Left ventricular strain changes at high altitude in rats: a cardiac magnetic resonance tissue tracking imaging study.

BACKGROUND: Long-term exposure to a high altitude environment with low pressure and low oxygen could cause abnormalities in the structure and function of the heart. Myocardial strain is a sensitive indicator for assessing myocardial dysfunction, monitoring myocardial strain is of great significance for the early diagnosis and treatment of high altitude heart-related diseases. This study applies cardiac magnetic resonance tissue tracking technology (CMR-TT) to evaluate the changes in left ventricular myocardial function and structure in rats in high altitude environment. METHODS: 6-week-old male rats were randomized into plateau hypoxia rats (plateau group, n = 21) as the experimental group and plain rats (plain group, n = 10) as the control group. plateau group rats were transported from Chengdu (altitude: 360 m), a city in a plateau located in southwestern China, to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (altitude: 3850 m), Yushu, China, and then fed for 12 weeks there, while plain group rats were fed in Chengdu(altitude: 360 m), China. Using 7.0 T cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) to evaluate the left ventricular ejection fraction (EF), end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV) and stroke volume (SV), as well as myocardial strain parameters including the peak global longitudinal (GLS), radial (GRS), and circumferential strain (GCS). The rats were euthanized and a myocardial biopsy was obtained after the magnetic resonance imaging scan. RESULTS: The plateau rats showed more lower left ventricular GLS and GRS (P < 0.05) than the plain rats. However, there was no statistically significant difference in left ventricular EDV, ESV, SV, EF and GCS compared to the plain rats (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: After 12 weeks of exposure to high altitude low-pressure hypoxia environment, the left ventricular global strain was partially decreased and myocardium is damaged, while the whole heart ejection fraction was still preserved, the myocardial strain was more sensitive than the ejection fraction in monitoring cardiac function.

Effects of dexmedetomidine on oxygenation and inflammatory factors in patients undergoing uvulopalatopharyngoplasty: a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

PURPOSE: Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) can aggravate lung inflammatory reactions in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS). Dexmedetomidine (Dex) is a selective α-2 adrenoreceptor agonist that can alleviate lung injury. This study was designed to investigate the effects of Dex on oxygenation and inflammatory factors in patients undergoing UPPP in the early perioperative period. METHODS: Patients with OSAS undergoing UPPP were randomly allocated to the Dex Group or Control Group. Arterial blood gas analyses were performed, and the respiratory index (RI) and oxygenation index (OI) were calculated upon entering the operating room (T0) and immediately after surgery (T3). The inflammatory factors tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-10 (IL-10) were measured at T0 and T3. RESULTS: A total of 44 patients with OSAS were randomized. There was no significant difference in basic patient characteristics between the two groups. The preoperative RI and OI were not significantly different between the two groups, but they were altered immediately after surgery relative to the corresponding preoperative value (p < 0.05). Compared with the Control Group, the RI was significantly lower at T3 in the Dex Group (p < 0.001). However, there was no significant difference in the OI between the two groups (p = 0.128). The inflammatory factors TNF-α (p < 0.001) and IL-6 (p = 0.018) were lower, while IL-10 was higher in the Dex Group than in the Control Group (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Dexmedetomidine can improve the oxygenation and inhibit the inflammatory response in patients undergoing UPPP in the early perioperative period. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The present clinical study has been registered at Clinical Trials under number NCT03612440.

Is Anti-Reflux Anastomosis an Advantage in an Orthotopic Ileal Neobladder? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

