Dystrophinopathies caused by variants of DMD gene are a group of muscular diseases including Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Becker muscular dystrophy, and DMD-associated dilated cardiomyopathy. With the advancement of genetic testing techniques and wider implementation of genetic screening, especially the expanded carrier screening, more and more individuals carrying DMD gene variants have been identified, whereas the genetic counseling capacity is relatively insufficient. Currently there is still a lack of professional norms for genetic counseling on dystrophinopathies. In this consensus, the main points to be covered in the pre- and post-test consultation have been discussed, with an aim to provide genetic counseling guidance for the disease diagnosis, treatment, and family reproduction.

Objective To investigate the role of miRNAs in maternal amniotic fluid exosomes in development of isolated ventriculomegaly(VM)in fetuses.Methods Amniotic fluid samples were collected from 9 cases of moderate isolated VM and 8 normal control cases to extract exosomal miRNA,and miRNA sequencing technique was used to identify differentially expressed miRNAs between the two groups.Three miRNAs with significant differential expression between the two groups,whose high expression was associated with VM,were selected for verification with RT-qPCR.Dual luciferase reporter assays were used to verify the regulatory effect of miR-122-5p on its predicted target genes AKT3 and CCDC88C.Gene ontology(GO)and KEGG pathway analyses were performed to explore the possible roles of the top 40 significant differential miRNAs in the pathophysiology of VM.Results We identified a total of 272 differentially expressed miRNAs in VM cases,including 43 up-regulated and 229 down-regulated miRNAs.The target genes of these differential miRNAs were associated with DNA and transcription factor binding,transmembrane transporter and nucleic acid binding transcription factor activity,and cell developmental process.These miRNAs were mostly enriched in the MAPK,cGMP-PKG and Wnt signaling pathways.Verification with RT-qPCR showed that miR-122-5p expression level was significantly lower in VM group than in the control group(P<0.05),which was consistent with miRNA sequencing results;let-7b-5p expression level was significantly lower in VM group,which was contrary to miRNA sequencing result.Dual luciferase reporter assays showed that miR-122-5p was not capable of regulating AKT3 or CCDC88C expressions.Conclusions The highly abundant differentially expressed miRNAs in maternal amniotic fluid exosomes play important roles in the occurrence of fetal VM possibly by regulating the MAPK,PI3K-Akt,Wnt and cGMP-PKG signaling pathways.

Objective To investigate the impact of cardiomyocyte ferroptosis on acute myocardial infarction(AMI)and its relationship with the expression of long non-coding RNA(lncRNA)GAS5.Methods An AMI model was established in eighteen male SD rats(6-8 weeks old),and then the subjected rats were randomly divided into blank control group,sham operation group,and model group,6 animals in each group.In 2 weeks after surgery,echocardiography was used to evaluate heart function,and TTC staining,HE staining and TUNEL staining were employed re-spectively to observe myocardial infarct area,histopathological changes of myocardial tissues and apoptosis in cardiomyocytes.Serum Fe2+concentration was measured with an iron ion detection kit.The expression levels of lncRNA GAS5,nuclear factor erythroid-derived 2-like 2(Nrf2),and glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4)in myocardial tissues were detected with QT-PCR.Linear corre-lation analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between the expression of lncRNA GAS5,Nrf2 and GPX4 with Fe2+concentration.Western blotting was conducted for the protein levels of ferroptosis-related proteins,glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4),nuclear factor erythroid-derived 2-like 2(Nrf2),glucose-regulated protein 78(GRP78),and cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase 12(Caspase-12)in myocardial tissues.Results Western blotting revealed obvious in-creases in the protein levels of ferroptosis related proteins GRP78(1.11±0.13 vs 0.51±0.08,P＜0.01)and Caspase-12(1.23±0.05 vs 0.92±0.07,P＜0.05)and a decrease in those of ferroptosis inhibitor GPX4(0.27±0.11 vs 0.68±0.10,P＜0.01)and Nrf2(0.30±0.12 vs 0.58±0.04,P＜0.05)in the model group than the sham operation group.Additionally,QT-PCR showed that the mRNA levels of GPX4 and Nrf2 were notably lower,indicating cardiomyocyte ferroptosis,while that of lncRNA GAS5 was remarkably higher in the myocardial tissues of the model group than the sham operation group(P＜0.01).What's more,the expression of lncRNA GAS5 had a positive correlation with serum Fe2+concentration(P＜0.05).Conclusion AMI is closely associated with cardiomyocyte ferroptosis.lncRNA GAS5 is involved in the regulation of ferroptosis by Nrf2/GPX4 signaling pathway,which thus mediating the occurrence of heart failure after AMI.

