Thymoquinone: An Effective Natural Compound for Kidney Protection.

Kidney disease is a common health problem worldwide. Acute or chronic injuries may interfere with kidney functions, eventually resulting in irreversible kidney damage. A number of recent studies have shown that the plant-derived natural products have an extensive potential for renal protection. Thymoquinone (TQ) is an essential compound derived from Nigella Sativa (NS), which is widely applied in the Middle East as a folk medicine. Previous experiments have demonstrated that TQ has a variety of potential pharmacological effects, including anti-oxidant, antibacterial, antitumor, immunomodulatory, and neuroprotective activities. In particular, the prominent renal protective efficacy of TQ has been demonstrated in both in vivo and in vitro experiments. TQ can prevent acute kidney injuries from various xenobiotics through anti-oxidation, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptosis effects. In addition, TQ exhibited significant pharmacological effects on renal cell carcinoma, renal fibrosis, and urinary calculi. The essential mechanisms involve scavenging ROS and increasing anti-oxidant activity, decreasing inflammatory mediators, inducing apoptosis, and inhibiting migration and invasion. The purpose of this review is to conclude the pharmacological effects and the potential mechanisms of TQ in renal protection, shedding new light on the exploration of medicinal phyto-protective agents targeting kidneys.

Improvement in Microstructure and Properties of 304 Steel Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing by the Micro-Control Deposition Trajectory.

In this study, the GMAW welding torch was controlled by a stepping motor to achieve a periodic swing. By controlling the swing speed, a micro-variable deposition path was obtained, which was called the micro-control deposition trajectory. The influence of the micro-control deposition trajectory on the arc characteristics, microstructure, and mechanical properties of 304 steel wire arc additive manufacturing was studied. The results showed that the micro-control deposition process was affected by the swing arc and the deposition trajectory and that the arc force was dispersed over the whole deposition layer, which effectively reduced the welding heat input. However, the arc centrifugal force increased with the increase in the swing speed, which easily caused instability of the arc and large spatter. Compared with common thin-walled deposition, the deposition width of micro-control thin-walled deposition components was increased. In addition, the swinging arc had a certain stirring effect on the molten pool, which was conducive to the escape of the molten pool gas and refinement of the microstructure. Below, the interface of the deposition layer, the microstructure of the common thin-walled deposition components, and the micro-control thin-walled deposition components were composed of lathy ferrite and austenite. Compared with the common deposition, when the swing speed increased to 800 °/s, the microstructure consisted of vermicular ferrite and austenite. The tensile strength and elongation of the micro-control thin-walled deposition components are higher than those of the common thin-walled deposition components. The tensile fracture mechanism of the common thin-walled deposition components and the micro-control thin-walled deposition components was the ductile fracture mechanism.

MICDnet: Multimodal information processing networks for Crohn's disease diagnosis.

Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory disease with increasing incidence worldwide and unclear etiology. Its clinical manifestations vary depending on location, extent, and severity of the lesions. In order to diagnose Crohn's disease, medical professionals need to comprehensively analyze patients' multimodal examination data, which includes medical imaging such as colonoscopy, pathological, and text information from clinical records. The processes of multimodal data analysis require collaboration among medical professionals from different departments, which wastes a lot of time and human resources. Therefore, a multimodal medical assisted diagnosis system for Crohn's disease is particularly significant. Existing network frameworks find it hard to effectively capture multimodal patient data for diagnosis, and multimodal data for Crohn's disease is currently lacking. In addition,a combination of data from patients with similar symptoms could serve as an effective reference for disease diagnosis. Thus, we propose a multimodal information diagnosis network (MICDnet) to learn CD feature representations by integrating colonoscopy, pathology images and clinical texts. Specifically, MICDnet first preprocesses each modality data, then uses encoders to extract image and text features separately. After that, multimodal feature fusion is performed. Finally, CD classification and diagnosis are conducted based on the fused features. Under the authorization, we build a dataset of 136 hospitalized inspectors, with colonoscopy images of seven areas, pathology images, and clinical record text for each individual. Training MICDnet on this dataset shows that multimodal diagnosis can improve the diagnostic accuracy of CD, and the diagnostic performance of MICDnet is superior to other models.

