Objective: To explore the association between serum nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3), NIMA-related kinase 7 (NEK7) and pulmonary fibrosis among patients with coal workers' pneumoconiosis, so as to provide a basis for the assessment of the degree of pulmonary fibrosis. Methods: Coal workers with pneumoconiosis hospitalized in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from July 2022 to July 2023 were selected by simple random sampling. Data such as age, stage of pneumoconiosis, and dust-exposure duration were collected through the hospital's electronic medical record management system. Venous blood was collected to detect the levels of serum NLRP3 and NEK7. High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) image data of the chest were obtained through the hospital's imaging reporting system. The left and right lungs were divided into 6 pulmonary regions according to the upper, middle, and lower parts. The pulmonary fibrosis score was quantified according to the proportion of the pulmonary area occupied by HRCT manifestations of pulmonary fibrosis, including reticular shadows, pleural and interlobular septal thickening, traction bronchiectasis, and honeycombing. The association between the levels of serum NLRP3, NEK7, and pulmonary fibrosis was analyzed using a multiple linear regression model. Results: A total of 81 patients with coal workers' pneumoconiosis were included, all of whom were male, with a mean age of (71.46±11.69) years. There were 48, 28, and 5 cases in stage Ⅰ, stage Ⅱ, and stage Ⅲ of pneumoconiosis pathological staging, accounting for 59.26%, 34.57%, and 6.17%, respectively. There were 45 cases of tunneling and coal mining, accounting for 55.56%. There were 41 cases with dust exposure years of ≥30 years, accounting for 50.62%. The median serum NLRP3 and NEK7 in patients with coal workers' pneumoconiosis were 2.01 (interquartile range, 2.33) ng/mL and 0.98 (interquartile range, 0.83) ng/mL. The median score of pulmonary fibrosis was 5.00 (interquartile range, 5.50) points. After adjusting for age, stage of pneumoconiosis, type of work and dust-exposure duration, multiple linear regression analysis showed that serum NLRP3 (β'=0.649) and NEK7 (β'=0.346) were positively correlated with the pulmonary fibrosis score. Conclusion The increase in the levels of serum NLRP3 and NEK7 in patients with coal workers' pneumoconiosis is related to the increase in the degree of pulmonary fibrosis.

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of LncRNA OTUD6B-AS1 on the proliferation,mi-gration and invasion of lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells.Methods Lung adenocarcinoma A549 cell line was cultured in vitro,and transient transfection of OTUD6B-AS1 and empty plasmid group were used as the control group.Overexpression and control cell mod-els were constructed,and divided into OTUD6B-AS1 overexpression group and empty plasmid group(NC group).The cell model was divided into the empty plasmid group(NC group)and OTUD6B-AS1 overexpression group.The transfection efficiency of OTUD6B-AS1 mRNA was verified through qRT-PCR.The CCK-8 experiment was used to detect the effect of OTUD6B-AS1 on the prolifera-tion activity of lung adenocarcinoma cells,and the Transwell assay was used to detect the effect of OTUD6B-AS1 on the migration and invasion ability of lung adenocarcinoma cells.Results Compared to the NC group,the overexpression OTUD6B-AS1 group had a sig-nificant increase in the expression of OTUD6B-AS1(P<0.05).The CCK-8 assay results showed that the proliferation activity of A549 cells in the OTUD6B-AS1 overexpression group was significantly reduced compared to the NC group(P<0.05).The results of the Transwell assay showed that the OTUD6B-AS1 overexpression group had significantly lower cell migration and invasion abilities than the NC group(P<0.05).Conclusion Overexpression lncRNA OTUD6B-AS1 in lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells can signifi-cantly inhibit the proliferation,migration,and invasion ability of A549 cells.