Objective To explore the association between the relative expression level of SNORD55 in peripheral blood and the outcomes of all-cause mortality and stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation(AF),and to evaluate the predictive value of SNORD55 for prognosis.Methods A total of 133 patients with non-valvular AF admitted in Department of Cardiology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University from January 2014 to December 2017 were enrolled in this study.Their baseline information was collected,and the relative expression level of plasma SNORD55 was detected.Cox proportional hazards model was used to explore the association between the relative expression level of SNORD55 in peripheral blood and all-cause mortality as well as stroke in the patients.The predictive performance of CHA2DS2-VASc score for all-cause mortality and stroke was compared with the score combined with the relative expression level of SNORD55 in the AF patients.The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve(AUC)was utilized to evaluate the discrimination,and the net reclassification index(NRI)and comprehensive discriminant improvement index(IDI)were calculated to evaluate the improvement of reclassification ability.Decision curve analysis(DCA)was applied to analyze the change in clinical net benefit.Results The results of multivariate Cox regression showed that high expression of SNORD55 in peripheral blood was an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality and stroke in the AF patients.In predicting the outcomes of all-cause mortality and stroke,the addition of relative expression SNORD55 level with the CHA2DS2-VASc score obtained higher AUC value[0.80(95％CI:0.67～0.93)vs 0.67(95％CI:0.53～0.81),P＜0.05].In predicting the outcome of all-cause death and stroke,combination of the relative expression level of SNORD55 with CHA2DS2-VASc score increased both NRI[54.3(95％CI:10.6～61.9)vs 31.9(95％CI:2.8～47.5),P＜0.05]and IDI[16.1(95％CI:2.4～27.0)vs 7.9(95％CI:0.5～14.8),P＜0.05].The results of DCA showed that our combination of CHA2DS2-VASc score relative expression level of SNORD55 had higher clinical net benefits than the foreign ABC score in the prediction of the outcomes.Conclusion Peripheral blood SNORD55 level is an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality and stroke in AF patients,and has good predictive performance for all-cause mortality and stroke in the patients.

Objectives To explore the association of peripheral blood PIWI-interacting RNA,piR-hsa-2700592,with all-cause mortality and stroke outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation(AF),and to determine whether piR-hsa-2700592 has the potential to be an AF biomarker.Methods A total of 127 patients with non-valvular AF were enrolled,and the relative expression level of plasma piR-hsa-2700592 was detected.Cox proportional hazard regression was used to analyze the correlation between the expression of piR-hsa-2700592 and all-cause death as well as stroke outcome in the patients.Then the molecule expression level was combined with CHA2DS2-VASc score and ABC stroke(or death)score to establish 2 new prediction models,the improvement of the predictive performance was compared and analyzed.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis(area under the curve,AUC),net reclassification index(NRI),and comprehensive discriminant improvement index(IDI)were used to evaluate the predictive performance,and decision curve analysis(DCA)was employed to assess the clinical benefit.Results Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the patients with higher expression level of piR-hsa-2700592 in peripheral blood had a higher risk of stroke(HR:2.203,95%CI:1.120～4.332;P=0.022).In the stroke outcome,combination of plasma piR-hsa-2700592 expression level with CHA2DS2-VASc score and ABC stroke score obtained an AUC of 0.70(95%CI:0.55～0.85,P＜0.001)and 0.84(95%CI:0.73～0.96,P=0.02),respectively.But,no significant association was observed between high plasma piR-hsa-2700592 level and all-cause mortality in the AF patients(HR:1.997;95%CI:0.884～4.509;P=0.096).Combination of plasma piR-hsa-2700592 level improved the discriminative capability than the single CHA2DS2-VASc score and ABC stroke score models,with an NRI and IDI value of 44.20%(95%CI:3.40～59.90,P＜0.001)and 8.20%(95%CI:0.60～15.40,P＜0.001),respectively for the new CHA2DS2-VASc score model,and an NRI and IDI value of 44.20%(95%CI:9.80～58.90,P＜0.001)and 10.40%(95%CI:0.70～21.40,P＜0.001),respectively for the new ABC stroke score model.The DCA curve showed that both new prediction models obtained better net clinical benefits.Conclusion High peripheral blood expression of piR-hsa-2700592 is an independent risk factor for stroke in the AF patients,and the indicator has a good predictive value for prognosis of the patients.piR-hsa-2700592 might be used as a potential biomarker in the diagnosis and prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary hepatic malign-ancy in clinic. The prognosis of patients remains extremely poor because of the high malignancy and easy recurrence and metastasis of HCC. In recent years, the roles of platelets in promoting the malignant progression of HCC have increasingly attracted much attention. It is known that platelets could promote HCC cells proliferation and invasion through tumor microenvironment. On the other hand, platelets are capable to promote HCC cells distant metastasis by facilitating tumor cells evasion of immune surveillance. Besides, the platelet-derived growth factors and proangiogenic factors are also involved in the proliferation, invasiveness, and neovascularization of HCC. In addition, patients with HCC normally have a background of cirrhosis, and it is still controversial that whether the thrombocytopenia by portal hypertension and hypersplenism can promote the malignant progress of HCC. In view of this, the diagnostic and prognostic value of platelet levels, as well as platelet-associated scores in HCC have increasingly become research focus. The authors elaborate the detailed mechanisms of platelets in malignant progression of HCC, and discuss the recent research progress of platelets as effective diagnostic or prognostic tools for the assessment of HCC, which is of great importance to optimize the current treatment regimen and explore novel therapeutic strategies against HCC.

