What are key characteristics of adults with advanced heart failure discharged from ICU?

BACKGROUND: As the number of people with heart failure and treatment complexity increases, many hospitals are implementing Advanced Heart Failure Intensive Care Units (AHFICU). However, little evidence concerning the clinical characteristics of people admitted to AHFICUs exists. Understanding the clinical characteristics of people admitted to the AHFICU will assist nurses with implementing tailored interventions to ensure high-quality care delivery. AIM: The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics of people who are admitted to and discharged from an AHFICU. STUDY DESIGN: Baseline data from a longitudinal descriptive study were collected on adults (N = 43) admitted to an AHFICU. Heart failure severity, self-management ability, cognition, sleep quality, and other clinical characteristics were assessed. RESULTS: Most study participants were New York Heart Association functional class IV (n = 24) or class III (n = 14), indicating poor functional capacity. Over half had mild cognitive impairment and poor sleep quality was prevalent (92.7%). Participants had adequate levels of heart failure knowledge, but low levels of heart failure self-management decision-making and ability. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to address the unique clinical characteristics of AHFICU patients include sleep hygiene, integration of cognitive, sleep, and self-management assessments into the electronic medical record. Addressing the unique clinical needs of people with heart failure will lead to patient-centered, evidence-based, and safe care. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Understanding characteristics of this population addresses this evidence gap and targeted clinical interventions to address unique discharge needs of this population are proposed. Sleep quality education should be done throughout hospitalization on sleep strategies and self-management coaching to facilitate adoption of new sleep routines. Healthcare providers should ensure each patient has care support upon discharge and take cognitive status into consideration during teaching. Addressing self-management readiness should include providing scenarios as part of discharge preparation. Providers must include addressing comorbidities and how they may affect heart failure self-management, such as teaching about sleep apnea device use and encouraging compliance.

Sleep Quality in the Advanced Heart Failure ICU.

In this study, we evaluated sleep quality changes in persons with advanced heart failure (HF) who were admitted to the intensive care unit. Sleep quality was assessed at admission, during hospitalization, and post-discharge. Statistical tests compared within subject mean sleep quality over time (n = 22). Poor quality sleep was reported by 96% of participants at admission, 96% during hospitalization, and 86% post-discharge. Significant differences were found between timepoints in global sleep quality, subject sleep quality, sleep duration, and habitual sleep efficiency. A greater proportion of these participants had poor global sleep quality during hospitalization than previously reported. Participants reported better sleep post-discharge than admission and during hospitalization. Interventions enhancing hospital sleep, along with home sleep self-management education, would improve HF outcomes. Implementation science methods are warranted to integrate efficacious interventions in this population.

Mental health comorbidity and youth onset type 2 diabetes: A systematic review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a burgeoning epidemic in children and adolescents. Adult T2D doubles the risk of depression and mental health comorbidity, makes it more difficult to make the lifestyle, medication adherence and health behavior changes needed to optimize outcomes. There is limited research on the impact of depression and depressive symptoms on youth T2D. METHODS: A search of the literature in the last 10 years regarding youth with depression and T2D was conducted. Abstracts were screened by 2 randomly assigned authors for inclusion, and disagreement was resolved by a third author. Selected full-text articles were divided among all authors for review. RESULTS: 13 publications from 8 studies (N=2244, age 6-17) were included. 6 of 13 publications utilized Treatment Options for Type 2 Diabetes in Youth (TODAY) study data. While studies included evaluation of depressive symptoms, most did not formally assess for major depressive disorder (MDD) and excluded participants with a previous diagnosis of MDD. Depressive symptoms were common in this population and were associated with negative T2D outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: While there is a growing body of adult literature highlighting the extensive relationship between T2D and mental health, there is a dearth of data in youth. Future studies are needed that include, 1.) youth with diagnosed MDD, 2.) treatment studies of both T2D and MDD, 3.) larger, more racially diverse samples of youth with T2D, and 4.) studies that evaluate the impact of social determinants of health, including mental health comorbidity on outcomes of T2D.

Materials and Methods for Recruiting Systematically Marginalized Youth and Families for Weight-Management Intervention Trials: Community Stakeholders' Perspectives.

