Surgical treatment of Milroy disease.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Milroy disease is a form of congenital primary lymphedema affecting the lower limbs. When conservative management is ineffective, surgical treatment becomes necessary. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of vascularized lymph node transfer (VLNT) associated with extensive therapeutic lipectomy in the treatment of these patients. METHODS: In China Medical University Hospital, four patients have been diagnosed with Milroy disease and treated over an 8 year-period time. All patients presented with hereditary bilateral legs swelling since birth. All patients were treated with VLNT from the gastroepiploic region bilaterally associated with extensive therapeutic lipectomy. RESULTS: All procedures have been executed bilaterally and have been successful, without complications. The average follow-up of the patients was 20.2 ± 2.8 months. The limbs treated presented an average circumference reduction of a 4.0 ± 2.1 cm and patients did not experience cellulitis during follow-up. Patients expressed satisfaction with the procedure. CONCLUSIONS: VLNT together with therapeutic lipectomy proved to be a reliable technique in moderate cases of Milroy disease, providing an alternative path for lymph drainage, and reducing the lymph load and the excess of subcutaneous adipose tissues, thus improving patients' quality of life.

Colorectal anastomosis after laparoscopic extended left colectomy: techniques and outcome.

AIM: After extended left colectomy, traditional colorectal anastomosis is often not feasible because of insufficient length of the remaining colon to perform a tension-free anastomosis. Total colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis could be an alternative but this can lead to unsatisfactory quality of life. Trans-mesenteric colorectal anastomosis or inverted right colonic transposition (the so-called Deloyers procedure) are two possible solutions for creating a tension-free colorectal anastomosis after extended left colectomy. Few studies have reported their results of these two techniques and mostly via laparotomy. The aim of this study was to describe the trans-mesenteric colorectal anastomosis and the inverted right colonic transposition procedure via a laparoscopic approach and report the outcome in a series of 13 consecutive patients. METHOD: This was retrospective chart review of laparoscopic colorectal surgery with trans-mesenteric colorectal anastomosis or the inverted right colonic transposition procedure from January 2015 up to 2019. An accompanying video demonstrates these two techniques. RESULTS: Thirteen consecutive patients underwent either a laparoscopic trans-mesenteric colorectal anastomosis (n = 9) or an inverted right colonic transposition procedure (n = 4). One patient had intra-operative presacral bleeding that was stopped successfully without conversion. Two patients had a postoperative intra-abdominal abscess, but no anastomotic complications were recorded. The median number of bowel movements per day after 6 months was 2 (range 2-5). CONCLUSIONS: Trans-mesenteric colorectal anastomosis or the inverted right colonic transposition procedure is feasible laparoscopically. The now well-established classical advantages of the laparoscopic approach are associated with good functional outcome after these procedures.

[Determination of n-butyl alcohol in urine by headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography].

Objective: To establish a headspace solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography method for determination of n-Butyl alcohol in urine. Methods: In October 2019, the n-butyl alcohol in urine was extracted with a polydimethylsiloxane/divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB) solid-phase microextraction head. The conditions of salt amount, extraction temperature, extraction time and desorption time were optimized. The separation was performed on HP-5 (30 m×0.32 mm×0.25 µm) capillary column and detected with flame ionization detector. The quantification was based on the external standard curve. Results: The linear relationship of n-butyl alcohol in urine was good in the range of 0.04-3.00 mg/L, the correlation coefficient was 0.999, the detection limit of the method was 0.04 mg/L, the recovery was 77.4%-102.8%, the intra-run precision was 3.67%-8.11%, and the inter-assay precision was 4.94%-6.90%. Conclusion: The method has simple operation, high concentration efficiency and high sensitivity, and it is suitable for the determination of n-butyl alcohol in urine of occupational exposure to n-butyl alcohol.

