Novel plasma biomarkers in arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy: the role of ST2 and GDF-15 in predicting biventricular involvement

Background

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is an inherited heart muscle disease characterized by fibrofatty replacement of the myocardium and ventricular arrhythmias. Biventricular (BiV) involvement in ARVC may lead to heart failure.

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate the role of novel plasma biomarkers soluble (s)ST2, Galectin-3 (Gal-3) and GDF-15 in predicting BiV involvement and adverse outcomes in ARVC patients.

Methods

ARVC patients from two independent cohorts were studied. 108 patients were included from the discovery cohort and 47 patients were included from a second validation cohort. All patients had a definite ARVC diagnosis at time of blood withdrawal. sST2, Gal-3 and GDF-15 were independently correlated with NT-proBNP, left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction, late gadolinium enhancement by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging and clinical outcome.

Results

ARVC patients with LV involvement had higher levels of sST2 and GDF-15 as compared to controls and patients with isolated right ventricular involvement. sST2 and GDF-15 significantly correlated to late gadolinium enhancement on CMR and also correlated to adverse heart failure outcomes. Gal-3 was elevated in ARVC patients with and without LV involvement as compared to controls. The combined use of the three biomarkers (NT-proBNP, sST2 and GDF-15) showed the best performance in predicting LV involvement in both the discovery and the validation cohort. Plasma drawn from coronary arteries and coronary sinus showed a transmyocardial elevation of sST2.

Conclusion

Our study shows that sST2 and GDF-15 may predict BiV involvement and the combined use of NT-proBNP, sST2 and GDF-15 shows the best prediction of LV involvement in ARVC. Transmyocardial elevation of sST2 suggests that this biomarker is produced by myocardial tissue in ARVC.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding source: Foundation. Main funding source(s): Fuwai ARVC Program was supported by CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Zurich ARVC Program was supported by grants from the Schwyzer Foundation and Baugarten Foundation

Abscisic acid and hydrogen peroxide are involved in drought priming-induced drought tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Drought is one of the major stress factors in wheat production on a global scale. Drought priming during the early growth stage can enhance drought tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Abscisic acid (ABA) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂ O₂ ) are important signal molecules in the adaptation of plants to drought stress. However, the roles of ABA and H₂ O₂ in drought priming-induced drought tolerance are not clear. In the present study, we evaluated the responses of wheat to an ABA inhibitor, H₂ O₂ scavenger and an inhibitor to investigate the (i) relationship between ABA and H₂ O₂ in osmotic adjustment after drought priming in the vegetative stage and (ii) responses to drought stress during grain filling. In the drought priming alone treatments, chemical application resulted in the scavenging of ABA and H₂ O₂ , weakening the alleviation effects of drought priming on drought stress, as demonstrated by the lower leaf water potential and grain yield. The ABA inhibitor completely inhibited accumulation of ABA and H₂ O₂ ; the ABA inhibitor inhibited respiratory burst oxidase homologue expression, whereas the H₂ O₂ inhibitor resulted in higher 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase expression and ABA concentration in primed plants, indicating that ABA scavenging inhibited H₂ O₂ biosynthesis while H₂ O₂ scavenging did not inhibit ABA biosynthesis. The results further demonstrated that NADPH oxidase-mediated H₂ O₂ production functions downstream of ABA, which induces osmolyte transcript expression and accumulation, and thus contributes to drought priming-induced stress tolerance. These results provide a theoretical basis for a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in drought priming-induced tolerance in wheat plants.

