A Potential Autophagy-Related Competing Endogenous RNA Network and Corresponding Diagnostic Efficacy in Schizophrenia.

Competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) and autophagy were related to neurological diseases. But the relationship among ceRNA, autophagy and Schizophrenia (SZ) was not clear. In this study, we obtained gene expression profile of SZ patients (GSE38484, GSE54578, and GSE16930) from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Then we screened the autophagy-related differentially expressed lncRNA, miRNA, and mRNA (DElncRNA, DEmiRNA, and DEmRNA) combined with Gene database from The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). In addition, we performed enrichment analysis. The result showed that biological processes (BPs) mainly were associated with cellular responses to oxygen concentration. The enriched pathways mainly included ErbB, AMPK, mTOR signaling pathway and cell cycle. Furthermore, we constructed autophagy-related ceRNA network based on the TargetScan database. Moreover, we explored the diagnostic efficiency of lncRNA, miRNA and mRNA in ceRNA, through gene set variation analysis (GSVA). The result showed that the diagnostic efficiency was robust, especially miRNA (AUC = 0.884). The miRNA included hsa-miR-423-5p, hsa-miR-4532, hsa-miR-593-3p, hsa-miR-618, hsa-miR-4723-3p, hsa-miR-4640-3p, hsa-miR-296-5p, and hsa-miR-3943. The result of this study may be helpful for deepening the pathophysiology of SZ. In addition, our finding may provide a guideline for the clinical diagnosis of SZ.

A Novel Schizophrenia Diagnostic Model Based on Statistically Significant Changes in Gene Methylation in Specific Brain Regions.

OBJECTIVE: The present study identified methylation patterns of schizophrenia- (SCZ-) related genes in different brain regions and used them to construct a novel DNA methylation-based SCZ diagnostic model. METHODS: Four DNA methylation datasets representing different brain regions were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus. The common differentially methylated genes (CDMGs) in all datasets were identified to perform functional enrichment analysis. The differential methylation sites of 10 CDMGs involved in the largest numbers of neurological or psychiatric-related biological processes were used to construct a DNA methylation-based diagnostic model for SCZ in the respective datasets. RESULTS: A total of 849 CDMGs were identified in the four datasets, but the methylation sites as well as degree of methylation differed across the brain regions. Functional enrichment analysis showed CDMGs were significantly involved in biological processes associated with neuronal axon development, intercellular adhesion, and cell morphology changes and, specifically, in PI3K-Akt, AMPK, and MAPK signaling pathways. Four DNA methylation-based classifiers for diagnosing SCZ were constructed in the four datasets, respectively. The sample recognition efficiency of the classifiers showed an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 1.00 in three datasets and >0.9 in one dataset. CONCLUSION: DNA methylation patterns in SCZ vary across different brain regions, which may be a useful epigenetic characteristic for diagnosing SCZ. Our novel model based on SCZ-gene methylation shows promising diagnostic power.

Expression and gene regulation network of RBM8A in hepatocellular carcinoma based on data mining.

RNA binding motif protein 8A (RBM8A) is an RNA binding protein in a core component of the exon junction complex. Abnormal RBM8A expression is associated with carcinogenesis. We used sequencing data from the Cancer Genome Atlas database and Gene Expression Omnibus, analyzed RBM8A expression and gene regulation networks in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Expression was analyzed using OncomineTM and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis tools, while RBM8A alterations and related functional networks were identified using cBioPortal. LinkedOmics was used to identify differential gene expression with RBM8A and to analyze Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways. Gene enrichment analysis examined target networks of kinases, miRNAs and transcription factors. We found that RBM8A is overexpressed and the RBM8A gene often amplified in HCC. Expression of this gene is linked to functional networks involving the ribosome and RNA metabolic signaling pathways. Functional network analysis suggested that RBM8A regulates the spliceosome, ribosome, DNA replication and cell cycle signaling via pathways involving several cancer-related kinases, miRNAs and E2F Transcription Factor 1. Our results demonstrate that data mining efficiently reveals information about RBM8A expression and potential regulatory networks in HCC, laying a foundation for further study of the role of RBM8A in carcinogenesis.

Clinical significance of plasma D-dimer and fibrinogen in digestive cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Abnormalities of coagulation and fibrinolysis are frequently observed in cancer patients. Emerging data suggested that plasma D-dimer and fibrinogen levels correlated with tumor stage and prognosis in several cancer types. The aim of this study is to systematically review the prognostic value of plasma D-dimer and fibrinogen in digestive cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched major database for manuscripts reporting the effect of pretreatment plasma d-dimer or fibrinogen on survival of digestive cancer patients. Revman5.3 and R were the software used for analysis. Pooled multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) for overall survival (OS) were calculated in all patients and many different subgroup analyses by stratifying on metastasis stage, tumor type, ethnicity, cutoff points and average age. RESULTS: 37 original studies were included for analysis. Increased levels of plasma D-dimer showed stronger association with worse OS than fibrinogen in digestive cancer (HR = 2.06, 95% CI 1.79-2.38; HR = 1.60, 95% CI 1.44-1.79). The highest adverse impacts of elevated plasma D-dimer and fibrinogen on OS were revealed in colorectal cancer (HR = 2.32, 95% CI 1.89-2.85; HR = 2.20, 95% CI 1.24-3.90). The negative prognostic effects of high plasma D-dimer enhanced in metastatic patients when compared with non-metastatic digestive cancer patients, while high plasma D-dimer was more predictive non-metastatic patients. CONCLUSIONS: Both of pretreatment plasma D-dimer and fibrinogen were robust predictors of poor survival in digestive cancer patients with different traits. Further studies are warranted to verify their roles on cancer prognosis.

[Application of humidified high-flow nasal cannula in neonates with meconium aspiration syndrome and pulmonary hypertension after extubation].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical value of humidified high-flow nasal cannula (HHFNC) as a respiratory support after extubation by comparing it with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) in neonates with meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN). METHODS: A total of 78 neonates with MAS and PPHN were randomly administered with HHFNC or NCPAP immediately after extubation. The following indices were compared between the two groups: blood gas parameters, duration of noninvasive ventilation, rate of extubation failure, and incidence of complications, such as nasal damage, abdominal distension, and intraventricular hemorrhage. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the rate of extubation failure, PaO2, PCO2, and PaO2/FiO2 ratio at one hour after NCPAP or HHFNC, duration of noninvasive ventilation, time to full enteral feeding, length of hospital stay, and incidence of intraventricular hemorrhage between the two groups (P>0.05). The HHFNC group had significantly lower incidence of nasal damage (5.0% vs 31.6%; P<0.05) and incidence of abdominal distension (7.5% vs 34.2%; P<0.05) than the NCPAP group. CONCLUSIONS: Both NCPAP and HHFNC can be used as the sequential therapy for neonates with MSA and PPHN after extubation, and they both have a definite effect. As a new strategy of respiratory support, HHFNC is better tolerated, and has fewer side effects than NCPAP.