Rates of overweight and obesity are problematic among systematically marginalized youth; however, these youth and their families are a hard-to-reach research population. The purpose of our study was to identify facilitators and barriers for recruiting systematically marginalized families in youth weight-management intervention research. This study built upon existing evidence through involvement of youth, parents, community agency workers, and school nurses, and an exploration of both recruitment materials and processes. Seven focus groups were conducted with 48 participants from 4 stakeholder groups (youth, parents, school nurses, and community agency workers). A codebook approach to thematic analysis was used to identify key facilitator and barrier themes related to recruitment materials and processes across the stakeholder groups. Ecological systems theory was applied to contextualize the facilitators and barriers identified. Participants reported the need to actively recruit youth in the study through engaging, fun recruitment materials and processes. Participants reported greater interest in recruitment at community-based events, as compared to recruitment through health care providers, underscoring the depth of distrust that this sample group has for the health care system. Recommendations for recruitment materials and processes for weight-management intervention research with systematically marginalized families are proposed.

Socioeconomic deprivation and cardiometabolic risk factors in individuals with type 1 diabetes: T1D exchange clinic registry.

AIMS: Social determinants of health (SDOH) influence cardiovascular health in the general population; however, the degree to which this occurs in individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) is not well understood. We evaluated associations among socioeconomic deprivation and cardiometabolic risk factors (hemoglobin A1c, low-density lipoprotein, blood pressure, body mass index, physical activity) in individuals with T1D from the T1D Clinic Exchange Registry. METHODS: We evaluated the association between the social deprivation index (SDI) and cardiometabolic risk factors using multivariable and logistic regression among 18,754 participants ages 13 - 90 years (mean 29.2 ± 17) in the T1D Exchange clinic registry from 6,320 zip code tabulation areas (2007-2017). RESULTS: SDI was associated with multiple cardiometabolic risk factors even after adjusting for covariates (age, biological sex, T1D duration, and race/ethnicity) in the multivariable linear regression models. Those in the highest socially deprived areas had 1.69 (unadjusted) and 1.78 (adjusted) times odds of a triple concomitant risk burden of poor glycemia, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: Persistent SDOH differences could account for a substantial degree of poor achievement of cardiometabolic targets in individuals with T1D. Our results suggest the need for a broader framework to understand the association between T1D and adverse cardiometabolic outcomes.

Strategies to Engage Systematically Marginalized Youth and Their Families in Research Using High-Tech Methods.

The purpose of this study was to identify facilitators and barriers for engaging youth and families from a historically and systematically marginalized community in high-tech research. Adapting community-based participatory research principles, 4 focus groups were conducted with 13 youth and 12 parents. Using codebook thematic analysis, 5 facilitator themes (develop skills, ensure health, build understanding, promote safety, and help others, youth-initiated interest) and 4 barrier themes (anxiety and fear, skepticism, confusion, and unfamiliar/unknown experience) were identified. Youth and parent responses informed proposed guidelines for recruiting and engaging families in research using high-tech methods, particularly those from historically and systematically marginalized communities.

LncRNA expression and SDHB mutations in pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas.

Although pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGLs) are usual low-grade neoplasms, the metastatic forms of these lesions are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Recent studies have discovered multiple aberrantly expressed long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in cancers that may have regulatory roles in tumor pathogenesis and metastasis; however, the roles of some lncRNAs in PPGLs are still unknown. The expression levels of lncRNAs including metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript (MALAT1), prostate cancer antigen 3 (PCA3), and HOX transcript antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) in PPGLs were analyzed by in situ hybridization, using two tissue microarrays (TMAs). The pheochromocytoma (PCC) TMA consisted of normal adrenal medulla (N = 25), non-metastatic PCCs (N = 76) and metastatic PCCs (N = 5) while the paraganglioma (PGL) TMA had 73 non-metastatic PGLs and 5 metastatic PGLs. Immunohistochemical staining was performed on all samples with an anti-SDHB antibody. The correlations between lncRNA expression, loss of SDHB expression and clinical characteristics including tumor progression and disease prognosis were investigated. The expression levels of MALAT1 and PCA3 were significantly elevated (2.5-3.9 folds) in both non-metastatic and metastatic PCCs compared to normal adrenal medulla, although there were no significant differences between the non-metastatic and metastatic neoplasms. In contrast to non-metastatic PGLs, metastatic PGLs had significantly upregulated expression of MALAT1, PCA3, and HOTAIR. SDHB loss was more frequently observed in PGLs (25 of 78), especially in metastatic PGLs (5 of 5), compared to PCCs (2 of 81) and in 0 of 5 metastatic PCCs. Patients with SDHB loss, in contrast to SDHB retained, were younger at diagnosis, had higher rates of tumor recurrence, metastatic disease, and mortality. In addition, PGLs with SDHB loss had significantly increased expression of PCA3 compared to tumors with intact SDHB expression. Our findings suggest that specific lncRNAs may be involved in the SDHx signaling pathways in the tumorigenesis and in the development of PPGL.