Measurement of the Low-Energy Antideuteron Inelastic Cross Section

In this Letter, we report the first measurement of the inelastic cross section for antideuteron-nucleus interactions at low particle momenta, covering a range of 0.3≤p<4  GeV/c. The measurement is carried out using p-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon pair of sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV, recorded with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC and utilizing the detector material as an absorber for antideuterons and antiprotons. The extracted raw primary antiparticle-to-particle ratios are compared to the results from detailed ALICE simulations based on the geant4 toolkit for the propagation of (anti)particles through the detector material. The analysis of the raw primary (anti)proton spectra serves as a benchmark for this study, since their hadronic interaction cross sections are well constrained experimentally. The first measurement of the inelastic cross section for antideuteron-nucleus interactions averaged over the ALICE detector material with atomic mass numbers ⟨A⟩=17.4 and 31.8 is obtained. The measured inelastic cross section points to a possible excess with respect to the Glauber model parametrization used in geant4 in the lowest momentum interval of 0.3≤p<0.47  GeV/c up to a factor 2.1. This result is relevant for the understanding of antimatter propagation and the contributions to antinuclei production from cosmic ray interactions within the interstellar medium. In addition, the momentum range covered by this measurement is of particular importance to evaluate signal predictions for indirect dark-matter searches.

[Protective effect and mechanism of mild hypothermia on liver injury after cardiopulmonary resuscitation in pigs]

Objective: To investigate the effect of mild hypothermia therapy on liver after cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Methods: Thirty-three inbred Chinese Wuzhishan (WZS) minipigs, weighted (28±2) kg, were used to establish a ventricular fibrillation model. And 30 animals survived after cardiopulmonary resuscitation reached basic life support. The surviving animals were randomly divided into two groups: mild hypothermia group (group M, n=15) and conventional treatment group (group C, n=15). All the animals were observed for 24 hours. Blood samples were extracted at baseline, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 12 and 24 h after successful resuscitation. The concentrations of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were detected at the time points. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). The data were compared between the two groups, LSD test was used when the variance was homogeneous, and Tamhane T2 test was used when the variance was uneven. Results: Eleven pigs (73.3%) in the group M and 8(53.3%) in the group C survived at 24 h after successful resuscitation, with no statistically significant difference between the two groups (χ(2)=1.229, P=0.225). After successful resuscitation, the AST, ALT increased in both group but less in M group (all P<0.05). After successful resuscitation, the concentrations of TFN-α and IL-6 in the blood increased in both groups, reached the peak at 4h, and then decreased gradually. The concentrations of TFN-α in group M were lower than those in group C at 0.5, 2, 4 and 6 h after successful resuscitation (t=0.01, 0.01, 0.87, 0.86, all P<0.05). The concentrations of IL-6 in the group M were lower than those in group C at 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 h after successful resuscitation (t=0.23, 0.78, 0.11, 0.80, all P<0.05). Conclusions: After successful resuscitation, the release of inflammatory mediators, such as TNF-α and IL-6, and cell apoptosis may involve in liver ischemia reperfusion injury. After successful resuscitation, the liver undergoes ischemia-reperfusion injury, which may be related to the release of inflammatory mediators such as TNF-α and IL-6. Mild hypothermia therapy can prevent the release of TNF-α, IL-6 to reduce the degree of liver damage after resuscitation.

[Efficacy of thymectomy in patients with non-thymoma myasthenia gravis]

Objective: To compare the efficacy between thymectomy plus prednisone and prednisone alone in patients with non-thymoma myasthenia gravis (MG). Methods: Thirty generalized MG patients without thymoma who underwent thymectomy were collected as the operation group, and thirty-nine patients without thymectomy who were treated with prednisone alone were matched as the control group. The start point was the enrollment time and the endpoint event was the "clinical remission" (including complete stabilization remission, drug remission, and poor performance). The survival curve was used to analyze the difference of endpoint event time between the two groups. Besides, a 12-month follow-up study was conducted to compare relevant clinical indicators between the two groups. Results: There was no significant difference in the occurrence time of endpoint events between the two groups (P=0.614). After 6-month follow-up, no significant differences were found in clinical remission rate, the dosage of pyridostigmine bromide and prednisone, the peak dosage of prednisone, the use of other immunosuppressive medications and the rate of hospitalization for exacerbation of disease between the two groups (all P>0.05). After 12-month follow-up, the dosage of prednisone and pyridostigmine in the operation group was significantly lower than that in the control group (5(0,10)mg/d vs 7.5(5,10)mg/d and 30(0,105)mg/d vs 90(15,180)mg/d; P=0.038, 0.032). Conclusion: In patients with mild to moderate non-thymoma generalized MG, thymectomy does not achieve faster remission, but it does reduce the long-term dosage of prednisone and bromopyrazine.

