Associations of clinical subtypes and bile acid levels of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy with pregnancy outcomes.

Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) can lead to many adverse pregnancy outcomes, and the influencing factors remain unclear at present. This study retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 1815 pregnant women with ICP and evaluated the relationship between ICP subtypes, gestational age at onset, and pregnancy outcomes. The results of this study show that during pregnancy, the levels of biochemical indicators (TBA, DBIL and ALT) in the serum of pregnant women initially diagnosed with subtypes of ICP were noted to constantly change, and the subtype of ICP and its severity also changed. The incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes [meconium-stained amniotic fluid (MSAF), NICU transfer, Apgar score ≤ 7 at 1 min, and preterm birth] in patients with ICP1 (icteric type) was significantly higher than for patients with ICP2, ICP3 or ICP4. The preterm birth rate of early-onset ICP was higher than that of late-onset ICP in ICP1 and ICP3 subtypes. In conclusion, the outcome of pregnancy in women with ICP is closely related to the serum TBA level and ICP subtype, which should be recognized in the clinic.

CircRNA Circ_0000118 Regulates Malignancy of Cervical Cancer Cells by Regulating miR-211-5p/miR-377-3p/AKT2 Axis.

CircRNAs are implicated in the development of several cancers. Nevertheless, the involvement of circ_0000118 in the development of cervical cancer (CC) remains unclear. Circ_0000118 levels in tumor tissues and cells were examined by qRT-PCR. The function of circ_0000118 in regulating the malignancy of CC cells was investigated using functional assays, including CCK-8, colony formation, transwell, and tube formation experiments. The functional interaction between circ_0000118 and microRNAs were validated by dual-luciferase activity assay and RNA precipitation experiments. In vivo mouse model was employed to assess the effect of circ_0000118 in the tumorigenesis of CC cells. Circ_0000118 was overexpressed in CC cells and tissues. Loss-of-function experiments demonstrated that circ_0000118 knockdown impaired the proliferation and tumor sphere formation, as well as the angiogenic potential of CC cells. RNA interaction experiments confirmed that circ_0000118 sponged miR-211-5p and miR-377-3p. AKT2 was found to be a target gene negatively modulated by miR-211-5p and miR-377-3p. AKT2 overexpression rescued the inhibition of circ_0000118 downregulation on CC cells. Our study suggested that circ_0000118 functions as an oncogenic factor in progression of CC by maintaining AKT2 level through targeting miR-211-5p and miR-377-3p as a ceRNA (competitive endogenous RNA), which provides novel therapeutic target in the management of CC.

Efficacy and Safety of Image-Guided Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy and Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy Combined with Paclitaxel Liposomes and Cisplatin for Locally Advanced Stage IIB-IIIB Cervical Cancer: A Retrospective Study at a Single Center.

BACKGROUND This retrospective study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of image-guided intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) combined with administration of paclitaxel liposomes and cisplatin for locally advanced stage IIB-IIIB cervical cancer at a single center in China. MATERIAL AND METHODS The clinical data of 126 patients with stage IIB-IIIB cervical cancer treated in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into the IMRT group (n=63) and the VMAT group (n=63). The short-term clinical efficacy, the incidence of adverse reactions, the quality-of-life score, and the changes in levels of T-lymphocyte subsets, serum inflammatory factors, and tumor markers were compared pre- and posttreatment between the 2 groups. RESULTS The clinical response rate was 90.5% and 96.8% in the IMRT group and the VMAT group, respectively; the difference was not statistically significant. After treatment, the levels of CD3⁺, CD4⁺, and CD4⁺/CD8⁺ subsets rose significantly, while the CD8⁺ level declined significantly in both groups compared with the pretreatment levels. After treatment, the levels of serum vascular endothelial growth factor, squamous cell carcinoma antigen, interleukin-8, tumor necrosis factor-a, carcinoembryonic antigen, and carbohydrate antigen 125 declined in both groups compared with pretreatment levels. After treatment, the Karnofsky performance scale score rose in both groups, and it was higher in the VMAT group than in the IMRT group. CONCLUSIONS IMRT and VMAT combined with paclitaxel liposomes and cisplatin have similar short-term clinical efficacy and long-term survival rates in the treatment of stage IIB-IIIB cervical cancer.

Improved conditions for passivity of neural networks with a time-varying delay.

The passivity of neural networks with a time-varying delay and norm-bounded parameter uncertainties is investigated in this paper. A complete delay-decomposing approach is employed to construct a Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional. Then, by utilizing a segmentation technique to consider the time-varying delay and its derivative and introducing some free-weighting matrices to express the relationship between the time-varying delay and its varying interval, some improved passivity criteria are derived. Finally, two numerical examples are given to show the effectiveness and the merits of the proposed method.

Analysis of clinical and molecular characteristics of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome in 24 patients from 23 unrelated Chinese families.

The clinical data of 24 children with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) from 23 unrelated Chinese families were reviewed in the present study. WAS protein (WASP) expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells was examined by flow cytometry (FCM); WASP gene was amplified by PCR and directly sequenced to analyze mutations in the WASP gene in patients and their female relatives. FCM analysis of 21 patients showed that 18 cases were WASP-negative, and three had partially WASP expression. WASP gene analysis revealed mutations in 23 patients, including five missense mutations, four nonsense mutations, four deletion mutations, three insertion mutations, six splice site mutations, and one complex mutation, among which, 20 unique mutations were detected, including seven novel mutations (168 C>A, 747-748del T, 793-797del C, 1185 ins C, Dup 1251-1267, 1277 insA and 1266 C>G; 1267-1269del C). Five WAS children underwent stem cell transplantation. After 2 months of transplantation, WASP expression was restored to normal in all five patients whereas one patient died of cytomegalovirus-induced interstitial lung disease. WASP gene analysis can make a definite diagnosis of WAS and identify mutation carriers, beneficial for timely treatment and genetic counseling for children with WAS.