MiR-20b is implicated in preeclampsia progression via the regulation of myeloid cell leukemin-1.

Preeclampsia (PE) may induce gestational failure, threatening a significant number of pregnant women. Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to participate in PE progression, whereas the precise functions and potential mechanisms of miR-20b in placental trophoblast cells as well as in PE progression remain poorly understood. In the present study, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis was used to detect expressions of miR-20b and myeloid cell leukemin- 1(MCL-1) mRNA. Cell viability was investigated by cell counting kit-8(CCK-8) assays. Cell invasion and migration abilities were determined by Transwell assays. Western blot was performed to detect MCL-1 protein expressions. The interaction between miR-20b and MCL-1 was investigated by bioinformatics analysis and luciferase activity assay. The results of the study demonstrated that miR-20b was highly expressed in placental tissues of patients with PE. Moreover, miR-20b overexpression inhibited HTR8/ SVneo cell proliferation, invasion and migration. Furthermore, MCL-1 was targeted by miR-20b, and MCL-1 restoration could partially attenuate the effect of miR-20b on HTR8/SVneo cells. In conclusion, the results indicate that miR-20b may contribute to PE through inhibiting proliferation, invasion and migration of placental trophoblast cells by targeting MCL-1. Therefore, miR-20b may be used as a notable biomarker for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of PE. MiR-20b targeting MCL-1 deserves further investigation in order to explore their potential role in PE.

Use of nimotuzumab combined with cisplatin in treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and its effect on expressions of VEGF and MMP-2.

PURPOSE: This paper aims to observe the expressions of VEGF and MMP-2 in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated by nimotuzumab combined with cisplatin. METHODS: Altogether, 104 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated in our hospital from April 2014 to August 2016 were selected as research subjects. Among them, 50 patients treated with cisplatin were divided into a control group and 54 patients treated with nimotuzumab combined with cisplatin were divided into an observation group. The two groups of patients were compared in terms of efficacy after treatment and incidence of adverse reactions. Changes of serum VEGF and MMP-2 concentrations before and after treatment were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the 3-year overall survival (OS) of patients was observed. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, patients in the observation group had significantly higher total remission rate (RR) (P < 0.05) and significantly lower incidence of adverse reactions (P < 0.05). Before treatment, there was no significant difference between the observation and control groups in the concentrations of VEGF and MMP-2 (P > 0.05). After treatment, the concentrations in the two groups were significantly lower than those before treatment (P < 0.05), and the concentrations in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the 3-year OS between the observation and control groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Nimotuzumab combined with cisplatin could improve the conditions of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. After treatment, the expression of VEGF and MMP-2 decreased significantly. We speculated that it improves the survival rate of patients by reducing the expression of VEGF and MMP-2.

Investigation of the clinical significance of detecting PTX3 for community-acquired pneumonia.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the value of PTX3 in the diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We included 170 inpatients diagnosed with CAP from January 2016 to December 2018. The patients were divided into the severe pneumonia group and the mild pneumonia group according to their condition. According to the results of pathogen detection, they were divided into the bacterial infection group, the virus infection group, the mixed infection group, and the other pathogen infection group. Clinical data including C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), white blood cell count (WBC), and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were collected. Blood was collected within 24 hours, 3 days, and 7 days after admission, and the serum PTX3 level was dynamically monitored. The correlation between different groups was compared, and expression differences and dynamic changes of PTX3 were analyzed. RESULTS: PTX3, PCT, and CRP in the CAP group were higher than those in the healthy control group, and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). Compared with the mild group, the increase of PTX3, PCT, and CRP was also different in the severe group (p<0.05). The area under the ROC curve of PTX3 was 0.726 (sensitivity 76.08%, specificity 76.92%) when the threshold value was 32.26 ng/ml. Dynamic monitoring of PTX3 showed that the PTX3 level in severe CAP patients was significantly higher than that in mild patients (p<0.05), and the PTX3 level in both groups gradually decreased with treatment time, but the level in severe CAP patients remained at a high level on the 7th day. The main pathogens in CAP were bacteria (77 cases, 45.7%), and there was no significant difference in the PTX3 level among the patients infected with different pathogenic bacteria (p=0.311). CONCLUSIONS: The serum PTX3 level, especially the dynamic monitoring results, can be used as a biomarker to reflect community acquired pneumonia, which can provide effective auxiliary diagnosis and efficacy in monitoring for clinical practice.

IL-10 gene polymorphism in diabetic retinopathy.

INTRODUCTION: To investigate the relationship between the interleukin-10 (IL-10) gene polymorphism and the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy (DR). PATIENTS AND METHODS: According to the fundus examination report, 420 patients with diabetes were divided into the non-DR group (n=200) and the DR group (n=220). The single nucleotide polymorphisms rs1145612 and rs11567245 in the promoter region of the IL-10 gene were classified by the conformational differential gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: No correlation was found between the polymorphism rs1145612 and the clinical information of DR patients. The polymorphism rs11567245 had correlations with multiple clinical indicators of DR patients, including body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), fasting blood glucose (FBG), and 2-h postprandial blood glucose (2hBG) (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The IL-10 gene promoter rs1145612 is not related to the occurrence and development of DR, but a relationship exists between the polymorphism rs11567245 and the occurrence and development of DR.

Use of nimotuzumab combined with cisplatin in treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and its effect on expressions of VEGF and MMP-2

Purpose This paper aims to observe the expressions of VEGF and MMP-2 in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated by nimotuzumab combined with cisplatin. Methods Altogether, 104 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated in our hospital from April 2014 to August 2016 were selected as research subjects. Among them, 50 patients treated with cisplatin were divided into a control group and 54 patients treated with nimotuzumab combined with cisplatin were divided into an observation group. The two groups of patients were compared in terms of efficacy after treatment and incidence of adverse reactions. Changes of serum VEGF and MMP-2 concentrations before and after treatment were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the 3-year overall survival (OS) of patients was observed. Results Compared with the control group, patients in the observation group had significantly higher total remission rate (RR) (P < 0.05) and significantly lower incidence of adverse reactions (P < 0.05). Before treatment, there was no significant difference between the observation and control groups in the concentrations of VEGF and MMP-2 (P > 0.05). After treatment, the concentrations in the two groups were significantly lower than those before treatment (P < 0.05), and the concentrations in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the 3-year OS between the observation and control groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions Nimotuzumab combined with cisplatin could improve the conditions of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. After treatment, the expression of VEGF and MMP-2 decreased significantly. We speculated that it improves the survival rate of patients by reducing the expression of VEGF and MMP-2 (AU)