Survival after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and oesophagectomy versus definitive chemoradiotherapy for patients with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Whether there is a difference in survival after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy plus surgery (CRT-S) compared with definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT) in patients with locally advanced oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) remains controversial. METHODS: Patients with SCC who underwent curative treatment from 2008 to 2014 were identified from the Taiwan Cancer Registry. Propensity score matching was undertaken to balance pretreatment clinical variables. Overall survival was compared between patients undergoing CRT-S or dCRT. Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed to identify prognostic factors for overall survival. RESULTS: A total of 5832 patients with clinical stage II and III oesophageal SCC receiving CRT-S (1754) or dCRT (4078) were included. After propensity score matching, each group included 1661 patients. The 3-year overall survival rate for patients treated with CRT-S was 41·1 per cent compared with 17·9 per cent for those who had dCRT (P < 0·001). In multivariable analysis, treatment modality was an independent prognostic factor in the overall cohort before propensity score matching: hazard ratio 0·45 (95 per cent c.i. 0·40 to 0·51) for CRT-S versus dCRT (P < 0·001). In separate analyses of patients with clinical stage II and those with stage III disease, CRT-S was associated with significantly better overall survival than dCRT. CONCLUSION: Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and oesophagectomy is associated with better overall survival than dCRT in patients with stage II and III oesophageal SCC.

Risk profiles of personality traits for suicidality among mood disorder patients and community controls.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations between personality traits and suicidal ideation (SI) and attempt (SA) in mood disorder patients and community controls. METHOD: We recruited 365 bipolar, 296 major depressive disorder patients, and 315 community controls to assess their lifetime suicidality. Participants filled out self-reported personality questionnaires to collect data of personality traits, including novelty seeking (NS), harm avoidance (HA), extraversion (E), and neuroticism (N). We used logistic regression models adjusted for diagnoses to analyze combinational effects of personality traits on the risk of suicide. Additionally, radar charts display personality profiles for suicidal behaviours by groups. RESULTS: All personality traits were associated with the risk of suicidality with various effect size, except for E that showed protective effect. High N or HA had prominent and independent risk effects on SI and SA. Combinations of high N and low E, or high HA and NS were the risk personality profiles for suicidality. Higher N scores further distinguished SA from SI in mood disorder patients. CONCLUSION: Introvert personality traits showed independent risk effects on suicidality regardless of diagnosis status. Among high-risk individuals with suicidal thoughts, higher neuroticism tendency is further associated with increased risk of suicide attempt.

The changing HIV-1 genetic characteristics and transmitted drug resistance among recently infected population in Yunnan, China.

Multiple human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 genotypes in China were first discovered in Yunnan Province before disseminating throughout the country. As the HIV-1 epidemic continues to expand in Yunnan, genetic characteristics and transmitted drug resistance (TDR) should be further investigated among the recently infected population. Among 2828 HIV-positive samples newly reported in the first quarter of 2014, 347 were identified as recent infections with BED-captured enzyme immunoassay (CEIA). Of them, 291 were successfully genotyped and identified as circulating recombinant form (CRF)08_BC (47.4%), unique recombinant forms (URFs) (18.2%), CRF01_AE (15.8%), CRF07_BC (14.4%), subtype C (2.7%), CRF55_01B (0.7%), subtype B (0.3%) and CRF64_BC (0.3%). CRF08_BC and CRF01_AE were the predominant genotypes among heterosexual and homosexual infections, respectively. CRF08_BC, URFs, CRF01_AE and CRF07_BC expanded with higher prevalence in central and eastern Yunnan. The recent common ancestor of CRF01_AE, CRF07_BC and CRF08_BC dated back to 1983.1, 1992.1 and 1989.5, respectively. The effective population sizes (EPS) for CRF01_AE and CRF07_BC increased exponentially during 1991-1999 and 1994-1999, respectively. The EPS for CRF08_BC underwent two exponential growth phases in 1994-1998 and 2001-2002. Lastly, TDR-associated mutations were identified in 1.8% of individuals. These findings not only enhance our understanding of HIV-1 evolution in Yunnan but also have implications for vaccine design and patient management strategies.

[Analysis of the characteristics of lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood among coal worker's pneumoconiosis patients].

