The value of a deep learning image reconstruction algorithm in whole-brain computed tomography perfusion in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Background: Computed tomography perfusion (CTP) and computed tomography angiography (CTA) are valuable tools for diagnosing acute ischemic stroke (AIS). It is essential to obtain high-quality CTP and CTA images in short time. This study aimed to evaluate the image quality and diagnostic performance of brain CTP and CTA images generated from CTP reconstructed by a deep learning image reconstruction (DLIR) algorithm on patients with AIS. Methods: The study prospectively enrolled 54 patients with suspected AIS undergoing non-contrast CT and CTP within 24 hours. CTP datasets were reconstructed with three levels of adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction-Veo algorithm [ASIR-V 0% with filtered back projection (FBP), ASIR-V 40%, and ASIR-V 80%] and three levels of DLIR, including low (DLIR-L), medium (DLIR-M), and high (DLIR-H). CTA images were generated using the CTP datasets at the peak arterial phase. Objective parameters including signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and noise reduction rate. Subjective evaluation was assessed according to Abels scoring system. Perfusion parameters and detection accuracy for infarction core lesions were evaluated. The objective and subjective image quality of CTA images were also evaluated. Results: All reconstructions produced similar CT values (P>0.05). With the increase of ASIR-V and DLIR reconstruction strength, image noise decreased, while SNR and CNR increased for CTP images, especially in white matter. DLIR-H, DLIR-M, and ASIR-V80% yielded higher subjective scores than did ASIR-V40% and FBP. DLIR-H provided the highest noise reduction rate and detection accuracy. No significant difference was found in conventional parameters, the volume of infarct core, or ischemic penumbra among the 6 groups (P>0.05). The objective evaluation of reconstructed CTA images was comparable in DLIR-H, DLIR-M, and ASIR-V80% (P>0.05). The subjective scores of the DLIR-H and DLIR-M images were higher than those of the other groups, especially ASIR-V40% and FBP (P<0.05). Conclusions: Compared with FBP and ASIR-V40%, DLIR-H, DLIR-M, and ASIR-V80% improved the overall image quality of CTP and CTA images to varying degrees. Furthermore, DLIR-H and DLIR-M showed the best performance. DLIR-H is the best choice in diagnosing AIS with improved detection accuracy for cerebral infarction. Reconstructing CTA images using CTP datasets could reduce contrast agent and radiation dose.

Radiomics Study for Differentiating Focal Hepatic Lesions Based on Unenhanced CT Images.

Objectives: To investigate the feasibility of computer-aided discriminative diagnosis among hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), hepatic metastasis, hepatic hemangioma, hepatic cysts, hepatic adenoma, and hepatic focal nodular hyperplasia, based on radiomics analysis of unenhanced CT images. Methods: 452 patients with 77 with HCC, 104 with hepatic metastases, 126 with hepatic hemangioma, 99 with hepatic cysts, 24 with FNH, 22 with HA, who underwent CT examination from 2016 to 2018, were included. Radcloud Platform was used to extract radiomics features from manual delineation on unenhanced CT images. Most relevant radiomic features were selected from 1409 via LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator). The whole dataset was divided into training and testing set with the ratio of 8:2 using computer-generated random numbers. Support Vector Machine (SVM) was used to establish the classifier. Results: The computer-aided diagnosis model was established based on radiomic features of unenhanced CT images. 27 optimal discriminative features were selected to distinguish the six different histopathological types of all lesions. The classifiers had good diagnostic performance, with the area under curve (AUC) values greater than 0.900 in training and validation groups. The overall accuracy of the training and testing set about differentiating the six different histopathological types of all lesions was 0.88 and 0.76 respectively. 34 optimal discriminative were selected to distinguish the benign and malignant tumors. The overall accuracy in the training and testing set was 0.89and 0.84 respectively. Conclusions: The computer-aided discriminative diagnosis model based on unenhanced CT images has good clinical potential in distinguishing focal hepatic lesions with noninvasive radiomic features.

Noninvasive Detection of Esophageal Cancer by the Combination of mSEPT9 and SNCG.

