Muscone alleviates myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury via inhibition of oxidative stress and enhancement of SIRT3.

This study aimed at probing into the function of muscone in ameliorating myocardial ischemiareperfusion (I/R) injury and exploring the underlying mechanism. To analyze the function of muscone, H9c2 cardiomyocytes were treated with hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) and Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were treated with left anterior descending (LAD) of the coronary artery ligation for 30 min and reperfusion for 2 h to induce myocardial I/R injury. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot were used to detect the expression of SIRT3. MTT assay and TUNEL assay were performed to investigate H9c2 viability and apoptosis, respectively. ELISA was employed to determine the expressions of inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1ß, and myocardial injury markers CK and LDH. Oxidative stress markers MDA and SOD, and ROS expression levels were also detected. SIRT3 inhibitor 3-TYP was used to further confirm whether muscone worked via the augmentation of SIRT3. Herein, we found that muscone significantly inhibited inflammation and oxidative stress in H9c2 cardiomyocytes in a dose-dependent manner. H9c2 viability was promoted by muscone while apoptosis was inhibited. In SD rats, pre-treatment of muscone alleviated I/R injury-induced cardiac function dysregulation and left ventricle remolding. Furthermore, muscone increased SIRT3 expression at both mRNA and protein levels. With 3-TYP inhibiting SIRT3, the protective effects of muscone in H9c2 cardiomyocytes and SD rats were all significantly alleviated. In summary, muscone can attenuate inflammation, oxidative stress and cardiomyocytes injury in H9c2 cells treated with H/R and alleviate myocardial I/R injury of SD rats, which are dependent on SIRT3.

[Comparison of early outcome between one-stage hybrid technique and frozen elephant thunk technique in the treatment of Stanford A aortic dissection involving the arch].

Objective: To analyze the early outcome of one-stage hybrid technique in the treatment of Stanford type-A aortic dissection involving the arch and compare its therapeutic efficacy with the classical frozen elephant trunk technique (FET). Methods: A total of 106 patients with Stanford type-A aortic dissection involving the arch in Department of Cardiac and Vascular Surgery, 1st Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from October 2015 to October 2019 was collected. All patients in this group were treated with one-stage hybrid technique (modified arch debranching technique) without deep hypothermia circulation. Meanwhile, 30 patients with Stanford type A dissection involving the arch who underwent FET from January 2014 to September 2015 were collected. The therapeutic effects of the two surgical methods were analyzed and compared. Results: The age [M (Q1, Q3)] of 106 patients in hybrid group was 49.0 (40.0, 55.0) years, including 89 males and 17 females. The age [M(Q1, Q3)] of 30 patients in FET group was 49.5 (41.5, 65.3) years, including 24 males and 6 females. The time [M(Q1, Q3)] of using ventilator in hybrid group was 56.0 (38.0, 72.0) h, which was shorter than 127.0 (92.0, 145.0) h in FET group (P<0.001). The incidence of cerebral infarction in hybrid group was 2.8% (3 cases), which was lower than 13.3% (4 cases) in FET group (P=0.042); the incidence of postoperative renal insufficiency in hybrid group was 7.5% (8 cases), which was lower than 23.3% (7 cases) in FET group (P=0.023); the ICU time [M (Q1, Q3)] in hybrid group was 8.0 (6.0, 10.0) d, which was shorter than 14.0 (8.3, 24.0) d in FET group (P<0.001). Conclusion: Compared with FET, one-stage hybrid technology is safer and more effective in the treatment of Stanford type A aortic dissection involving the arch. Its short-term therapeutic efficacy appears good.

[Diagnostic value of FNDC5 in patients with subclinical diabetic cardiomyopathy].