GBP1 promotes non-small cell lung carcinoma malignancy and chemoresistance via activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway

Since this article has been suspected of research misconduct and the corresponding authors did not respond to our request to prove originality of data and figures, "GBP1 promotes non-small cell lung carcinoma malignancy and chemoresistance via activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, by J. Song, Q.-Y. Wei, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2020; 24 (10): 5465-5472-DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_202005_21331-PMID: 32495881" has been withdrawn. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. https://www.europeanreview.org/article/21331.

MiR-126-3p suppresses the growth, migration and invasion of NSCLC via targeting CCR1

OBJECTIVE

MicroRNA (miRNA) plays vital roles in the development of different cancers. In the current work, we explored the function of miR-126-3p in the growth and metastasis of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell in vitro and in vivo.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The expressions of miR-126-3p in NSCLC cell lines were assessed using the quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) assay. 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT), colony formation, wound healing and transwell invasion were applied to reveal the role of miR-126b-3p on NSCLC cell growth, migration and invasion. The expressions of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) associated markers (E-cadherin and N-cadherin) were assessed by immunofluorescence staining. The Xenograft model and lung metastasis model were applied to explore the impact of miR-126-3p on the growth and aggressiveness of NSCLC cell in vivo.

RESULTS

MiR-126-3p was significantly down-regulated in NSCLC cell lines and tissues. The up-regulation of miR-126-3p inhibited the growth, colony formation, migration and invasion of NSCLC cell. Furthermore, the xenograft model indicated that miR-126-3p suppressed NSCLC cell growth and lung metastasis by targeting chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 1 (CCR1). In addition, we demonstrated that the over-expression of CCR1 rescued the inhibitory effects of miR-126-3p on NSCLC cells growth, migration and invasion. Finally, knocked-down of CCR1 was able to mimic the inhibitory effects of miR-126-3p on the progression of NSCLC cell.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicate that miR-126-3p plays an important role in the growth, migration and invasion of NSCLC by targeting CCR1.

Probing the Effects of Strong Electromagnetic Fields with Charge-Dependent Directed Flow in Pb-Pb Collisions at the LHC

The first measurement at the LHC of charge-dependent directed flow (v_{1}) relative to the spectator plane is presented for Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV. Results are reported for charged hadrons and D^{0} mesons for the transverse momentum intervals p_{T}>0.2  GeV/c and 3<p_{T}<6  GeV/c in the 5%-40% and 10%-40% centrality classes, respectively. The difference between the positively and negatively charged hadron v_{1} has a positive slope as a function of pseudorapidity η, dΔv_{1}/dη=[1.68±0.49(stat)±0.41(syst)]×10^{-4}. The same measurement for D^{0} and D[over ¯]^{0} mesons yields a positive value dΔv_{1}/dη=[4.9±1.7(stat)±0.6(syst)]×10^{-1}, which is about 3 orders of magnitude larger than the one of the charged hadrons. These measurements can provide new insights into the effects of the strong electromagnetic field and the initial tilt of matter created in noncentral heavy ion collisions on the dynamics of light (u, d, and s) and heavy (c) quarks. The large difference between the observed Δv_{1} of charged hadrons and D^{0} mesons may reflect different sensitivity of the charm and light quarks to the early time dynamics of a heavy ion collision. These observations challenge some recent theoretical calculations, which predicted a negative and an order of magnitude smaller value of dΔv_{1}/dη for both light flavor and charmed hadrons.

Evidence of Spin-Orbital Angular Momentum Interactions in Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions

The first evidence of spin alignment of vector mesons (K^{*0} and ϕ) in heavy-ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is reported. The spin density matrix element ρ_{00} is measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) in Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy (sqrt[s_{NN}]) of 2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector. ρ_{00} values are found to be less than 1/3 (1/3 implies no spin alignment) at low transverse momentum (p_{T}<2  GeV/c) for K^{*0} and ϕ at a level of 3σ and 2σ, respectively. No significant spin alignment is observed for the K_{S}^{0} meson (spin=0) in Pb-Pb collisions and for the vector mesons in pp collisions. The measured spin alignment is unexpectedly large but qualitatively consistent with the expectation from models which attribute it to a polarization of quarks in the presence of angular momentum in heavy-ion collisions and a subsequent hadronization by the process of recombination.