Objective: To preliminary analysis of the characteristics of lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood among 135 cases of coal worker's pneumoconiosis patients in Huainan mining area. Methods: The peripheral bloods of 135 cases of coal worker's pneumoconiosis patients and 112 cases of health examiners were collected. Flow cytometry was used to detect peripheral blood lymphocytes, T cell subsets and CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells. Results: Compared with the control group, CD64 index of granulocytes and lymphocytes was slightly higher. The total T cells (CD3(+)) increased in peripheral blood, CD4(+) expression was reduced and CD8(+) expression was increased in infection group, CD4(+)/CD8(+) ratio was inverted, the differences between the infection group and the control group were statistically significant (P<0.05) . There were significantly fewer NK (nature killer) and B cells, significantly more double negative T cells (DNT, CD3(+)CD4(-)CD8(-)) than the control group (P<0.05) . There was no statistically significant difference of CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(+low)、CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(+hi) and the ration of Treg/CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(+hi) protein expression in peripheral blood in two groups (P>0.05) . Conclusion: The analysis of peripheral blood lymphocyte and subgroup is an ideal index to monitor the immune status of coal worker's pneumoconiosis patients. It has theoretical significance for studying the immune mechanism of pneumoconiosis and guiding clinical treatment.

Harnessing the early post-injury inflammatory responses for cardiac regeneration.

Cardiac inflammation is considered by many as the main driving force in prolonging the pathological condition in the heart after myocardial infarction. Immediately after cardiac ischemic injury, neutrophils are the first innate immune cells recruited to the ischemic myocardium within the first 24 h. Once they have infiltrated the injured myocardium, neutrophils would then secret proteases that promote cardiac remodeling and chemokines that enhance the recruitment of monocytes from the spleen, in which the recruitment peaks at 72 h after myocardial infarction. Monocytes would transdifferentiate into macrophages after transmigrating into the infarct area. Both neutrophils and monocytes-derived macrophages are known to release proteases and cytokines that are detrimental to the surviving cardiomyocytes. Paradoxically, these inflammatory cells also play critical roles in repairing the injured myocardium. Depletion of either neutrophils or monocytes do not improve overall cardiac function after myocardial infarction. Instead, the left ventricular function is further impaired and cardiac fibrosis persists. Moreover, the inflammatory microenvironment created by the infiltrated neutrophils and monocytes-derived macrophages is essential for the recruitment of cardiac progenitor cells. Recent studies also suggest that treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs may cause cardiac dysfunction after injury. Indeed, clinical studies have shown that traditional ant-inflammatory strategies are ineffective to improve cardiac function after infarction. Thus, the focus should be on how to harness these inflammatory events to either improve the efficacy of the delivered drugs or to favor the recruitment of cardiac progenitor cells.

Effects of heating on the secondary structure of proteins in milk powders using mid-infrared spectroscopy.

Milk powder is an important source of protein for adults and children. Protein is very sensitive to heat, which may influence people's usage of nutrients in milk powder. In this study, we describe the temperature-induced secondary structure of protein in milk powders. In this study, whole milk powder containing 24% protein and infant formula containing 11% protein were heated from 25 to 100°C. Attenuated total reflectance (ATR) spectra in the mid-infrared range 400-4,000cm-1 were used to evaluate the heat effect on the secondary structure of protein in these 2 milk powders. The spectral changes as a function of temperature were maintained by difference spectra, second-derivative spectra and Gauss curve-fitted spectra. The secondary structures of protein in the whole milk powder began to change at 70°C and in the infant formula at 50°C. The ß-sheet and ß-turn structures in the whole milk powder both decreased in the range of 70 to 85°C, whereas α-helix structures increased. The loss of ß-sheet and ß-turn may contribute to the formation of α-helix in the whole milk powder. In infant formula powder, the ß-sheet structure showed a decrease and then increase, whereas the ß-turn structure showed an increase and then decrease in the range of 50 to 75°C, and no change was found for α-helix structures. This implies that heating may induce the transformation from ß-sheet to ß-turn. Overall, whole milk powder had better temperature stability than infant formula powder, probably because of the lower content of lipid in the former than in the latter. These results help us understand the thermal stability of protein in milk powder.

The evaluation of cartilage differentiations using transforming growth factor beta3 alone and with combination of bone morphogenetic protein-6 on adult stem cells.

