Repeat corneal transplantation: indication, surgical technique, and early graft failures trends in France from 2004 to 2019.

PURPOSE: To investigate the repeat corneal transplantation trend in France from 2004 to 2019. METHODS: Review of the prospectively compiled French Biomedicine Agency electronic database containing all corneal transplantation records from 2004 to 2019. The surgical technique, demographic characteristics, diagnosis, and previous graft data were retrieved and analyzed using the Cochran-Armitage trend test. RESULTS: A total of 66,584 corneal transplantations were performed, 51,260 of which were first grafts and 15,324 (23%) were regrafts. For regrafts, 77% were penetrating keratoplasties (PK) and 19.6% were lamellar keratoplasties (LK). Age, hypertonia, glaucoma, trauma, lens surgery, immune disorders, diameter > 8.5 mm, and neovessels in > 2 quadrants were associated with a higher rate of repeat keratoplasty. Keratoconus, secondary endothelial dystrophy, and Fuchs' dystrophy were the principal indications for regrafting. When a previous graft failed, it occurred earlier for patients with LK (4.6 years, median = 2, SD = 7.54) than PK (8.48 years, median = 5, SD = 9.51). Failure within a year was the reason why 28.3% of the LK regrafts and 12.5% of PK regrafts were performed, while for failure within two years these values were 49.9% and 27.8%, respectively. Graft survival decreased with the number of repeat keratoplasty, being more pronounced after a second LK regraft and after a first PK regraft. CONCLUSION: The number of LK regrafts increased continuously, and 1/3 were performed for failure within the year. This rate increased until 2015, after which it stabilized until 2019, probably due to the better mastery of the technique.

miRNAs as Biomarkers for Diagnosing and Predicting Survival of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients.

Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide. These tumors originate from epithelial cells of the upper aerodigestive tract. HNSCC tumors in different regions can have significantly different molecular characteristics. While many microRNAs (miRNAs) have been found to be involved in the regulation of the carcinogenesis and pathogenesis of HNSCC, new HNSCC related miRNAs are still being discovered. The aim of this study was to explore potential miRNA biomarkers that can be used to diagnose HNSCC and prognose survival of HNSCC patients. For this purpose, we chose a panel of 12 miRNAs: miR-146a-5p, miR-449a, miR-126-5p, miR-34a-5p, miR-34b-5p, miR-34c-5p, miR-217-5p, miR-378c, miR-6510-3p, miR-96-5p, miR-149-5p, and miR-133a-5p. Expression of these miRNAs was measured in tumor tissue and neighboring healthy tissue collected from patients diagnosed with HNSCC (n = 79) in either the oral cavity, oropharynx, or larynx. We observed a pattern of differentially expressed miRNAs at each of these cancer locations. Our study showed that some of these miRNAs, separately or in combination, could serve as biomarkers distinguishing between healthy and tumor tissue, and their expression correlated with patients' overall survival.

Circulating microRNA profile in humans and mice with congenital GH deficiency.

Reduced inflammation, increased insulin sensitivity, and protection against cancer are shared between humans and mice with GH/IGF1 deficiency. Beyond hormone levels, miRNAs are important regulators of metabolic changes associated with healthy aging. We hypothesized that GH deficiency in humans alters the abundance of circulating miRNAs and that a subset of those miRNAs may overlap with those found in GH-deficient mice. In this study, subjects with untreated congenital isolated GH deficiency (IGHD; n = 23) and control subjects matched by age and sex (n = 23) were recruited and serum was collected for miRNA sequencing. Serum miRNAs from young (6 month) and old (22 month) Ames dwarf (df/df) mice with GH deficiency and their WT littermates (n = 5/age/genotype group) were used for comparison. We observed 14 miRNAs regulated with a genotype by age effect and 19 miRNAs regulated with a genotype effect independent of age in serum of IGHD subjects. These regulated miRNAs are known for targeting pathways associated with longevity such as mTOR, insulin signaling, and FoxO. The aging function was overrepresented in IGHD individuals, mediated by hsa-miR-31, hsa-miR-146b, hsa-miR-30e, hsa-miR-100, hsa-miR-181b-2, hsa-miR-195, and hsa-miR-181b-1, which target the FoxO and mTOR pathways. Intriguingly, miR-181b-5p, miR-361-3p, miR-144-3p, and miR-155-5p were commonly regulated in the serum of humans and GH-deficient mice. In vitro assays confirmed target genes for the main up-regulated miRNAs, suggesting miRNAs regulated in IGHD individuals can regulate the expression of age-related genes. These findings indicate that systemic miRNAs regulated in IGHD individuals target pathways involved in aging in both humans and mice.