Percutaneous Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy for Calcified Lumbar Disc Herniation: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Calcified lumbar disc herniation (CLDH) is a subtype characterized by calcification, leading to increased surgical complexity. Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) is a minimally invasive technique, but its effectiveness and complications in CLDH patients remain to be fully evaluated. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness and complications of PELD in treating CLDH patients. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study combined with a systematic review and meta-analysis. SETTING: Department of Pain Medicine, an affiliated hospital of a university. METHODS: Data from patients who underwent PELD in our department between March 2020 and May 2021 were collected. Forty CLDH patients were included in the study group, and equally matched cases with uncalcified lumbar disc herniation (UCLDH) served as controls. A systematic search was conducted on October 5, 2022, using EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, the China Biology Medicine disk, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and the Wanfang databases, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A random-effects model was used to calculate pooled results. RESULTS: Eighty patients were included in the retrospective cohort, and 41 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Both the retrospective cohort and meta-analysis consistently showed a significant decrease in visual analog scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores in the CLDH group after the operation. In the retrospective cohort, the excellent or good rate according to the MacNab classification was 85%, with no reported complications. The meta-analysis revealed a pooled excellent or good rate of 91.8% and a low complication rate of 2.9%. Combining the findings from our retrospective cohort and meta-analysis, we observed that the CLDH group had longer operation times and slightly higher postoperative ODI scores compared to the UCLDH group. LIMITATIONS: Small sample size and lack of long-term follow-up in the retrospective cohort, as well as limited inclusion of comparative studies in the meta-analysis. CONCLUSION: PELD is an effective and safe treatment option for CLDH patients. In comparison to UCLDH patients, CLDH patients may experience longer operation times and slightly slower functional recovery than those with UCLDH.

Ginsenoside RG1 augments doxorubicin-induced apoptotic cell death in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines.

This study determined the chemosensitizing potential of ginsenoside Rg1 in triple-negative MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. Ginsenoside Rg1 (10 µM) treated breast cancer cells were exposed to 8 nM of doxorubicin, and the chemosensitizing potential was measured by cell-based assays. Ginsenoside Rg1 (10 µM) treatment lowered the doxorubicin IC50 value to 0.01 nM. Furthermore, the ginsenoside pretreatment augments doxorubicin-mediated reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and subsequent alterations of mitochondrial membrane potential in MDA-MB-231 cell lines. The alkaline comet assay results illustrated an increased % tail DNA during ginsenoside Rg1 plus doxorubicin treatment than doxorubicin alone treatment. In addition, the number of apoptotic cells was also increased in ginsenoside Rg1 plus doxorubicin-treated cells. Furthermore, the polymerase chain reaction array results illustrate activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) gene expression (AKT, ERK, and MAPK) during doxorubicin alone treatment and it has been attenuated by ginsenoside Rg1 pretreatment. Moreover, ginsenoside Rg1 treatment before doxorubicin activates the DNA damage response elements (ATM, H2AX, RAD51, and XRCC1) and subsequent apoptosis-related gene expression (p21, TP53. APAF1, Bax, CASP3, and CASP9) patterns in MDA-MB-231 cell lines. The ginsenoside Rg1 plus doxorubicin combination shows less cytotoxicity and ROS generation in MDA10A normal breast cancer cell lines. Therefore, the present results support the chemosensitizing property of ginsenoside Rg1 in triple-negative breast cancer cell lines.

FOXK1, Regulated by miR-365-3p, Promotes Cell Growth and EMT Indicates Unfavorable Prognosis in Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Forkhead box K1 (FOXK1) is members of the FOX transcription factor family. Previous work has found out that FOXK1 promotes cell proliferation, migration and invasion in several cancers, such as gastric cancer, glioma cancer and lung cancer; however, the exact role of FOXK1 in breast cancer is still poorly known. METHODS: Here, the association between FOXK1 expression and the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with breast cancer was identified. To further decipher the functional roles of FOXK1, it was overexpressed or knocked down in MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 and MCF-10A cells. Cell Counting Kit-8, colony formation and cell cycle assays were performed to examine the proliferation of breast cancer cells. Moreover, wound-healing and Transwell invasion analyses were carried out to explore the effect of FOXK1 on breast cancer cell migration and invasion. RESULTS: Our findings discovered that FOXK1 promotes cell proliferation, migration and invasion in breast cancer. In addition, consistent with the previous report, FOXK1 also facilitates EMT in breast cancer. TargetScan was used to predict up-stream of FOXK1, indicating that miR-365-3p could regulate FOXK1 expression in breast cancer. CONCLUSION: The findings of the present study demonstrated that miR-365-3p-FOXK1 axis plays a key role in breast cancer.

Hsa_circ_101882 promotes migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells by regulating EMT.

BACKGROUND: At present, gastric cancer (GC) is a serious threat to human life and health. Non-coding circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been found abnormal expression in multiple tumors. However, circRNAs remain largely unknown in tumor progression. In the present study, we mainly examined the expression, function, and molecular mechanisms of a new circRNAs (hsa_circ_101882) in GC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expression of hsa_circ_101882 in GC tissue, corresponding adjacent normal tissues, and GC cell lines was examined by RT-PCR. The function of hsa_circ_101882 in GC was evaluated by MTT assay, cell migration, and invasion assay, colony formation assay, and flow cytometric assay. The effect of hsa_circ_101882 on epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related gene expression was detected by RT-PCR and Western blot. RESULTS: Hsa_circ_101882 expression levels were significantly increased in GC tissue and GC cell lines. Functionally, low expression of hsa_circ_101882 revealed anti-tumor effects via inhibiting cell growth, migration, and invasion and promoting cell apoptosis. Mechanically, the dysregulated expression of hsa_circ_101882 affects EMT signaling pathway, which was examined by detecting E-cadherin, N-cadherin, vimentin, and Snail expression levels. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, our research reveals that hsa_circ_101882 is considered a metastasis promoter by activating EMT and may serve as a critical oncogene and potential new biomarker in GC.

LOC643714 Polymorphisms Contribute to an Elevated Susceptibility to Breast Cancer: A Meta-analysis of 231,191 Subjects.

BACKGROUND: Several recent genome-wide association studies tried to explore associations between LOC643714 polymorphisms and breast cancer (BC). However, the results of these studies were inconsistent. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to better analyze the effects of LOC643714 polymorphisms on individual susceptibility to BC in a larger pooled population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase were searched for eligible studies. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to estimate the strength of associations. RESULTS: In total, 42 studies with 231,191 subjects were analyzed. Significant associations with BC were observed for rs3803662 (dominant comparison: OR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.84-0.95; P = .0008; recessive comparison: OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.07-1.28; P = .0004; over-dominant comparison: OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.02-1.11; P = .002; allele comparison: OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.86-0.95; P = .0002), rs8051542 (dominant comparison: OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.83-0.91; P < .0001; recessive comparison: OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.11-1.28; P < .0001; over-dominant comparison: OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.02-1.11; P = .004; allele comparison: OR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.86-0.91; P < .0001), and rs12922061 (dominant comparison: OR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73-0.93; P = .002; over-dominant comparison: OR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.27-1.61; P < .0001) polymorphisms in the overall population. Further subgroup analyses yielded similar positive results for rs3803662 and rs8051542 polymorphisms in Asians, Caucasians, and Africans, for rs12443621 polymorphism in Caucasians, and for rs12922061 polymorphism in Asians. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggested that LOC643714 rs3803662, rs8051542, rs12443621, and rs12922061 polymorphisms were all significantly associated with BC in certain populations.