Objective: To estimate the diagnostic value of fibronectin type Ⅲ-domain containing protein 5 (FNDC5) in subclinical diabetic cardiomyopathy. Methods: A total of 94 patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), who were hospitalized from April 2018 to June 2019 in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into T2DM with cardiac dysfunction (subclinical DCM) group (n=47) and T2DM without cardiac dysfunction (non-DCM) group (n=47) according to echocardiography and gated myocardial perfusion imaging results. Basic clinical data and serum FNDC5 level were compared between the two groups. Logistic regression analysis was used to establish predicting models and the diagnostic efficiency of established models was compared by ROC curve analysis. Results: Compared to non-DCM group, patients in subclinical DCM group were older, with longer duration of diabetes, and had higher levels of glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (all P<0.05). Serum FNDC5 level was significantly lower in subclinical DCM group than in non-DCM group (P<0.001). FNDC5 level was positively correlated with ventricular septal e'(r=0.451,P=0.005), mitral valve e'(r=0.291,P<0.001), the ratio of peak early diastolic trans-mitral flow velocity (E) to peak late diastolic trans-mitral flow velocity (A)(r=0.490,P=0.002), while negatively correlated with A(r=-0.399,P<0.001), the average ratio of E/e'(r=-0.490,P<0.001), tricuspid regurgitation velocity(r=-0.567,P<0.001), left atrial volume index(r=-0.491,P<0.001). Univariate ROC analysis showed that the diagnostic efficacy of FNDC5(AUC=0.940,95%CI 0.897-0.982)was superior to age(AUC=0.639,95%CI 0.523-0.752), diabetic duration(AUC=0.663,95%CI 0.555-0.772), HbA1c(AUC=0.740,95%CI 0.638-0.839), TG(AUC=0.661,95%CI 0.547-0.776), TC(AUC=0.675,95%CI 0.563-0.788)and LDL-C(AUC=0.644,95%CI 0.532-0.756). Model 1 was established with subclinical DCM as dependent variable, age, diabetic duration, TG, TC, LDL-C and HbA1c as independent variables. Model 2 was established by adding FNDC5 as independent variable on the basis of model 1. Diagnostic efficacy for subclinical DCM was compared between the two models by ROC analysis. The diagnostic efficiency was better with model 2 (AUC=0.980) than with model 1 (AUC=0.879, P<0.001). When sensitivity was set at 0.617, the specificity of model 2 was higher than that of model 1(0.979 vs. 0.936). When sensitivity was set at 0.532, the sensitivity of model 2 was higher than that of model 1 (1.000 vs. 0.915). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that serum FNDC5 could be used as a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of subclinical DCM.

Abstracts of published randomised controlled trials in Endodontics: Reporting quality and spin.

AIMS: To assess the reporting quality of recently published randomised controlled trial (RCT) abstracts in Endodontics, to investigate factors associated with reporting quality, and to evaluate the existence and characteristics of spin. Spin refers to reporting strategies that distort study results and misguide readers. METHODOLOGY: The PubMed database was searched to identify abstracts of RCTs in the field of Endodontics published during 2017 to 2018. Two authors assessed the reporting quality of each included abstract using the original 16-item CONSORT for Abstracts checklist, with the overall quality score (OQS, range: 0 to 16) being the primary outcome measure. For each individual item, a score of '1' was given if it was described adequately, and '0' if the description was inadequate. Linear regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with reporting quality. For the evaluation of spin, two authors selected parallel-group RCTs with a nonsignificant primary outcome from the included abstracts, and evaluated independently the existence and characteristics of spin among these abstracts. RESULTS: A total of 162 abstracts were included for assessment of reporting, for which the mean OQS was 3.97 (SD, 1.30; 95 % CI, 3.77 to 4.17). According to multivariable analysis, origin from Europe (P=0.001) and reporting of the exact P value (P=0.020) were significantly associated with better reporting. Forty abstracts with statistically nonsignificant results for their primary outcome were included for spin evaluation, among which 34 (85.0%) had at least one type of spin. Thirty-two abstracts (94.1%) had spin in their conclusions section, and six abstracts (17.6%) had spin in the results section. CONCLUSIONS: The reporting quality of RCT abstracts in Endodontics needs to be improved. The occurrence rate of spin in the sample of abstracts of RCTs in the field of Endodontics was high. Relevant stakeholders are recommended to be familiar with the CONSORT for Abstracts guideline and develop active strategies to ensure its implementation.

Characteristics and Challenges of Dietary Supplement Databases Derived from Label Information.

Launched in 2008, the Dietary Supplement Label Database (DSLD) permits the search of any term that appears anywhere on product labels. Since then, the database's search and download features have been periodically improved to enhance use for researchers and consumers. In this review, we describe how to customize searches and identify products and ingredients of interest to users in the DSLD, and provide the limitations of working with information derived from dietary supplement product labels. This article describes how data derived from information printed on product labels are entered and organized in the DSLD. Among the challenges are determining the chemical forms, types of extract, and amounts of dietary ingredients, especially when these are components of proprietary blends. The FDA announced new dietary supplement labeling regulations in May 2016. The 2017 DSLD has been updated to reflect them. These new regulations and examples cited in this article refer to this redesigned version of the DSLD. Search selection characteristics such as for product type and intended user group are as described in FDA guidance and regulations for dietary supplements. For this reason, some age groups (such as teens and seniors) and marketing recommendations for use (e.g., weight loss, performance, and other disease- or condition-specific claims) are not included in the search selections. The DSLD user interface features will be revised periodically to reflect regulatory and technologic developments to enhance user experience. A comprehensive database derived from analytically verified data on composition would be preferable to label data, but is not feasible for technical, logistic, and financial reasons. Therefore, a database derived from information printed on product labels is the only practical option at present for researchers, clinicians, and consumers interested in the composition of these products.