Background: Esophageal cancer (EC) is the second most common malignant tumor of the digestive system. There is currently no effective noninvasive method for early detection of EC. Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study involving 188 EC patients, 125 patients with benign esophageal diseases, and 270 normal subjects to examine the performance of methylated SEPT9 (mSEPT9) and synuclein gamma (SNCG) individually and in combination. Results: The sensitivity of mSEPT9 and SNCG for EC was 43.1% (AUC = 0.69) at 95.6% specificity and 41.8% (AUC = 0.79) at 92.6% specificity, respectively. The combined detection increased the sensitivity to 71.8% at 90.3% specificity. The combined detection sensitivity for stage I-IV EC was 66.7%, 58.3%, 75.0%, and 88.2%, respectively. No significant difference in combined sensitivity was found among patients with EC of the upper, middle, and lower esophagus, and no significant difference in sensitivity was found between adenocarcinoma and squamous carcinoma. The sensitivity of highly differentiated EC was found to be higher than that of moderately and poorly differentiated EC with SNCG and combined detection. The sensitivity of SNCG in female patients was significantly higher than that in male patients, leading to the same trend in combined detection. Patients aged 40-49 years showed higher combined sensitivity. The sensitivity of SNCG was much higher than that of existing protein markers for digestive cancers. Furthermore, mSEPT9 was capable of predicting the long-term survival of EC patients with a hazard ratio of 2.65. Conclusion: The combined sensitivity of mSEPT7 and SNGG provided significant improvement over any single biomarker for the early detection of EC. mSEPT7 may be useful as a prognostic marker for long-term survival.

A circular RNA derived from FAT atypical cadherin 3 promotes lung cancer progression via forming a regulatory loop with oncogenic ELAV like RNA binding protein 1.

Circular RNA (circRNA) is a covalently closed endogenous RNA that participates in disease progression. However, its role in lung cancer is largely undetermined. In the present study, we found an onctogenic circRNA in lung cancer, FAT atypical cadherin 3 (FAT3) circRNA (circ-FAT3) was remarkably upregulated in lung cancer in comparison to paired normal tissues. High circ-FAT3 was closely linked to larger tumour size, lymph node metastasis, later clinical stage, as well as dismal outcome. Stable knockdown of circ-FAT3 inhibited cell proliferation and metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. RNA binding protein ELAV like RNA binding protein 1 (HuR) was found to bind to introns flanking circ-FAT3, promoting the cyclization and generation of circ-FAT3. Further, circ-FAT3 was able to sponge miR-136-5p by acting as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA), alleviating the repressive effect of miR-136-5p on HuR mRNA at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Moreover, circ-FAT3 expression in lung cancer tissues was strongly positively and negatively correlated with HuR and miR-136-5p expression, respectively. Overall, our data reveal the previously uncharacterized regulatory loop of circ-FAT3/miR-136-5p/HuR in lung cancer and provide novel evidence for the importance of circRNA as a ceRNA in tumorigenesis.

Localization of subcentimeter pulmonary nodules using an indocyanine green near-infrared imaging system during uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the feasibility of indocyanine green (ICG) use in localizing subcentimeter pulmonary nodules during uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. METHODS: This study was a retrospective analysis of 32 patients who underwent surgery due to pulmonary nodules using ICG localization from September 2019 to March 2020 in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University. Laser positioning and large-aperture spiral CT simulation were performed preoperatively. ICG was injected into the lung (2.5 mg/ml). The clinical characteristics and postoperative indicators were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 33 subcentimeter pulmonary nodules were successfully localized in 32 patients. Twenty-three patients underwent lobectomy, with an average surgical time of 45.3 min and an average tube retention time of 2 days. Non-small cell lung cancer was confirmed intraoperatively in 9 patients, among whom the longest surgical time was 120 min, and the shortest hospital stay was 7 days. No patient was converted to thoracotomy or developed serious complications. CONCLUSIONS: ICG imaging is a safe and effective technique for localization of pulmonary nodules. Due to the widespread application of near-infrared devices, fluorescent localization and imaging technology will be more widely used in thoracic surgery.

The feasibility and advantages of immediate removal of urinary catheter after lobectomy: A prospective randomized trial.

