Down-regulation of miR-1236-3p is correlated with clinical progression and unfavorable prognosis in gastric cancer.

OBJECTIVE: MiRNAs have been considered to participate in many processes of various cancers, including gastric cancer (GC). However, the significance of miRNAs in the progression prognosis of GC is largely unknown. The goal of this study was to determine the expression level of miR-1236-3p in GC and its clinical association. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Clinical specimens from GC patients were obtained to quantify the expression level of miR-1236-3p using quantitative Real-time PCR. The correlation between the miR-1236-3p levels and the clinicopathological factors of the GC patients was analyzed. The association between miR-1236-3p expression and overall survival was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The significance of different variables with respect to survival was analyzed using the univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: We found that miR-1236-3p was significantly downregulated in GC tissues compared to non-tumor gastric tissues (p < 0.01). The levels of miR-1236-3p expression were associated significantly with clinical stage (p = 0.002), lymph node metastasis (p = 0.000) and distant metastasis (p = 0.017). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients in the high miR-1236-3p expression group had better overall survival than those in the low miR-1236-3p expression group (p = 0.0039). Moreover, we confirmed that miR-1236-3p was an independent poor prognostic factor for GC patients through univariate and multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide evidence that miR-1236-3p expression is frequently decreased in GC tissues, and its low expression may be a significant prognostic factor for poor survival in GC patients.

Intention to comply with post-exposure management among nurses exposed to blood and body fluids in Taiwan: application of the theory of planned behaviour.

Nurses are at significant risk from occupationally acquired bloodborne virus infections following a needlestick and sharps injury. This study aimed to apply the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to predict nurses' intention to comply with occupational post-exposure management. A cross-sectional survey was applied to select registered nurses who worked in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-designated hospitals. An anonymous, self-administered questionnaire based on the TPB was distributed to 1630 nurses and 1134 (69.5%) questionnaires were returned. From these, a total of 802 nurses (71%) reported blood and body fluid exposure incidents during 2003-2005 and this group was used for analysis. Only 44.6% of the 121 exposed nurses who were prescribed post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) by infectious disease doctors returned to the clinic for interim monitoring, and only 56.6% of exposed nurses confirmed their final serology status. Structural equation modelling was used to test the TPB indicating perceived behavioural control (the perception of the difficulty or ease of PEP management, ß=0.58), subjective norm (the perception of social pressure to adhere to PEP, ß=0.15), and attitudes (ß=0.12) were significant direct effects on nurses' intention to comply with post-exposure management. The hypothesised model test indicated that the model fitted with the expected relationships and directions of theoretical constructs [χ(2) (14, N=802)=23.14, P=0.057, GFI=0.987, RMSEA=0.039]. The TPB model constructs accounted for 54% of the variance in nurses' intention to comply with post-exposure management. The TPB is an appropriate model for predicting nurses' intention to comply with post-exposure management. Healthcare facilities should have policies to decrease the inconvenience of follow-up to encourage nurses to comply with post-exposure management.