Open access to journal articles in oncology: current situation and citation impact.

BACKGROUND: Recent years have seen numerous efforts and resources devoted to the development of open access (OA), but the current OA situation of the oncology literature remains unknown. We conducted this cross-sectional study to determine the current share and provision methods of OA in the field of oncology, identify predictors of OA status (OA versus non-OA), and study the association between OA and citation counts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed was searched for oncology-related, peer-reviewed journal articles published in December 2014. Google, Google Scholar, PubMed, ResearchGate, OpenDOAR and OAIster were manually checked to assess the OA status of each included article. Citation data were extracted from Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the OA proportion (primary outcome) and OA provision methods. Multivariable logistic regression and multilevel generalized linear model analyses were performed to study predictors of OA status and the association between OA and citation counts, respectively. RESULTS: In a random sample of 1000 articles, 912 were deemed eligible and therefore included. Of these, the full-texts of 530 articles (58.1%; 95% CI: 54.9-61.3) were freely available online: 314 (34.4%) were available from publishers ('Gold road' to OA), 424 (46.5%) were available via self-archiving ('Green road' to OA). According to multivariable regression analyses, impact factor, publisher type, language, research type, number of authors, continent of origin, and country income were significant predictors of articles' OA status; OA articles received a citation rate 1.24 times the incidence rate for non-OA articles (95% CI: 1.05-1.47; P = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: Based on our sample, in the field of oncology, 42% of recent journal articles are behind the pay-wall (non-OA) 1 year after publication; the 'Green road' of providing OA is more common than the 'Gold road'; OA is associated with higher citation counts.

Elevation of Vδ1 T cells in peripheral blood and livers of patients with primary biliary cholangitis.

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), hitherto called primary biliary cirrhosis, is a cholestatic liver disease of unclear aetiology with autoimmune features. Accumulating evidence revealed that γδ T cells were involved in the development of autoimmune diseases. As one of γδ T cells subsets, however, the role of Vδ1 T cells in the immunopathogenesis of PBC is poorly understood. We analysed peripheral blood Vδ1 T cells in PBC patients in active stage (ASP, n = 18), adequate responders (AR, n = 10) and inadequate responders (IAR, n = 4) to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and an age-matched healthy control group (n = 16) by flow cytometric analysis. The ASP group exhibited a significantly higher proportion and absolute number of Vδ1 T cells, which were also observed in immunofluorescence staining of liver biopsy specimens of PBC patients. Moreover, these Vδ1 T cells expressed a series of activation markers and intracellular cytokines, which may contribute to the immunopathogenesis of PBC. Our study will help to clarify the role of Vδ1 T cells in the development of PBC.

In vitro effect of dexmedetomidine on the respiratory burst of neutrophils.

The immunosuppressive effects of dexmedetomidine, a highly selective and widely used a2-adrenoceptor agonist for sedation, analgesia, and stress management, are investigated in vitro. In the present study, the respiratory burst of human neutrophils separated from venous blood was evaluated with dexmedetomidine treatment after Escherichia coli stimulation. The effects of five concentrations of dexmedetomidine (1, 5, 10, 50, 100 µg/mL) were evaluated by rhodamine in a flow cytometer. The nitric oxide (NO) production and nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity were also determined by using commercial kits. The results were compared to the positive control responses (respiratory burst without drug). We found that dexmedetomidine significantly suppressed respiratory burst, NO production, and iNOS activity after stimulation with E. coli, in a dose-dependent manner. The suppressive effects of dexmedetomidine on phagocytic activity of human neutrophils were associated with respiratory burst coupled with NO production.

Risk factors associated with aortic remodeling in patients with Stanford type B aortic dissection after thoracic endovascular aortic repair.

