Circulating lncRNA ITSN1-2 is upregulated, and its high expression correlates with increased disease severity, elevated inflammation, and poor survival in sepsis patients.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to assess the correlation of long noncoding (lnc) RNA intersectin (ITSN) 1-2 expression with disease risk, severity, inflammation, and survival in sepsis patients. METHODS: Three hundred and nine intensive care unit (ICU)-treated sepsis patients and 300 healthy controls were consecutively recruited in this study. Blood samples were collected from all sepsis patients within 24 hours after admitted to ICU and from healthy controls at the time of health screening, and the expression of lncRNA ITSN1-2 in plasma was detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Disease severity was assessed by physicians using acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) II score on day 1 after ICU admission. Additionally, the plasma inflammatory cytokines (including tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin 1ß (IL-1ß), IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and IL-17) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. RESULTS: lncRNA ITSN1-2 was highly expressed in sepsis patients compared to healthy controls and could differentiate sepsis patients from healthy controls with area under the curve (AUC) 0.777 (95% CI: 0.740-0.813). lncRNA ITSN1-2 expression was positively correlated with APACHE II score, C-reactive protein (CRP), TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-8 levels, but negatively correlated with IL-10 level. In addition, lncRNA ITSN1-2 was highly expressed in non-survivors compared to survivors and could distinguish survivors from non-survivors in sepsis patients with AUC 0.654 (95% CI: 0.581-0.726). CONCLUSION: Circulating lncRNA ITSN1-2 is upregulated, and its high expression associates with increased disease severity and inflammation as well as poor prognosis in sepsis patients.

Actein Inhibits Cell Proliferation and Migration in Human Osteosarcoma.

BACKGROUND Osteosarcoma is one of the most common malignant bone cancers worldwide. Although the traditional chemotherapies have made some progression in the past decades, the mortality of osteosarcoma in children and adolescent is very high. Herein, the role of actein in osteosarcoma was explored. MATERIAL AND METHODS Cell viability assay was performed in osteosarcoma cell lines 143B and U2OS. Colony formation analysis was included when cells were treated with different doses of actin. Cell cycle assay was conducted to further examine the role of actein. Cell apoptotic rate and the relative activities of caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9 were detected in 143B and U2OS osteosarcoma cells. Moreover, transwell assays were used to explore the effects of actein on cell metastasis. RESULTS Actein significantly inhibited osteosarcoma cell viability in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Actein also dramatically suppressed the colony formation ability in osteosarcoma143B and U2OS cells. It was revealed that osteosarcoma cells were arrested in G0/G1 phase in the cell cycle progression and induced to apoptosis by administration of actein. The activities of pro-apoptotic factors such as caspase-3 and caspase-9 were significantly increased by actein. Furthermore, administration of actein decreased cell migrated and invasive abilities in both 143B and U2OS cell lines. CONCLUSIONS Actein inhibits tumor growth by inducing cell apoptosis in osteosarcoma. The inhibitive roles of actein in cell proliferation, migration and invasion suggest that actein may serve as a potential therapeutic agent in the treatment of osteosarcoma.

A network meta-analysis of the efficacy of arthrodesis with various fixation methods in the treatment of advanced ankle osteoarthritis.

This study aimed to compare the efficacy of arthrodesis with various fixation methods in the treatment of advanced ankle osteoarthritis. Thirty-two patients with osteoarthritis of the ankle (mean age 59.91±6.16 years) took part in the study. The patients were divided into 2 groups - Ilizarov apparatus (21 patients) and screw fixation (11 patients). Each group was also divided into subgroups based on etiology - posttraumatic and nontraumatic. The AOFAS and VAS scales were compared in the preoperative and postoperative periods. It was found that screw fixation was more effective in the treatment of late stages of osteoarthritis (OA) of the ankle during the postoperative period. Comparison of the AOFAS and VAS scales showed no significant differences between the groups in the preoperative period (p = 0.838; p = 0.937). After 6 months, the results were better in the screw fixation group (p = 0.042; p = 0.047). Complications were observed for a third of the patients (10 patients). 6 patients had pain in the operated limb (4 patients in the Ilizarov apparatus group). Three patients in the Ilizarov apparatus group developed a superficial infection, and one developed a deep infection. Different etiology did not affect the postoperative efficacy of arthrodesis. The choice of the type of should be related to a clear protocol for the presence of complications. When choosing the type of fixation for arthrodesis, a patient's condition as well as a surgeon's preferences should be taken into account.

Evaluation of Ecological Service Function of Liquidambar formosana Plantations.