[Epidemic situation of human echinococcosis in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region: a sampling survey from 2012 to 2017]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of human echinococcosis in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, so as to provide evidence for the development of the precision control strategy of human echinococcosis in the region.

METHODS

A sampling survey of human echinococcosis was conducted in 28 banners (counties, districts) of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from 2012 to 2017, and the epidemiological characteristics were descriptively analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 90 058 residents were examined for echinococcosis in 28 banners (counties, districts) of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from 2012 to 2017, and 71 patients were detected with echinococcosis, with a detection rate of 0.08%. No echinococcosis cases were identified in 8 banners (counties), and there were 6 banners (counties) with echinococcosis prevalence of 0.1% to 1%, and 14 with prevalence of 0 to 0.1%. The echinococcosis prevalence was significantly greater in women (0.11%) than in men (0.05%) (χ² = 10.09, P = 0.001), and the highest prevalence was detected in patients at ages of over 50 years (38 cases, 53.52%). In addition, the highest echinococcosis prevalence was detected in herdsmen (0.14%), or in primary school children (0.13%).

CONCLUSIONS

Human echinococcosis is widely, but lowly prevalent in Inner Mongolia Region, with a diverse density of infections. Echinococcosis has remarkable characteristics of regional and population clusters in Inner Mongolia Region, and the management of echinococcosis requires to be reinforced in key regions and populations.

[Spatial distribution characteristics of reported echinococcosis patients in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from 2013 to 2018]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the spatial distribution patterns and changing tendency of reported echinococcosis patients in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from 2013 to 2018, so as to provide the evidence for the management of echinococcosis in high-risk areas.

METHODS

All data pertaining to echinococcosis patients in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region were captured from the National Notifiable Communicable Disease Reporting System from 2013 to 2018 and analyzed using a spatial epidemiological method.

RESULTS

The incidence of reported echinococcosis was 0.22 to 0.41 per 100 000 in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from 2013 to 2018, and the number of banner reporting echinococcosis patients increased from 24 in 2013 to 39 in 2018. The highly prevalent areas of echinococcosis were mainly concentrated in West Ujimqin Banner (the highest incidence, 19.23 per 100 000), East Ujimqin Banner (the highest incidence, 12.93 per 100 000) and New Barag Right Banner (the highest incidence, 11.66 per 100 000). Three-dimensional trend analysis showed that the areas with high incidence of reported echinococcosis were mainly located in central by eastern parts of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. There was a positive spatial autocorrelation in the number of echinococcosis patients, and the cases appeared a clustering distribution (Moran's I > 0, P < 0.05), with "high-high" and "low-high" regions.

CONCLUSIONS

The reported echinococcosis patients show a spatial aggregation in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and the hotspot areas are mainly concentrated in Xilingol League and Chifeng City, in which targeted control interventions for Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region are recommended to be intensified.

The association of smoking and socioeconomic status on cutaneous melanoma: a population-based, data-linkage, case-control study

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have identified an inverse association between melanoma and smoking; however, data from population-based studies are scarce.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the association between smoking and socioeconomic (SES) on the risk of development of melanoma. Furthermore, we sought to determine the implications of smoking and SES on survival.

METHODS

We conducted a population-based case-control study. Cases were identified from the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit (WCISU) during 2000-2015 and controls from the general population. Smoking and SES were obtained from data linkage with other national databases. The association of smoking status and SES on the incidence of melanoma were assessed using binary logistic regression. Multivariate survival analysis was performed on a melanoma cohort using a Cox proportional hazard model using survival as the outcome.

