Association of CD226 polymorphisms with the susceptibility to type 1 diabetes in Chinese children.

Polymorphisms in the CD226 gene have been reported to be associated with autoimmune diseases. The aim of our study was to investigate the association between two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs763361 and rs727088) in the CD226 gene and the risk for developing type 1 diabetes (T1D) in Chinese Han children. This case-control study included a total of 152 Chinese children with T1D and 304 matched-pair, healthy controls based on age and gender. The genetic variants of the rs763361 and rs727088 SNPs in the CD226 gene were determined using the polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism method. The CD226 rs763361 polymorphism increased the risk of T1D in the genotype [P < 0.001, odds ratio (OR) = 3.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.24-6.76], dominant (P < 0.001, OR = 2.1, 95%CI = 1.40-3.14), and recessive (P < 0.001, OR = 0.5, 95%CI = 0.30-0.84) models. Additionally, the carriers of the T allele were more susceptible to T1D (P < 0.001, OR = 2.1, 95%CI = 1.58-2.79). Carriers of the T allele who were younger than 10 years of age at disease onset had an increased risk of T1D than those who were older at the disease onset. However, there was no association between the CD226 rs727088 SNP and risk for developing T1D. These findings revealed that CD226 rs763361 polymorphism was significantly associated with susceptibility to T1D and that the presence of the T allele might be a genetic factor for susceptibility to T1D.

Circulating miR-125b as a biomarker of Ewing's sarcoma in Chinese children.

Previous studies indicated that microRNA-125b (miR-125b) has an important role in the progression of Ewing's sarcoma (ES). The purpose of the current study was to examine expression changes of miR-125b in the serum of ES patients and evaluate if the expression level of miR-125b could serve as a new biomarker for ES. This study was performed on patients who underwent surgical resection at our hospital between 2005 and 2013 after an initial diagnosis of ES. We measured serum miR-125b levels in 63 patients with ES and 126 healthy control patients using a real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-PCR (qRT-PCR) method. Expression levels of serum miR-125b were distinctly decreased in ES patients when compared with healthy controls (P < 0.001). ES cases that had a poor response to chemotherapy presented a significant down-regulation of miR-125b (P = 0.001). The ROC curve showed that the serum miR-125b could serve as a valuable biomarker for differentiating ES patients from healthy controls with an AUC of 0.879 (95%CI = 0.817-0.924; P < 0.001). At a cut-off value of 2.203 for miR-125b, the sensitivity was 72.8% and the specificity was 87.2% in discriminating ES from the controls. Our results indicate that serum miR- 125b may serve as a useful noninvasive biomarker for ES.