Mucosal esophageal carcinoma following endoscopic submucosal dissection with giant gastric metastasis: A case report and review of literature.

BACKGROUND: Esophageal carcinoma is a highly aggressive digestive cancer responsible for a notable proportion of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Its elevated metastatic rate contributes to a poor prognosis in affected patients. In this case review, we aim to summarize the metastatic characteristics of intramural gastric metastasis (IGM) in mucosal esophageal squamous carcinoma. CASE SUMMARY: A 56-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of a dry cough with an esophageal sensation for one year. Endoscopic examination revealed a 2.0 cm 1.0 cm, superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and the patient underwent endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). Fifteen months after ESD, positron emission tomography/computed tomography revealed that the metabolism of the stomach cardia wall had increased slightly. However, the mucosa of the gastric cardia was smooth under gastroendoscopy. Two years after ESD, endoscopic examination revealed a giant gastric cardia carcinoma, while the esophageal mucosa was smooth, and no advanced cancer was found. A biopsy of the gastric cardia indicated squamous-cell carcinoma. The patient received immunochemotherapy and radiotherapy for esophageal cancer for 8 mo and is currently under follow-up. CONCLUSION: Early-stage esophageal carcinoma with IGM is rare. Despite the ESD of the primary lesion, IGM may still occur and should be closely monitored after ESD.

Effects of digital sleep interventions on sleep and psychological health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Various digital sleep interventions have been implemented to address sleep and psychological complications during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, the characteristics and effectiveness of digital sleep interventions on sleep and psychological outcomes for people with sleep problems during the COVID-19 pandemic are unknown. METHODS: The protocol of this systematic review and meta-analysis was registered on PROSPERO (ID: CRD42022325662), seven databases were searched from December 2019 to June 2023. Reference lists from digital sleep reviews were also identified and selected. Two reviewers independently screened eligible articles and extracted data. Quality appraisal was undertaken by two independent reviewers using the Cochrane Risk-of-Bias Tools. Data synthesis was conducted using fixed- or random-effects model based on the results of the heterogeneity test. RESULTS: A total of 20 studies were identified, including nine randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and 11 non-RCTs, involving 3860 participants. Meta-analyses showed that digital sleep interventions significantly improve sleep quality, insomnia, and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subgroup analysis showed that interventions of more than four weeks, healthcare workers as participants, and relaxation therapies may have the advantage of improving sleep quality. Most non-RCTs supported the efficacy of digital sleep interventions on sleep and psychological health. CONCLUSION: Digital sleep interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic had significant effectiveness in improving sleep and psychological outcomes for people with sleep problems. More structured and personalised digital sleep interventions should be designed, and other diverse digital technologies could be used to improve sleep and psychological disorders.

Long noncoding RNA PSMA3-AS1 functions as a competing endogenous RNA to promote gastric cancer progression by regulating the miR-329-3p/ALDOA axis.

LncRNA PSMA3-AS1 functions as an oncogene in several cancers, including ovarian cancer, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer. However, its role in gastric cancer (GC) progression remains unclear. In this study, the levels of PSMA3-AS1, miR-329-3p, and aldolase A (ALDOA) in 20 paired human GC tissues and adjacent nontumorous tissues were measured by real-time PCR. GC cells were transfected with recombinant plasmid carrying full-length PSMA3-AS1 or shRNA targeting PSMA3-AS1. The stable transfectants were selected by G418. Then, the effects of PSMA3-AS1 knockdown or overexpression on GC progression in vitro and in vivo were evaluated. The results showed that PSMA3-AS1 was highly expressed in human GC tissues. Stable knockdown of PSMA3-AS1 significantly restrained proliferation/migration/invasion, enhanced cell apoptosis, and induced oxidative stress in vitro. Tumor growth and matrix metalloproteinase expression in tumor tissues were markedly inhibited, while oxidative stress was enhanced in nude mice after stable PSMA3-AS1 knockdown. Additionally, PSMA3-AS1 negatively regulated miR-329-3p while positively regulated ALDOA expression. MiR-329-3p directly targeted ALDOA-3'UTR. Interestingly, miR-329-3p knockdown or ALDOA overexpression partially attenuated the tumor-suppressive effects of PSMA3-AS1 knockdown. Conversely, PSMA3-AS1 overexpression exhibited the opposite effects. PSMA3-AS1 promoted GC progression by regulating the miR-329-3p/ALDOA axis. PSMA3-AS1 might serve as a promising and effective target for GC treatment.