AIM: This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and advantages of immediate urinary catheter removal compared with prolonged indwelling catheterization in lung cancer lobectomy. DESIGN: This study was designed as a prospective, single-centre, randomized and open-label clinical study. METHODS: People with lung cancer undergoing lobectomy/pneumonectomy were recruited and randomly allocated to two groups. One group had their urinary catheter removed immediately while the other group had it removed 48 hr after surgery. RESULTS: No significant difference in the incidence of postoperative urinary retention (POUR) was observed between the two groups. However, the incidence of postoperative catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) in the immediate removal group (6.7%) was lower than the control group (17.2%) (p = .030). Furthermore, the incidence of catheter-associated emergence agitation (CAEA) in the control group (25.3%) was higher than the immediate removal group (8.9%) (p = .007). The average length of hospital stay of the immediate removal group [6.51(4-11) days] was shorter than the control group [7.20(5-12) days] (p = .002). Immediate removal of urinary catheter appeared to have fewer complications and shorter hospital stay than delayed removal.

The Application of Uniportal Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Anatomical Segmentectomy for Lung Resection: A Retrospective Clinical Study.

BACKGROUND: Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is a new area of exploration and evolution in thoracic minimal invasive surgery. The uniportal VATS approach has become popular during lung resection for small nodules and ground glass lesions. Our objective is to investigate the efficacy, availability and safety of uniportal VATS anatomical segmentectomy compared with conventional VATS in patients for lung resection. METHODS: Surgical patients of perioperative period who admitted and underwent uniportal, two-port and conventional three-port VATS segmentectomy were analyzed and compared retrospectively during the year 2017 to 2018. RESULTS: During the research period, of 111 patients who had VATS anatomical segmentectomy, 38 underwent uniportal, 43 underwent two-port, and 30 underwent three-port VATS. Four patients underwent conversion to thoracotomy. There were no postoperative mortalities, and there were no significant differences among the three groups in surgical outcomes, including operative time, blood loss, conversions to thoracotomy, drainage time and volume, lymph node dissection, postoperative complications and hospital stay. The pain scores of visual analog scale (VAS) significantly decreased in uniportal group when operation is finished (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that uniportal VATS anatomical segmentectomy is a quite safe surgical technology, as well as feasible, which can cause reduced postoperative pain and less surgical trauma compared to conventional VATS. More experiences and observations of large samples are on the way.

Computed Tomography Features and Clinicopathological Characteristics of Gastric Sarcomatoid Carcinoma.

PURPOSE: Gastric sarcomatoid carcinoma (GSC) is a very rare malignant tumor. The purpose of this study is to describe the clinical, computed tomography (CT), and pathologic features of GSC to increase awareness of this entity. METHODS: The CT features and clinical data of five patients with pathologically documented GSC were retrospectively analyzed and compared with the corresponding data of gastric adenocarcinoma and lymphoma. RESULTS: Among the 5 patients, 4 were male, and 1 was female. The median age was 59 years. Of the 5 cases of GSC, 3 were in the gastric fundus and cardia, 1 was in the gastric body, and 1 was in the gastric fundus. The gastric wall had local thickening in 4 cases and mass formation in 1 case, with stenosis and deformation of the adjacent gastric cavity. The long-axis diameter of the lesions ranged from 1.4 to 10.2 cm (mean, 4.97 cm) and was <10 cm in 4 cases and >10 cm in 1 case. The tumor showed predominantly inhomogeneous density, with radiodensity values ranging from 30 to 53 HU. In addition, ulcers with an irregular base and slightly raised borders were observed in 4 of 5 cases. After an injection of contrast material, heterogeneous (n = 4) or homogeneous (n = 1) enhancement was observed. After contrast medium injection, obvious enhancement was seen in 2 cases, and moderate enhancement was seen in 3 cases; the peak tumor signal was observed in the portal phase. Two of the patients demonstrated evidence of lymph node involvement, and in one patient, the boundary between the lesion and the left lobe of the liver was unclear, with low attenuation in the right lobe of the liver with circular enhancement. The remaining two patients showed no evidence of metastasis. CONCLUSION: Although GSC is extremely rare, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of gastric adenocarcinoma and lymphoma. CT findings, combined with patient age and sex, can provide support for the diagnosis of GSC. However, the final diagnosis must be confirmed with histopathology.

Surgical Management of a Pulmonary Arterial Aneurysm via Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Resection.

Pulmonary arterial aneurysm is a rare condition involving a focal dilation of the pulmonary artery and all three layers of the vessel wall. Few reports have described managing this anomaly using video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. We report a 60-year-old woman with a pulmonary artery aneurysm in the truncus superior of the right pulmonary artery. The patient underwent a two-port video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery with a right upper lobectomy. The postoperative course was uneventful. She maintained a good prognosis for 4 months after surgery, and we continue to take great care throughout her follow-up.

