Neuroanatomic Markers of Posttraumatic Epilepsy Based on MR Imaging and Machine Learning.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Although posttraumatic epilepsy is a common complication of traumatic brain injury, the relationship between these conditions is unclear and early posttraumatic epilepsy detection and prevention remain major unmet clinical challenges. This study aimed to identify imaging biomarkers that predict posttraumatic epilepsy among survivors of traumatic brain injury on the basis of an MR imaging data set. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed tensor-based morphometry to analyze brain-shape changes associated with traumatic brain injury and to derive imaging features for statistical group comparison. Additionally, machine learning was used to identify structural anomalies associated with brain lesions. Automatically generated brain lesion maps were used to identify brain regions where lesion load may indicate an increased incidence of posttraumatic epilepsy. We used 138 non-posttraumatic epilepsy subjects for training the machine learning method. Validation of lesion delineation was performed on 15 subjects. Group analysis of the relationship between traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic epilepsy was performed on an independent set of 74 subjects (37 subjects with and 37 randomly selected subjects without epilepsy). RESULTS: We observed significant F-statistics related to tensor-based morphometry analysis at voxels close to the pial surface, which may indicate group differences in the locations of edema, hematoma, or hemorrhage. The results of the F-test on lesion data showed significant differences between groups in both the left and right temporal lobes. We also saw significant differences in the right occipital lobe and cerebellum. CONCLUSIONS: Statistical analysis suggests that lesions in the temporal lobes, cerebellum, and the right occipital lobe are associated with an increased posttraumatic epilepsy incidence.

Circular RNAs as important players in human gastric cancer.

As one of the most prevalent gastrointestinal diseases, gastric cancer (GC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Since GC has no clinical manifestations in the early stage of the disease, most patients are detected in the later phases of disease and have an unfortunately lower chance of recovery. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a novel category of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), are mainly engaged in the regulation of gene expression at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Numerous evidences have revealed that circRNAs play key roles in GC as they are involved in cell proliferation, growth, and apoptosis via modulating the expression of some target genes, miRNAs, and proteins. Many studies have addressed the impact of circRNA dysregulation on GC initiation, progression, and invasion via binding to miRNAs or RNA binding proteins. Moreover, changes in circRNA expression are associated with pathological and clinical features of GC highlighting their potentials as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers in GC. In the current study, the recent findings on the significance of circRNAs in the development and progression of GC are reviewed. We focus on the implications of circRNAs as potential diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers in this malignancy.

Ferula gummosa Boiss flower and leaf extracts inhibit angiogenesis in vitro.

BACKGROUND: Angiogenesis is a vital process in development as well as in tumor metastasis. Therefore, inhibition of tumor angiogenesis may be an approach for cancer therapy. In this study, we evaluated the effect of Ferula gummosa Boiss flower and leaf extracts on angiogenesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cell growth and cytotoxic effects of different concentrations (0-70 µg/mL) of F. gummosa Boiss flower and leaf extracts were evaluated on the growth of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) using Neutral Red assay. Then, wound healing, in vitro angiogenesis assay and quantitative VEGF gene expression analysis were conducted with the noncytotoxic concentrations of the ethanol extract. RESULTS: Our results indicated that observed HUVECs viability was higher than 60% for both extracts after 24 hours treatment at concentration of 30 µg/mL or lower, whereas cytotoxic effects were observed at higher concentrations or after 48 hours treatment. F. gummosa Boiss flower and leaf extracts inhibited migration and angiogenesis capacity in a concentration-dependent manner (10-30 µg/mL), and down regulated VEGF transcription (20 µg/mL for flower extract and 30 µg/mL for leaf extract). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings revealed that F. gummosa Boiss flower and leaf extracts may contain antiangiogenic compounds, which could be used in preparation of new therapeutic agents for inhibition of tumor angiogenesis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of antiangiogenic effects of F. gummosa Boiss flower and leaf extracts and more studies are needed to identify the effective components of the extracts.

Circular RNAs as important players in human gastric cancer

Circular RNAs as important players in human gastric cancer (AU)