Objective To analyze the correlation between miR-31 and ESCC in expression of miR-31 in the plasma of ESCC in Xinjiang Kazak and Han nationality patients. Methods The plasma samples were collected respectively from patients with ESCC in 20 cases and healthy subjects in 20 cases. The relatively expression of miR-31 was detected by real-time Q-PCR. Results The expression of miR-31 with ESCC were higher than those of the normal control group, which related to the degree of tumor differentiation in Kazak ESCC patients (P < 0.01); the levels of miR-31 relative expression in Kazak were higher than that of Han (P = 0.008, P = 0.027). Conclusion miR-31 may be involved in the occurrence of ESCC in Han and Kazak nationality. miR-31 might be another risk factor in high incidence of ESCC in Kazak than Han nationality.

Objective To investigate the expression alteration and significance of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA)by GWAS(Genome-wide association study)between Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC)and its adjacent normal esophageal tissues. Methods lncRNA and mRNA differential expression in 6 pairs of ESCC and matched non-cancerous tissues were screened by microarray assay. The target genes were predicted. Finally , GO(Gene Ontology)and Pathway analysis was used for the further research of lncRNA. Results A total of 680 lncRNA and 1472mRNA were differentially expressed at more than two-fold change(P ≤ 0.05,with 161lncRNA and 653mRNA up-regulated,519lncRNA and 819mRNA down-regulated between ESCC and its adjacent normal esophageal tissues. Gene ontology and pathway analysis results suggested that the differentially expressed genes were involved in 11 pathways.Theyare potentially associated with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma ,including post-translational protein modification ,mucin type O-Glycan biosynthesis and sphingolipid metabolism pathways , which mainly related to the changes of molecular function ,cellular components and biological processes. Through cis and trans analysis,a total of 15 differentially expressed lncRNA had cis-and/or trans-regulated target genes in the database,with 13 lncRNA had cis-regulated target genes,3 lncRNA had trans-regulated target genes,and 1 lncRNA had both cis- and trans-regulated target genes. Conclusion Compared with adjacent normal tissues ,a large number of lncRNA were expressed differentially in ESCC in Xinjiang Han people.Aberrantly expressed lncRNA may play important roles in ESCC development and progression through some signaling pathways ,which are of great significance for further search of new targets for the diagnosis and treatment of ESCC.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in hydrogen sulfide-induced alterations in expression of collagen I and collagen III in hepatic stellate cells.

METHODSIn vitro cultured rat hepatic stellate cells (HSC-T6) were treated with hydrogen sulfide, or left untreated for use as controls, and divided into groups for treatment with different inhibitors for the various factors involved in the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Reverse transcription-PCR was used to measure Collagen I and collagen III mRNA expression. Western blotting was used to detect the protein expression of PI3K and p-Akt, which are upstream proteins of the PI3K/Akt pathway.

RESULTSCompared with the untreated control cells, the hydrogen sulfide treated cells showed elevated expression of collagen I mRNA (F =14.635, P less than 0.05), collagen III mRNA (F =14.620, P less than 0.05), PI3K protein (F =26.672, P less than 0.05), and p-Akt (F =23.522, P less than 0.05). Compared to the cells treated with hydrogen sulfide alone, the cells treated with the various inhibitors showed lower expression of collagen I mRNA (F =14.635, P less than 0.05), collagen III mRNA (F=14.620, P less than 0.05), PI3K protein (F =26.672, P less than 0.05), and p-Akt protein (F =23.522, P less than 0.05).

CONCLUSIONHydrogen sulfide can activate the PI3K/Akt pathway and elevate the expression of collagen I and collagen III in rat hepatic stellate cells.

Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Collagen Type I ; metabolism ; Collagen Type III ; metabolism ; Hepatic Stellate Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Hydrogen Sulfide ; pharmacology ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Rats ; Signal Transduction

Objective To evaluate the commutability of 22 processed materials for serum alanine aminotransferase measurements which were performed in 11 routine assays without and 2 assays with pyridoxal-5′-phosphate.Methods 100 serum specimens were collected in Beijing Hospital,Zhao Yang Hospital and Tong Ren Hospital from May,2017 to August,2017.50 individual specimens together with fresh frozen human serum pools(HSPs), external quality assessment(EQA)materials, commercial calibrators and controls were measured by 11 routine assays without pyridoxal-5′-phosphate.Measurement results of the 50 individual samples were pairwise analyzed by Deming regression for slopes and intercepts, and 95%prediction interval(PI)were calculated to evaluate the commutability of processed materials.Another 50 individual specimens and 22 above-mentioned materials were analyzed by 2 assays with pyridoxal-5′-phosphate as the evaluated methods and internationally recognized reference method as the comparative method.The ordinary linear regression(OLR)and 95% PI were used to identify the commutability of 22 materials.Results The Deming slopes ranged from 0.879 to 1.064 and intercepts from -1.96 to 3.30;the OLR slopes were 0.905 and 0.955 while intercepts were -6.71 and 9.53.The HSPs were commutable for 51/57 and 56/57 assay pairs.The EQA materials, commercial calibrators and controls showed noncommutability from 8/57 to 47/57,38/57 and pairs after that, and from 13/57 to 43/57 assay pairs, respectively.Conclusion The lyophilized materials including EQA materials, commercial calibrators and controls demonstrated poor commutability in different degrees.

Objective To observe the effects of repeated intravitreal injections of ranibizumab and aflibercept on cor-neal morphology of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration(nAMD),diabetic macular edema(DME)or retinal vein obstruction(RVO).Methods In this prospective study,64 patients(64 eyes)who underwent therapy in the injection center of the Ophthalmology Department of our hospital from June 2021 to June 2022 were enrolled,including 19 nAMD patients,20 DME patients and 25 RVO patients.Among these patients,29 were treated with aflibercept(40 g·L-1)and 35 were treated with ranibizumab(10 g·L-1).Monocular injections were adopted for all patients,and 3+pro re nata(PRN)therapy was used.Confocal microscope was used for corneal nerve examination,and corneal endo-thelial microscope was used to measure corneal thickness(CT)and corneal endothelial cells.The CT,corneal endothelial cell density(ECD),coefficient of variation(CV),average cell size(ACS),proportion of hexagonal cells(Hex％),cor-neal nerve fiber length(CNFL),corneal nerve fiber density(CNFD)of patients with nAMD,DME and RVO after repeated intravitreal injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)drugs were compared,and those parameters at 1 month after injection of different anti-VEGF drugs were compared with the baseline.Results Before injection,ECD in the DME group was lower than that in the nAMD and RVO groups,and the ACS in the DME group was higher than that in the nAMD and RVO groups(all P＜0.05).There was no significant difference in the other indexes among the three groups(all P＞0.05).After 3 injections of anti-VEGF drugs,the ECD in the DME group was lower than that in the nAMD and RVO groups,the ACS in the DME group was higher than that in the nAMD and RVO groups,and the CNFL in the DME group was lower than that in the nAMD and RVO groups(all P＜0.05).The ECD decreased compared with that before injection from the 2nd injection of aflibercept in the nAMD group(all P＜0.05).Hex％decreased significantly after each injection compared with the baseline(all P＜0.05).Other indexes have no significant differences from the baseline(all P＞0.05).In the RVO group,ECD decreased from the 2nd ranibizumab injection compared with the baseline(all P＜0.05).Conclu-sion Repeated intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF drugs can reduce the Hex％and ECD to a certain extent.After injec-tions,CNFL in the DME group is significantly lower than that in the nAMD and RVO groups.