Mechanism of ELL-associated factor 2 and vasohibin 1 regulating invasion, migration, and angiogenesis in colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: As a novel endogenous anti-angiogenic molecule, vasohibin 1 (VASH1) is not only expressed in tumor stroma, but also in tumor tissue. Moreover, studies have shown that VASH1 may be a prognostic marker in colorectal cancer (CRC). Knockdown of VASH1 enhanced transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1)/Smad3 pathway activity and type I/III collagen production. Our previous findings suggest that ELL-associated factor 2 (EAF2) may play a tumor suppressor and protective role in the development and progression of CRC by regulating signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3)/TGF-ß1 signaling pathway. However, the functional role and mechanism of VASH1-mediated TGF-ß1 related pathway in CRC has not been elucidated. AIM: To investigate the expression of VASH1 in CRC and its correlation with the expression of EAF2. Furthermore, we studied the functional role and mechanism of VASH1 involved in the regulation and protection of EAF2 in CRC cells in vitro. METHODS: We collected colorectal adenocarcinoma and corresponding adjacent tissues to investigate the clinical expression of EAF2 protein and VASH1 protein in patients with advanced CRC. Following, we investigated the effect and mechanism of EAF2 and VASH1 on the invasion, migration and angiogenesis of CRC cells in vitro using plasmid transfection. RESULTS: Our findings indicated that EAF2 was down-regulated and VASH1 was up-regulated in advanced CRC tissue compared to normal colorectal tissue. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the higher EAF2 Level group and the lower VASH1 Level group had a higher survival rate. Overexpression of EAF2 might inhibit the activity of STAT3/TGF-ß1 pathway by up-regulating the expression of VASH1, and then weaken the invasion, migration and angiogenesis of CRC cells. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that EAF2 and VASH1 may serve as new diagnostic and prognostic markers for CRC, and provide a clinical basis for exploring new biomarkers for CRC. This study complements the mechanism of EAF2 in CRC cells, enriches the role and mechanism of CRC cell-derived VASH1, and provides a new possible subtype of CRC as a therapeutic target of STAT3/TGF-ß1 pathway.

Chromosomal abnormalities and structural defects in fetuses with increased nuchal translucency at a Chinese tertiary medical center.

Objectives: To explore the pregnancy outcomes of fetuses with increased NT thickness. Methods: This was a retrospective study of fetuses with increased NT (≥95th centile) at 11-14 weeks of gestation between January 2020 and November 2020. Results: Among 264 fetuses with increased NT, the median of CRL and NT was 61.2 mm and 2.41 mm. Among them, 132 pregnancy women chose invasive prenatal diagnosis (43 cases of chorionic villus sampling (CVS), 89 cases of amniocentesis). Eventually, 16 cases of chromosomal abnormalities were discovered, including 6 cases (6.4%) of trisomy 21, 4 cases (3%) of trisomy 18, 1 case (0.8%) of 45, XO, 1 case (0.8%) of 47, XXY and 4 cases (3.03%) of CNV abnormalities. The major structural defects included hydrops (6.4%), cardiac defects (3%), and urinary anomalies (2.7%). The incidences of chromosomal abnormalities and structural defects in the NT < 2.5 mm group were 1.3 and 6%, while the incidences were 8.8 and 28.9% in the NT≥2.5 group. Conclusion: Increased NT was associated with high risk of chromosomal abnormalities and structural anomalies. Chromosomal abnormalities and structural defects could be detected when NT thickness was between 95th centile and 2.5 mm.

Prospective comparison of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy and ureteroscopy in distal ureteral stones.

