Association of antinuclear antibodies with the risk of intracranial arterial stenosis.

The prevalence of intracranial arterial stenosis (IAS) as well as antinuclear antibody (ANA) positivity was found to be higher in Asians than that in the Western population. To investigate the relation of ANAs with IAS in patients with acute ischemic cerebrovascular disease, we enrolled 2492 patients with acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack into the study. All the patients were categorized into 3 groups according to the IAS burden. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were used in statistical analysis. The positive rate of ANAs in the IAS ≥ 2 group was higher than that in the single IAS group and the no IAS group (p<0.001). The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for IAS ≥ 2 in ANAs-positive patients was 3.737 (95%CI=2.676-5.220, p<0.001) compared with the ANAs-negative patients. ANAs were associated with multiple IAS rather than single IAS in both male and female subgroups. Besides, ANAs were significantly associated with single and multiple IAS in individuals ≤ 60 years. However, ANAs were only associated with two or more IAS in two age groups (between 61 to 75 years and >75 years old). In summary, ANAs are associated with IAS in patients with acute ischemic cerebrovascular disease.

Cell-free plasma hypermethylated CASZ1, CDH13 and ING2 are promising biomarkers of esophageal cancer.

Identifying sensitive and specific biomarkers for early detection of cancer is immensely imperative for early diagnosis and treatment and better clinical outcome of cancer patients. This study aimed to construct a specific DNA methylation pattern of cancer suppressor genes and explore the feasibility of applying cell-free DNA based methylation as a biomarker for early diagnosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We recruited early stage ESCC patients from Yangzhong County, China. The Illumina Infinium 450K Methylation BeadChip was used to construct a genome-wide DNA methylation profile. Then, differentiated genes were selected for the validation study using the Sequenom MassARRAY platform. The frequency of methylation was compared between cancer tissues, matched cell-free DNAs and normal controls. The specific methylation profiles were constructed, and the sensitivity and specificity were calculated. Seven CG sites in three genes CASZ1, CDH13 and ING2 were significantly hypermethylated in ESCC as compared with normal controls. A significant correlation was found between the methylation of DNA extracted from cancer tissues and matched plasma cell-free DNA, either for individual CG site or for cumulative methylation analysis. The sensitivity and specificity reached 100% at an appropriate cut-point using these specific methylation biomarkers. This study revealed that aberrant DNA methylation is a promising biomarker for molecular diagnosis of esophageal cancer. Hypermethylation of CASZ1, CDH13 and ING2 detected in plasma cell-free DNA can be applied as a potential noninvasive biomarker for diagnosis of esophageal cancer.