INTRODUCTION: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the available literature regarding the postoperative effects of anti-reflux anastomosis and direct anastomosis in orthotopic ileal neobladder (ONB). METHODS: We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library in October 2021. We included 11 studies of patients with bladder cancer who underwent radical cystectomy and ONB as urinary diversion. Outcomes evaluated in this review were ureteroenteric anastomotic stricture (UEAS), vesicoureteral reflux, renal function (RFn) impairment, and pyelonephritis. All data were analyzed using Review Manager 5.4.4 and subgroup analyses were applied. RESULTS: A total of 11 studies were eligible for meta-analysis. The synthetic data suggested that anti-reflux anastomosis and direct anastomosis were comparable in terms of RFn impairment (odds ratio (OR) = 1.69; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.18-15.6; p = 0.65, I2 = 69%) and pyelonephritis (OR = 1.13; 95% CI: 0.65-1.99; p = 0.66, I2 = 1%) without significant difference in each group statistically. The pooled study data showed a significantly higher incidence of UEAS (OR = 2.84; 95% CI: 1.75-4.61, p < 0.0001, I2 = 50%) and a lower incidence of vesicoureteral reflux (OR = 0.24; 95% CI: 0.10-0.59; p = 0.002, I2 = 75%) in anti-reflux anastomosis compared to direct anastomosis. In subgroup analysis, anti-reflux anastomosis was more likely to result in UEAS than direct anastomosis, especially when ureteral stent was removed within 14 days. CONCLUSION: Although meta-analysis showed that overall incidence of vesicoureteral reflux was higher with direct anastomosis than anti-reflux anastomosis, the rate of vesicoureteral reflux was not directly related to impairment of RFn. The anti-reflux mechanism of ONB was positively associated with a higher incidence of significant UEAS compared to the direct approach, which can lead to kidney damage and an increased risk of secondary surgical procedures.

Predictive model for urosepsis in patients with Upper Urinary Tract Calculi based on ultrasonography and urinalysis using artificial intelligence learning.

PURPOSE: To construct a predicting model for urosepsis risk for patients with upper urinary tract calculi based on ultrasound and urinalysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted in patients with upper urinary tract calculi admitted between January 2016 and January 2020. The patients were randomly grouped into the training and validation sets. The training set was used to identify the urosepsis risk factors and construct a risk prediction model based on ultrasound and urinalysis. The validation set was used to test the performance of the artificial neural network (ANN). RESULTS: Ultimately, 1716 patients (10.8% cases and 89.2% control) were included. Eight variables were selected for the model: sex, age, body temperature, diabetes history, urine leukocytes, urine nitrite, urine glucose, and degree of hydronephrosis. The area under the receiver operating curve in the validation and training sets was 0.945 (95% CI: 0.903-0.988) and 0.992 (95% CI: 0.988-0.997), respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, and Yuden index of the validation set (training set) were 80.4% (85.9%), 98.2% (99.0%), and 0.786 (0.849), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A preliminary screening model for urosepsis based on ultrasound and urinalysis was constructed using ANN. The model could provide risk assessments for urosepsis in patients with upper urinary tract calculi.

Molecular Dynamics Study on the Combined Effects of the Nanostructure and Wettability of Solid Surfaces on Bubble Nucleation.

In this paper, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are conducted to investigate the bubble nucleation process of liquid argon on surfaces with a nanostructure of different wettabilities. To account for the combined effects of the nanostructure and surface wettability on bubble nucleation, the variation of the bubble volume, the nucleation starting time, as well as the heat flux between the solid surface and fluid are examined. It is found that the position of bubble nucleation depends on the pillar wettability. Bubble nucleation occurs in the bulk of fluid when the pillar is hydrophilic, while it occurs on the pillar surface when the pillar is hydrophobic. Under an integrated influence of the free-energy barrier of nucleation and heat transfer, the nucleation occurs later as the wettability of the pillar gets weaker over surfaces with the hydrophilic pillar, while it occurs earlier as the wettability of the pillar gets weaker over surfaces with the hydrophobic pillar. Moreover, the peak heat flux decreases with the decrease of the pillar wettability over surfaces with the hydrophilic pillar, while it increases with the decrease of the pillar wettability over surfaces with the hydrophobic pillar, which can be explained from the perspective of the heat transfer efficiency and the timing of phase change occurrence. Finally, a new surface with mixed-wettable pillars is proposed, which is verified to be conducive to both bubble nucleation and heat transfer.

Nanoparticle-Assisted Pool Boiling Heat Transfer on Micro-Pin-Fin Surfaces.