The optimal treatment modality of distal ureteral stones is controversial. Therefore, we conducted a prospective study to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and cost of early second shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) sessions versus ureterorenoscopy (URS) in patients with distal ureteral stones. This prospective study was conducted in a tertiary hospital from June 2020 to April 2022. Patients who underwent SWL or URS for distal ureteral stones were enrolled in this study. The stone-free rate (SFR), secondary treatment rate, complications, and costs were recorded. Propensity-score matching (PSM) analysis was also performed. A total of 1023 patients were included, of whom 68.4% (700) were treated with SWL and 31.6% (323) with URS. Based on PSM, SWL had an equivalent SFR (87.4% vs. 84.9%, P = 0.325) at one month after SWL and secondary treatment rate (10.7% vs.10.8%, P = 0.958) when compared with URS. Complications were rare and comparable between the SWL and URS groups (6.0% vs. 5.9%, P > 0.05), while the incidence of ureteral injuries (i.e., perforations) was higher in the URS group compared with the SWL group (1.3% vs. 0%, P = 0.019). The hospital stay was significantly shorter (1 day vs. 2 days, P < 0.001) and the costs considerably less (2000 RMB vs. 25,030 RMB; P < 0.001) in the SWL group compared with the URS group. This prospective study demonstrated that early second SWL sessions had equivalent efficacy in addition to reduced complication rates and costs compared with URS in patients with distal ureteral stones. Our findings may help guide clinical decision making.

Endoscopic and pathological characteristics of de novo colorectal cancer: Retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Endoscopy has rapidly developed in recent years and has enabled further investigation into the origin and features of intestinal tumors. The small size and concealed position of these tumors make it difficult to distinguish them from nonneoplastic polyps and carcinoma in adenoma (CIA). The invasive depth and metastatic potential determine the operation regimen, which in turn affects the overall survival and distant prognosis. The previous studies have confirmed the malignant features and clinicopathological features of de novo colorectal cancer (CRC). AIM: To provide assistance for diagnosis and treatment, but the lack of a summary of endoscopic features and assessment of risk factors that differ from the CIA prompted us to conduct this retrospective study. METHODS: In total, 167 patients with small-sized CRCs diagnosed by endoscopy were reviewed. The patients diagnosed as advanced CRCs and other malignant cancers or chronic diseases that could affect distant outcomes were excluded. After screening, 63 cases were excluded, including 33 de novo and 30 CIA cases. Patient information, including their follow-up information, was obtained from an electronic His-system. The characteristics between two group and risk factors for invasion depth were analyzed with SPSS 25.0 software. RESULTS: Nearly half of the de novo CRCs were smaller than 1 cm (n = 16, 48.5%) and the majority were located in the distal colon (n = 26, 78.8%). The IIc type was the most common macroscopic type of de novo CRC. In a Pearson analysis, the differential degree, Sano, JNET, and Kudo types, surrounding mucosa, and chicken skin mucosa (CSM) were correlated with the invasion depth (P < 0.001). CSM was a significant risk factor for deep invasion and disturbed judgment of endoscopic ultrasound. A high degree of tumor budding and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes are accompanied by malignancy. Finally, de novo CRCs have worse outcomes than CIA CRCs. CONCLUSION: This is the first comprehensive study to analyze the features of de novo CRCs to distinguish them from nonneoplastic polyps. It is also the first study paying attention to CSM invasive depth measurement. This study emphasizes the high metastatic potential of de novo CRCs and highlights the need for more research on this tumor type.

Maternal and Offspring Cardiovascular Function following Pregnancy with Hypertensive Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) have been associated with increased cardiovascular risk for the mother and her offspring. However, it remains unknown whether cardiovascular changes are present in the postpartum period. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of women with singleton pregnancies. We recruited 33 women (20 following preeclampsia and 13 following gestational hypertension) and an equal number of women with uncomplicated pregnancy. Conventional and more advanced echocardiographic modalities such as speckle tracking were used to assess maternal and offspring cardiac function at 3-9 months postpartum. RESULTS: In women with HDP compared to those without, there was higher mean arterial pressure (mean 92.3 (SD 7.3) vs. 86.8 (8.3) mmHg, p = 0.007), left-ventricular mass indexed for body-surface area (64.5 (10.5) vs. 56.8 (10.03), p < 0.003), and E/e' (3.6 (0.8) vs. 3.1 (0.9), p = 0.022). There were no significant differences between groups in maternal left-ventricular systolic-functional indices and in offspring cardiac function between groups. CONCLUSIONS: At 3-9 months postpartum, mothers with HDP had higher blood pressure, higher left-ventricular mass, and reduced left-ventricular diastolic function. However, in their offspring, cardiac function was preserved. These findings suggest that mothers who experienced an HDP would benefit from cardio-obstetric follow-up in the postpartum period.