Transcriptome analysis of miRNA and mRNA in the livers of pigs with highly diverged backfat thickness.

Fat deposition is very important in pig production, and its mechanism is not clearly understood. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play critical roles in fat deposition and energy metabolism. In the current study, we investigated the mRNA and miRNA transcriptome in the livers of Landrace pigs with extreme backfat thickness to explore miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks related to lipid deposition and metabolism. A comparative analysis of liver mRNA and miRNA transcriptomes from pigs (four pigs per group) with extreme backfat thickness was performed. We identified differentially expressed genes from RNA-seq data using a Cufflinks pipeline. Seventy-one differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including twenty-eight well annotated on the porcine reference genome genes, were found. The upregulation genes in pigs with higher backfat thickness were mainly involved in fatty acid synthesis, and included fatty acid synthase (FASN), glucokinase (GCK), phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHGDH), and apolipoprotein A4 (APOA4). Cytochrome P450, family 2, subfamily J, polypeptide 34 (CYP2J34) was lower expressed in pigs with high backfat thickness, and is involved in the oxidation of arachidonic acid. Moreover, 13 differentially expressed miRNAs were identified. Seven miRNAs were associated with fatty acid synthesis, lipid metabolism, and adipogenic differentiation. Based on comprehensive analysis of the transcriptome of both mRNAs and miRNAs, an important regulatory network, in which six DEGs could be regulated by differentially expressed miRNAs, was established for fat deposition. The negative correlate in the regulatory network including, miR-545-5p and GRAMD3, miR-338 and FASN, and miR-127, miR-146b, miR-34c, miR-144 and THBS1 indicate that direct suppressive regulation may be involved in lipid deposition and energy metabolism. Based on liver mRNA and miRNA transcriptomes from pigs with extreme backfat thickness, we identified 28 differentially expressed genes and 13 differentially expressed miRNAs, and established an important miRNA-mRNA regulatory network. This study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms that determine fat deposition in pigs.

Transcriptome Analysis of Landrace Pig Subcutaneous Preadipocytes during Adipogenic Differentiation.

Fat deposition in pigs, which significantly contributes to meat quality, fattening efficiency, reproductive performance, and immunity, is critically affected by preadipocyte adipogenic differentiation. We elucidated adipogenesis in pigs using transcriptome analysis. Preadipocytes from subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) of Landrace piglets were differentiated into adipocytes in vitro. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) used to screen differentially expressed genes (DEGs) during preadipocyte differentiation up to day 8 revealed 15,918 known and 586 novel genes. We detected 21, 144, and 394 DEGs, respectively, including 16 genes differentially expressed at days 2, 4 and 8 compared to day 0. Th number of DEGs increased time-dependently. Lipid metabolism, cell differentiation and proliferation, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR), wingless-type MMTV integration site (Wnt), tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling, and steroid biosynthesis were significant at days 2, 4, and 8 compared to day 0 (adjusted p < 0.05). Short time-series expression miner (STEM) analysis obtained 26 clusters of differential gene expression patterns, and nine were significant (p < 0.05). Functional analysis showed many significantly enriched lipid deposition- and cellular process-related biological processes and pathways in profiles 9, 21, 22, and 24. Glycerolipid and fatty-acid metabolism, PPAR signaling, fatty-acid degradation, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt), and TNF signaling were observed during preadipocyte differentiation in vitro. These findings will facilitate the comprehension of preadipocyte differentiation and fat deposition in pigs.

Novel nucleotide variants in SLA-DOB and CD4 are associated with immune traits in pregnant sows.