Aim To investigate the effect of alfentanil on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury(MIRI)in rats and its regulatory mechanism on the sphingosine kinase 1(SphK1)/sphingosine-1-phosphate(S1P)signaling pathway dur-ing this process.Methods SPF grade SD male rats were randomly divided into sham surgery group,model group,positive drug group(compound salvia miltiorrhiza group),low dose alfentanil group,high dose alfentanil group,and high alfentanil+SphK1 agonist group(alfentanil+PMA group),with 20 rats in each group.Except the sham operation group,the MIRI model was reproduced by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery and reperfusion.The activities of serum lactate dehydrogenase(LDH),creatine kinase(CK)and aspartate aminotransferase(AST)were detected by auto-matic biochemical analyzer;TTC was applied to detect the size of myocardial infarction in rats;HE staining was applied to observe the morphological characteristics of rat myocardial tissue;TUNEL staining was applied to detect myocardial cell ap-optosis in rats;ELISA was applied to detect the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-6(IL-6),inter-leukin-1β(IL-1β),and S1P;kits were applied to detect content of malondialdehyde(MDA)and activity of superoxide dismutase(SOD)in myocardial tissue;Western blot was applied to detect the expression level of SphK1 protein in myocar-dial tissue.Results Compared with the sham surgery group,the pathological damage to the myocardial tissue of rats was severe in the model group,the activities of serum central muscle injury markers LDH,CK,and AST,myocardial in-farction area,myocardial cell apoptosis rate,the levels of TNF-α,IL-6,IL-1β,MDA,S1P and the expression of SphK1 protein all increased,the activity of SOD decreased(P＜0.05).Compared with the model group,the myocardial tissue damage of rats was reduced in the positive drug group and the low and high dose alfentanil groups,the activities of serum central muscle injury markers LDH,CK,and AST,myocardial infarction area,myocardial cell apoptosis rate,the levels of TNF-α,IL-6,IL-1β,MDA,S1P and the expression of SphK1 protein all decreased,the activity of SOD increased(P＜0.05).The SphK1 agonist was able to reverse the impact of high-dose alfentanil on the above indicators(P＜0.05).Conclusion Alfentanil has protective effect on MIRI rats,and its mechanism may be related to the inhibition of SphK1/S1P signaling pathway.

Objective To investigate the role of miRNAs in maternal amniotic fluid exosomes in development of isolated ventriculomegaly(VM)in fetuses.Methods Amniotic fluid samples were collected from 9 cases of moderate isolated VM and 8 normal control cases to extract exosomal miRNA,and miRNA sequencing technique was used to identify differentially expressed miRNAs between the two groups.Three miRNAs with significant differential expression between the two groups,whose high expression was associated with VM,were selected for verification with RT-qPCR.Dual luciferase reporter assays were used to verify the regulatory effect of miR-122-5p on its predicted target genes AKT3 and CCDC88C.Gene ontology(GO)and KEGG pathway analyses were performed to explore the possible roles of the top 40 significant differential miRNAs in the pathophysiology of VM.Results We identified a total of 272 differentially expressed miRNAs in VM cases,including 43 up-regulated and 229 down-regulated miRNAs.The target genes of these differential miRNAs were associated with DNA and transcription factor binding,transmembrane transporter and nucleic acid binding transcription factor activity,and cell developmental process.These miRNAs were mostly enriched in the MAPK,cGMP-PKG and Wnt signaling pathways.Verification with RT-qPCR showed that miR-122-5p expression level was significantly lower in VM group than in the control group(P<0.05),which was consistent with miRNA sequencing results;let-7b-5p expression level was significantly lower in VM group,which was contrary to miRNA sequencing result.Dual luciferase reporter assays showed that miR-122-5p was not capable of regulating AKT3 or CCDC88C expressions.Conclusions The highly abundant differentially expressed miRNAs in maternal amniotic fluid exosomes play important roles in the occurrence of fetal VM possibly by regulating the MAPK,PI3K-Akt,Wnt and cGMP-PKG signaling pathways.