Long noncoding RNA MIAT regulates TP53 ubiquitination and expedites prostate adenocarcinoma progression by recruiting TBL1X.

Despite recent advances in cancer immunotherapy, their efficacy for treating patients with prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD) is low due to complex immune evasion mechanisms. However, the function of long non-coding RNA (lncRNAs) in immune evasion has not been fully clarified. This study aimed to expound the role of myocardial infarction-associated transcript (MIAT), a lncRNA significantly upregulated in three PRAD-associated datasets, in immune evasion and try to reveal the potential mechanism. MIAT was highly expressed in PRAD tissues and predicted poor prognosis, and suppression of MIAT inhibited the malignant biological behavior of PRAD cells. Moreover, the depletion of MIAT promoted the immune response of CD8+ T cells and hampered the immune evasion of PRAD cells. In addition, MIAT downregulated TP53 protein expression by recruiting transducin beta-like protein 1X (TBL1X) for ubiquitination modification. Silencing of TP53 or overexpression of TBL1X was enough to abate the tumor suppressive effects of MIAT knockdown in vitro and in vivo. Our results provide evidence for a novel regulation mechanism of CD8+ T cells in PRAD and MIAT may serve as a potential therapeutic target in PRAD.

Worldwide productivity and research trend of publications concerning electroactive materials and spinal cord injury: A bibliometric study.

Purpose: We investigated the current state and trends in the area during the previous 10 years using bibliometric approaches to evaluate the global scientific output of research on electroactive materials and spinal cord injury. Methods: Studies on spinal cord injury in electroactive materials that were published between 2012 and 2022 were located using the Web of science (WOS) datebase. The software programs bibliometrix R-package and CiteSpace were used to do quantitative analyses of annual publications, nation, author, institution, journal source, co-cited references, and keywords. The studies were categorized by the research's main points using a qualitative analysis, and publications having more than 10 citations each year. Results: In the final analysis, 1,330 relevant papers or reviews were included. There is an increased tendency in both the average annual citation rate and the number of publications in the discipline. The United States and the University of Toronto are the countries and institutions that have contributed the most to this discipline, respectively. The majority of authors are from the China and United States. Zhang Y is the author with the most published articles and holds the top position in the cited author h-index species. The journal with the highest number of published articles is "Disability and rehabilitation"; the journal is divided into four main areas including physics, materials, chemistry, molecular, and biology. The keyword analysis revealed a shift in research hotspots from schwann cell, fracture, and urinary disorders to carbon-based materials, functional recovery, and surgery. Analysis of qualitative data revealed that the role and mechanism of injectable conductive hydrogels in spinal cord healing after damage is a hot topic of current study, with the mechanism primarily focusing on the inhibition of oxidative stress (Nrf2) and apoptosis (Casepase 3). Conclusion: Our bibliometric analysis indicates that research on electroactive materials for spinal cord injury remains an active field of study. Moreover, contemporary research is concentrated on carbon-based materials, functional rehabilitation, and surgery.

