Autophagy-related long non-coding RNAs act as prognostic biomarkers and associate with tumor microenvironment in prostate cancer.

Aberrant autophagy could promote cancer cells to survive and proliferate in prostate cancer (PCa). LncRNAs play key roles in autophagy regulatory network. We established a prognostic model, which autophagy-related lncRNAs (au-lncRNAs) were used as biomarkers to predict prognosis of individuals with PCa. Depending on au-lncRNAs from the Cancer Genome Atlas and the Human Autophagy Database, a risk score model was created. To evaluate the prediction accuracy, the calibration, Kaplan-Meier, and receiver operating characteristic curves were used. To clarify the biological function, gene set enrichment analyses (GSEA) were performed. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was employed to determine the au-lncRNAs expression in PCa cell lines and healthy prostate cells for further confirmation. We identified five au-lncRNAs with prognostic significance (AC068580.6, AF131215.2, LINC00996, LINC01125 and LINC01547). The development of a risk scoring model required the utilization of multivariate Cox analysis. According to the model, we categorized PCa individuals into low- and high-risk cohorts. PCa subjects in the high-risk group had a worse disease-free survival rate than those in the low-risk group. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year periods had corresponding areas under curves (AUC) of 0.788, 0.794, and 0.818. The prognosis of individuals with PCa could be predicted by the model with accuracy. Further analysis with GSEA showed that the prognostic model was associated with the tumor microenvironment, including immunotherapy, cancer-related inflammation, and metabolic reprogramming. Four lncRNAs expression in PCa cell lines was greater than that in healthy prostate cells. The au-lncRNA prognostic model has significant clinical implications in prognosis of PCa patient.

Secular trends of morbidity and mortality of thyroid cancer in five Asian countries from 1990 to 2019 and their predictions to 2035.

BACKGROUND: The rising burden of thyroid cancer (TC) is a public health problem in Asia. Predicting the future burden of TC in Asian countries is essential for disease prevention. METHODS: Data were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 for five Asian countries. We applied Bayesian age-period-cohort models to predict morbidity and mortality to 2035 and calculated age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) and age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR). Furthermore, the estimated annual percentage change was calculated to evaluate the variation of ASIR and ASMR. RESULTS: By 2035, predictions suggest that cases of TC will reach 75.56 × 103 in China, 70.22 × 103 in India, 15.78 × 103 in the Republic of Korea, 9.01 × 103 in Japan and 5.55 × 103 in Thailand, respectively. Except Japan, a significant upward trend of ASIR of TC will be observed in five Asian countries. The deaths from TC will increase in five countries and India will become the highest reaching 14.07 × 103 . The ASMR will rise to 0.83/100 000 in India and 1.06/100 000 in the Republic of Korea, while it will drop to 0.35/100 000 in China, 0.43/100 000 in Japan and 0.50/100 000 in Thailand. In further predictions projected by sex, the growth rate of ASIR is reported higher in males than in females among most countries. ASMR of male will exceed that of females in China and Thailand by 2035. CONCLUSION: The disease burden caused by TC will further increase in five Asian countries, especially for men. It is necessary to develop more rational and timely disease prevention and manage strategies facing this disease trend.

Epidemiological trends of urinary tract infections, urolithiasis and benign prostatic hyperplasia in 203 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019.

BACKGROUND: Urinary tract infections (UTI), urolithiasis, and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) are three of the most common nonmalignant conditions in urology. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive and updated epidemiological data. This study aimed to investigate the disease burden of UTI, urolithiasis, and BPH in 203 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. METHODS: Data were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease 2019, including incident cases, deaths, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) and corresponding age-standardized rate (ASR) from 1990 to 2019. Estimated annual percentage changes (EAPC) were calculated to evaluate the trends of ASR. The associations between disease burden and social development degrees were analyzed using a sociodemographic index (SDI). RESULTS: Compared with 1990, the incident cases of UTI, urolithiasis, and BPH increased by 60.40%, 48.57%, and 105.70% in 2019, respectively. The age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) of UTI increased (EAPC = 0.08), while urolithiasis (EAPC = - 0.83) and BPH (EAPC = - 0.03) decreased from 1990 to 2019. In 2019, the age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) of UTI and urolithiasis were 3.13/100,000 and 0.17/100,000, respectively. BPH had the largest increase (110.56%) in DALYs in the past three decades, followed by UTI (68.89%) and urolithiasis (16.95%). The burden of UTI was mainly concentrated in South Asia and Tropical Latin America, while the burden of urolithiasis and BPH was recorded in Asia and Eastern Europe. Moreover, the ASIR and SDI of urolithiasis in high-SDI regions from 1990 to 2019 were negatively correlated, while the opposite trend was seen in low-SDI regions. In 2019, the ASIR of UTI in females was 3.59 times that of males, while the ASIR of urolithiasis in males was 1.96 times higher than that in females. The incidence was highest in the 30-34, 55-59, and 65-69 age groups among the UTI, urolithiasis, and BPH groups, respectively. CONCLUSION: Over the past three decades, the disease burden has increased for UTI but decreased for urolithiasis and BPH. The allocation of medical resources should be based more on the epidemiological characteristics and geographical distribution of diseases.

Periodontitis Exacerbates Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia through Regulation of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation.

Epidemiological studies demonstrate that men with periodontitis are also susceptible to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and that periodontal treatment can improve the prostatic symptom. However, molecular links of this relationship are largely unknown. The goal of the current study was to elucidate the effects of experimental periodontitis on the hyperplasia of prostate and whether oxidative stress and inflammation participated in this process. For this purpose, ligature-induced periodontitis, testosterone-induced BPH, and the composite models in rats were established. Four weeks later, all the rats were sacrificed and the following items were measured: alveolar bone loss and histological examination of periodontal tissues were taken to assess the establishment of periodontitis model, prostate index and histological examination of prostate tissues were taken to test the establishment of the BPH model, inflammatory cytokines in plasma were assessed, and Bax/Bcl-2 proteins related to cell apoptosis were analyzed via western blot analysis. To further investigate whether oxidative stress participates in the aggravation of BPH, in vitro models were also conducted to measure the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentration. We found that simultaneous periodontitis and BPH synergistically aggravated prostate histological changes, significantly increased Ki67 proliferation, and reduced apoptosis in rat prostate tissues. Also, our results showed that periodontal ligation induced increased Bcl-2 protein expression, whereas Bax expression was decreased in BPH rats than in normal rats. Compared with the control group, periodontitis and BPH both significantly enhanced inflammatory cytokine levels of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1ß, and CRP. Furthermore, Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide induced enhanced generation of intracellular expression of ROS and H2O2 in BPH-1 cells. Our experimental evidence demonstrated that periodontitis might promote BPH development through regulation of oxidative stress and inflammatory process, thus providing new strategies for prevention and treatment of BPH.