Association of CD14 and macrophage migration inhibitory factor gene polymorphisms with inflammatory microRNAs expression levels in ankylosing spondylitis and polyarthralgia.

This study aimed to investigate the genetic basis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and polyarthralgia (PA) conditions among Indian subjects through genotyping two immune regulatory genes CD14 (-159C>T) and MIF (-173G>C) and find their association with the expression levels of three circulating inflammatory miRNAs. This investigation may provide early genetic cause of these two forms of arthritis and more optimal biological targets to predict early therapeutic outcomes. A total of 140 patients (AS: 70 and PA: 70) and 156 controls were recruited from Indian population. CD14 and MIF genotyping was performed using ARMS-PCR. Expression level of three inflammatory miRNAs (miRNA-146a, miRNA-155 and miRNA-181) was quantified using RT-qPCR. C/T genotype of CD14 gene was found to cause 2.06-fold risk of developing AS (CI 1.06-5.98, p = .04) as compared to others and G/C genotype in MIF also shown significant variation between AS and control subjects. In PA subjects, CD14 genotypes (C/T) was found to be associated with disease susceptibility and G/C genotype of MIF gene polymorphism showed 4.71-fold risk of developing PA (CI 2.58-8.62, p = .0001). The study also revealed significant upregulation of miRNA-155 expression in AS subjects (p = .0001) with more than 1.3-fold difference between AS and PA as compared to the control subjects. miRNA-155 had strong association with AS patients with CD14 genotypes (p < .05) than PA and control subjects. This study provides better understanding of the mechanisms and disease susceptibility for MIF and CD14 genetic variants and inflammatory miRNAs networks involved in AS and PA.

Diagnostic Performance of Grayscale Ultrasonography in the Evaluation of Mass-forming Breast Lesions.

In our study, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of grayscale ultrasonography (USG) in risk stratification of mass-forming breast lesions. Our study included 90 cases, in which 88 were females and 2 cases were male with age ranging from 16 to 73 years. Out of 90 lesions, 51 (58%) lesions were benign and 39 (39%) lesions were malignant. High-resolution USG done in all 90 lesions revealed sensitivity (90.2%), specificity (74.36%), positive predictive value (PPV) (82.14%), negative predictive value (NPV) (85.29%), and accuracy (83.33%). Calculated weighted kappa value 0.665, indicating better level of agreement in predicting malignant lesions compared to gold standard. Our study revealed that USG is sensitive and specific test in detecting malignant lesions with high PPV and NPV; the calculated weighted kappa value was 0.665, indicating better level of agreement in predicting malignant lesions compared to gold standard.

RésuméDans notre étude, nous avons évalué les performances diagnostiques de l'échographie en niveaux de gris (USG) dans la stratification du risque de lésions mammaires formant une masse. Notre étude a inclus 90 cas, dont 88 femmes et 2 hommes âgés de 16 à 73 ans. Sur 90 lésions, 51 (58 %) étaient bénignes et 39 (39 %) étaient malignes. L'USG haute résolution réalisée sur les 90 lésions a révélé une sensibilité (90,2 %), une spécificité (74,36 %), une valeur prédictive positive (VPP) (82,14 %), une valeur prédictive négative (VPN) (85,29 %) et une précision (83,33 %). Valeur kappa pondérée calculée de 0,665, indiquant un meilleur niveau d'accord dans la prévision des lésions malignes par rapport à l'étalon-or. Notre étude a révélé que l'USG est un test sensible et spécifique pour détecter les lésions malignes avec une PPV et une VPN élevées; la valeur kappa pondérée calculée était de 0,665, ce qui indique un meilleur niveau de concordance dans la prévision des lésions malignes par rapport à l'étalon-or.

Identifying the Burden and Predictors of Diabetes Distress among Adult Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a psychologically challenging medical condition. Diabetes distress (DD) refers to the unique, often hidden emotional burdens and worries that the patient experiences when managing diabetes. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to find the burden and identify the predictors of DD in adult Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred and fifty T2DM patients were recruited for this study from the endocrine outpatient department from February to April 2019. DD was measured using the Diabetic Distress Scale. RESULTS: The prevalence of DD was 19.6%. The risk of DD was 4.25 times more in those aged ≤45 years as compared to those aged >45 years. Patients with hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) >8% had 8.8 times more DD. Patients on insulin had more DD (5.4 times) as compared to patients who were on oral antidiabetic drugs. Patients with a history of treatment interruption had 11 times more risk of DD as compared to patients who did not. CONCLUSIONS: DD was found to be high among patients aged ≤45 years, illiterates, patients on insulin, patients with a history of treatment interruption, and those with HbA1c >8%. Patients with high DD were found to have higher HbA1c levels.

Use of Biocompatible Sorafenib-gold Nanoconjugates for Reversal of Drug Resistance in Human Hepatoblatoma Cells.

The present study identifies the potential of highly biocompatible SF-GNP nano-conjugate to enhance the chemotherapeutic response to combat drug resistance in cancer cells. We developed a stable colloidal suspension of sorafenib-gold nanoconjugate (SF-GNP) of <10 nm size in aqueous medium for reverting the cancer drug resistance in SF-resistant HepG2 cells in a 3D ex-vivo model system. In-vivo biocompatibility assay of SF-GNPs showed absence of systemic toxicological effects including hematological, biochemical and histological parameters. More importantly, the histopathological analysis of vital organs such as liver, brain, lung, kidney and heart showed very least or no sign of inflammation, cell infiltration, necrosis, tissue disorganization or fibrotic reactions after intra-peritoneal administration of SF-GNP nanoconjugates in animals. However, SF-GNP nanoconjugates significantly reduced (>80%) the percentage cell survival and the size and number of SF resistant solid tumor colonies of HepG2 cells in 3D model system. The exposure of SF-GNP nanoconjugate to SF resistant HepG2 cell colonies also provided evidence for anti-proliferative effect and reversal of drug resistance by elucidating the molecular regulatory mechanisms of extracellular matrix factor (CD147), tumor growth factor (TGF-ß), hepatoma upregulated protein (hURP) and drug transporter (ABCG-2).