Silencing of long non-coding RNA SDCBP2-AS1/microRNA-656-3p/CRIM1 axis promotes ferroptosis of lung cancer cells.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play central roles in lung cancer progression by acting as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs). This study aimed to explore the roles of lncRNA SDCBP2-AS1 in lung cancer and the molecular mechanism. The expression of SDCBP2-AS1, microRNA (miR)-656-3p, and cysteine-rich transmembrane BMP regulator 1 (CRIM1) was measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Ferroptosis was evaluated by analyzing cell death, ferrous content, reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, and protein levels of ferroptosis markers. The binding relationship was assessed using a dual-luciferase reporter assay. We observed that SDCBP2-AS1 was highly expressed in lung cancer cells. Knockdown of SDCBP2-AS1 promoted ferroptosis of lung cancer cells. SDCBP2-AS1 is a sponge of miR-656-3p, which directly targets CRIM1. Rescue experiments confirmed that SDCBP2-AS1 regulates ferroptosis by miR-656-3p, and overexpression of CRIM1 abrogated the effects of miR-656-3p on ferroptosis. In conclusion, depletion of SDCBP2-AS1 promoted lung cancer cell ferroptosis via the miR-656-3p/CRIM1 axis.

Intrathoracic versus cervical anastomosis in esophagectomy for esophageal cancer: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Intrathoracic anastomosis and cervical anastomosis are very common in the esophagectomy of esophageal cancer; we aimed to evaluate the effects and safety of intrathoracic anastomosis versus cervical anastomosis in the esophagectomy. METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Knowledge, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and WanFang databases up to September 30, 2021, for randomized controlled trials focused on cervical anastomosis versus intrathoracic anastomosis for the treatment of esophageal cancer. RESULTS: In total, 12 randomized controlled trials involving 1,493 patients were finally included. The incidence of anastomotic leak [relative risk = 2.76, 95% confidence interval (1.94∼3.94), P < .001] and recurrent laryngeal nerve injury [relative risk = 6.12, 95% confidence interval (3.02∼12.41), P < .001] in the intrathoracic anastomosis group were less than that of the cervical anastomosis group. There were no significant differences in the incidence of anastomotic stenosis [relative risk = 1.33, 95% confidence interval (0.88∼2.00), P = .18], pneumonia [relative risk = 1.31, 95% confidence interval (0.82∼2.09), P = .25], postoperative chylothorax [relative risk = 1.01, 95% confidence interval (0.40∼2.52), P = .99], and mortality [relative risk = 0.93, 95% confidence interval (0.52∼1.68), P = .82] between the 2 groups. CONCLUSION: Intrathoracic anastomosis is associated with significantly reduced risk of leak and recurrent laryngeal nerve injury compared with cervical anastomosis.

Single versus double chest drains after pulmonary lobectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Previous randomized controlled trials have compared the efficacy and safety of single chest drain (SCD) and double chest drains (DCD) in the patients undergone pulmonary lobectomy, yet the results remain inconsistent. Therefore, we aimed to conduct this present systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the role of SCD and DCD in the patients undergone pulmonary lobectomy. METHODS: PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, Weipu, and China Biomedical Literature databases were searched up to February 28, 2020, to identify the potential RCTs on SCD and DCD in the patients undergone pulmonary lobectomy. The main outcomes including verbal pain score, the duration of drainage (days), the length of hospital stay (days), and the incidence of air leak and re-drainage were collected and analyzed. All the data were processed and analyzed with software RevMan 5.3. We calculated and analyzed the odds ratios (OR) for dichotomous outcomes and the mean difference (MD) for continuous outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 11 RCTs with 1214 patients were included, in which 589 patients received SCD treatment and 625 patients DCD treatment. The verbal pain score (MD = - 0.54, 95%CI (- 0.87, - 0.21)), the duration of drainage (MD = - 0.65, 95%CI (- 1.04, - 0.26)), and the length of hospital stay (MD = - 0.55, 95%CI (- 0.80, - 0.29)) in SCD group were significantly less than that of DCD group. There were no significant differences on the incidence of air leak (OR = 1.35, 95%CI (0.86, 2.11)) and re-drainage (OR = 0.88, 95%CI (0.41, 1.90)) among the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: SCD is a safe option, and it has the advantages of less postoperative pain, shortened duration of drain, and reduced length of hospital stay when compared with DCD in the patients undergone pulmonary lobectomy.

Natriuretic peptides and right atrial fibrosis in patients with paroxysmal versus persistent atrial fibrillation.

Natriuretic peptides (NPs) are excellent diagnostic and prognostic markers of heart failure, but their roles in atrial fibrillation (AF), particularly of isolated cardiac valvular origin, are unclear. We assessed the mRNA and protein content of pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (pro-ANP) and pro-brain natriuretic peptide (pro-BNP) in right atrial appendages (RAAs) and their N-terminal fragments (nt-proANP and nt-proBNP) in the plasma of 30 patients with paroxysmal AF (PaAF) and 40 patients with persistent AF (PeAF) matched with 34 patients in sinus rhythm (SR) undergoing isolated valvular replacement. To explore the underlying mechanism, fibrosis related examinations were simultaneously carried out in RAAs. Unexpectedly, atrial expression of pro-NPs mRNA was notably augmented in the PaAF subgroup, but not so pronounced in the PeAF subgroup. Atrial content of pro-NPs proteins and plasma nt-proNPs, between which surprisingly strong positive correlations were found (pro-ANP and nt-proANP: r=0.918, p<0.001; pro-BNP and nt-proBNP: r=0.913, p<0.001), were increased analogously in PaAF and PeAF subgroups. We identified significantly increasing gradients of atrial collagen volume fraction (CVF), levels of collagen I and III in the SR, PaAF and PeAF groups, and convincing negative linear correlations between CVF, levels of collagen I and III, and atrial transcripts of pro-NPs. These findings suggest that the discordance between transcripts and protein contents of pro-NPs was possibly due to the more outstanding atrial fibrosis in PeAF, and that circulating nt-proNPs levels could reflect the corresponding atrial pro-NPs contents in this report.