Exosomes, as a type of multivesicular bodies secreted by various cells in human body, exist in many kinds of body fluids in the body. Exosomes have the structure of lipid bilayer membranes to protect the structure and function stability of their contents and they carry a large number of active substances including microRNA (miRNA) and mRNA. Studies have shown that exosomes and their miRNA are closely associated with the development and progression of liver fibrosis and regulate such process by acting on hepatic stellate cells to change their activation, proliferation, apoptosis, and migration. This article elaborates on the biological characteristics of exosome miRNA and its association with liver fibrosis, analyzes its important role in the development and progression, diagnosis and treatment, and prognostic evaluation of liver fibrosis, and points out that exosome miRNA may become a new potential target for the diagnosis, treatment, and prognostic evaluation of liver fibrosis.

Objective:To investigate the serum levels, diagnosis and prognosis value of endothelin-1(ET-1) in children suffering from lung metastasis of osteosarcoma.Methods:A total of 84 children with osteosarcoma, 67 children with lung metastasis of osteosarcoma and 35 healthy people from January 1, 2013 to January 1, 2018 in Second People′s Hospital of Nanyang were retrospectively included.The serum level of ET-1 was measured by performing enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) methods and the influencing factors of serum ET-1 levels in children with lung metastasis of osteosarcoma were conducted by Logistic regression analysis.The clinical value of ET-1 in the prediction of the incidence of lung metastasis in children with osteosarcoma was analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.Forty-five children with lung metastasis of osteosarcoma were followed up for 18 months and the prognosis value of serum ET-1 levels in children with lung metastasis of osteosarcoma was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Results:The serum ET-1 level in children with lung metastasis of osteosarcoma was 97.23 (65.13, 134.98) ng/L and significantly higher than osteosarcoma group 60.21 (43.12, 74.63) ng/L and healthy control group 34.45 (12.01, 63.03) ng/L, respectively ( Z=-5.671, -4.92, all P<0.05), with significant differences. Logistic regression analysis proved that lung bilateral involvement ( OR=3.449), numbers of lung metastases (more than 3)( OR=3.449), average diameter of lung metastases (more than 5 cm) ( OR=6.501) and extrapulmonary metastasis ( OR=4.369) were independent risk factors for elevated serum ET-1 levels in children developing lung metastasis of osteosarcoma.The predictive value of ET-1 in the incidence of lung metastasis in children with osteosarcoma was significant (area under ROC curve: 0.841). When the cut-off value was 94.27 ng/L, the sensitivity and specificity were 88.5% and 92.6%, respectively.Survival analysis revealed that higher levels of ET-1 was correlated with poor prognosis ( OR=3.287, 95% CI: 1.119-9.547). Conclusions:The serum levels of ET-1 in children with lung metastasis of osteosarcoma are significantly elevated.ET-1 is a serological marker for the differential diagnosis of lung metastasis of osteosarcoma.Moreover, the higher levels of ET-1 are correlated with poor prognosis in children with lung metastasis of osteosarcoma.

Objective To explore the influence of rs1360780 T risk allele of FK506-binding protein 5 (FKBP5) gene on the brain function under resting-state and its association with clinical symptoms as well as immune function in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).Methods Totally 147 MDD patients and 61 gender-,age-,and education-matched healthy controls were scanned with 3.0T MRI Scanner and genotyped.The peripheral serum immunoglobulin and complement were measured.The main effect of the disease,the genotype and their interaction effects were analyzed using regional homogeneity (ReHo) by two-way ANOVA.Abnormal brain activity was identified in T risk allele carriers of rs1360780 and non-risk CC individuals in MDD using post hoc analyses.Correlation analyses were performed between ReHo values of significant brain regions and the total score,five-factor scores of Hamilton rating scale for depression (HAMD-17),serum levels of immunoglobulin and plasma complement component in MDD patients.Results (1) The results of 2x 2 ANOVA showed the interaction effects located in the left opercular part of inferior frontal gyrus (MNI:x,y,z =-42,6,9;F=10.83),right opercular part of inferior frontal gyrus (MNI:x,y,z =30,6,33;F=15.05),left medial superior frontal gyrus (MNI:x,y,z=-9,54,0;F=9.17) and left pallidum (MNI:x,y,z =-12,6,-6;F=11.37) (Alphasim corrected,P＜ 0.05).(2) In post-hoc analyses for the main effect of genotype,T+ carriers with MDD showed increased ReHo values in the right opercular part of inferior frontal gyrus (MNI:x,y,z=60,12,6;t=2.88) compared with CC carriers;for the effect of diseaseby-genotype interaction,T+ carriers with MDD showed increased ReHo values in the right opercular part of inferior frontal gyrus (MNI:x,y,z=30,6,33;t=2.96) and decreased ReHo values in the left orbital part of inferior frontal gyrus (MNI:x,y,z =-21,9,-18;t =-3.21) (Alphasim corrected,P＜ 0.05) in contrast to CC carriers.(3)Pearson's correlation showed that the average ReHo values of the right opercular part of inferior frontal gyrus negatively correlated with the content of immunoglobulin G (r=-0.528,P=O.0016,Bonferroni corrected) and positively correlated with anxiety/somatization factor score (r=0.421,P＜0.001,Bonferroni corrected) in T + carrìers with MDD.Conclusion The results of this study suggest that rs1360780 T-risk allele of FKBP5 gene is involved in the changes of local neural activity in the right opercular part of inferior frontal gyrus of depressed patients and could potentially indicate a neuropathological mechanism of anxiety somatic symptoms and immune dysfunction in depression.