Effectiveness of resilience-promoting interventions in adolescents with diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to analyze the efficacy of resilience-promoting interventions among adolescents and youth aged 10-24 years with any type of diabetes. METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed using the PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and PsycINFO databases from inception to May 25, 2022. The Cochrane risk of bias tool (version 2) was used to assess the quality of the included studies. A meta-analysis was performed to calculate the pooled effects of resilience-promoting interventions. RESULTS: Nineteen articles were included covering an overall sample of 2048 adolescents with diabetes. When analyzing the effectiveness of resilience-promoting interventions, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) at six months [mean difference = - 0.47, 95% confidence interval (CI) = - 0.83 to - 0.12, P = 0.009] after the intervention was improved. However, long-term (≥ 12 months) improvement in HbA1c was not significant. In addition, comparing the control group, there were significant differences in the effect size for stress [standardized mean difference (SMD) = - 0.87, 95% CI = - 1.25 to -0.48, P < 0.05], self-efficacy (SMD = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.02-0.98, P = 0.04) and quality of life (SMD = 0.27, 95% CI = 0.03-0.51, P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Resilience-promoting intervention is a promising way for adolescent diabetes management to improve HbA1c, stress, self-efficacy, and quality of life. Incorporating resilience-promoting components into diabetes education and re-enforcing these contents every six months are recommended for implementation in clinical practice.

Prenatal diagnosis and postnatal management of congenital mesoblastic nephroma: A case report and literature review.

Background: Congenital mesoblastic nephroma (CMN) is a rare renal tumour in children, the most common kidney tumour in the neonatal period. It can be divided into three types, classical, cellular and mixed. Case presentation: A 31-year-old Chinese woman had no apparent foetal abnormality in regular prenatal care during the first and second trimesters. At 33 weeks of gestation, a solid mass in the right kidney was noted with echoes similar to liver and hypervascularity. It grew larger during late pregnancy. The infant was transferred to have a radical nephrectomy on the 9th day after birth. The postoperative histopathological result indicated classical CMN. Conclusion: CMN could be detected prenatally, mainly during late pregnancy. The postnatal outcome is good.

Prenatal assessment and pregnancy outcomes of foetal low-lying conus medullaris using 3D ultrasound.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to follow up on low-lying conus medullaris (CM) cases and explore the correlation between the CM location and the final prognosis.  METHODS: We retrospectively collected 37 cases diagnosed with low-lying CM during pregnancy in the Peking University First Hospital from January 2019 to December 2020. The location of CM was confirmed by 3D ultrasonography, and clinical data, including postnatal outcomes, were recorded. When the conus medullaris was below L3 (excluding L3), it was diagnosed as low-lying conus medullaris, regardless of gestational age. The short-term postnatal outcome included assessment of symptoms and signs of motor and sensory neuron dysfunction. RESULTS: The average gestational weeks of low-lying diagnosis was between 23 and 24 weeks. Among 37 cases, nine (24.3%) were complicated with spine dysraphism (3 cases of open spina bifida, 6 cases of tethered cord syndrome). Apart from 7 cases of pregnancy termination, the remaining 30 live births had a good prognosis in the short term, though 5 out of 6 cases of tethered cord syndrome underwent surgical release. The mean location of cases of open spinal dysraphism (n = 3) and those of closed dysraphism/tethered cord syndrome (n = 6) was at Lumber vertebra 5 (L5) and between L5 and Sacral vertebra 1 (S1), respectively, which showed statistical significance compared with the postnatally normal group. When we set Lumber 4.25 as the cut-off value to predict the diagnosis of spine dysraphism (mainly involving open spinal dysraphism and closed spinal dysraphism/tethered cord syndrome), the sensitivity was 66.7. At the same time, the specificity was 96%, along with the area under the curve (AUC) at 0.877. CONCLUSION: The second trimester finding of low CM is associated with spinal defects, mainly open spinal dysraphism and closed spinal dysraphism/tethered cord syndrome. Careful assessment of the fetal spine should be considered especially when the location of CM is lower than L4.

A case of fetal isolated ventricular noncompaction with TNNT2 gene mutation and literature review.

BACKGROUND: Ventricular noncompaction (VNC) is a cardiomyopathy characterized by overdeveloped ventricular trabeculaes and deep recess, which has been rarely reported. CASE PRESENTATION: A 29-year-old Chinese pregnant woman with no obvious fetal abnormality in regular prenatal examination during first and second trimester. However, at 32 weeks of gestation, both obstetric growth scan and fetal echocardiogram revealed an enlarged heart with grid-like changes at the apical region. Eventually, the genetic and autopsy findings indicated the deceased infant with VNC. CONCLUSION: Isolated VNC could be detected prenatally, even during the late pregnancy. Fetuses suspected of VNC should be offered genetic tests.