Boiling heat transfer intensification is of significant relevance to energy conversion and various cooling processes. This study aimed to enhance the saturated pool boiling of FC-72 (a dielectric liquid) by surface modifications and explore mechanisms of the enhancement. Specifically, circular and square micro pin fins were fabricated on silicon surfaces by dry etching and then copper nanoparticles were deposited on the micro-pin-fin surfaces by electrostatic deposition. Experimental results indicated that compared with a smooth surface, the micro pin fins increased the heat transfer coefficient and the critical heat flux by more than 200 and 65-83%, respectively, which were further enhanced by the nanoparticles up to 24% and more than 20%, respectively. Correspondingly, the enhancement mechanism was carefully explored by high-speed bubble visualizations, surface wickability measurements, and model analysis. It was quantitatively found that small bubble departure diameters with high bubble departure frequencies promoted high heat transfer coefficients. The wickability, which characterizes the ability of a liquid to rewet a surface, played an important role in determining the critical heat flux, but further analyses indicated that evaporation beneath bubbles was also essential and competition between the wicking and the evaporation finally triggered the critical heat flux.

The effects of different doses of dexmedetomidine on the requirements for propofol for loss of consciousness in patients monitored via the bispectral index: a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The α2-adrenergic agonist dexmedetomidine (DEX) is a sedative and can be used as an adjunct to hypnotics. The study sought to evaluate the effects of different doses of DEX on the requirements for propofol for loss of consciousness (LOC) in patients monitored via the bispectral index (BIS). METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind, three arm parallel group design and placebo-controlled trial, 73 patients aged between 18 and ~ 65 years with a BMI range of 18.0-24.5 kg·m- 2 and an American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade I or II who were scheduled for general anesthesia at the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University were included in this study. Anesthesiologists and patients were blinded to the syringe contents. All patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive a 0.5 µg·kg- 1 DEX infusion (0.5 µg·kg- 1 DEX group; n = 24), a 1.0 µg·kg- 1 DEX infusion (1.0 µg·kg- 1 DEX group; n = 25) or a saline infusion (control group; n = 24) for 10 min. Propofol at a concentration of 20 mg·kg- 1·h- 1 was then infused at the end of the DEX or saline infusion. The propofol infusion was stopped when the patient being infused lost consciousness. The primary endpoint were propofol requirements for LOC and BIS value at LOC. RESULTS: The data from 73 patients were analyzed. The propofol requirements for LOC was reduced in the DEX groups compared with the control group (1.12 ± 0.33 mg·kg- 1 for the 0.5 µg·kg- 1 DEX group vs. 1.79 ± 0.39 mg·kg- 1 for the control group; difference, 0.68 mg·kg- 1 [95% CI, 0.49 to 0.87]; P = 0.0001) (0.77 ± 0.27 mg·kg- 1 for the 1.0 µg·kg- 1 DEX group vs. 1.79 ± 0.39 mg·kg- 1 for the control group; difference, 1.02 mg·kg- 1 [95% CI, 0.84 to 1.21]; P = 0.0001). The propofol requirements for LOC was lower in the 1.0 µg·kg- 1 DEX group than the 0.5 µg·kg- 1 DEX group (0.77 ± 0.27 mg·kg- 1 vs. 1.12 ± 0.33 mg·kg- 1, respectively; difference, 0.34 mg·kg- 1 [95% CI, 0.16 to 0.54]; P = 0.003). At the time of LOC, the BIS value was higher in the DEX groups than in the control group (67.5 ± 3.5 for group 0.5 µg·kg- 1 DEX vs. 60.5 ± 3.8 for the control group; difference, 7.04 [95% CI, 4.85 to 9.23]; P = 0.0001) (68.4 ± 4.1 for group 1.0 µg·kg- 1 DEX vs. 60.5 ± 3.8 for the control group; difference, 7.58 [95% CI, 5.41 to 9.75]; P = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The study showed that DEX (both 0.5 and 1.0 µg·kg- 1 DEX) reduced the propofol requirements for LOC. DEX pre-administration increased the BIS value for LOC induced by propofol. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (trial ID: NCT02783846 on May 26, 2016).

The Effect of Daily Fluid Management and Beverages Consumption on the Risk of Bladder Cancer: A Meta-analysis of Observational Study.