A Liquidambar formosana plantation is a kind of fast-grown forest in the subtropical region, providing a variety of ecosystem services such as superior wood, carbon fixation and oxygen release, and biodiversity maintenance. However, the ecological service function value of Liquidambar formosana plantations is not clear. To gain insights into the characteristics and importance of its ecological and economic benefits, the Liquidambar formosana plantation in the Tianjiling Forest Farm of Changsha City was taken as the specific research object in this paper. The ecological service function evaluation index system for Liquidambar formosana plantations was established based on the relevant research worldwide and the actual situation. The market value method, shadow engineering method, carbon tax method, and other environmental economics methods were used to estimate the value of seven ecological service functions (including organic matter production, carbon fixation and oxygen release, water conservation, soil conservation, soil improvement, air purification, and biodiversity maintenance) of the forest of Liquidambar formosana. The results indicated that the total economic value of ecological service function provided by the Liquidambar formosana plantation of Changsha was 103,277.82 RMB/(hm2·a), and the indirect economic value was 8.47 times that of the direct economic value. Among the seven ecological service functions, the value of carbon fixation and oxygen release was the highest (36,703.33 RMB·hm-2·a-1), thus suggesting that the Liquidambar formosana plantation had strong photosynthesis and significant carbon fixation. This study directly reflects the value of forest ecological service function in the form of currency, which is beneficial to provide more insights into forest ecological service function so as to provide basic data and a scientific basis for the protection, construction, and promotion of the sustainable utilization and development of urban forest resources.

Exploring the clinical efficacy of a self-made acne prescription based on high-throughput sequencing.

BACKGROUND: We used high-throughput sequencing on skin microbial flora to assess the effectiveness of an acne prescription to formulate evidence for clinical decision-making. METHODS: We randomized 20 outpatients into two groups. The treatment group was given the acne formula orally. The control group took capsules of the Chinese patent medicine Qingre Anchuang. Both groups used a chloramphenicol tincture externally. After 14 days of treatment, we collected their skin samples and extracted the deoxyribonucleic acid for analysis. RESULTS: Forty samples were sequenced in this experiment, and of these, 1865 operational taxonomic units were obtained, belonging to 736 genera and 853 strains of 34 phyla. By alpha and beta diversity analysis, the abundance of microbial species in both the experimental and control groups before treatment was higher than after treatment, indicating the intervention drugs in this experiment had a bacteriostatic effect. Through the analysis of variance, we found that Subdoligranulum, Bifidobacterium, Bacteroides, and Akkermansia displayed large changes during the treatment. According to the linear discriminant analysis effect size, we discovered the bacteria groups with the greatest changes in the control group after treatment were Firmicutes, Clostridia, Proteobacteria, and Gammaproteobacteria. The flora of the experimental group before and after treatment were Corynebacteriaceae, Corynebacteriales, Cutibacterium, Propionibacteriales, Propionibacteriaceae, and Actinobacteria. CONCLUSION: The acne prescription had a reliable intervention effect on some epidermal microbial flora of patients with acne vulgaris and could inhibit the growth of acne-related microbial flora, such as Propionibacterium.

The effectiveness and safety of Chinese herbal formulas on skin photoaging: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Skin photoaging (SP) is a complex and complicated process of skin characteristic changes caused by excessive sunlight. Wrinkles, looseness, coarseness, and increase or loss of pigment are the main clinical manifestations of the disease. The pathogenesis of SP mainly involving oxidative stress, inflammatory reaction, immune dysregulation and DNA damage, and so on. In recent years, traditional Chinese medicine, as an significant form of complementary and alternative medicine, has attracted the more and more attention within the field of health care and indicated a desirable effect on SP. Chinese herbal formula (CHF) is an essential part of traditional Chinese medicine interventions, and the number of clinical trails on SP treated by CHFs have shown a growing trend. Therefore, we developed this systematic review and meta-analysis protocol to assess the effectiveness and safety of CHFs in the therapy of SP, so as to provide reliable evidence-based evidence for clinical decision-making. METHODS: A overall literature retrieval will be carried out in 9 electronic journal database. We will include randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on CHFs alone or combined with routine western medicine measures in the treatment of SP. The outcomes we focused on are consists of symptom score (skin relaxation, telangiectasia, pore coarseness, pigmentation, etc), total effective rate, and adverse reactions. Meta-analysis will be performed using Stata 13.0 software. Literature retrieval and screening, data extraction, risk of bias assessment of RCTs, evidence confidence rating by grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation method and methodological quality assessment of systematic review by assessment of multiple systematic reviews-2 will be conducted independently by 2 reviewers, and disagreements will be resolved through discussion or judged by a third senior reviewer. RESULTS: This systematic review and meta-analysis will pool the proof of RCTs on SP treated by CHFs alone or combined with conventional western medicine treatments. The findings of this study will be presented at relevant conferences and submitted to peer-reviewed journals for publication. CONCLUSION: We expect that the results of this systematic review will provide comprehensive and reliable evidence for clinicians and policy makers. REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY 2020120005.