Reinforcing the immunity of pregnant sows can not only improve their own health condition but also increase the survival rate and healthy status of their piglets. This study aims to find single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and molecular markers that are associated with the immune traits of pregnant sows. SLA-DOB and CD4 were selected as candidate genes, and blood samples were randomly collected from pregnant Landrace sows and used to detect T-lymphocyte subsets, interferon alpha, interleukin 6, Toll-like receptor 3, serum antibody immunoglobulin G, and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus-specific antibody. Then, association analyses were conducted for the polymorphic sites of candidate genes with immune traits. We found 12 mutations in the two genes and conducted an association study with eight of them. Our results indicated that among the eight mutations, SNP1, SNP2, and SNP3 of the SLA-DOB gene and Ins9, SNP10, and SNP11 in the CD4 gene are newly discovered mutations. Except for SNP1, SNP3, and SNP11, the other five SNPs are associated with at least one immune trait tested. Especially, SNP2 and Ins9 are significantly associated with at least one of the T-lymphocyte subgroups and at least one antibody. These novel mutations have potential important effects on the polymorphic loci of the above immune traits in pregnant sows. The results suggest that the SLA-DOB and CD4 genes and their genetic mutations can be considered as important candidate genes and mutations for the immunity of pregnant sows.

Expression of tissue factor in human cervical carcinoma tissue.

The present study aimed to investigate tissue factor (TF) expression in cervical cancer and explore its association with disease progression. A total of 258 cervical cancer tissues and their adjacent normal tissues were collected between September 2014 and September 2016. TF expression was detected in the tissue samples by immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis. Associations between the expression of TF and clinical stage, differentiation status and metastasis of cancer cells were examined. The mean immunohistochemistry score of TF expression in cervical cancer tissues was 2.86±1.76, which was significantly increased compared with the adjacent normal tissues (0.28±0.45). The expression of TF was also significantly associated with the clinical stage, lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis of cancer cells. Immunohistochemistry staining and western blot analysis demonstrated that TF expression in cervical cancer tissues significantly increased as the clinical stage increased. TF expression in tumor tissues from patients with lymph node metastasis was significantly increased compared with samples from patients without lymph node metastasis. TF expression was also significantly increased in patients with distant metastasis compared with those without. In conclusion, TF is highly expressed in cervical cancer tissues and high expression of TF may enhance the invasion and metastasis of cervical cancer cells.

MiR-372-3p promotes cell growth and metastasis by targeting FGF9 in lung squamous cell carcinoma.

The aim of this study was to study the role of miR-372-3p in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) cell proliferation and invasion by suppressing FGF9. RT-PCR was used to determine miR-372-3p and FGF9 mRNA expression in tissues and cells. Western blot was used to determine FGF9 expression in tissues and NCI-H520 cell line. Dual luciferase reporter gene assay was conducted to confirm that FGF9 can be directly targeted by miR-372-3p. MTT, colony formation assays were conducted to investigate the effects of ectopic miR-372-3p and FGF9 expression on NCI-H520 cell growth. Flow cytometry was used to analyze the influence of miR-372-3p and FGF9 expression on cell cycle distribution and apoptosis. Transwell assay was also conducted to see the effects of miR-372-3p and FGF9 expression on NCI-H520 cell invasiveness. MiR-372-3p was found significantly overexpressed in both LSCC tissues and cell lines, whereas FGF9 mRNA was found underexpressed in LSCC tissues. MiR-372-3p directly bound to wild-type FGF9 mRNA 3'UTR, therefore led to the reduction in FGF9 expression. The upregulation of FGF9 or the downregulation of miR-372-3p substantially retarded LSCC cell growth, mitosis, and invasion. MiR-372-3p enhanced LSCC cell proliferation and invasion through inhibiting FGF9.

MicroRNA-376c suppresses non-small-cell lung cancer cell growth and invasion by targeting LRH-1-mediated Wnt signaling pathway.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) that negatively regulate gene expression have emerged as novel therapeutic tools for cancer treatment. In this study, we investigated the potential role of Liver receptor homolog-1 (LRH-1), a novel oncogene, in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and examined the regulation of LRH-1 by miRNAs. We found that LRH-1 was highly overexpressed in NSCLC cell lines. Knockdown of LRH-1 by small interfering RNA significantly inhibited NSCLC cell growth and invasion. miR-376c directly targeted the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of LRH-1 and negatively regulated LRH-1 expression, as detected by dual-luciferase reporter assay, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. Further data showed that miR-376c expression was inversely correlated with LRH-1 expression in clinical cancer samples. Overexpression of miR-376c could inhibit NSCLC cell growth and invasion as well as Wnt signaling. In contrast, depletion of miR-376c exhibited the opposite effects. Moreover, these effects of miR-376c overexpression were partially abrogated by overexpression of LRH-1. Taken together, these results indicate that LRH-1 is involved in regulating the growth and invasion of NSCLC cells and that miR-376c inhibits NSCLC cell growth and invasion by targeting LRH-1, providing a novel insight into the potential for development of anti-cancer drugs for NSCLC.