Reynoutria japonica Houtt., belonging to Polygoneae of Polygonaceae, is a Chinese medicinal herb with the functions of draining dampness and relieving jaundice, clearing heat and detoxifying, dispersing blood stasis and relieving pain, and relieving cough and resolving phlegm. In this study, we carried out high-throughput sequencing for the chloroplast genome sequences of five cultivars of R. japonica and analyzed the genome structure and variations. The chloroplast genomes of the five R. japonica cultivars had two sizes (163 376 bp and 163 371 bp) and a typical circular tetrad structure composed of a large single-copy (LSC) region of 85 784 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18 616 bp, and a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions (IRa/IRb) which are spaced apart. A total of 161 genes were obtained by annotation, which consisted of 106 protein-coding genes, 10 rRNA-coding genes, and 45 tRNA-coding genes. The total GC content was 36.7%. Specifically, the GC content in the LSC, SSC, and IR regions were 34.8%, 30.7%, and 42.7%, respectively. Comparison of the whole chloroplast genome among the five cultivars showed that trnk-UUU, rpoC1, petD, rpl16, ndhA, and rpl12 in coding regions had sequence variations. In the phylogenetic tree constructed for the 11 samples of Polygoneae, the five cultivars of R. japonica clustered into one clade near the root and was a sister group of Fallopia multiflora (Thunb.).
Base Composition ; Genome, Chloroplast/genetics* ; Open Reading Frames ; Phylogeny ; Reynoutria

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical characteristics, prognosis and parallel clinical course of ovarian cancer (OC) and dermatomyositis (DM). METHODS: The medical records of 23 consecutive patients who were diagnosed with OC and DM and were treated at Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) between 2002 and 2017 were reviewed. Propensity score matching method was used to match control group (OC patients without DM) at a ratio of 1:5. The correlation between OC and DM was measured using the Pearson correlation scatter plot and Pearson's r. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazard regression analysis were performed to evaluate the prognostic factors. RESULTS: After matching, 23 patients who have the concurrence of OC and DM (DM group) and 115 patients diagnosed with OC alone (No DM group) were included. The 5-year overall survival rates (71.6% vs. 51.8%, p=0.020) and 5-year progression-free survival (30.5% vs. 0%, p=0.018) were poorer in DM group. Correlation between serum cancer antigen 125 (CA 125) and creatine kinase (CK) level was observed in 12 patients. The time between OC and DM diagnosis is significant through univariable analysis (p=0.021) but not in multivariable analysis in patients who have the concurrence of OC and DM. CONCLUSION: The concurrence of OC and DM as a paraneoplastic syndrome is rare and has a poor prognosis. The risk for patients diagnosed with DM is highest within 3 years before or after OC diagnosis. A correlation and a parallel clinical course exist between these 2 diseases.
Beijing ; Creatine Kinase ; Dermatomyositis ; Diagnosis ; Disease-Free Survival ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Methods ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Paraneoplastic Syndromes ; Prognosis ; Propensity Score ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome

