Poly(A)-specific ribonuclease protein promotes the proliferation,invasion and migration of esophageal cancer cells

BACKGROUND Bioinformatics analysis showed that the expression of the poly(A)-specific ribonuclease(PARN)gene in gastric cancer,head and neck squamous cell carcinoma,melanoma,cervical cancer and lung squamous cell carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that in normal tissues and was associated with high stage and poor prognosis.The expression of the PARN gene in esophageal cancer(EC)tissue is also significantly higher than that in normal tissues,but the effect of PARN on the proliferation,migration and invasion of EC cells remains unclear.AIM To investigate the relationship between PARN and the proliferation,migration and invasion of EC cells.METHODS The EC tissues of 91 patients after EC surgery and 63 paired precancerous healthy tissues were collected.PARN mRNA levels were measured using a tissue microarray,and the PARN expression level was evaluated using immunohistochemistry to analyze the relationship between PARN expression and clinicopathologic features as well as the survival and prognosis of patients.In addition,the effects of PARN gene knockout on tumor cell proliferation,invasion and migration were studied by using shRNA during the in vitro culture of EC cell lines Eca-109 and TE-1,and the effects of the PARN gene on tumor growth in vivo were verified by a xenotransplantation nude mice model.RESULTS The expression of PARN in EC tissues was higher than that in adjacent normal tissues,and the level of PARN expression was significantly positively correlated with lymphatic metastasis.Patients with high PARN levels had poor overall survival.BIM,IGFBP-5 and p21 levels were significantly increased in the PARN knockout group,while the expression levels of the antiapoptotic proteins Survivin and sTNF-R1 were significantly decreased in the apoptotic antibody array data.In addition,the expression levels of Akt,p-Akt,PIK3CA and CCND1 in the downstream signaling pathway regulating EC progression were significantly decreased.The culture of EC cell lines confirmed that the apoptosis rate of EC cells was significantly increased,the growth and proliferation of tumor cells were significantly inhibited,and the invasion and migration ability of tumor cells were significantly decreased after PARN gene knockout.In vivo experiments of BALB/c nude mice transfected with Eca-109 cells expressing control shRNA(sh-NC)and PARN shRNA(sh-PARN)showed that the tumor volume and weight of nude mice treated with sh-PARN were significantly decreased compared with those of nude mice treated with sh-NC,indicating that PARN knockdown significantly inhibited tumor growth in vivo.CONCLUSION PARN has antiapoptotic effects on EC cells and promotes their proliferation,invasion and migration,which is associated with the development of EC and poor patient prognosis.PARN may become a potential target for the diagnosis,prognosis prediction and treatment of EC.

Clinical features of coronary artery ectasia in the elderly

Objective To investigate the incidence, imaging and clinical characteristics in elderly patients with coronary artery ectasia （CAE）. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients with CAE who underwent coronary angiography between January 2006 and December 2012. According to age, the enrolled patients were divided into two groups （elderly group, age≥ 65 years; non-elderly group, age 〈 65 years）. The clinical feature, imaging characteristics and the 5-year survival rate of the two groups were compared.Results The preva-lence of CAE in elderly patients was 0.33%. Patients in elderly group were found to have significantly higher proportion of female （30.1%vs. 10.1%,P〈 0.001）, three-vessel disease （60.5%vs. 45.2%,P = 0.003） and localized ectasia （55.0%vs. 40.2%,P = 0.003）. In addition, body mass index （20.90 ± 2.71 kg/m2vs. 22.31 ± 2.98 kg/m2,P 〈 0.001） and percentage of current smokers （45.0%vs. 64.6%,P 〈 0.001） were significantly lower in elderly group. Cumulative survival curves demonstrated reduced 5-year cumulative survival at the follow-up in the elderly group compared with the non-elderly group （88.0%vs. 96.0%,P = 0.002）. But the 5-year event free survival rate failed to show a significant difference between the two groups （31.0%vs. 35.0%,P= 0.311）.ConclusionThe prevalence of CAE in elderly patients was 0.33%, which was about 1/3 of the entire numbers of CAE patients. There were significant differences between the elderly and the non-elderly patients with CAE in terms of coronary artery disease risk factors and coronary artery ectatic characteristics. CAE might be asso-ciated with increased mortality risk in the elderly.

Impact of adding opioids to paravertebral blocks in breast cancer surgery patients:A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND Several breast cancer studies have reported the use of adjuvant opioids with the paravertebral block(PVB)to improve outcomes.However,there is no level-1 evidence justifying its use.AIM To elucidate if the addition of opioids to PVB improves pain control in breast cancer surgery patients.METHODS We conducted an electronic literature search across PubMed,Embase,Scopus,and Google Scholar databases up to October 20,2020.Only randomized controlled trials(RCTs)comparing the addition of opioids to PVB with placebo for breast cancer surgery patients were included.RESULTS Six RCTs were included.Our meta-analysis indicated significantly reduced 24-h total analgesic consumption with the addition of opioids to PVB as compared to placebo[standardized mean difference(SMD)-1.57,95%confidence interval(CI):-2.93,-0.21,I2=94%].However,on subgroup analysis,the results were nonsignificant for studies using single PVB(SMD:-1.76,95%CI:-3.65,0.13 I2=95.09%)and studies using PVB infusion(SMD:-1.30,95%CI:-4.26,1.65,I2=95.49%).Analysis of single PVB studies indicated no significant difference in the time to first analgesic request between opioid and placebo groups(mean difference-11.28,95%CI:-42.00,19.43,I2=99.39%).Pain scores at 24 h were marginally lower in the opioid group(mean difference-1.10,95%CI:-2.20,0.00,I2=0%).There was no difference in the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting between the two groups.CONCLUSION Current evidence suggests a limited role of adjuvant opioids with PVB for breast cancer surgery patients.Further homogenous RCTs with a large sample size are needed to clarify the beneficial role of opioids with PVB.

Analysis of Factors Associated with Death in Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients： A Multicenter Study in China

Background： Patients on hemodialysis have a high-mortality risk. Tiffs study analyzed factors associated with death in patients on maintenance hemodialysis （MHD）. While some studies used baseline data of MHD patients, this study used the most recent data obtained from patients just prior to either a primary endpoint or the end of the study period to iliad the characteristics of patients preceding death.Methods： Participants were selected from 16 blood purification centers in China from January 2012 to December 2014, Patients＇ data were collected retrospectively. Based on survival status, the participants were divided into two groups： survival group and the death group. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine/＇actors associated with all-cause mortality.