Epidemiological studies have evaluated the risk of bladder cancer (BCa) in relation to total fluid intake, as well as specific type of beverages consumption, with controversial results. The aim of this study was to further explore the potential relationship by conducting a meta-analysis. Fifty-four articles involving more than 43,000 BCa patients were included in this meta-analysis. A positive, though not statistically significant, association was found between total fluid intake and risk of BCa comparing the highest with lowest intake (SRRE: 1.16, 95%CI: 1.00-1.36). By conducting dose-response meta-analysis, we found that each 500 ml/day increase in total fluid intake was associated with 3.3% increased risk of BCa (RR: 1.03, 95%CI: 1.00-1.07). Pronounced increase in risk of BCa was detected when total fluid intake was more than 3000 ml/day. Meta-analyses of specific type of beverages showed increasing intake of coffee (RR: 1.03, 95%CI: 1.02-1.05) were risk factors for BCa. On the contrary, increasing intake of milk appeared to be a potential protective factor for BCa (RR: 0.90, 95%CI: 0.83-0.98). The risk of BCa was not significantly related to intake of water (RR: 1.01, 95%CI: 0.98-1.03), alcohol (RR: 1.01, 95%CI: 0.97-1.05), tea (RR: 1.01, 95%CI: 0.97-1.05) and soft drinks (RR: 1.04, 95%CI: 0.96-1.11).

Penile traumatic testicular dislocation: a case report.

Traumatic testicular dislocation is rare and usually occurs in patients after a traumatic motor accident. Manual reduction or surgical exploration is the main treatment for this condition. We report a rare case of unilateral traumatic testicular dislocation in a man with an ectopic testis in the middle of the penis after a motorcycle crash injury. On the sixth day of hospitalization, the patient found a lump in the middle of his penis. Doppler ultrasound showed an ectopic testicle in the middle of the penis with good blood flow. After consultation, a manual reduction was successfully performed. A careful physical examination should be performed in patients with multiple injuries from the first medical exam. Early detection and timely reduction are critical to protect testicular function.

Association of dietary carotenoid intake with the prevalence kidney stones among the general adult population.

PURPOSE: This study was to examine whether higher dietary carotenoid intake levels were associated with a lower prevalence of kidney stones. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study analyzed data from 2007 to 2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) project. Dietary carotenoid intake (α-carotene, ß-carotene, ß-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, and lutein/zeaxanthin) was assessed using two 24-h dietary recall interviews. Multiple logistic regression and weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression were applied to examine the associations between five dietary carotenoids alone, compounds, and the prevalence of kidney stones. The dose-response relationships were analyzed by restricted cubic spline regression. RESULTS: A total of 30,444 adults (2909 participants with kidney stones) were included in the analysis. The mean age of the participants was 49.95 years and 49.2% of the participants were male. Compared with the first quartile, the fourth quartile of α-carotene (odds ratio [OR] = 0.82 [0.73-0.92]), ß-carotene (OR = 0.79 [0.70-0.89]), ß-cryptoxanthin (OR = 0.88 [0.79-0.99]), and lutein/zeaxanthin (OR = 0.80 [0.71-0.91]) were significantly and inversely associated with the prevalence of kidney stones after adjusting for confounders. The dose-response analysis showed a linear relationship between five dietary carotenoid intake levels and the prevalence of kidney stones. Further WQS analysis revealed that the combination of all five dietary carotenoids was negatively associated with and the prevalence of kidney stones, with the largest effect coming from ß-carotene (weight = 0.538). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicated that higher dietary carotenoid intake levels were associated with decreased prevalence of kidney stones, and increasing the intake of foods rich in ß-carotene may prevent the development of kidney stones.

UBE2C-induced crosstalk between mono- and polyubiquitination of SNAT2 promotes lymphatic metastasis in bladder cancer.

