancer (mCC) poses a great threat to the survival of patients suffering from it. In the past decade, many clinical trials have been carried out to improve the prognosis of patients with mCC. Numerous treatments have emerged, and satisfactory efficacy has been demonstrated in randomized phase III trials in highly selective patients with mCC. Our present study aims to investigate whether these therapeutic advances can be reflected to the broader mCC patients who performed cytoreductive colectomy. Method: General and prognostic data for patients diagnosed with mCC who underwent cytoreductive colectomy between 2004-2018 were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Survival was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards model. The hazard ratio (HR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to evaluate the influence of risk factors on prognosis. Results: A total of 26,301 patients diagnosed with mCC treated with cytoreductive colectomy were included in this study. The median overall survival was 19 months (range, 17-23). The good prognosis was associated with patients diagnosed at the most recent year, younger age, non-black race, female, married, without previous history of malignancy, no second malignancy onset, descending/sigmoid/splenic flexure colon tumor, normal CEA levels at diagnosis, low primary tumor burden, T1/T2 stage, N0 stage, single organ metastasis, underwent surgical resection of synchronous distant metastatic lymph nodes or organs, a high number of lymph-node examinations, low positive lymph-node ratio and received adjuvant chemotherapy. The proportion of patients surviving for ≥24 months increased from 37% in 2004 to 44.2% in 2016 (p < 0.001), especially in ≤49 years patients [46.8% in 2004 to 57.8% in 2016 (p < 0.001)]. The percentage of patients who died within 3 months decreased between 2004 and 2018 (from 19.6% to 15.7%; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Over a span of 15 years, the long-term survival has improved in real-world mCC patients who were treated with cytoreductive colectomy, especially among younger patients. However, the median overall survival remains not substantial.