The incidence of diabetes mellitus tends to increase, and clinical treatment is extremely challenging. Although drugs exert certain therapeutic effect on reducing blood glucose level, it remains impossible to achieve clinical cure of type 1 diabetes mellitus with a risk of blood glucose fluctuations. Islet cell transplantation is one of the efficacious methods to solve the problem of blood glucose fluctuation caused by insulin injection. However, there are several problems in the clinical practice of islet cell transplantation, including long time use of immunosuppressants in recipients and massive loss of pancreatic islet cells after transplantation, which limit its wide application in clinical practice. Islet cell encapsulation technology can reduce the loss of islet cells and decrease or eliminate the rejection, which is a key link to improve the survival of islet cells. In this article, the development course of islet cell encapsulation technology was briefly reviewed, the challenges in different islet cell encapsulation technologies were analyzed and subsequent research on this technology was projected, aiming to provide reference for promoting the development of islet cell.

Objective:To study the relationship between the expression of tumor markers and radical resection in patients with gastric cancer.Methods:The medical records of gastric cancer patients undergoing surgery in Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Puji District, Dongguan People′s Hospital Affiliated to Southern Medical University from June 2018 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed, and 136 patients were selected.Collected patient data, including general information, the expression levels of tumor markers carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA), carbohydrate antigen 19-9(CA19-9), carbohydrate antigen 72-4(CA72-4), and the surgical method used.The relationship between the expression of tumor markers and radical resection was observed.Results:There was no statistically significant difference in the radical resection rate of gastric cancer in different genders, ages, and locations of gastric cancer (all P>0.05). TNM classification (tumor node metastasis classification) stage III patients had a lower radical resection rate (63.3%(38/60)) than stage I (100%(27/27)) and II (100%(49/49)) (χ 2=58.166 and 81.208, P<0.001). The radical resection rate of CEA(+ ) patients (47.8%(44/92)) was lower than that of CEA(-) patients (90.9%(40/44))(χ 2=23.394, P<0.001). The radical resection rate of CA19-9(+ ) patients (47.7%(42/88)) was lower than that of CA19-9(-) patients(87.5%(42/48))(χ 2=20.804, P<0.001). The radical resection rate of CA72-4(+ ) patients (54.3%(51/94)) was lower than that of CA72-4(-) patients (78.6%(33/42)) (χ 2=7.268, P=0.007). The variables with P<0.1 in univariate analysis were included in the logistic regression model, including 4 variables including TNM stage, CEA, CA19-9, and CA72-4.The results showed that TNM staging ( OR=1.169, 95% CI=0.925-1.634, P=0.001), CEA ( OR=1.067, 95% CI=1.364-4.338, P=0.024), CA19-9( OR=3.012, 95% CI=1.679-6.317, P=0.007), and CA72-4 were independent risk factors for radical resection( OR=5.364, 95% CI=0.675-3.224, P=0.004). The number of positive expressions of tumor markers was negatively correlated with the radical resection rate ( r=-0.621, P<0.05). The expression levels of CEA, CA19-9, and CA72-4 in patients with radical resection were 75.36(3.76, 198.20)μg/L, 152.76(34.81, 241.09)kU/L, 126.60(4.01, 218.07)kU/L, respectively.The expression levels of CEA, CA19-9, and CA72-4 in the radically resected patient group were 173.65(120.78, 254.87) μg/L, 255.88(102.45, 395.11) kU/L, 201.71(79.15, 325.92)kU/L.The expression level of CEA, CA19-9, CA72-4 in the group with radical resection were lower than that in the group with no radical resection, and the difference was statistically significant (the Z values were 10.672, 8.945, 9.862, all P<0.001). ROC curve showed that AUC of CEA, CA19-9 and CA72-4 were 0.627, 0.714 and 0.768, respectively.The best cut-off value of CA72-4 was 87.62 kU/L, the sensitivity was 88.1% (74/84) and the specificity was 90.4% (47/52). Conclusion:The expression levels and number of tumor markers CEA, CA19-9, CA72-4 in patients with gastric cancer were correlated with the risk of radical resection.