Unmet health need and perceived barriers to health care among adolescents living in a rural area.

This study investigated the perceived health care needs, unmet health need, and barriers to health care in 224 rural-dwelling adolescents. A cross-sectional, descriptive design was used to survey adolescents attending a public high school in a low-resource, rural Indiana community. One in five adolescents reported an unmet health need. The most common barriers to health care were related to access, apathy, anxiety, and parenting issues. Implications include confidentiality protocols in family healthcare practices, school-based health centers, and intervention research targeting adolescents' communication skills and healthcare consumer skills.

Depressive Symptoms and Trust of Healthcare Provider in Rural Adolescents: Relationships and Predictors.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate associations among depressive symptoms, trust of healthcare provider, and health behavior in adolescents who live in a rural area. Two hundred twenty-four adolescents aged 14-19 years old attending public high school in the Midwestern United States were surveyed. Results showed a diagnosis of depression, trust of healthcare provider, health awareness, and stress management predicted depressive symptoms in adolescents living in a rural area. Healthcare providers should take extra care to promote trust in the healthcare provider-patient relationship with adolescents and to follow guidelines for annual screening of adolescents for depressive symptoms. Nursing implications include adolescent psychoeducation to improve health awareness and stress management.

An integrative review of adolescent trust in the healthcare provider relationship.

AIM: To conduct an integrative review of empirical studies examining factors affecting trust in the healthcare provider (HCP) relationship among adolescents. DESIGN: An integrative review was conducted. DATA SOURCES: The keywords adolescent, trust, healthcare provider and related words were searched in multiple online research databases. The results were limited to research published between 2004 and 2019. Seventeen primary sources were identified and synthesized in the final review. REVIEW METHOD: Guided by the Whittemore and Knafl integrative review method, a data-based convergent synthesis design was used to explore the key research question in both qualitative and quantitative research. RESULTS: This integrative review found that health care provider behaviours, such as confidentiality, honesty, respect, and empathy, promote adolescent's trust of the HCP. Notable gaps in the literature were also identified, including a lack of diversity among adolescent samples and HCP types and underdeveloped measures of adolescent trust of HCP. CONCLUSION: This integrative review informed the development of a new conceptual definition of adolescent trust of HCP, which embodies the key findings of the importance of HCP confidentiality, honesty, respect, and empathy. This definition can be used to develop instruments, interventions and policies that promote HCP trust among adolescents. Future research is needed to develop instruments to measure adolescents' trust of HCPs, evaluate trust of HCPs among diverse samples of adolescents and evaluate adolescent trust of HCPs with a variety of HCP types. IMPACT: The new conceptual definition of adolescent trust of HCP can be used to enhance nursing practice and design behavioural interventions to improve trust of HCP. To foster adolescent trust of HCP, policies should be enacted in healthcare institutions to explain confidentiality, provide notification of reporting mandates and formalize consent, assent and dissent for adolescents seeking health care.