Salidroside, as one of the main active ingredients of Rhodiala plant, has the effects of anti-hypoxia, anti-radiation, anti-fatigue, anti-tumor, hypoglycemia and improving immunity. With the increasing demand for salidroside and the decreasing of plant resources, microbial production of salidroside has attracted much attention due to its advantages of short period and easy controlling. At present, microbial production of salidroside is still at the basic research stage. In order to make it easier for researchers to understand the advances of microbial synthesis of salidroside, the biosynthesis pathways, uridine diphosphate glucosyltransferases, wild strain/natural enzymes and engineered strain/recombinant enzymes were reviewed.
Biosynthetic Pathways ; Glucosides ; metabolism ; Phenols ; metabolism

OBJECTIVE： To provide reference for improving the quality standard of Pheretima. METHODS： The contents of hypoxanthine and inosine in medicinal material samples were determined by HPLC. HPLC fingerprint of Pheretima was established according to “Similarity evaluation system for TCM chromatogramtic fingerprint” （2012 edition） software， and similarity evaluation was conducted. The determination was performed on Purospher STAR RP-18 endcapped with mobile phase consisted of methanol-water （gradient elution） at the flow rate of 1 mL/min. The detection wavelength was 248 nm， and the column temperature was set at 30 ℃. The sample size was 20 μL. RESULTS： The results of methodological investigation of content determination showed that the linear range of hypoxanthine and inosine were 1.58-31.6 μg/mL （r＝0.999 9）， 5.52-110.4 μg/mL（r＝0.999 8）， respectively. limits of quantify were 0.316， 0.552 μg/mL， respectively； limits of detection were 0.158， 0.110 μg/mL， respectively； RSDs of precision， stability （24 h） and repeatability tests were all less than 2.0％ （n＝6）. Average recovery rates were 103.0％ （RSD＝1.7％， n＝6） and 101.2％ （RSD＝1.2％， n＝6）， respectively. HPLC fingerprint for 15 batches of samples were established， and 8 common peaks were identified. The similarity of HPLC fingerprint of 14 batches of sample with control fingerprint R was higher than 0.900. CONCLUSIONS： The established method for content determination of hypoxanthine and inosine and HPLC fingerprint of Pheretima are simple， accurate and reproducible， and can be used for quality control of Pheretima.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of polymorphisms of rs3819024 and rs8193037 loci in the promoter region of IL-17A gene with the risk of ischemic stroke (IS) among ethnic Han Chinese from Guangxi. METHODS: The polymorphisms of rs3819024 and rs8193037 loci were detected by a SNaPshot assay and DNA sequencing among 392 IS patients and 443 healthy controls with matched age and gender. RESULTS: The genotypes, dominant model, recessive model, and alleles of rs3819024 polymorphisms showed no significant difference between the two groups, with the P values calculated as 0.150, 0.227, 0.125, 0.594 and 0.202, respectively, and OR (95% CI) as 1.27(0.92-1.74), 1.28(0.86-1.91), 1.27(0.94-1.72), 1.10(0.78-1.54), and 1.13(0.94-1.38), respectively. The genotypes, dominant model, recessive model, and alleles of rs8193037 polymorphisms also showed no significant difference between the two groups, with the P values calculated as 0.722, 0.352, 0.863, 0.345 and 0.969, respectively, and OR (95% CI) as 0.94(0.65-1.35), 2.25(0.41-12.35), 0.97(0.68-1.38), 2.27(0.41-12.48), and 1.01(0.72-1.40), respectively. CONCLUSION Polymorphisms of the rs3819024 and rs8193037 loci of the IL-17A gene are not associated with the susceptibility to IS among ethnic Han Chinese from Guangxi.
Alleles ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Brain Ischemia ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; China ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Humans ; Interleukin-17 ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Stroke ; genetics