In our quest to standardize our formula for a clinical trial, transforming growth factor-beta3 (TGF-ß3) alone and in combination with bone morphogenetic protein-6 (BMP-6) were evaluated for their effectiveness in cartilage differentiation. Bone Marrow Stem Cells (BMSCs) and Adipose Derived Stem Cells (ADSCs) were induced to chondrogenic lineage using two different media. Native chondrocytes served as positive control. ADSCs and BMSCs proved multipotency by tri-lineage differentiations. ADSC has significantly higher growth kinetics compare to Chondrocyte only p ≤ 0.05. Using TGF-ß3 alone, BMSC revealed higher expressions for hyaline cartilage genes compare to ADSCs. Chondrocyte has significantly higher early chondrogenic markers expression to ADSCs and BMSCs, while BMSCs was only higher to ADSC at chondroadherin, p ≤ 0.0001. On mature chondrogenic markers, chondrocytes were significantly higher to ADSCs and BMSCs for aggrecan, collagen IX, sry (sex determining region y)-box9, collagen II and fibromodullin; and only to ADSC for collagen XI. BMSC was higher to ADSC for aggrecan and collagen IX, p ≤ 0.0001. The combination of TGF-ß3 + BMP-6 revealed increased gene expressions on both BMSCs and ADSCs for early and mature chondrogenic markers, but no significance difference. For dedifferentiation markers, ADSC was significantly higher to chondrocyte for collagen I. Glycosaminoglycan evaluations with both formulas revealed that chondrocytes were significantly higher to ADSCs and BMSCs, but none was significant to each other, p ≤ 0.0001. Combination of 10 ng TGF-ß3 with 10 ng of BMP-6 enhanced chondrogenic potentials of BMSCs and ADSCs compare to TGF-ß3 alone. This could be the ideal cocktail for either cell's chondrogenic induction.

Incorporation of log odds of positive lymph nodes into the AJCC TNM classification improves prediction of survival in oral cancer.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the prognostic performance of a new N classification that incorporates the log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) into the routinely used pathological N classification for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study utilising LODDS into pN category was performed, and the AJCC TNM stage and T-New N-M stage were compared with respect to 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) rates. The discriminability was evaluated from the linear trend chi-square test, Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Harrell's c-statistic. SETTING: Medical centrer in Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 463 patients received primary surgery and neck dissection between 2004 and 2013 for OSCC. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The discriminability for 5-year DSS rates. RESULTS: The median follow-up period was 54 months, the mean patient age was 54 ± 11 years and 428 patients (92.4%) were male. The patients with higher LODDS had worse 5-year DSS rates. Incorporation of LODDS into the prognostic model based on the seventh edition of the TNM classification significantly improved discriminative performance for 5-year DSS with a lower AIC (1883 versus 1897), and higher prediction accuracy (Harrell's c-statistic: 0.768 versus 0.764). CONCLUSIONS: By utilising a merger of the LODDS and pN classifications to create a new N classification has better discriminatory and predictive ability than pathological TNM staging and could help identify high-risk patients for intense adjuvant therapy.

Development and significance of SCAR marker QG12-5 for Canarium album (Lour.) Raeusch by molecular cloning from improved RAPD amplification.

Sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) is a valuable molecular marker for the genetic identification of any species. This marker is mainly derived from molecular cloning of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). We have previously reported the use of an improved RAPD technique for the genetic characterization of different samples of Canarium album (Lour.) Raeusch (C. album). In this study, DNA fragments were amplified using improved RAPD amplified from different samples of C. album. The amplified DNA fragment was excised, purified from an agarose gel and cloned into a pGM-T vector; subsequently, a positive clone, called QG12-5 was identified by PCR amplification and enzymatic digestion and sequenced by Sanger di-deoxy sequencing method. This clone was revealed consisting of 510 nucleotides of C. album. The SCAR marker QG12-5 was developed using specifically designed PCR primers and optimized PCR conditions. This SCAR marker expressed seven continuous "TATG" [(TATG)n] tandem repeats, which was found to characterize C. album. Subsequently, this novel SCAR marker was deposited in GenBank with accession No. KT359568. Therefore, we successfully developed a C. album-specific SCAR marker for the identification and authentication of different C. album species in this study.

An improved DNA marker technique for genetic characterization using RAMP-PCR with high-GC primers.

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) is a widely used molecular marker technique. As traditional RAPD has poor reproducibility and productivity, we previously developed an improved RAPD method (termed RAMP-PCR), which increased the reproducibility, number of bands, and efficiency of studies on polymorphism. To further develop the efficiency of this method, we used high-GC content primers for improved RAMP-PCR with DNA samples from Lonicera japonica. Comparison of amplification profiles obtained by standard RAPD primers with those obtained by regular PCR and RAMP-PCR, and high-GC primers with regular PCR and RAMP-PCR showed that the average number of bands and polymorphisms per primer gradually and significantly increased (from 6.4 to 15.0 and from 4.6 to 10.2, respectively). Cluster dendrograms showed similar results, indicating that this new method is consistent and reproducible. A total of 22 samples from different species, including plants, animals, and humans, were used for RAMP-PCR with high-GC primers. Multiple bands were successfully amplified from all samples, demonstrating that this method is a reliable technique with consistent results and may be of general interest in studies on different genera and species. We developed highly effective DNA markers, which can provide a more effective and potentially valuable approach than traditional RAPD for the genetic identification of various organisms, particularly of medicinal plants.