Long Noncoding RNA Expression in Adrenal Cortical Neoplasms.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) consist of nucleic acid molecules that are greater than 200 nucleotides in length and they do not code for specific proteins. A growing body of evidence indicates that these lncRNAs have important roles in tumorigenesis. Separating adrenal cortical adenomas from carcinomas is often a difficult problem for the surgical pathologist. This is especially true when only small needle biopsies are available for examination. We used in situ hybridization (ISH) analysis to study normal adrenal cortical tissues and adrenal cortical tumors to determine the role of specific lncRNAs in tumor development and classification. The lncRNAS studied included metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1), psoriasis susceptibility-related RNA gene induced by stress (PRINS), and HOX antisense intergenic RNA myeloid 1 (HAM1). We constructed a tissue microarray (TMA) for the studies and also analyzed a subset of cases by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Two 1-mm duplicate cores of normal adrenal cortex (NAC) (n = 23), adrenal cortical adenomas (ACAs) (n = 95), and adrenal cortical carcinomas (ACCs), (n = 20) were used on the TMA. The results of ISH were analyzed by image analysis. ISH showed predominantly nuclear expression of lncRNAs in adrenal cortical tissues. MALAT1 showed more expression in ACCs than in NAC and ACA (p < 0.05). PRINS had higher expression in NACs and ACAs than in ACCs. The lncRNAs MALAT1, PRINS, and HAM1 are all expressed in normal and neoplastic adrenal cortical tissues. MALAT1 had the highest expression in ACC compared to ACAs and may have a role in ACC development.

Associations between Trust of Healthcare Provider and Body Mass Index in Adolescents.

Adolescent obesity continues to be a serious concern around the world, placing young people at risk for chronic conditions and early death. Research has shown that social relationships are important in making health behavior changes, such as following health-care recommendations for eating and physical activity. Specifically, the trust of health-care providers has been shown to be important in making health behavior change. Evidence suggests that obese young adults are less trusting of health-care providers than their healthy weight peers, but it is not known if this also applies to obese adolescents. The purpose of this secondary analysis study was to determine relationships between the trust of health-care providers and body mass index percentile in adolescents. Participants were 224 adolescents aged 14-19 years attending a public high school in the Midwestern United States. The Wake Forest Physician Trust scale measured the trust of health-care providers. Height and weight were collected at a school screening; body mass index percentile categories were determined according to age- and sex-adjusted body mass index percentiles. One-way analysis of variance and post hoc Tukey tests showed trust scores varied significantly between body mass index percentile categories of girls. Results suggest it may be necessary for health-care providers to make additional efforts to build trust with obese adolescent girls than with other groups of adolescents.

Long Non-coding RNAs in Pulmonary Neuroendocrine Neoplasms.

Pulmonary neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are classified into low-grade neuroendocrine tumors and high-grade neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs). There are significant differences in therapeutic strategies of the different NEN subtypes, and therefore, precise classification of pulmonary NENs is critical. However, challenges in pulmonary NEN classification include overlap of diagnostic histological features among the subtypes and reduced or negative expression of neuroendocrine markers in poorly differentiated pulmonary NECs. Recently, transcription factor insulinoma-associated protein 1 (INSM1) was identified as a sensitive marker of neuroendocrine and neuroepithelial differentiation. In this study, INSM1 expression was detected by immunohistochemistry in greater than 94% of pulmonary NENs, indicating that it is a highly sensitive marker of pulmonary NENs and is useful to detect poorly differentiated pulmonary NECs. Although there are well-established morphological and immunohistologic criteria to diagnose pulmonary NENs, there is no universal consensus regarding prognostic markers of pulmonary NENs. Studies have shown that non-small cell lung cancers express long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which regulate gene expression, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and carcinogenesis. We characterized expression and function of lncRNAs, including HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR), maternally expressed 3 (MEG3), and prostate cancer antigen 3 (PCA3) in pulmonary NENs, including typical carcinoid tumors, atypical carcinoid tumors, small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC/NEC), and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC/NEC). In situ hybridization and real-time polymerase chain reaction studies showed higher expression (p < 0.01) of all lncRNAs in SCLC/NEC. Small interfering RNA studies indicated a role for MEG3 and PCA3 in tumor proliferation. Therefore, these lncRNAs may serve as prognostic indicators of pulmonary NEN aggressiveness and as possible therapeutic targets.

The Emerging Scholars' Network Within MNRS: From Acorns to Oaks.