Expression of SLC17A9 in hepatocellular carcinoma and its clinical significance.

The present study aimed to investigate the expression and clinical significance of solute carrier family 17 member 9 (SLC17A9) in cancer tissues of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Ninety-eight patients with HCC were admitted to our hospital from January 2010 to December 2014. Their clinical data was retrospectively analyzed. The expression of SLC17A9 in HCC cancer tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry. Kaplan-Meier curve, log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard model analysis were used to analyze the tumor-free survival rate and overall survival rate. SLC17A9 expression was associated with Edmondson grade (P=0.04) and distant metastasis (P=0.03). The tumor-free survival (P=0.03) and overall survival (P=0.01) of SLC17A9-high expression patients were significantly lower than those in SLC17A9-low expression patients. Multivariate analysis revealed that SLC17A9 expression (HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.27-2.47, P=0.02) was an independent risk factor for tumor-free survival in patients with HCC, and the expression of SLC17A9 (HR, 1.81; 95% CI, 0.99-3.77, P=0.04) was an independent risk factor for overall survival in patients with HCC. In conclusion, SLC17A9 can be used as a new molecular marker to predict the poor prognosis of patients with HCC.

Efficacy of 125I seed implantation combined with intermittent hormonal therapy on moderate- and high-risk non-metastatic prostate cancer.

PURPOSE: Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) plasmacytoma variant translocation 1-214 transcript (PVT1-214) is a notable lncRNA involved in gastric cancer and colorectal cancer (CRC) so far. Nowadays, the biological function of PVT1-214 on the response of CRC to chemotherapy is still unclear. We aimed to explore the molecular mechanism of PVT1-214 and its regulatory mechanism in advanced CRC. METHODS: The levels of PVT1-214, microRNA (miR)-128, and interferon regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1) in CRC tissues and cell lines were evaluated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Log-rank test was applied to evaluate the role of high PVT1-214 levels in shortening the overall survival of CRC patients. Chi-square test was to assess the relation between PVT1-214 expression and clinicopathological features of CRC patients. CCK8 assays tested the cell proliferation of oxaliplatin-resistant CRC cells (HCT116/Oxa and SW480/Oxa) with PVT1-214 knockdown. The underlying regulatory mechanism between PVT1-214 and miR-128 was predicted by bioinformatics and verified by RNA transfection, qRT-PCR and western blotting. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay was done to examine the relationship between or IRF-1 and the PVT1-214 gene. RESULTS: High levels of PVT1-214 expression were more likely to be present in patients with late-stage (IV), chemotherapy resistance, and inferior overall survival. PVT1-214 was aberrantly elevated in oxaliplatin-resistant CRC tissues and cell lines (HCT116/Oxa and SW480/Oxa). PVT1-214 knockdown reduced cell proliferation, migration and invasion of oxaliplatin-resistant CRC cells in vitro. Moreover, IRF-1 was found to be a negative transcription regulator of PVT1-214 and decreased PVT1-214 levels in oxaliplatin-resistant CRC cells. Besides, PVT1-214 repressed miR-128 function by binding to the complementary sites of miR-128. CONCLUSIONS: IRF-1/PVT1-214 may markedly boost the oxaliplatin-resistance of CRC, resulting in the late TNM stage and poor survival. These findings suggest that the IRF-1/PVT1-214 axis may be a helpful target for intervention in CRC.

[Application of virtopsy in forensic science].

Virtopsy is a non-invasive technique to reconstruct 3 dimensional (3-D) images of human organs and tissues using digitized radiographic imaging and may provide clues for forensic identification of the cause and manner of death. Because of its nature of minimally invasive, objective, and accurate, virtopsy has recently been a research focus of forensic pathology in developed countries. In this review article, the authors will discuss the principle, advantage, disadvantage, and recent proceeding of virtopsy as well as its potential application in forensic practice in China.

[The effects of heroin on intracellular free Ca2+ of rat myocardium].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of heroin on intracellular free Ca2+ in rat myocardium. METHODS: The effects of heroin on intracellular free Ca2+ were observed in cultured neonatal rat myocardium by measuring intracellular free Ca2+ concentration using calcium fluorescent probe Flou-3/AM and laser scanning confocal microscope. RESULTS: Different doses and concentrations of heroin appeared to have different effects on intracellular free Ca2+ concentrations, with a dosage dependent short linear increase in the fluorescence intensity (i.e., Ca2+ concentration) leading to [Ca2+]i peak. CONCLUSION: Heroin could affect concentrations of [Ca2+]i in myocardium and its dosage related effect needs further investigation.