Meta-analysis of the Correlation between miRNA Expression in Breast Cancer and Clinicopathological Features and Prognosis.

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer for women all over the world. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a type of small endogenous single-stranded RNA that are involved in various cellular processes, including proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and metabolism. Over the past decade, numerous studies have demonstrated that the expression levels of miRNAs are dysregulated in many types of cancer, including breast cancer. Objective: To systematically evaluate both the diagnostic and prognostic value of miRNA expression in breast cancer by meta-analysis. Design: This was a meta-analysis. The research team performed a comprehensive narrative review by searching Pubmed, Medline, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and other databases that were searched by computer from January 2010 to December 2020. The language was limited to English; the subject words were miRNA and breast cancer. Setting: This review took place in Jintang First People's Hospital, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, and Jingtang Hospital. Primary Outcome Measures: RevMan 5.3 software was implemented to carry out a meta-analysis of the data extracted in this paper. The outcome measures included (1) patient age, (2) patient tumor size, (3) lymph node metastasis, (4) estrogen receptor (ER) level (5) progesterone receptor (PR) level (6) human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) level (7) tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage (8) prognosis disease-free survival (DFS) level (9) overall survival (OS) level. Results: A total of 8 references and 1414 patients were contained in this research. Meta-analysis demonstrated that age: odds ratio (OR) =1.90, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.30-12.09), P=0.50. Tumor size (>2 cm): OR=2.23, 95% CI (0.89-5.57), P = .09. Lymph node metastasis: OR=2.09, 95% CI (1.65-2.65), P < .00001. ER: OR=1.26, 95% CI (0.64-2.47), P = .5. PR: OR=0.96, 95% CI (0.86-1.07), P = .41. HER2 OR=1.79, 95% CI (0.42-7.64), P = .09. TNM stage (III vs. I/II) OR=0.89, 95% CI (0.71-1.10), P = .27. DFS: OR=8.49, 95% CI (2.72-26.45), P = .0002. OS: OR=5.99, 95% CI (2.60-13.79), P < .0001. High expression of miRNA was correlated with lymph node metastasis, DFS and OS in BC patients. Conclusion: High expression of microRNA can be adopted as an important indicator for BC screening and has important value for the prognosis of BC patients. Circulating miRNAs could serve as potential targets for BC treatment.

Circ_0000471 suppresses the progression of ovarian cancer through mediating mir-135b-5p/dusp5 axis.

BACKGROUND: Ovarian cancer (OC) is a common gynecologic cancer with high incidence and mortality. We attempted to investigate the role of circular RNA_0000471 (circ_0000471) in OC progression and its associated mechanism. METHODS: Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot assay were conducted to measure RNA and protein expression, respectively. Cell proliferation was analyzed by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) assay, colony formation assay, and 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay. Cell apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry. Cell migration and invasion were analyzed by wound healing assay and transwell assay, respectively. Dual-luciferase reporter assay and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay were conducted to verify the target relationships. Xenograft tumor model was established to assess the role of circ_0000471 on tumor growth in vivo. RESULTS: Circ_0000471 expression was down-regulated in OC tissues and cell lines. Circ_0000471 overexpression blocked the proliferation, migration, and invasion and triggered the apoptosis of OC cells. Circ_0000471 served as a molecular sponge for microRNA-135b-5p (miR-135b-5p), and circ_0000471 overexpression-mediated anti-tumor influences in OC cells were largely reversed by the overexpression of miR-135b-5p. Dual specificity phosphatase 5 (DUSP5) was a target of miR-135b-5p, and miR-135b-5p silencing-induced anti-tumor effects were largely counteracted by the interference of DUSP5. Circ_0000471 increased DUSP5 expression by sponging miR-135b-5p in OC cells. Circ_0000471 overexpression restrained the growth of xenograft tumors in vivo. CONCLUSION: Overexpression of circ_0000471 inhibited OC development by targeting miR-135b-5p/DUSP5 axis, indicating that circ_0000471 may be a new potential target for OC treatment.

Correlation between Serum Oxidative Stress Level and Serum Uric Acid and Prognosis in Patients with Hepatitis B-Related Liver Cancer before Operation.