Ubiquitination plays an essential role in protein stability, subcellular localization, and interactions. Crosstalk between different types of ubiquitination results in distinct biological outcomes for proteins. However, the role of ubiquitination-related crosstalk in lymph node (LN) metastasis and the key regulatory factors controlling this process have not been determined. Using high-throughput sequencing, we found that ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 C (UBE2C) was overexpressed in bladder cancer (BCa) and was strongly associated with an unfavorable prognosis. Overexpression of UBE2C increased BCa lymphangiogenesis and promoted LN metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, UBE2C mediated sodium-coupled neutral amino acid transporter 2 (SNAT2) monoubiquitination at lysine 59 to inhibit K63-linked polyubiquitination at lysine 33 of SNAT2. Crosstalk between monoubiquitination and K63-linked polyubiquitination increased SNAT2 membrane protein levels by suppressing epsin 1-mediated (EPN1-mediated) endocytosis. SNAT2 facilitated glutamine uptake and metabolism to promote VEGFC secretion, ultimately leading to lymphangiogenesis and LN metastasis in patients with BCa. Importantly, inhibition of UBE2C significantly attenuated BCa lymphangiogenesis in a patient-derived xenograft model. Our results reveal the mechanism by which UBE2C mediates crosstalk between the monoubiquitination and K63-linked polyubiquitination of SNAT2 to promote BCa metastasis and identify UBE2C as a promising target for treating LN-metastatic BCa.

Failure of initial renal arterial embolization for severe post-percutaneous nephrolithotomy hemorrhage: a multicenter study of risk factors.

PURPOSE: Severe hemorrhage after percutaneous nephrolithotomy is a rare but alarming event. If local tamponade fails to control bleeding, the current treatment of choice is superselective renal arterial embolization. If initial embolization is unsuccessful, repeat embolization or nephrectomy is often required. To our knowledge we report the first study of risk factors for failed initial superselective renal arterial embolization. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 17,619 patients who underwent a total of 19,185 percutaneous nephrolithotomies from January 2007 to April 2012 at 6 centers. Study inclusion criteria were percutaneous nephrolithotomy and severe postoperative renal hemorrhage requiring superselective renal arterial embolization. Data on patients in whom initial embolization failed were compared to those on patients with successful embolization on univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Of the 17,619 patients 117 (0.6%), met study inclusion criteria, including 90 males and 27 females. Initial treatment failed in 12 patients (10.3%), 8 underwent repeat superselective renal arterial embolization, 3 required 3 embolizations and 1 underwent nephrectomy. Complete bleeding cessation was achieved in all 11 repeat embolization cases. We identified 3 risk factors for failure of initial superselective renal arterial embolization, including multiple percutaneous access sites, more than 2 bleeding sites identified on renal angiogram and gelatin sponge alone used as the embolic material. CONCLUSIONS: Carefully selecting patients for multitract percutaneous nephrolithotomy, making an extra effort to identify all bleeding vessels during angiography and not using gelatin sponge as the only embolic material could potentially decrease the risk of failure of initial superselective renal arterial embolization after percutaneous nephrolithotomy.

[DAZL gene polymorphisms and astheno-teratozoospermia].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the DZAL gene in infertile Han Chinese males with astheno-teratozoospermia. METHODS: We collected semen samples from 173 infertile Han Chinese men with astheno-teratozoospermia (case group) and 175 age-matched normal male volunteers (control group) for semen routine and morphological analyses. We obtained genomic DNA, genotyped the polymorphisms of the DAZL gene A260G and A386G via the Sequenom MassARRAY system, and compared the frequencies of the genotypes between the case and control groups. RESULTS: The AA nucleotide variant was found in the A260G and A386G polymorphisms of the DZAL gene in both the cases and controls, but the heterozygous AG variant in neither. CONCLUSION: The A260G and A386G polymorphisms of the DAZL gene are not correlated with astheno-teratozoospermia-induced male infertility in the Han Chinese population, and therefore could not be considered as molecular markers of male infertility.