Overexpression of ELL-associated factor 2 suppresses invasion, migration, and angiogenesis in colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: The androgen responsive gene, ELL-associated factor 2 (EAF2), expressed in benign prostate tissues, has been shown to play an important role in tumor suppression in a variety of malignant tumors. In addition, some scholars found that EAF2 frameshift mutations are associated with intratumor heterogeneity in colorectal cancer (CRC) and inactivation of EAF2 in microsatellite instability-high CRC. However, the molecular mechanism by which EAF2 is involved in CRC invasion and metastasis remains unclear. AIM: To determine the clinical value of expression of EAF2 protein in CRC, and to study the effects of EAF2 on the invasion, migration, and angiogenesis of CRC cells in vitro. METHODS: In this study, we collected colorectal adenocarcinoma and corresponding adjacent tissues to investigate the clinical expression of EAF2 protein in patients with advanced CRC. Subsequently, we investigated the effect of EAF2 on the invasion, migration, and angiogenesis of CRC cells in vitro using plasmid transfection. RESULTS: EAF2 protein was lowly expressed in cancer tissues of patients with advanced CRC. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the survival rate of the high EAF2 level group was higher than that of the low EAF2 level group. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated that EAF2, as a tumor suppressor, may inhibit the invasion, metastasis, and angiogenesis of CRC cells by regulating the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3/transforming growth factor-ß1 crosstalk pathway, and play a cancer suppressive and protective role in the occurrence and development of CRC. Our findings are of great significance to provide a new idea and theoretical basis for the targeted diagnosis and treatment of CRC.

Pregnancy Outcomes of Non-Visualization of the Fetal Gallbladder from a Chinese Tertiary Single Centre and Literature Review.

OBJECTION: To explore the clinical features and prognosis of non-visualization of the fetal gallbladder (NVFGB). METHODS: Sixty-five cases diagnosed with NVFGB in the Peking University First Hospital were collected retrospectively from January 2019 to December 2020. RESULTS: Forty-nine cases were successfully followed up. Among them, the gallbladder of 21 fetuses (42.9%) was present in the later pregnancy. In the rest 28 cases (57.1%), the gallbladders were absent during the whole pregnancy. Eleven of twenty-eight fetuses (39.3%) with NVFGB were complicated with other structural anomalies. In the remaining 17 cases of isolated NVFGB (60.7%) during the whole pregnancy, there was one case of congenital biliary atresia, three cases of a small gallbladder, one case of gallstone and one case of the gallbladder with several septa inside. A total of nine cases (18.4%) underwent prenatal diagnosis, four of which revealed abnormal copy number variant (CNV) results. CONCLUSION: Nearly half of NVFGB could be noted during the later pregnancy. The persistent NVFGB during the pregnancy has a higher risk to complicate gallbladder abnormality, other structural anomalies and abnormal CNV results. Other structures, especially the heart, gastrointestinal and urinary system, should be carefully examined when NVFGB is suspected.

The Interaction Between Epigenetic Changes, EMT, and Exosomes in Predicting Metastasis of Colorectal Cancers (CRC).

Worldwide, colorectal cancer (CRC) ranks as the third most common malignancy, and the second most deadly with nearly one million attributable deaths in 2020. Metastatic disease is present in nearly 25% of newly diagnosed CRC, and despite advances in chemotherapy, less than 20% will remain alive at 5 years. Epigenetic change plays a key role in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which is a crucial phenotype for metastasis and mainly includes DNA methylation, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), and N 6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA, seemingly valuable biomarkers in CRCs. For ncRNAs, there exists a "molecular sponge effect" between long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs), and microRNAs (miRNAs). The detection of exosomes is a novel method in CRC monitoring, especially for predicting metastasis. There is a close relationship between exosomes and EMT in CRCs. This review summarizes the close relationship between epigenetic changes and EMT in CRCs and emphasizes the crucial function of exosomes in regulating the EMT process.