Prognostic significance of long noncoding RNA Z38 as a candidate biomarker in breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) Z38 has been shown to promote cell proliferation and tumorigenesis in breast cancer. However, expression pattern and prognostic value of lncRNA Z38 in breast cancer patients remain elusive. METHODS: The expression levels of SPRY4-IT1 in 110 self-paired specimens of breast cancer and adjacent normal breast tissues were measured by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), and its correlation with overall survival of patients with breast cancer was further statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Compared with normal breast tissues, Z38 was upregulated in breast cancer tissues. Furthermore, of 110 breast cancer patients, high Z38 expression was significantly associated with tumor-node-metastasis stage and lymph node metastasis. Further analysis using the Cox regression model revealed that Z38 expression was an independent prognostic factor of overall survival in patients with breast cancer (hazard ratio=4.74, 95% confidence interval 2.41-9.32). The nomogram presents a good prediction of the probability of overall survival of breast cancer patients (c-index: 0.792), and its predictive efficiency was further confirmed by the calibration curve. CONCLUSION: Our data highlighted the potential of lncRNA Z38 as novel candidate biomarker to identify patients with breast cancer at high risk of tumor death.

Genetic Variation of Inflammatory Genes to Ischemic Stroke Risk in a Chinese Han Population.

BACKGROUND: Inflammation proteins play an important role in stroke occurrence. IL1A, IL1B, PTGS2, MMP2, and MMP9 were the mediators involved in the immune response, and the association of these genetic variations with ischemic stroke (IS) risk was still unclear. METHODS: To investigate the susceptibility of genetic variations of IL1A, IL1B, PTGS2, MMP2, and MMP9 to IS risk, we performed a case-control study involving 299 patients and 300 controls in a Chinese population. Thirteen genetic variations of investigated genes of all participants were genotyped using an improved multiplex ligase detection-reaction technique. RESULTS: No SNP in all genes showed an association with overall IS. However, in subgroup analysis, PTGS2 rs689466 (dominant model: CT vs TT - ORadjusted= 2.51, 95% CI: 1.22-5.16, p = 0.012; co-dominant model: CT/CC vs TT - ORadjusted= 2.53, 95% CI: 1.26-5.07, p = 0.009; additive model - ORadjusted= 2.26, 95% CI: 1.19-4.28, p = 0.013) and rs5275 (dominant model: GG vs AA - ORadjusted= 0.31, 95% CI: 0.12-0.80, p = 0.016; co-dominant model: GA/GG vs AA - ORadjusted= 0.45, 95% CI: 0.21-0.95, p = 0.036; additive model - ORadjusted= 0.60, 95% CI: 0.39-0.92, p = 0.020) were associated with IS type of small-vessel occlusion. CONCLUSION: Our study suggested that PTGS2 rs689466 C and rs5275 A were potentially associated with IS subtype of small-vessel occlusion. Our result should be confirmed with further large sample sized studies.

Susceptibility of PON1/PON2 Genetic Variations to Ischemic Stroke Risk in a Chinese Han Population.

BACKGROUND: Paraoxonases (PONs) are a family of orphan enzymes with multiple functions, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, antiatherogenic activities. Studies have suggested that genetic variations in PON1 and PON2 are associated with ischemic stroke (IS) risk; however, the conclusion remains unclear in the Chinese population. METHODS: To investigate the susceptibility of genetic variations in PON1 and PON2 to risk of IS and its subtypes, this case-control study was carried out on a Chinese population comprising 300 IS patients and 300 healthy controls. Genotypes of six genetic variations in PON1 and PON2 were identified with an improved multiplex ligase detection-reaction technique. RESULTS: PON1 rs662 was associated with increased risk of IS (CT vs. TT - ORadjusted 1.79, 95% CI 1.08-2.97; p=0.025). Stratified analysis for patients by sex revealed that the significant association of PON1 rs662 with IS risk was maintained in the male cohort (CT vs. TT - ORadjusted 2.59, 95% CI 1.29-5.21 [p=0.009]; CT/CC vs. TT - ORadjusted 2.03, 95% CI 1.05-3.93 [p=0.036]), but not in the female cohort. Analysis according to IS subtype revealed that PON1 rs662 genetic variation was an increased risk in the subcohort of patients with large-artery atherosclerosis (CT/CC vs. TT - ORadjusted 2.31, 95% CI 1.09-4.91; p=0.029), but not in patients with other types of IS. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that PON1 rs662 presented a potential risk of IS, especially for males, and this association was more obvious for large-artery atherosclerosis.

Triglyceride-to-high density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio predicts clinical outcomes in patients with gastric cancer.