Immunotherapy of tumors with human telomerase reverse transcriptase immortalized human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

Human umbilical endothelial cells (HUVECs) have been proven to be effective in tumor anti-angiogenesis but the mechanism remained to be further demonstrated. The restricted ability of HUVECs to proliferate in vitro also limits their application on a large scale. In the present study, we immortalized HUVECs with hTERT genes by lentiviral infection and explored the antitumor immunity of hTERT-expressing HUVECs (HUVEC-TERTs). Results showed that HUVEC-TERTs maintained high telomere activity and expressed CD31, VEGFR-II and integrin α5. Passage-30 HUVEC-TERTs were able to form vascular tubes in vitro without showing signs of senescence. In vivo HUVEC-TERTs elicited antitumor immunity in mouse LL2 and CT26 models protectively and therapeutically. Both humoral and cellular immunity participated in the tumor anti-angiogenesis as HUVEC-neutralizing sera antibodies and HUVEC-specific CTL were detected. The subsets of activated spleen T lymphocytes included both CD4(+) T cells and CD8(+) T cells. Moreover, MDSCs and Tregs were decreased while T lymphocytes were aggregated in the tumor microenvironment. Collectively, the present study is the first to confirm the antitumor immunity of hTERT-immortalized HUVECs. Both anti-angiogenesis and tumor microenvironmental regulation participated in the antitumor activity. Transducing hTERT genes might be a new strategy to allow HUVECs to be applied on a large scale in cancer immunotherapy.

Gene Polymorphisms of Toll-Like Receptor 9 -1486T/C and 2848G/A in Cervical Cancer Risk.

OBJECTIVE: This work aims to explore whether Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) -1486T/C and 2848G/A polymorphisms are associated with cervical cancer risk. METHODS: A comprehensive electronic search of studies published from January 1999 to October 2014 was conducted in Medline (Ovid), Embase, PubMed, Wanfang, Weipu, and CNKI. The algorithm included "TLR," "Toll-like receptor," "polymorphism," "variant," "mutation," and "cervical cancer." Seven articles, including 9 studies, were pooled using Revman 5.2 (Cochrane Collaboration, Copenhagen, Denmark). Odds ratio (OR) was used to explore the involvement of minor allele C (C vs T and CC + CT vs TT) of TLR9 (-1486T/C, rs187084) and minor allele A (A vs G and AA + AG vs GG) of TLR9 (2848G/A, rs352140) in cervical cancer risk. RESULTS: Toll-like receptor 9 (-1486T/C, rs187084) polymorphisms were associated with an elevated risk of cervical cancer (C vs T: OR, 1.15; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-1.29; CC + CT vs TT: OR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.11-1.53). We found no significant association between TLR9 (2848G/A, rs352140) polymorphisms and cervical cancer risk (A vs G: OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 0.87-1.54; AA + AG vs GG: OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 0.75-2.17). CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis indicates that TLR9 (-1486T/C, rs187084)-but not TLR9 (2848G/A, rs352140)-may be a risk factor for cervical cancer.

The associations between the Val158Met in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene and the risk of uterine leiomyoma (ULM).

The Val158Met polymorphism of the COMT gene has been implicated in susceptibility to uterine leiomyoma (ULM), but the reported results were inconclusive. The aim of the study was to evaluate the Val158Met polymorphism of the COMT gene and the risk of ULM by meta-analysis. A comprehensive electronic search for relevant articles was conducted in Pubmed, Embase, CNKI, Wanfang, and Weipu databases. Statistical analysis was performed by using the Revman4.2 software and Stata10.0 software. A total of 7 articles including 12 case-control studies were identified in this meta-analysis. The results showed that the polymorphism was associated with decreased risk of ULM (Met/Met+Val/Met vs. Met/Met: OR=0.84, 95% CI=0.70-0.99, Z=2.07, p=0.04). In the subgroup analyses by ethnicity, significant decreased risk was found among the black populations (OR=0.68, 95% CI=0.48-0.97, Z=2.15, p=0.03). The current meta-analysis suggested that the Val158Met polymorphism in the COMT gene was associated with decreased risk of ULM, especially in the black population. Future studies are needed to validate our conclusions.