As the nursing faculty shortage persists, there is an urgent need to develop emerging nurse scholars into research leaders capable of advocating for the profession and expanding on the mission to improve health. To address this need, the Midwest Nursing Research Society (MNRS) commissioned a student task force that led to the development of the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN). The purpose of this article is to describe how the ESN was developed, integrated, and promoted within the MNRS to advance the overall mission and sustainability of the society. The establishment and success of the ESN is described using the Five Developmental Stages of Organization Evolution. These stages include the following: (a) Developing a Concept; (b) Launching a Start-Up; (c) Establishing Credibility; (d) Creating Sustainability; and (e) Road to Maturing and Legacy. Recommendations for continued development of the ESN are provided.

Long Non-coding RNA Expression in Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinomas.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) participate in transcription and in epigenetic or post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. They also have roles in epithelial to mesenchymal transition and in carcinogenesis. Because lncRNAs may also have a role in thyroid cancer progression, we examined a group of thyroid tumors which included papillary thyroid carcinomas and anaplastic thyroid carcinomas to determine the specific lncRNAs that were upregulated during thyroid tumor progression. An RT2 Profiler PCR Array Human Cancer Pathway Finder consisting of 84 lncRNAs (Qiagen) and fresh tissues of normal thyroid, PTCs, and ATCs with gene expression profiling was used to determine genes upregulated and downregulated in ATCs. Two of the most highly upregulated genes, prostate cancer antigen 3 (PCA3) and HOX antisense intergenic RNA myeloid 1 (HOTAIRM1 or HAM-1), were selected for further studies using a thyroid tissue microarray(TMA) with formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues of normal thyroid (NT, n = 10), nodular goiters (NG, n = 10), follicular adenoma (FA, n = 32), follicular carcinoma (FCA, n = 28), papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC, n = 28), follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma (FVPTC, n = 28), and anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC, n = 10). TMA sections were analyzed by in situ hybridization (ISH) using RNAscope technology. The results of ISH analyses were imaged with Vectra imaging technology and quantified with Nuance® and inForm® software. The TMA analysis was validated by qRT-PCR using FFPE tissues for RNA preparation. Cultured thyroid carcinoma cell lines (n = 7) were also used to analyze for lncRNAs by qRT-PCR. The results showed 11 lncRNAs upregulated and 7 downregulated lncRNAs more than twofold in the ATCS compared with PTCs. Two of the upregulated lncRNAs, PCA3 and HAM-1, were analyzed on a thyroid carcinoma TMA. There was increased expression of both lncRNAs in ATCs and PTCs compared with NT after TMA analysis. qRT-PCR analyses showed increased expression of both lncRNAs in ATCs compared with NT and PTCs. Analyses of these lncRNAs from cultured thyroid carcinoma cell lines by qRT-PCR showed the highest levels of lncRNA expression in ATCs. TGF-ß treatment of cultured PTC and ATC cells for 21 days led to increased expression of PCA3 lncRNA in both cell lines by day 14. These results show that the lncRNAs PCA3 and HAM-1 are upregulated during thyroid tumor development and progression and may function as oncogenes during tumor progression.

Impacting Student Self-Efficacy and Beliefs of Medication Therapy Management Through a Two-Week Elective.

Objective. To develop and introduce an intensive, two-week Foundations of Medication Therapy Management (MTM) elective course into the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum, and to determine whether the course impacted students' self-confidence in their abilities to perform MTM services and future plans and beliefs about implementing MTM in practice. Methods. The MTM course was an interactive learning environment where students performed actual comprehensive medication reviews within a real-world documentation platform. A 20-item, Likert-scale survey was administered before and after the course to measure students' confidence in learned skills, future plans for using MTM, and beliefs about MTM. Results. Students reported a significant improvement in 10 MTM-specific skill domains. There were significant changes in students' self-confidence in their ability to provide MTM services and in their beliefs about MTM-related services. Students reported overall improvement in self-perceived MTM specific skills. There was no significant change in students' willingness or plans to engage in MTM-related practice in the future. Conclusion. The findings showed that following participation in an MTM elective course, student pharmacists' perceived ability to deliver MTM care increased and their opinions about MTM services improved. Providing a brief MTM elective course that used first-person case studies may empower student pharmacists to confidently perform MTM services in subsequent courses and in their future practice.