To determine the risk factors associated with adverse aortic remodeling after thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) in patients with Stanford type B aortic dissection, we performed a retrospective analysis of 54 patients between January 2009 and June 2012 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University. All patients underwent TEVAR of the descending thoracic aorta. Multiple-logistic regression analyses were performed to identify risk factors associated with aortic remodeling. True-lumen and false-lumen volumes were increased (P < 0.001) and decreased (P < 0.001) after surgery, respectively. Therefore, the remodeling index increased after surgery (1.04 ± 0.6 to 2.06 ± 1.12, P < 0.001). Remodeling index and true-lumen volume were higher in the favorable aortic remodeling group compared to the adverse aortic remodeling group (P < 0.001), while the false-lumen volume was lower in the favorable aortic remodeling group (P < 0.001). Multivariate analyses revealed a branch originating from the false lumen (OR = 39.9, P < 0.01) and multiple tears (OR = 27.4, P < 0.01) to be independent risk factors for adverse aortic remodeling. Therefore, a branch originating from the false lumen and multiple tears were determined to be independent risk factors for adverse aortic remodeling after TEVAR in patients with Stanford type B aortic dissection.

Increased percentages of PD-1 on CD4+ T cells is associated with higher INF-γ production and altered IL-17 production in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVES: Programmed death (PD)-1 is a cell death receptor that, upon stimulation, leads to apoptosis. Previous studies have shown alteration of PD-1 expression on T cells and PD-1 genes in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The aim of this study was to assess the expression of this receptor on effector T cells in patients with SLE. METHOD: In this study we enrolled 32 SLE patients and 31 healthy controls. T cells from peripheral blood were analysed by flow cytometry for the expression of PD-1. Interferon (IFN)-γ and interleukin (IL)-17-producing cells were investigated for the expression of this co-stimulatory marker. RESULTS: Percentages of CD4(+) T cells expressing PD-1 were significantly increased in patients with SLE compared to healthy controls. The percentage of PD-1 expression was correlated with the production of INF-γ (r = 0.83, p < 0.0001). We also investigated the production of IL-17 by PD-1(+) CD3(+) T cells. Inactive patients (3.2 ± 1.2% vs. 5.9 ± 3.5%, p = 0.002) and patients without lupus nephritis (LN) (3.2 ± 1.5% vs. 5.9 ± 3.5%, p = 0.005) showed lower levels of IL-17 compared to healthy controls. CONCLUSION: We have demonstrated increased expression of PD-1 on CD4(+) T cells in SLE patients and an association between PD-1 expression on CD4(+) T cells and IFN-γ expression on CD3(+) T cells. We have also shown that there is an altered subset of PD-1(+) T cells in inactive patients and patients without LN producing lower amounts of IL-17.

[Research progress in the performance of clear aligner attachment materials].

For most patients undergoing clear aligner treatment, it could be necessary to bond multiple attachments on their tooth surfaces. The clear aligner attachment is designed to enhance aligner retention, transmit orthodontic forces, and make the programmed tooth movement more predictable. Materials such as restorative resin, orthodontic bonding adhesive, flowable resin, and resin-modified glass ionomer cement are currently used for attachment bonding. But there is currently no conclusion as to which material suits most. The objective of this review is to look into the studies published in recent years, in order to explore the optimal material option for making clear aligner attachments.

Uptake modes of octadecane by Pseudomonas sp. DG17 and synthesis of biosurfactant.

AIMS: In order to gain more insight into the uptake modes of octadecane by bacteria. METHODS AND RESULTS: A strain that could utilize octadecane well was isolated from crude oil contaminated soil, and named as Pseudomonas sp. DG17 by 16S rDNA analysis. Culture growth result showed that Pseudomonas sp. DG17 grew well in the addition of 200 and 400 mg l(-1) of octadecane, which showed that physical contact between substrate and bacteria was important in the substrate biodegradation. Meanwhile, Pseudomonas sp. DG17 produced rhamnolipids biosurfactant that contains 10 congeners, thus causing the surface tension of the culture medium decline and facilitating the contact between hydrocarbon and bacteria. Scanning-electron-microscopy results showed that a disruption of the surface membranes in certain zones was observed in some of the cells grown in 400 mg l(-1) octadecane at 176 h compared with the cells in exponential phase at 72 h due to the production of biosurfactant-rhamnolipid. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated the possibility that the direct contact with insoluble octadecane droplets occurred before the contact with pseudosolubilization smaller oil droplets. SIGNIFICANCE: This report throws more light on the uptake mechanisms of octadecane by bacteria, and proposes the possibility that role of biosurfactant is to increase the contact between hydrocarbon and bacteria by changing the cell membrane structure which needs studied in depth. IMPACT OF STUDY: Results of this study are useful in the bioremediation of petroleum polluted soil.