Electroencephalographic changes associated with non-invasive nociceptive stimulus in minimally anaesthetised dogs.

Electroencephalography (EEG) has been reported as an objective, non-invasive and stress free technique for nociceptive studies. Electrical stimuli can be used to evaluate the efficacy of centrally acting agents. Peripheral nerve stimulator can be a good and cheap source of electric stimulus for studies of nociception, and studies evaluating analgesic effect of drugs under EEG. In this study suitability of peripheral nerve stimulator, and milliamperage for nociceptive studies under electroencephalography were evaluated. Six dogs were subjected to electric stimulus of 20, 40, 60 and 80 milliamperes (mAs) before and after tramadol administration at 4 mg/kg IV. Electroencephalograph was recorded during electric stimulus prior tramadol (pre-tramadol) and during electric stimulus after tramadol (post-tramadol) under minimal anaesthesia. Anaesthesia was induced with propofol and maintained with halothane at a stable concentration between 0.85 and 0.95%. Pre-tramadol median frequency (MF) increased significantly (p<0.05) at 40, 60 and 80 mAs post-electric stimulus compared to baseline MF. No difference in pre-tramadol MF was observed between 60 and 80 mAs. Tramadol produced significant effect by depression of MF at all intensities. The effect was less evident at 80 mAs. The results revealed that tramadol produced evident effect between 20 and 60 mAs. Thus, it is concluded that nerve stimulator can be used with the current between 20 and 60 mAs for nociceptive studies.

The association between miR-499a polymorphism and oral squamous cell carcinoma progression.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of miR-499a genetic polymorphism with the risk of oral leukoplakia, oral submucous fibrosis (OSF), oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and clinicopathological outcomes of OSCC. METHODS: The genotyping of miR-499a T>C (rs3746444) using TagMan assay was conducted in two case-control studies of 1549 subjects. miR-499a-5p and miR-499a-3p were assayed using stem-loop RT-PCR for 63 paired OSCC and adjacent normal tissues. RESULTS: T/C+C/C genotypes [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.84, P = 0.032] and C allelic type (AOR 1.91, P = 0.007) at miR-499a T>C were associated with an increased risk of BQ-related OSF as compared to those with T/T genotype or T allelic type, respectively. Conversely, T/C+C/C genotypes and C allelic type decreased the risk of OSCC, especially for non-BQ-related OSCC (for genotype: AOR 0.49, P = 0.010; for allelic type: AOR 0.50, P = 0.007). Additionally, downregulation of miR-499a-5p was found in OSCC tissues (P = 0.001) and correlated with the TT genotype (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: The T/C+C/C genotypes of MiR-499a may contribute to an increased risk of BQ-related OSF, but a decreased risk of OSCC. miR-499a T>C influences the expression levels of miR-499a-5p during the tumorigenesis of OSCC.

Protective efficacy of a genetic subunit bacterin against edema disease of swine in mice.

The exotoxin SLT-IIeB from the Escherichia coli Ee strain was expressed in E. coli, and the recombinant protein was purified, mixed with the Ee strain, then emulsified with oil-emulsion adjuvants to obtain a mixed subunit bacterin. Groups of Kunming mice were immunized at weeks 0 and 2, and challenged intraperitoneally with the Ee strain at week 4. Antibodies were detected by ELISA and an agglutination test. After the second immunization, the antibody level increased and the rate of immune protection against the Ee strain was 70 and 91.7% in the subunit bacterin and bacterin groups, respectively. Therefore, the mixed subunit bacterin provided good protection against the homologous Ee strain, which provides a basis for further research, into high-efficacy vaccines against porcine edema disease.

Isolation and analysis of cell-free fetal DNA from maternal peripheral blood in Chinese women.