The chalcone synthase (CHS) superfamily of the type III polyketide synthases (PKSs) generates backbones of a variety of plant secondary metabolites. Benzalacetone synthase (BAS) catalyzes a condensation reaction of decarboxylation between the substrates of 4-coumaric coenzyme A and malonyl coenzyme A to generate benzylidene acetone, whose derivatives are series of compounds with various biological activities. A BAS gene Pcpks2 and a bifunctional CHS/BAS PcPKSI were isolated from medicinal plant P. cuspidatum. Crystallographic and structure-based mutagenesis studies indicate that the functional diversity of the CHS-superfamily enzymes is principally derived from small modifications of the active site architecture. In order to obtain an understanding of the biosynthesis of polyketides in P. cuspidatum, which has been poorly described, as well as of its activation mechanism, PcPKS2 was overexpressed in Escherichia coli as a C-terminally poly-His-tagged fusion protein, purified to homogeneity and crystallized, which is helpful for the clarification of the catalytic mechanism of the enzyme and lays the foundation for its genetic engineering manipulation.
Butanones ; Catalytic Domain ; Crystallization ; Fallopia japonica ; enzymology ; Polyketide Synthases ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of SNP of CD40 gene and its serum levels with ischemic stroke (IS).

METHODSA total of 202 IS patients from a hospital of Baise city were enrolled in case group from May 2013 to November 2014. At the same time, 109 healthy people who had physical check-ups in the outpatient department at the same hospital were enrolled in the control group. All participants were from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and unrelated to each other. 3 ml venous blood were collected on the premise of informed consent. The single nucleotide polymorphisms of CD40 gene rs1883832 C/T, rs13040307 C/T, rs752118 C/T and rs3765459 G/A were analyzed using a Snapshot SNP genotyping assays, and the serum levels of CD40 were tested by ELISA. t-test was used to compare the serum levels of CD40 between the case and control group, and the genotypes at different locuses in case group; χ(2) test was used to compare the distribution differences of the CD40 gene locuses in different genotypes and allele between the case group and the control group; alleles was established as independent variables, the occurrence of the IS as dependent variable, and expressed relative risk with OR (95%CI) value.

RESULTSIn the case group, the frequency of CC, CT and TT genotypes in CD40 gene rs1883832 C/T were 21.78% (44/202), 49.51% (100/202) and 28.71% (58/202), respectively, and 33.17% (66/199), 48.74% (97/199), 18.09% (36/199) in the control group, respectively, the differences between the two groups was significant (χ(2)=9.57, P=0.008). The CD40 serum levels were (62.7 ± 24.5) pg/ml in the case group, which was higher than that in the control group (45.3 ± 17.2) pg/ml (t=8.97, P<0.001). The serum levels of TT and CT genotypes in CD40 gene were (65.9 ± 26.3) and (64.3 ± 25.9) pg/ml, respectively, and the differences were significant when comparing with CC genotype (t equaled 5.34 and 5.03, respectively, P<0.001). The risk of developing IS was 1.56 times higher in 1883832 T allele carriers than that in rs1883832 C allele carriers (OR=1.56, 95% CI: 1.18-2.06); Combined genotype analysis displayed that CD40 gene rs1883832 C/T, rs13040307 C/T, rs752118 C/T and rs3765459 G/A polymorphisms showed strong linkage disequilibrium, the case group TCCA haplotype was tested to be associated with a significantly increased risk of IS as compared with that in the control group(OR=2.49; 95%CI: 1.13-5.48).

CONCLUSIONCD40 gene rs1883832 C/T polymorphism and its TCCA haplotype were possibly associated with ischemic stroke, and the susceptibility gene for ischemic stroke may be rs1883832 T allele.

Alleles ; CD40 Antigens ; blood ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; Cell Differentiation ; China ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Stroke ; blood ; genetics