Influencing factors for mortality in prostate cancer patients with T1 and T2 stage: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Few reports have focused on the influencing factors of localized prostate cancer (PCa)-specific mortality so far. This study aimed to develop a competitive risk model for identifying the factors influencing the localized PCa mortality rate based on 135,310 subjects in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Methods: We included 135,310 localized PCa male patients from SEER database 2004-2016 in this cohort study, and collected the baseline information of all patients, including age of diagnosis, race, marital status, socioeconomic status (SES), American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) Gleason score, and so on. The outcome was considered as PCa-specific mortality in this study. The end time of follow-up was November 2018. Independent risk factors were examined by multivariate Fine-Gray analysis. The results are shown by hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: All patients were divided into three groups: died from localized PCa (n=1,400), died from other causes (n=16,996), and survived (n=116,914). The diagnostic age of 119,899 patients was ≥55 years. The multivariate Fine-Gray analysis indicated that age of diagnosis (55-70 years: HR =1.473, 95% CI: 1.124-1.930; >70 years: HR =2.528, 95% CI: 1.901-3.362), race (American India/Alaska Native, Asian/Pacific Islander: HR =0.653, 95% CI: 0.490-0.870), marital status (divorced: HR =1.433, 95% CI: 1.197-1.717; single: HR =1.463, 95% CI: 1.244-1.719; widowed: HR =1.485, 95% CI: 1.222-1.804), therapeutic method (radiotherapy: HR =1.500; 95% CI: 1.119-2.011), SES (4-10: HR =0.799, 95% CI: 0.664-0.961; ≥11: HR =0.670; 95% CI: 0.534-0.839), AJCC stage (HR =0.820, 95% CI: 0.715-0.940), level of PSA (HR: 1.002, 95% CI: 1.002-1.002) and Gleason score (HR: 2.226, 95% CI: 2.108-2.350) were associated with the risk of localized PCa mortality. Conclusions: The study determined the influencing factors for mortality in patients with localized PCa through a competitive risk model. This finding may provide a reference for localized PCa patients: localized PCa patients who are older, divorced, widowed, single, have a radiotherapy, have a high PSA level, and Gleason score may be at high risk.

miR-628-5p is a Potential Novel Prognosis Biomarker, Associated with Immune Infiltration in Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: microRNA-628-5p (miR-628-5p) has a significant impact on certain types of cancer. The precise function of miR-628-5p in the context of bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA) remains ambiguous. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the role of miR-628-5p in BLCA. METHODS: The samples were collected from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Statistics were employed to evaluate the correlation and predictive significance of miR-628-5p. We analyzed the target genes and regulatory network of miR-628-5p and the correlation between miR-628-5p and immune infiltration. The expression of miR-628-5p in BLCA cells was confirmed by quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). RESULTS: miR-628-5p exhibited differential expression across various types of cancer. There was a significant association between high expression of miR-628-5p and primary therapy outcome (p < 0.05). High expression of miR-628-5p was observed to be associated with poorer overall survival (HR: 1.42; 95% CI: 1.06-1.90; p = 0.02), progress free survival (HR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.17-2.11; p = 0.003), and disease specific survival (HR: 1.83; 95% CI: 1.28-2.62; p = 0.001) in BLCA. miR-628-5p was an independent prognostic factor in BLCA and may be involved in the development of the disease through various pathways, including focal adhesion, ECM-receptor interaction, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and MAPK signaling pathway, and among others. miR-628-5p expression was significantly correlated with immune infiltration in BLCA patients. Compared to normal bladder epithelial cells, BLCA cell lines exhibited a significant upregulation of miR-628-5p. CONCLUSION: It is possible that miR-628-5p could serve as a hopeful therapeutic target and prognostic biomarker for individuals with BLCA.

Combined detection of vitamin D, CRP and TNF-α has high predictive value for osteoporosis in elderly men.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the predictive value of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3), C-reactive protein (CRP), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels for osteoporosis in elderly men. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted in 122 elderly male patients that were tested in The Affiliated Hospital of Xinyang Vocational and Technical College between January 2020 and May 2022. The patients were divided into an osteoporosis group (OG, n = 77) and a control group (CG, n = 45) according to the results of bone mineral density. The formula N = Z^2*(P*(1-P))/E^2 was used to calculate the required sample size (N) for a given confidence interval (Z), total error (E), and proportion (P) of the target population. The proportion (P) is often assumed to be 0.5 and not randomly distributed across the population. The levels of cross-linked C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX-I), procollagen type I N-terminal propeptide (PINP), intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), osteocalcin (OC), and serum levels of 25(OH)D3, CRP, and TNF-α were measured and compared between the two groups. Pearson correlation was used to analyze the relationship between the parameters. The predictive value of 25(OH)D3, CRP and TNF-α for osteoporosis was also analyzed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Logistic multivariate analysis was performed to analyze the risk factors for osteoporosis in elderly men. RESULTS: Compared with the CG, the OG exhibited evidently lower serum 25(OH)D3, but significantly higher CRP and TNF-α (P < 0.05). Pearson correlation demonstrated that the bone mineral density was negatively correlated with CTX-I, PINP, serum CRP and TNF-α, whereas it was positively correlated with OC and 25(OH)D3 in elderly men. The areas under the ROC curve (AUCs) of serum 25(OH)D3, CRP and TNF-α were identified as 0.931, 0.878 and 0.846, respectively, and the AUC of the combined detection of the three was 0.991. Furthermore, age, CTX-I, PINP, OC, 25(OH)D3, as well as serum CRP and TNF-α were identified as risk factors for osteoporosis among elderly men. CONCLUSION: Serum 25(OH)D3, CRP, and TNF-α are associated with osteoporosis in elderly men, and can serve as predictors for osteoporosis.

