ABSTRACT
Objective To determine the expression level of microRNA-21 (miR-21) in serum exosomes of patients with different severities of asthma, and to explore the diagnostic value. Methods A total of 82 patients with asthma who did not received any treatment and 80 healthy control volunteers were enrolled in this study. The asthma cases were divided into four groups according to the severity of asthma, including intermittent group (n=20), mild sustained group (n=22), moderate sustained group (n=22), and severe sustained group (n=18). Expression levels of miR-21 were determined using qPCR and the differences were compared among the five groups. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between miR-21 expression level and severity of asthma. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnosis performance of miR-21 expression level in serum exosomes for different severities of asthma. Results The expression levels of miR-21 were significantly higher in the intermittent, mild sustained, moderate sustained and severe sustained groups than that in the healthy control group (all P<0.01). The difference of miR-21 expression level was statistically significant between the intermittent, mild sustained, moderate sustained and severe sustained groups (all P<0.01). Spearman correlation analysis showed that the relative expression level of miR-21 in serum exosomes was positively correlated with the severity of asthma (r=0.974, P=0.016 7). The areas under ROC curve of exosome miR-21 for diagnosing intermittent, mild sustained, moderate sustained and severe sustained asthma were 0.657, 0.769, 0.847 and 0.916, respectively (all P<0.01). Conclusion The expression level of miR-21 in serum exosomes is effective in diagnosing different severities of asthma, and miR-21 in serum exosomes may be a new non-invasive biomarkers.
ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the adverse effects of sleep problems and sleep insufficiency on attention in class and pupils' acadamic achievements.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 1138 students from four primary schools at ages of 6-12 years were randomly sampled from four districts of Changsha city, Hunan Province June 2009 to April 2010. The inquired items included sleep problems, sleep time, sleep quality, attention in class and academic achievements. Teachers and parents observed the pupils according to the unified requirements for 3 months and then filled out the questionnaires.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The total valid inquiry tables were 1091 with the answering rate of 95.87%, including 549 boys and 542 girls. The sleep quality was more poor in children with sleep problems or sleep insufficiency than in children with normal sleep. The sleep quality was reduced and aggravated along with the increasing sleep problems and the reducing sleep time. The attention in class and academic achievements in children with sleep problems or sleep insufficiency were more poor than in children with normal sleep. The sleep quality index was negatively correlated with attention in class and academic achievements. The attention in class was positively correlated with academic achievements.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The decline in sleep quality directly affects the attention in class and reduce the academic achievements in primary school children.</p>