Spin in the Abstracts of Randomized Controlled Trials in Operative Dentistry: A Cross-sectional Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the presence and characteristics of spin in recently published RCT abstracts in operative dentistry and to investigate potential factors associated with the presence of spin. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The PubMed database was searched to identify parallel-group RCTs published between 2015 and 2019 in the field of operative dentistry, which compared two or more groups and had nonsignificant results for the primary outcome. Two authors evaluated independently the presence and characteristics of spin among these abstracts. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with the presence of spin in the Results and the Conclusions sections, respectively. RESULTS: A total of 77 RCT abstracts were included, among which 58 (75.3%) showed at least one type of spin. Spin was identified in the Results and Conclusions sections of 32 (41.6%) and 45 (58.4%) abstracts, respectively. 19 RCTs (24.7%) presented spin in both the Results and the Conclusions section of abstracts. The presence of spin in the Results section of abstracts was significantly associated with source of funding (OR=8.10; p=0.025) and number of treatment arms was associated with the presence of spin in the Conclusions section of abstracts (OR=5.66; p=0.005). CONCLUSION: The occurrence rate of spin in the sample of operative dentistry RCTs abstracts is high.

[Percentage of tonsil hypertrophy in orthodontic patients with different sagittal skeletal relationship].

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of tonsil hypertrophy in patients with different sagittal skeletal craniofacial patterns, as well as the correlation between tonsil hypertrophy and the type of skeletal pattern. Methods: Lateral cephalograms of patients who visited the Department of Orthodontics Division 1, School of Stomatology, Wuhan University during January to August, 2019 were retrospectively collected. Patients (children: age≥6 and ≤12 year; adults: age≥18 year) were divided into three groups according to the ANB (subspinale-nasion-supramental) angle: the skeletal class Ⅰ group (0°≤ANB≤4°), skeletal class Ⅱ group (ANB>4°) and skeletal class Ⅲ group (ANB<0°). Tonsil hypertrophy was diagnosed with lateral cephalogram by two specifically trained orthodontists independently, according to the Baroni's method. The between-group differences in tonsil hypertrophy prevalence were analyzed using chi-square tests with Bonferroni correction (α=0.017). Results: A total of 1 776 patients (593 children and 1 183 adults) were included, among which 672 (37.8%) were with class Ⅰ, 849 (47.8%) with class Ⅱ, and 255 (14.4%) with class Ⅲ skeletal pattern. The prevalence of tonsil hypertrophy in children was 66.3% (393/593). The proportion of children with tonsil hypertrophy in class Ⅲ group [87.0% (60/69)] were significantly higher than that in class Ⅰ [65.6% (145/221), χ²=11.56, P<0.017] and class Ⅱ [62.0% (188/303), χ²=15.69, P<0.017] groups. The prevalence of tonsil hypertrophy in adults was 23.2% (275/1 183). The proportion of adults with tonsil hypertrophy in class Ⅲ group [42.5% (79/186)] was significantly higher than that in class Ⅰ [19.1% (86/451), χ²=36.50, P<0.017] and class Ⅱ [20.2% (110/546), χ²=35.00, P<0.017] groups. However, there was no significant difference in the prevalence of tonsil hypertrophy between class Ⅰ and class Ⅱ groups for both children (χ²=0.70, P>0.017) and adults (χ²=0.18, P>0.017). Conclusions: The prevalence of tonsil hypertrophy in skeletal class Ⅲ patients was significantly higher than that in patients with skeletal class Ⅰ and Ⅱmalocclusion. Tonsil hypertrophy could be an important risk factor for skeletal class Ⅲ patients.

Phase I, first-in-human study of MSC-1 (AZD0171), a humanized anti-leukemia inhibitory factor monoclonal antibody, for advanced solid tumors.