Screening ANLN and ASPM as bladder urothelial carcinoma-related biomarkers based on weighted gene co-expression network analysis.

Introduction: Bladder cancer (BLCA) is one of the most common malignancies in the urinary system with a poor prognosis and high treatment costs. Identifying potential prognostic biomarkers is significant for exploring new therapeutic and predictive targets of BLCA. Methods: In this study, we screened differentially expressed genes using the GSE37815 dataset. We then performed a weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to identify the genes correlated with the histologic grade and T stage of BLCA using the GSE32548 dataset. Subsequently, Kaplan Meier survival analysis and Cox regression were used to further identify prognosis-related hub genes using the datasets GSE13507 and TCGA-BLCA. Moreover, we detected the expression of the hub genes in 35 paired samples, including BLCA and paracancerous tissue, from the Shantou Central Hospital by qRT-polymerase chain reaction. Results: This study showed that Anillin (ANLN) and Abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated gene (ASPM) were prognostic biomarkers for BLCA. High expression of ANLN and ASPM was associated with poor overall survival.The qRT-PCR results revealed that ANLN and ASPM genes were upregulated in BLCA, and there was a correlation between the expression of ANLN and ASPM in cancer tissues and paracancerous tissue. Additionally, the increasing multiples in the ANLN gene was obvious in high-grade BLCA. Discussion: In summary, this preliminary exploration indicated a correlation between ANLN and ASPM expression. These two genes, serving as the risk factors for BLCA progression, might be promising targets to improve the occurrence and progression of BLCA.

Identification of P3H1 as a Predictive Prognostic Biomarker for Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma Based on the Cancer Genome Atlas Database.

Purpose: The extracellular matrix in the tumor microenvironment are closely related to the development of tumors. This study's primary aim is to study the association between prolyl 3-hydroxylase 1 (P3H1) which mainly expresses collagen in extracellular matrix and the progression and prognosis of bladder cancer (BC). Methods: The clinical and transcriptome data were acquired from the cancer genome atlas database. BLCAsubtyping is used to evaluate tissue subtypes of BC. The COX proportional hazards can be used to evaluate the survival process's influencing factors. Immunohistochemistry was used to identify differences in the expression of P3H1 in cancer and paired adjacent tissues. GSEA was used to investigate the underlying biological processes. Finally, ssGSEA, TIMER and pRRophetic were used to study the relationship between P3H1 and immune cell infiltration and drug sensitivity. Results: The expression of P3H1 was substantially higher in highly invasive BC samples than in low invasive BC. P3H1 was an independent predictor of overall survival (HR = 1.12, p = 0.03). P3H1 expression was significantly higher in tumor tissues than adjacent normal tissues in clinical tissue samples, and was significantly higher in highly stage cancer than low stage cancer samples. Samples with high P3H1 expression had a higher level of immune cell infiltration and immune function, as well as a significant correlation with macrophage and dendritic cell infiltration and TGF-beta, Th1 cells, and macrophage regulation (cor >0.3, p <0.05). P3H1 high expression samples were substantially more sensitive to docetaxel, cisplatin, vinblastine, camptothecin, paclitaxel, and other medicines than P3H1 low expression samples. Discussion: P3H1 is a possible oncogene and an independent predictor of poor prognosis in BC; it also has enhanced sensitivity to docetaxel, cisplatin, vinblastine, camptothecin, paclitaxel, and other medications.