Ultrasound diagnosis of intramural pregnancy.

Intramural pregnancy is a rare type of ectopic pregnancy, where the gestational sac is implanted inside the myometrium instead of the endometrial and fallopian tubes. Preoperative diagnosis remains very difficult. Ultrasonic findings vary according to the anatomical location or duration of pregnancy. In this study, we summarized the ultrasonic characteristics of intramural pregnancy by assessing three cases. We also propose a set of ultrasonic characteristics to facilitate differential diagnosis between intramural pregnancy and other types of ectopic pregnancy.

Circular RNA circRNA_101996 promoted cervical cancer development by regulating miR-1236-3p/TRIM37 axis.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) appear to be significant modulators in various physiological processes. Recently, it is found that circRNA_101996 exerts important roles in various cancers. Our previous studies showed that circRNA_101996 promoted cervical cancer growth and metastasis by regulating miR-8075/TPX2. However, the potential regulatory role of circRNA_101996 in cervical cancer still needs further investigation. Our results in this study suggested that circRNA_101996 was over-expressed in cervical cancer patients. circRNA_101996 up-regulation remarkably assisted cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, and cell migration in cervical cancer, while circRNA_101996 knockdown exerted the inverse effects. The molecular investigations indicated that circRNA_101996 could increase the expression level of miR-1236-3p, tripartite motif-containing 37 (TRIM37), through binding to miR-1236-3p and reducing its expression. Moreover, in vivo results demonstrated that circRNA_101996 shRNA can function as a tumor suppressor through down-regulating TRIM37 in cervical cancer. In conclusion, our data indicated that circRNA_101996/miR-1236-3p/TRIM37 axis accelerated cervical cancer development, providing novel insights into cervical cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Effect of Rac1 downregulation mediated by shRNA on the biological behaviour of human cervical cancer cells.

OBJECTIVE: The function of Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate1 (Rac1) in the progression of cervical cancer is unclear. This study used RNA interference technology to explore the involvement of Rac1 in the regulation of cervical cancer cells. METHODS: A short hairpin (sh) RNA plasmid targeting Rac1 was constructed and transfected into HeLa cells. Rac1 mRNA and protein levels were investigated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot, respectively. Cell proliferation and cisplatin chemosensitivity were determined using the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay. The Matrigel™ assay and flow cytometry were used to assess cell invasion and apoptosis, respectively. The concentration of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 in cell supernatants was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Rac1 expression was significantly downregulated at the mRNA and protein levels in HeLa cells transfected with Rac1 shRNA, and the cell proliferation and invasion capability of cells was decreased. Rac1 downregulation was associated with a decrease in MMP-2 secretion, and increased cell chemosensitivity to cisplatin and cisplatin-induced apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: Rac1 may play an important role in cervical cancer progression and could be a potential target for anticancer therapy.

Is transvaginal elastography useful in pre-operative diagnosis of cervical cancer?

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical value of transvaginal elastography (TVES) in diagnosing cervical malignancies by detecting changes of tissue stiffness. METHODS: One hundred and ten consecutive patients with cervical lesions were enrolled. Pathological results were used as the gold standards. TVES was employed to detect the stiffness changes of the cervix. Strain ratio was calculated and compared between the benign and malignant lesions. Depth of invasion into stromas of 56 cases of cervical cancers measured by TVES were recorded and compared with the pathological results. Interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to analyze the reproducibility. RESULTS: Strain ratio of malignant lesions were much higher than that of the benign lesions (8.19±5.66 vs. 2.81±2.24, P<0.01). Area under the curve (AUC) was 0.905 with a 95% CI (0.835-0.976). The best cut-off point of strain ratio value was 4.53. Specificity and sensitivity for the best cut-off point were 0.788 and 0.897, respectively. Mean depth of the 56 malignant lesions was 17.8±7.4mm measured by TVES (range 5.4-43.1mm) and 11.5±8.8mm measured by pathological samples (range 3.7-38.4mm). ICC of the 2 methods were 0.87 (95% CI 0.863-0.947) and 0.931 (95% CI 0.902-0.952) for the 2 observers. CONCLUSIONS: TVES was a useful technique in confirming the diagnoses of cervical cancer and in estimating the infiltrating region. When the strain ratio of a cervical lesion was higher than 4.53, it is confidential to be diagnosed as malignant.

Expression of nucleophosmin in glandular epithelium of non-pregnant human endometrium during the menstrual cycle.

BACKGROUND: Nucleophosmin plays a critical role in embryonic development. This study aimed to examine the expression pattern of nucleophosmin in glandular epithelium of human endometrium during the menstrual cycle. METHODS: Endometrial tissues used for this study were obtained from 46 non-pregnant patients who underwent hysterectomy which had been performed to treat benign diseases. Nucleophosmin expression was assessed by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: At the early-, mid- and late-proliferative phase, nucleophosmin mRNA was highly expressed in glandular epithelium of human endometrium. At the secretory phase, the expression of nucleophosmin mRNA was reduced in glandular epithelium in early-secretory phase, and the expression in mid- and late-secretory phases was not detected. Similarly, nucleophosmin protein was strongly expressed in endometrial glands throughout the proliferative phase, but was gradually reduced during secretory phase. CONCLUSION: Nucleophosmin mRNA and protein are expressed in glandular epithelium of human endometrium throughout the menstrual cycle.