In situ hybridization: Introduction to techniques, applications and pitfalls in the performance and interpretation of assays.

In situ hybridization (ISH) has become a common laboratory technique used for the analysis of gene expression and for the localization of specific DNA and RNA molecules in cells. Many different methods of performing ISH have been described. These techniques have evolved into important tools in basic scientific research and in clinical diagnoses. One of the goals of ISH is to localize gene sequences in situ and to visualize the products within cells while preserving cell integrity. This allows for meaningful anatomical and histological interpretation of the localized product(s) within heterogeneous tissues. Because of the possibility of false positive and false negative results that may occur with ISH assays, familiarity with the pathophysiology of the molecules that are analyzed and the cellular processes involved as well as with limitations of the assays can help to avoid erroneous diagnoses with clinical specimens.

Two Family Interventions to Reduce BMI in Low-Income Urban Youth: A Randomized Trial.

BACKGROUND: Our primary aim was to evaluate the effects of 2 family-based obesity management interventions compared with a control group on BMI in low-income adolescents with overweight or obesity. METHODS: In this randomized clinical trial, 360 urban-residing youth and a parent were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 behaviorally distinct family interventions or an education-only control group. Eligible children were entering the sixth grade with a BMI ≥85th percentile. Interventions were 3 years in length; data were collected annually for 3 years. Effects of the interventions on BMI slope (primary outcome) over 3 years and a set of secondary outcomes were assessed. RESULTS: Participants were primarily African American (77%), had a family income of <25 000 per year, and obese at enrollment (68%). BMI increased over time in all study groups, with group increases ranging from 0.95 to 1.08. In an intent-to-treat analysis, no significant differences were found in adjusted BMI slopes between either of the family-based interventions and the control group (P = .35). No differences were found between the experimental and control groups on secondary outcomes of diet, physical activity, sleep, perceived stress, or cardiometabolic factors. No evidence of effect modification of the study arms by sex, race and/or ethnicity, household income, baseline levels of child and parent obesity, or exposure to a school fitness program were found. CONCLUSIONS: In this low-income, adolescent population, neither of the family-based interventions improved BMI or health-related secondary outcomes. Future interventions should more fully address poverty and other social issues contributing to childhood obesity.

Parathyroid Neoplasms: Immunohistochemical Characterization and Long Noncoding RNA (lncRNA) Expression.

Parathyroid adenomas are slow growing benign neoplasms associated with hypercalcemia, while atypical parathyroid adenomas and parathyroid carcinomas are uncommon tumors and their histologic features may overlap with parathyroid adenomas. LncRNAs participate in transcription and in epigenetic or post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression, and probably contribute to carcinogenesis. We analyzed a group of normal, hyperplastic, and neoplastic parathyroid lesions to determine the best immunohistochemical markers to characterize these lesions and to determine the role of selected lncRNAs in tumor progression. A tissue microarray consisting of 111 cases of normal parathyroid (n = 14), primary hyperplasia (n = 15), secondary hyperplasia (n = 10), tertiary hyperplasia (n = 11), adenomas (n = 50), atypical adenomas (n = 7), and carcinomas (n = 4) was used. Immunohistochemical staining with antibodies against chromogranin A, synaptophysin, parathyroid hormone, and insulinoma-associated protein 1(INSM1) was used. Expression of lncRNAs including metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript one (MALAT1), HOX transcript antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR), and long intergenic non-protein coding regulator of reprograming (Linc-ROR or ROR) was also analyzed by in situ hybridization and RT-PCR. All of the parathyroid tissues were positive for parathyroid hormone, while most cases were positive for chromogranin A (98%). Synaptophysin was expressed in only 12 cases (11%) and INMS1 was negative in all cases. ROR was significantly downregulated during progression from normal, hyperplastic, and adenomatous parathyroid to parathyroid carcinomas. These results show that parathyroid hormone and chromogranin A are useful markers for parathyroid neoplasms, while synaptophysin and INSM1 are not very sensitive broad-spectrum markers for these neoplasms. LincRNA ROR may function as a tumor suppressor during parathyroid tumor progression.