RESULTS

During 2000-2015, 9636 patients developed melanoma. Smoking data were obtained for 7124 (73·9%) of these patients. There were 26 408 controls identified from the general population. Smoking was inversely associated with melanoma incidence [odds ratio (OR) 0·70, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0·65-0·76]. Smoking was associated with an increased overall mortality [hazard ratio (HR) 1·30, 95% CI 1·09-1·55], but not associated with melanoma-specific mortality. Patients with higher SES had an increased association with melanoma incidence (OR 1·58, 95% CI 1·44-1·73). Higher SES was associated with an increased chance of both overall (HR 0·67, 95% CI 0·56-0·81) and disease-specific survival (HR 0·69, 95% CI 0·53-0·90).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study has demonstrated that smoking appeared to be associated with reduced incidence of melanoma. Although smoking increases overall mortality, no association was observed with melanoma-specific mortality. Further work is required to determine if there is a biological mechanism underlying this relationship or an alternative explanation, such as survival bias. What's already known about this topic? Previous studies have been contradictory with both negative and positive associations between smoking and the incidence of melanoma reported. Previous studies have either been limited by publication bias because of selective reporting or underpowered. What does this study add? Our large study identified an inverse association between smoking status and melanoma incidence. Although smoking status was negatively associated with overall disease survival, no significant association was noted in melanoma-specific survival. Socioeconomic status remains closely associated with melanoma. Although higher socioeconomic populations are more likely to develop the disease, patients with lower socioeconomic status continue to have a worse prognosis.

Drought-inducible changes in the histone modification H3K9ac are associated with drought-responsive gene expression in Brachypodium distachyon

H3K9ac, an epigenetic marker, is widely distributed in plant genomes. H3K9ac enhances gene expression, which is highly conserved in eukaryotes. However, genome-wide studies of H3K9ac in monocot species are limited, and the changes in H3K9ac under drought stress for individual genes are still not clear. We analysed changes in the H3K9ac level of Brachypodium distachyon under 20% PEG-6000-simulated drought stress conditions. We also performed chromatin immunoprecipitation, followed by next generation sequencing (ChIP-seq) on H3K9ac to reveal changes in H3K9ac for individual genes at the genome-wide level. Our study showed that H3K9ac was mainly enriched in gene exon regions. Drought increased or decreased the H3K9ac level at specific genomic loci. We identified 40 genes associated with increased H3K9ac levels and 36 genes associated with decreased H3K9ac levels under drought stress. Further, RT-qPCR analyses showed that H3K9ac was positively associated with gene expression of those drought-responsive genes. We conclude that H3K9ac enhances the expression level of a large number of drought-responsive genes under drought stress in B. distachyon. The data presented here will help to reveal the correlation of some specific drought-responsive genes and their enriched H3K9ac levels in the model plant B. distachyon.

Better view by detachable string magnetically controlled capsule endoscopy for esophageal observation: a retrospective comparative study

Magnetically controlled capsule endoscopy (MCE) system has been used to screen gastric lesions. However, the visualization performance of MCE in the esophagus has not been investigated systematically. String method improved the ability of capsule endoscopy (CE) for esophageal observing; however, the string attachment is complicated and cannot be detached with the CE inside the esophagus. We used a modified string, called detachable string attached to MCE. The aim of the study was to compare the observation performance of MCE with and without the detachable string. A total of 238 participants with upper gastrointestinal symptoms and a healthy check who refused esophagogastroduodenoscopy examination were retrospectively divided into the detachable string MCE group and the MCE alone group from June 2016 to May 2018. A suction cap with a thin, hollow string was attached to the MCE system in the detachable string group. Circumferential visualization of the esophagus including the upper, middle, and lower esophagus and Z-line, and esophageal focal lesion, as well as the recording time, safety and tolerability of the procedure, were assessed. The circumferential visualization of the upper, middle, and lower esophagus and Z-line was more efficient in the detachable string MCE group than in the MCE alone group (P < 0.001). In all, 31 esophageal lesions were detected in the detachable string MCE group, which was more than that in the MCE alone group (10, P < 0.001). The mean recording time was 305 seconds in the string MCE group, which was longer than that in the MCE alone group (48.5 seconds, P < 0.001). In seven participants (6.1%) in the detachable string MCE group, the capsule could not be separated from the string. Detachable string MCE showed better performance in terms of observation of the esophagus. Detachable string MCE can be used to screen for esophageal diseases as an alternative method in the future.