Non-invasive prenatal diagnosis is used to detect the genetic material of the fetus by isolating the cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) from maternal peripheral blood. In order to establish an isolation method for cffDNA from maternal peripheral blood in Chinese women, the cffDNA was acquired with a two-step centrifugation using a QlAamp DNA Blood mini kit. The SRY gene of plasma DNA was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Real-time quantitative PCR was used to measure the concentration of cffDNA in maternal peripheral blood in different pregnant women. The results of the SRY gene amplification of plasma DNA from pregnant women was the same as that of the amniocyte DNA. The average concentration of cffDNA in maternal peripheral blood of pregnant women in different gestational stages was 0.98 ng/mL (0.26-1.49 ng/mL), 1.43 ng/mL (0.46- 2.34 ng/mL), and 1.95 ng/mL (0.65-6.81 ng/mL) from early, middle, and late gestational stages, respectively. The mean of cffDNA from total DNA in plasma in different stages of gestation was 22.28% (9.86-27.81%). The lowest concentration of DNA amplified by nested-PCR in our research was 10-4-10-3 ng/µL. The isolation method for cffDNA from maternal peripheral blood was successfully established and further research into its applications will be conducted.

The correlation between lipoprotein ratios and hearing outcome in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss patients.

OBJECTIVE: Recent reports have identified hypercholesterolaemia as a significant risk factor for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL). Therefore, we investigated whether lipid profiles and lipoprotein ratios are correlated with the prognosis of hearing recovery in ISSNHL patients. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patients with ISSNHL were classified into four groups (complete, partial, slight and no recovery) according to their degree of hearing recovery using Siegel's criteria and the Sudden Deafness Research Group (SDRG) criteria developed by the Japanese Ministry of Welfare. All patients' lipid profiles were analysed, including total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides. We calculated the ratios of TC/HDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C and used statistical methods to evaluate correlations between lipid profiles and lipoprotein ratios and ISSNHL prognosis. RESULTS: Hearing recovery was observed in 103 (62.0%) of 166 cases using Siegel's criteria and in 114 (68.7%) of 166 cases using SDRG's criteria. Among the three recovery groups (i.e. excluding the no recovery group), the ratio of LDL-C/HDL-C was found to be associated with recovery outcome by showing the ratio on an upward trend from complete recovery to slight recovery group, and the difference is statistically significant (P = 0.016 by Siegel's criteria, P = 0.041 by SDRG's criteria). Multiple linear regression analysis further revealed a significantly higher LDL-C/HDL-C ratio in slight hearing recovery group compared with complete recovery group (P = 0.007 by Siegel's criteria, P = 0.031 by SDRG's criteria). CONCLUSION: We suggested that lipoprotein ratio of LDL-C/HDL-C may be a prognostic factor for hearing recovery in ISSNHL patients. Further studies should be conducted to determine whether hearing outcomes in ISSNHL can be improved by changing patients' lipid profiles via antilipidemic treatment.

Increased miR-223 expression in T cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis leads to decreased insulin-like growth factor-1-mediated interleukin-10 production.

We hypothesized that the aberrant expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) T cells was involved in the pathogenesis of RA. The expression profile of 270 human miRNAs in T cells from the first five RA patients and five controls were analysed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Twelve miRNAs exhibited potentially aberrant expression in RA T cells compared to normal T cells. After validation with another 22 RA patients and 19 controls, miR-223 and miR-34b were over-expressed in RA T cells. The expression levels of miR-223 were correlated positively with the titre of rheumatoid factor (RF) in RA patients. Transfection of Jurkat cells with miR-223 mimic suppressed insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) and transfection with miR-34b mimic suppressed cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) protein expression by Western blotting. The protein expression of IGF-1R but not CREB was decreased in RA T cells. The addition of recombinant IGF-1-stimulated interleukin (IL)-10 production by activated normal T cells, but not RA T cells. The transfection of miR-223 mimic impaired IGF-1-mediated IL-10 production in activated normal T cells. The expression levels of SCD5, targeted by miR-34b, were decreased in RA T cells after microarray analysis. In conclusion, both miR-223 and miR-34b were over-expressed in RA T cells, but only the miR-223 expression levels were correlated positively with RF titre in RA patients. Functionally, the increased miR-223 expression could impair the IGF-1-mediated IL-10 production in activated RA T cells in vivo, which might contribute to the imbalance between proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines.