Serum lncRNA THRIL predicts benign and malignant pulmonary nodules and promotes the progression of pulmonary malignancies.

BACKGROUND: This project aimed to research the significance of THRIL in the diagnosis of benign and malignant solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) and to investigate the role of THRIL/miR-99a in malignant SPNs. METHODS: The study groups consisted of 169 patients with SPN and 74 healthy subjects. The differences in THRIL levels were compared between the two groups and the healthy group. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was utilized to analyze the THRIL's significance in detecting benign and malignant SPN. Pearson correlation and binary regression coefficients represented the association between THRIL and SPN. CCK-8 assay, Transwell assay, and flow cytometry were utilized to detect the regulatory effect of THRIL silencing. The interaction between THRIL, miR-99a, and IGF1R was confirmed by the double luciferase reporter gene. RESULTS: There were differences in THRIL expression in the healthy group, benign SPN group, and malignant SPN group. High accuracy of THRIL in the diagnosis of benign SPN and malignant SPN was observed. THRIL was associated with the development of SPN. The expression of THRIL was upregulated and miR-99a was downregulated in lung cancer cells. The double luciferase report experiment confirmed the connections between THRIL/miR-99a/IGF1R. Silencing THRIL could suppress cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and promote cell apoptosis by binding miR-99a. CONCLUSION: The detection of THRIL in serum is useful for the assessment of malignant SPN. THRIL can regulate the expression of IGF1R through miR-99a, thereby promoting the growth of lung cancer cells and inhibiting apoptosis.

Comprehensive analysis of the association between tumor-infiltrating immune cells and the prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma.

CONTEXT: Increasing evidence has indicated an association between immune cell infiltration in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and clinical outcomes. AIMS: This study aimed to investigate the effect of 22 tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) on the prognosis of patients with LUAD. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a case-control study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The CIBERSORT algorithm calculated the proportion of cases from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort. Cox regression analysis evaluated the effect of TIICs on the prognosis of LUAD. The immune risk score model was constructed based on a statistical correlation. Multivariate cox regression analysis investigated independent factors. P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: Certain immune cells had differential infiltration between normal tissues and LUAD. Univariate Cox regression analysis revealed that four immune cell types were statistically correlated with LUAD-related survival risk, and an immune risk scoring model was constructed. The results indicated that patients in the high-risk group were associated with poor outcomes. In addition, the multivariate cox analysis revealed that the immune risk scoring model was an independent factor for LUAD prognosis prediction. Ultimately, a nomogram was established to comprehensively predict the survival of LUAD patients. CONCLUSIONS: TIICs played an essential role in the prognosis of LUAD. Furthermore, the immune risk score was a poor predictive factor of LUAD, and the established model was reliable in predicting the prognosis of LUAD.

Adiponectin protects the rats liver against chronic intermittent hypoxia induced injury through AMP-activated protein kinase pathway.

This study was performed to assess the effect of chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) on the liver, the associated mechanisms and the potential therapeutic roles of adiponectin (Ad). Sixty rats were randomly assigned to four groups: the normal control (NC), NC and Ad supplement (NC + Ad), CIH, and CIH and Ad supplement (CIH + Ad) groups. The rats in the CIH and CIH + Ad groups were exposed to a hypoxic environment for 4 months. Rats in the NC + Ad and CIH + Ad groups were also treated with an intravenous injection of Ad (10 ug), twice a week. The plasma levels of hepatic enzymes, serum triglyceride, liver triglyceride, fasting blood glucose and hepatic cell apoptosis in hepatic tissue, were higher in the CIH group than in the NC and NC + Ad groups. However, the Ad supplementation in the CIH + Ad group rescued the hepatic tissue insult by activating the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway. In conclusion, Ad could protect against CIH-induced hepatic injury partly through the AMPK pathway.

[Occurrence and clinical characteristics of sleep apnea syndrome in heart failure patients with atrial fibrillation].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the occurrence and clinical characteristics of sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) in heart failure (HF) patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). METHODS: From HF patients hospitalized in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University during June 2012 and June 2014, subjects were recruited based on electrocardiography examination, including 110 patients with AF (coexisting AF group) and 105 parallel control patients without AF but with matched age, gender and body mass index (simple HF group). Comparison was made about the occurrence and characteristics of SAS between two groups. RESULTS: There was no statistical difference in causes of HF, complications, New York Heart Association class and basic medication between two groups. Compared with the patients in simple HF group, the patients in coexisting AF group had a significantly higher Epworth sleepiness scale score, larger cardiothoracic ratio (10.1±5.8 vs 8.2±5.5, 0.63±0.08 vs 0.57±0.07; both P<0.05), and shorter 6-minute walk distance [(305±70) vs (335±69) m, P<0.05]. There was no difference in left ventricular ejection fraction, left ventricular end-diastolic dimension and left ventricular end-systolic dimension between two groups. However, left atrial diameter was remarkably larger in coexisting AF group than that in simple HF group (P<0.05). The prevalence of SAS was higher in coexisting AF group than that in simple HF group (36.4% vs 20.0%, P<0.05). Compared with simple HF group, the coexisting AF group had a higher apnea/hypopnea index [4(1, 16) vs 3(1, 7) times/h, P<0.05]. No significant differences were detected between two groups among the rapid of eye movement sleep stage/total sleep time, arousal index, mean and lowest pulse oxygen saturation (SpO2) and oxygen desaturation index. CONCLUSION: HF patients with AF have a higher frequency of SAS, more severe daytime sleepiness and poorer physical activity than matched simple HF patients without AF.

Relationship between Rad51 G135C and G172T variants and the susceptibility to cancer: a meta-analysis involving 54 case-control studies.

BACKGROUND: The associations between Rad51 gene polymorphisms (G135C and G172T) and risk of cancer have been investigated, but the results were inconclusive. To get a comprehensive evaluation of the association above, we performed a meta-analysis of published studies. METHODS: A computerized search of PubMed, Embase and Web of Knowledge databases for all relevant studies was performed and the data were analyzed in a meta-analysis. The overall odds ratio (OR) with the 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was calculated to assess the strength of the association between Rad51 polymorphisms and cancer risk. Data were analyzed using fixed- or random-effects model when appropriate. Sensitivity analysis and publication bias test were also estimated. RESULTS: Overall, a total of 54 case-control studies were included in the current meta-analysis, among which 42 studies with 19,142 cases and 20,363 controls for RAD51 G135C polymorphism and 12 studies with 6,646 cases and 6,783 controls for G172T polymorphism. For G135C polymorphism, the pooled results indicated that significantly increased risk was found in overall cancers (homozygote model: OR = 1.776, 95% CI = 1.288-2.449; allelic genetic model: OR = 1.169, 95% CI = 1.016-1.345; recessive model: OR = 1.946, 95% CI = 1.336-2.835), especially in breast cancer (homozygote model: OR = 1.498, 95% CI = 1.026-2.189; recessive model: OR = 1.732, 95% CI  =  1.170-2.562). For G172T polymorphism, a decreased cancer risk was observed in head and neck cancer (homozygote model: OR  =  0.621, 95% CI  =  0.460-0.837; allelic genetic model: OR  =  0.824, 95% CI  =  0.716-0.948; recessive model: OR  =  0.639, 95% CI = 0.488-0.837). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested that the Rad51 G135C polymorphism is a candidate for susceptibility to overall cancers, especially to breast cancer, and that the Rad51 G172T might play a protective role in the development of head and neck cancer.