Correlation of triglyceride (TG)-to-high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio (TG/HDL-C) and the survival of gastric cancer (GC) remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to explore the precise effect of preoperative TG/HDL-C on clinical outcomes in GC patients. Patients with GC were enrolled from 2006 to 2014. A total of 957 individuals from a single center were divided into prospective training and retrospective test cohorts. The optimal cutoff value of TG/HDL-C was determined using X-tile software to separate the training cohort into low and high survival groups according to TG/HDL-C levels. Survival analyses were performed using Kaplan-Meier curves and a Cox proportional hazards regression model. Preoperative TG/HDL-C and clinical outcomes were obtained to determine the prognostic significance of serum lipids in the training and test cohorts. We observed that high TG and TG/HDL-C were significantly correlated with poor outcome in GC patients, and high TG/HDL-C harbored the highest area under curve to independently predict 5-year overall survival in two cohorts. Furthermore, c-index of the prognostic nomogram including TG/HDL-C was significantly higher than that without it. In summary, TG/HDL-C was an efficient and independent prognostic factor to predict 5-year case fatality of GC patients and to improve the efficacy of its prognostic nomogram.

Diagnostic and Differential Diagnostic Significance of Laboratory Markers in Crayfish-Associated Rhabdomyolysis.

CONTEXT: Haff disease is a rare syndrome of myalgia and rhabdomyolysis occurring within 24h of consumption of certain types of cooked freshwater fish or crustacean. OBJECTIVE: The white blood cell count (WBC), plasma creatine kinase (CK), creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB), CK-MB/CK, troponin T (cTnT) and creatinine (Cr) were analyzed as diagnostic markers for crayfish (Procambarus clarkii)-associated rhabdomyolysis (Haff disease). The significance of these laboratory markers in differentiating myocardial injury disease and Haff disease was explored. METHODS: 138 patients with symptoms of acute onset (such as chest pain, muscle pain) and high myocardial enzymes were assigned as the Haff disease group and myocardial injury group, respectively. In parallel, 80 healthy individuals were selected as healthy control. Plasma Cr, CK, and CK-MB levels were detected by the Johnson & Johnson DT60II dry biochemistry analyzer; cTnT level was detected by Roche Elecsys 2010; WBC was detected by Sysmex 5300. RESULTS: The WBC levels in the Haff disease group and myocardial injury diseases group were higher than the healthy control group (P<0.05). The plasma CK, CK-MB levels in Haff disease group were the highest, following by the myocardial injury disease group, and the lowest were in the normal control group. There were also statistically significant differences between two groups (P<0.05): the CK-MB/CK and cTnT's levels in the myocardial injury disease group were higher than those in the Haff disease group and healthy control group (P<0.05); the plasma Cr level in the Haff disease group was lower than that in the myocardial injury disease group and normal control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that WBC, plasma CK, and CK-MB increase significantly, whereas Cr decreases significantly in Haff disease. These laboratory markers may be used for the diagnosis of crayfish-associated rhabdomyolysis. CK may be used as a biomarker to evaluate the severity of Haff disease, while cTnT and CK-MB/CK may be used to differentiate myocardial injury disease and Haff disease.

The association of Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) deletion and prostate cancer risk: A meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) deleted on chromosome 10, a tumor suppressor that negatively regulates the phosphoinositide-3-kinase(PI3K) which has been implicated in a number of human malignancies including prostate cancer. However the prognostic value of PTEN deletion in prostate cancer patient's diagnosis and the mechanism of PTEN deletion in prostate cancer development still remain unclear. METHOD: A meta-analysis of 26 published studies including 8097 prostate cancer patients was performed. RESULTS: Compared to PTEN normal patients, PTEN deletion patients showed a higher aggressive Gleason score(OR: 1.284, 95%CI=1.145-1.439) and pathological stage(OR: 1.628, 95%CI=1.270-2.087) which generally had a higher risk in prostate replace(HR: 1.738, 95%CI=1.264-2.390). Significant association between PTEN deletion and ERG rearrangements in prostate cancer development was also proved that compared to PTEN normal patients, patients with PTEN deletion showed a higher risk in ERG rearrangements(OR: 1.345, 95%CI=1.102-1.788). CONCLUSION: This study indicated that patients with PTEN deletion were associated with higher pathological stage or Gleason score and a higher risk in prostate cancer replace potentially represent a novel clinically relevant event to identify individuals at increased risk for the occurrence, progression and prognosis of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer patients with PTEN deletion usually had a higher risk in ERG rearrangements than other patients may be a potential new area for identifying poor prognosis patients and selecting patients for targeted therapies which required confirmation through adequately designed prospective studies.