Aiming to explore the correlation between preoperative serum oxidative stress level and serum uric acid and prognosis of hepatitis B-related liver cancer, the clinical data of 712 patients with hepatitis B-related liver cancer from January 2019 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. By using the receiver operating curve, the optimal critical values of preoperative superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), and serum uric acid (SUA) are determined. The single-factor and multifactor Cox models are applied to screen out the suspicious factors affecting the prognosis of patients with hepatitis B-related liver cancer. According to the survival status of patients, the optimal thresholds of SOD, MDA, and SUA before operation were 58.055/mL, 10.825 nmol/L, and 312.77 nmol/L, respectively. The results of univariate analysis show that the prognosis of patients is significantly correlated with preoperative SOD, MDA, and SUA levels and TNM staging (P < 0.05). Additionally, multivariate analysis demonstrates that preoperative SOD < 58.055 U/mL and SUA ≥ 312.770 mmol/L and TNM stage III-IV are independent risk factors for postoperative prognosis (P < 0.05). Our study suggests that SOD, SUA, and TNM staging have certain value in judging the early prognosis of patients with hepatitis B-related liver cancer. Patients with high preoperative SOD level and low preoperative SUA level can obtain better prognosis.

The therapeutic efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine injection combined with low-molecular-weight heparin on the acute lower extremity deep venous thrombosis: A protocol for systematic review and network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Lower extremity deep venous thrombosis (LEDVT) of lower extremities is one of the common clinical diseases. Lack of a timely treatment in the acute stage easily causes pulmonary embolism, thus seriously threatening patients' life. Low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH), as a new generation of heparin-based anticoagulant and antithrombotic drug, is now commonly used in the clinical treatment of acute lower extremity deep venous thrombosis (ALEDVT). Relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have reported the therapeutic efficacy and safety of Traditional Chinese medicine injection (TCMJ) combined with LMWH on ALDVT, although their conclusions remain controversial. In addition, the efficacy of various TCMJs has rarely been analyzed and compared. This study aims to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and safety of TCMJ combined with LMWH on ALEDVT through a network meta-analysis. METHODS: RCTs reporting TCMJ combined with LMWH and LMWH along for the treatment of ALEDVT published before November 2021 will be searched in online databases, including the Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, Wanfang, Chongqing VIP Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure. Two investigators will be independently responsible for literature screening, data extraction, and quality evaluation according to Cochrane's risk of bias assessment tool. R software will be used to perform a network Meta-analysis. RESULTS: The results of this meta-analysis will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. CONCLUSION: This study will provide high-quality, evidence-based medical evidence for comparing the therapeutic efficacy and safety of TCMJ combined with LMWH and LMWH alone on ALEDVT.

Evaluation of three sample preparation methods for the identification of clinical strains by using two MALDI-TOF MS systems.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has revolutionized the microbial identification, especially in the clinical microbiology laboratories. However, although numerous studies on the identification of microorganisms by MALDI-TOF MS have been reported previously, few studies focused on the effect of pretreatment on identification. Due to the sensitivity of MALDI-TOF MS, different preparation methods will lead to changes in microbial protein fingerprints. In this study, for evaluating a more appropriate preparation method for the clinical microbiology identification, we analyzed the performance of three sample preparation methods on two different MALDI-TOF MS systems. A total of 321 clinical isolates, 127 species, were employed in the comparative study of three different sample preparation methods including the direct colony transfer method (DCTM), the on-target extraction method (OTEM), and the in-tube extraction method (ITEM) compatible with MALDI-TOF MS. All isolates were tested on the Microflex LT and Autof ms1000 devices. The spectra were analyzed using the Bruker biotyper and the Autof ms1000 systems. The results were confirmed by 16/18S rRNA sequencing. Results reveal that the accuracies of isolates identification by Bruker biotyper successfully identified 83.8%, 96.0%, and 95.3% after performing the DCTM, OTEM, and ITEM, respectively, while the Autof ms1000 identified 97.5%, 100%, and 99.7%. These data suggested that the identification rates are comparable among the three preparation methods using the Autof ms1000 and Bruker microflex LT systems but the OTEM is more suitable and necessary for clinical application, owing to its key advantages of simplicity and accuracy.