Renal AAV2-Mediated Overexpression of Long Non-Coding RNA H19 Attenuates Ischemic Acute Kidney Injury Through Sponging of microRNA-30a-5p

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Improving Prenatal Diagnosis of Coarctation of the Aorta

Background

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the association between fetal echocardiographic measurements and the need for intervention (primary coarctation repair, staged coarctation repair, or catheter intervention) in prenatally diagnosed coarctation of the aorta.

Fetal Size in a Rural Melanesian Population with Minimal Risk Factors for Growth Restriction: An Observational Ultrasound Study from Papua New Guinea

We conducted a prospective longitudinal study of fetal size in rural Papua New Guinea (PNG) involving 439 ultrasound-dated singleton pregnancies with no obvious risk factors for growth restriction. Sonographically estimated fetal weights (EFWs; N = 788) and birth weights (N = 376) were included in a second-order polynomial regression model (optimal fit) to generate fetal weight centiles. Means for specific fetal biometric measurements were also estimated. Fetal weight centiles from a healthy PNG cohort were consistently lower than those derived from Caucasian and Congolese populations, which overestimated the proportion of fetuses measuring small for gestational age (SGA; < 10th centile). Tanzanian and global reference centiles (Caucasian weight reference adapted to our PNG cohort) were more similar to those observed in our cohort, but the global reference underestimated SGA. Individual biometric measurements did not differ significantly from other cohorts. In rural PNG, a locally derived nomogram may be most appropriate for detection of SGA fetuses.     

MRI accurately identifies early murine mammary cancers and reliably differentiates between in situ and invasive cancer: correlation of MRI with histology

MRI methods that accurately identify various stages of mouse mammary cancer could provide new knowledge that may have a direct impact on the management of breast cancer in patients. This research investigates whether we can accurately follow the progression from in situ to invasive cancer by the evaluation of in vivo and ex vivo MRI, and in comparison with histology as the gold standard for the diagnosis and staging of cancer. Six C3(1)SV40Tag virgin female mice, aged 12–16 weeks, were studied. At this age, these mice develop in situ cancer that resembles human ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Fast spin‐echo images of inguinal mammary glands were acquired at 9.4 T. After in vivo MRI, mice were sacrificed; inguinal mammary glands were excised and fixed in formalin for ex vivo MRI. Three‐dimensional, volume‐rendered, in vivo and ex vivo MR images were then correlated with histology. High‐resolution ex vivo scans facilitated the comparison of in vivo scans with histology. The sizes of mammary cancers classified as in situ on the basis of histology ranged from 150 to 400 µm in largest diameter, and the average signal intensity relative to muscle was 1.40 ± 0.18 on T₂‐weighted images. Cancers classified as invasive on the basis of histology were >400 µm in largest diameter, and the average intensity relative to muscle on T₂‐weighted images was 2.34 ± 0.26. Using a cut‐off of 400 µm in largest diameter to distinguish between in situ and invasive cancers, a T₂‐weighted signal intensity of at least 1.4 times that of muscle for in situ cancer, and at least 2.3 times that of muscle for invasive cancer, 96% of in situ and 100% of invasive cancers were correctly identified on in vivo MRI, using histology as the gold standard. Precise MRI–histology correlation demonstrates that MRI reliably detects early in situ cancer and differentiates in situ from invasive cancers in the SV40Tag mouse model of human breast cancer. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.