Meta-Analysis on the Safety and Cardiorenal Efficacy of SGLT2 Inhibitors in Patients Without T2DM.

The cardiorenal benefits of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are established, whereas those in patients without T2DM are not established. We sought to assess the cardiorenal efficacy and safety of SGLT2 inhibitors in non-T2DM patients by performing a meta-analysis based on the subgroup data of non-T2DM patients from relevant secondary analysis articles in which subgroup analyses were done according to the status of diabetes. Compared to placebo, SGLT2 inhibitors significantly reduced heart failure hospitalization [risk ratio (RR) 0.70, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.59-0.83] and kidney-specific composite outcome (RR 0.55, 95% CI 0.40-0.75) and increased Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire total score by 1.15 (95% CI 1.05-1.25) in patients without T2DM with heart failure (HF) or chronic kidney disease (CKD), whereas gliflozins did not significantly affect cardiovascular death, all-cause mortality, volume depletion, fracture, and amputation in this vulnerable population. There was no event of major hypoglycemia or diabetic ketoacidosis observed in the non-T2DM subgroup in included trials. These findings will further prompt gliflozins to be used for the prevention of HF and renal failure events and for the improvement of life quality in patients without T2DM with HF or CKD.

Effects of patient characteristics on the efficacy of complete revascularization for treatment of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction with multivessel disease: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have evaluated the efficacy of complete vs culprit-only revascularization for treatment of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) with multivessel disease. However, the efficacy of complete revascularization vs culprit-only revascularization in some STEMI patient subgroups remains unclear. METHODS: We searched PubMed and Embase for related RCTs from the start date of databases to January 3, 2020. The endpoint assessed in this meta-analysis was major adverse cardiac events (MACE). Random-effects meta-analysis was conducted stratified by each of the 5 factors of interest (i.e., sex, age, history of diabetes, ECG infarct location, and the number of arteries with stenosis) to estimate pooled hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval. Random-effects meta-regression was conducted to assess subgroup differences. We examined publication bias by drawing funnel plots and performing Egger test. This meta-analysis is reported according to the PRISMA statement. RESULTS: Six RCTs were included for pooled analysis. Compared with culprit-only revascularization, complete revascularization significantly reduced the risk of MACE (hazard ratio 0.48, 95% confidence interval 0.42-0.55; I2 = 0%; P for relative effect < .001). This significant reduction in the risk of MACE exhibited by complete revascularization was observed in most of the subgroups of interest. All of the subgroup effects based on the 5 factors of interest were not statistically significant (Psubgroup ranged from 0.198 to 0.556). Publication bias was not suggested by funnel plots and Egger test. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with culprit-only revascularization, complete revascularization significantly reduces the MACE risk in patients with STEMI and multivessel disease, which is independent of sex, age, history of diabetes, ECG infarct location, and the number of arteries with stenosis.

Controlled Synthesis, Mechanism and Degradation Property of Birnessite-MnO2 Nanoflowers and Nanoflakes.

Birnessite-MnO2 nanoflakes were synthesized via an aqueous oxidation method at 90 °C using Mn(CH3COO)2, NaOH, and KMnO4. The samples' morphology, crystalline structure, and optical property were determined by field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction and UV-Vis spectrophotometry. The birnessite-MnO2 nanoflakes were converted to KxMn8O16 and Mn suboxides following a decrease in the concentration of KMnO4 in the reaction. The amount of NaOH in the reaction determined the type of precursor. Without NaOH, the precursor was converted from Mn(OH)2 to Mn2+ (from Mn(CH3COO)2), thereby enabling the synthesis of birnessite-MnO2 nanoflowers. The formation mechanism of birnessite-MnO2 nanoflowers and nanoflakes was clarified via the corresponding simulated crystal structures. Evaluation of the synthesized samples confirmed that the birnessite-MnO2 nanoflakes and nanoflowers exhibited excellent degradation properties.

LHX3 is an advanced-stage prognostic biomarker and metastatic oncogene in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common cancer and exhibits high morbidity and mortality in the world. We recently identified LHX3 as a preferentially expressed gene with a possible involvement in HCC. OBJECTIVE: To determine the expression, clinical relevance, prognostic significance and functions of LHX3 in HCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: LHX3 expression was assessed in 190 cancerous and 40 adjacent non-cancerous tissues by PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry. Associations between LHX3 expression and clinicopathological characteristics of patients were investigated. Correlations between LHX3 expression and overall survival of patients were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier and Cox-regression methods. Functional roles of LHX3 were evaluated by transwell assays. RESULTS: LHX3 expression is significantly increased in carcinoma tissues, and associated with clinical stage and metastasis of patients. LHX3 expression is much higher in the advanced-stage patients than the early-stage patients, and is sharply increased in metastasic patients. High LHX3 expression is associated with unfavorable overall survival, and is an independent prognostic factor of patients. Moreover, LHX3 is an unfavorable and independent prognostic factor unique to advanced-stage patients. Knockdown expression of LHX3 obviously inhibits tumor cell migration and invasion. CONCLUSION: LHX3 is an advanced-stage prognostic biomarker, and acts as a new potential metastatic oncogene in HCC.

Differential microRNA expression by Solexa sequencing in the sera of ovarian cancer patients.

MicroRNAs are a class of small noncoding RNA which play important regulatory roles in a variety of cancers. MiRNA-specific expression profiles have been reported for several pathological conditions. In this study, we combined large scale parallel Solexa sequencing to identify 11 up-regulated miRNAs and 19 down-regulated miRNAs with computational techniques in the sera of ovarian cancer patients while using healthy serum as the control. Among the above, four miRNAs (miR-22, miR-93, miR-106b, miR-451) were validated by quantitative RT-PCR and found to be significantly aberrantly expressed in the serum of ovarian cancer patients (P<0.05). There were no significant differences between samples from cancer stage I/II and III/IV. However, the levels of miR-106b (p=0.003) and miR-451 (p=0.007) were significantly different in those patients under and over 51 yearsof age. MiR-451 and miR-93 were also specific when analyzed with reference to different levels of CA125. This study shows that Solexa sequencing provides a promising method for cancer-related miRNA profiling, and selectively expressed miRNAs could be used as potential serum-based biomarkers for ovarian cancer diagnosis.

[Simulation of vegetation indices optimizing under retrieval of vegetation biochemical parameters based on PROSPECT + SAIL model].

This study analyzed the sensitivities of three vegetation biochemical parameters [chlorophyll content (Cab), leaf water content (Cw), and leaf area index (LAI)] to the changes of canopy reflectance, with the effects of each parameter on the wavelength regions of canopy reflectance considered, and selected three vegetation indices as the optimization comparison targets of cost function. Then, the Cab, Cw, and LAI were estimated, based on the particle swarm optimization algorithm and PROSPECT + SAIL model. The results showed that retrieval efficiency with vegetation indices as the optimization comparison targets of cost function was better than that with all spectral reflectance. The correlation coefficients (R2) between the measured and estimated values of Cab, Cw, and LAI were 90.8%, 95.7%, and 99.7%, and the root mean square errors of Cab, Cw, and LAI were 4.73 microg x cm(-2), 0.001 g x cm(-2), and 0.08, respectively. It was suggested that to adopt vegetation indices as the optimization comparison targets of cost function could effectively improve the efficiency and precision of the retrieval of biochemical parameters based on PROSPECT + SAIL model.