The emerging role of miRNAs in the pathogenesis of COVID-19: Protective effects of nutraceutical polyphenolic compounds against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can cause immunosuppression and cytokine storm, leading to lung damage and death. The clinical efficacy of anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs in preventing viral entry into host cells and suppressing viral replication remains inadequate. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are crucial to the immune response to and pathogenesis of coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV-2. However, the specific roles of miRNAs in the life cycle of SARS-CoV-2 remain unclear. miRNAs can participate in SARS-CoV-2 infection and pathogenesis through at least four possible mechanisms: 1. host cell miRNA expression interfering with SARS-CoV-2 cell entry, 2. SARS-CoV-2-derived RNA transcripts acting as competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) that may attenuate host cell miRNA expression, 3. host cell miRNA expression modulating SARS-CoV-2 replication, and 4. SARS-CoV-2-encoded miRNAs silencing the expression of host protein-coding genes. SARS-CoV-2-related miRNAs may be used as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers for predicting outcomes among patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Furthermore, accumulating evidence suggests that dietary polyphenolic compounds may protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection by modulating host cell miRNA expression. These findings have major implications for the future diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19.

Involvement of MicroRNA-1-FAM83A Axis Dysfunction in the Growth and Motility of Lung Cancer Cells.

Lung cancer is the most prevalent types of cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Among all cancers, lung cancer has the highest incidence, accompanied by a high mortality rate at the advanced stage. Favorable prognostic biomarkers can effectively increase the survival rate in lung cancer. Our results revealed FAM83A (Family with sequence similarity 83, member A) overexpression in lung cancer tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues. Furthermore, high FAM83A expression was closely associated with poor lung cancer survival. Here, through siRNA transfection, we effectively inhibited FAM83A expression in the lung cancer cell lines H1355 and A549. FAM83A knockdown significantly suppressed the proliferation, migration, and invasion ability of these cells. Furthermore, FAM83A knockdown could suppress Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/Choline kinase alpha (CHKA) signaling activation in A549 and H1355. By using a bioinformatics approach, we found that FAM83A overexpression in lung cancer may result from miR-1-3p downregulation. In summary, we identified a novel miR-1-FAM83A axis could partially modulate the EGFR/choline phospholipid metabolism signaling pathway, which suppressed lung cancer growth and motility. Our findings provide new insights for the development of lung cancer therapeutics.

Factors associated with misdiagnosis of smear-negative tuberculosis: an experience in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: A negative sputum smear from a patient with history, physical examination, and chest x-ray findings suggestive of tuberculosis (TB) presents a diagnostic dilemma. We investigated the possible factors associated with a misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment of TB among such patients. METHODS: We reviewed the records of 193 patients whose diagnoses with TB included conflicting test results and were reported to the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control in 2004. When other conditions were found to underlie the initial abnormal chest x-ray finding, the diagnosis was revised. RESULTS: Mycobacterium tuberculosis was isolated from sputum samples in 72 of 193 patients (37%), nontuberculous mycobacteria from 4 (2%), and no bacteriologic evidence of M. tuberculosis from 117 (61%). The initial diagnosis of TB was revised for 26 (13.5%) patients. Patients with positive M. tuberculosis culture had a lower incidence of revised diagnoses (4.2%, P < .001) than those negative for mycobacterial culture (17.1%) and those with nontuberculous mycobacteria (75%). Chest cavitations in this study were not a significant predictor of revised diagnosis (odds ratio 0.30, P = .08). CONCLUSIONS: An incorrect diagnosis of TB despite a negative sputum smear result is more likely to be made for patients positive for nontuberculous mycobacteria culture and less likely for patients with positive M. tuberculosis culture.

Retrospectively investigating the 12-year experience of prenatal diagnosis of small supernumerary marker chromosomes through array comparative genomic hybridization.

OBJECTIVE: This study retrospectively evaluated the incidences of small supernumerary marker chromosomes (sSMCs) in prenatal diagnoses and detected with gain of pathogenic copy number variation through array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) in a laboratory in Taiwan. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively searched and reviewed the sSMC cases detected during prenatal diagnoses in the Youthgene medical laboratory, between 2004 and 2015 and used array CGH to successfully analyze 45 of 47,XN,+mar or 47,XN + mar/46,XN. RESULTS: A total of 68,087 cases of amniocentesis were analyzed, of which 59 were identified as sSMCs. The overall frequency of sSMCs was 0.087%, and 7 of 45 sSMCs were identified with gain of pathogenic copy number variation (CNV). CONCLUSION: Array CGH offers useful tools that can be used to detect small fragments of chromosomal abnormalities and sSMC origins in prenatal diagnosis. In this study, we successfully used array CGH to detect 7 out of 45 sSMCs, which were identified with gain in pathogenic CNV.

Transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a family proved by genotyping.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Molecular genetic methods have been applied in various epidemiologic studies including investigations of disease acquisition by contact. This report describes the use of various molecular genetic methods in tracing possible household transmission of tuberculosis by contact. METHODS: Four Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains, each from four members of a family, were first isolated and identified in the clinical laboratory of the Chest Hospital and were submitted to the National Reference Laboratory of Mycobacteriology for further confirmation and genotyping. In this study, IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), spacer oligonucleotide typing (spoligotyping) and mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units-variable number tandem repeats (MIRU-VNTR), and rpoB gene sequencing were used for genotyping. RESULTS: All four strains were found to have identical spoligotypes, MIRU-VNTR patterns, and similar IS6110 RFLP profiles. The results of the drug susceptibility test and of rpoB sequencing showed that all four strains were rifampicin resistant. CONCLUSION: Household transmission through close contact was thus proved by genotyping. We conclude that all four family members were infected with the same lineage of M. tuberculosis.