Objective:To explore the effect of cholesterol on the expression of genes for matrix synthesis and degradation of human meniscal fibrochondrocytes and its mechanism.Methods:Meniscal tissue was taken from patients undergoing arthroscopic surgery to extract fibrochondrocytes. The cells were divided into a control group in which the normal cells were not processed, a positive control group in which interleukin-1 β was used to create a degeneration model, and 2 treatment groups which were subjected to treatment with 15 and 30 μg/mL cholesterol respectively. Safranin O staining, β-galactosidase staining and enzymic kits were used to detect the morphology and total cholesterol (TCH) content of meniscal fibrochondrocytes in the 4 groups. Immunofluorescence and western blot were used to detect the protein expression of type Ⅰcollagen precursor α1 (COL1A1) and type Ⅱ collagen precursor α1 (COL2A1). RT-qPCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of COL1A1, COL2A1, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 3, MMP9, MMP13, and genes related to cholesterol efflux pathways [like liver X receptor α (LXR α), ATP binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) and ABCG1]. Results:There was no significant difference between the control and the positive control groups in the TCH content in human meniscal fibrochondrocytes ( P>0.05). The treatments with 15 and 30 μg/mL cholesterol resulted in significantly increased TCH contents in human meniscal fibrochondrocytes in the treatment groups ( P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the mRNA expression of LXR α, ABCA1 and ABCG1 was significantly decreased in the treatment groups ( P<0.05), and the meniscal fibrochondrocytes in the positive group and the treatment groups presented with a lower density, chaotic distribution and obvious signs of degradation. Compared with the control groups, the mRNA expression of matrix synthesis genes (COL1A1 and COL2A1) in the meniscal fibrochondrocytes was significantly inhibited while the mRNA expression of matrix degradation metalloenzymes (MMP3, MMP9 and MMP13) was significantly promoted ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Cholesterol may inhibit the cholesterol efflux pathways of meniscal fibrochondrocytes, and thus cause accumulation of cholesterol in the meniscal fibrochondrocytes, eventually leading to degeneration of meniscus.

In order to verify the correlation between Polygonum multiflorum-induced liver injury and HLA-B*35 : 01 alleles, six hospitalized patients diagnosed with Polygonum multiflorum-induced liver injury (PM-DILI) were selected, and their clinicopathological data were collected. Simultaneously, blood HLA-B* 35 : 01 allele detection was performed. Among the six PM-DILI cases, 4 were male, aged 38.83 ± 10.13 years old. The types of liver injury were hepatocellular injury types in all, and the severity of liver injury in five cases was grade 3. The histological presentations were acute hepatitis and acute cholestatic hepatitis. PM-DILI cases were all HLA-B*35:01 carriers, with a carrier rate of 100%. This finding indicates that PM-DILI is significantly correlated with HLA-B*35:01 alleles. Therefore, HLA-B*35 : 01 alleles can be used as an important predictive indicator for PM-DILI.