BACKGROUND: Activation of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is linked to an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME), with a strong association between LIF expression and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). MSC-1 (AZD0171) is a humanized monoclonal antibody that binds with high affinity to LIF, promoting antitumor inflammation through TAM modulation and cancer stem cell inhibition, slowing tumor growth. In this phase I, first-in-human, open-label, dose-escalation study, MSC-1 monotherapy was assessed in patients with advanced, unresectable solid tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using accelerated-titration dose escalation followed by a 3 + 3 design, MSC-1 doses of 75-1500 mg were administered intravenously every 3 weeks (Q3W) until progression or unmanageable toxicity. Additional patients were enrolled in selected cohorts to further evaluate safety, pharmacokinetics (PK), and pharmacodynamics after escalation to the next dose had been approved. The primary objective was characterizing safety and determining the recommended phase II dose (RP2D). Evaluating antitumor activity and progression-free survival (PFS) by RECIST v1.1, PK and immunogenicity were secondary objectives. Exploratory objectives included pharmacodynamic effects on circulating LIF and TME immune markers. RESULTS: Forty-one patients received treatment. MSC-1 monotherapy was safe and well tolerated at all doses, with no dose-limiting toxicities. The maximum tolerated dose was not reached and the RP2D was determined to be 1500 mg Q3W. Almost half of the patients had treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs), with no apparent trends across doses; no patients withdrew due to TRAEs. There were no objective responses; 23.7% had stable disease for ≥2 consecutive tumor assessments. Median PFS was 5.9 weeks; 23.7% had PFS >16 weeks. On-treatment changes in circulating LIF and TME signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 signaling, M1:M2 macrophage populations, and CD8+ T-cell infiltration were consistent with the hypothesized mechanism of action. CONCLUSIONS: MSC-1 was very well tolerated across doses, with prolonged PFS in some patients. Biomarker and preclinical data suggest potential synergy with checkpoint inhibitors.

Liver transplantation in swine without venovenous bypass.

INTRODUCTION: A model of orthotopic liver transplantation in swine was developed to investigate an advanced reperfusion approach. Thereby, we consciously disclaim otherwise commonly practiced venovenous bypass during the recipient operation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ten liver transplantations were performed according to the described technique without using venovenous bypass. In each swine the observation period was 48 h. RESULTS: All transplantations were carried out after a median cold ischemic time of 307.5 min (295-340); the median warm ischemic time in these cases was 25 min (20-32). Eight of 10 swine survived 48 h after the operation. CONCLUSION: Orthotopic liver transplantations in the recipient swine are feasible even without using venovenous bypass.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Emerging and Future Challenges for Dental and Oral Medicine.

The epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), originating in Wuhan, China, has become a major public health challenge for not only China but also countries around the world. The World Health Organization announced that the outbreaks of the novel coronavirus have constituted a public health emergency of international concern. As of February 26, 2020, COVID-19 has been recognized in 34 countries, with a total of 80,239 laboratory-confirmed cases and 2,700 deaths. Infection control measures are necessary to prevent the virus from further spreading and to help control the epidemic situation. Due to the characteristics of dental settings, the risk of cross infection can be high between patients and dental practitioners. For dental practices and hospitals in areas that are (potentially) affected with COVID-19, strict and effective infection control protocols are urgently needed. This article, based on our experience and relevant guidelines and research, introduces essential knowledge about COVID-19 and nosocomial infection in dental settings and provides recommended management protocols for dental practitioners and students in (potentially) affected areas.

LncRNA UCA1 inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis of cervical cancer cells by regulating ß-catenin/TCF-4.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the regulatory effect of long non-coding ribonucleic acid (lncRNA) urothelial carcinoma antigen 1 (UCA1) on the proliferation and apoptosis of HeLa cells and to elucidate its potential regulatory mechanism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: HeLa cells were cultured in vitro and randomly divided into three groups, including blank control group (Control group), lncRNA UCA1 negative control (NC) group, and lncRNA UCA1 interference group [lncRNA UCA1 small interfering RNA (siRNA) group]. The expression level of lncRNA UCA1 in HeLa cells was detected by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay was performed to determine the effect of lncRNA UCA1 on the proliferation of HeLa cells. The effect of lncRNA UCA1 on the apoptosis of HeLa cells was determined via Hoechst 33258 staining assay and flow cytometry. In addition, qRT-PCR and Western blotting were employed to measure the messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein expression levels of ß-catenin and TCF-4 in HeLa cells, respectively. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in the proliferation and apoptosis of HeLa cells as well as the mRNA and protein levels of ß-catenin and TCF-4 in HeLa cells between Control group and lncRNA UCA1 NC group (p>0.05). In comparison with lncRNA UCA1 NC group, lncRNA UCA1 siRNA group exhibited overtly reduced proliferation, enhanced apoptosis rate of HeLa cells and down-regulated mRNA and protein levels of ß-catenin and TCF-4 in HeLa cells (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: LncRNA UCA1 inhibits proliferation and promotes the apoptosis of HeLa cells. Furthermore, its mechanism of action may be related to the inhibition on the ß-catenin/TCF-4 signaling pathway.