IL10 hypomethylation is associated with the risk of gastric cancer

Interleukin-10 (IL10), a pleiotropic cytokine secreted by type-2 helper (Th2) T cells, contributes to the oncogenic activation or inactivation of tumor-suppressor genes. The present study investigated whether hypomethylation of IL10 CpG island (CGI) was associated with the risk of developing gastric cancer (GC) and the prognosis of patients with GC. A fragment (hg18, chr1: 206945638-206945774) at the CGI of IL10 was selected for the present methylation assay. Quantitative methylation-specific PCR was used to evaluate the methylation of IL10 CGI in 117 tumor samples from patients with GC. The results demonstrated that IL10 CGI methylation was significantly lower in the tumor tissues compared with that in the paired adjacent non-tumor tissues (median percentage of methylated reference, 29.16 vs. 42.82%, respectively; P=4×10⁻⁸). Furthermore, results from receiver operating characteristic curve analysis identified a significant area under the curve of 0.706, with a sensitivity and a specificity of 77.8 and 58.1%, respectively, between cancer tissues and paired adjacent non-tumor tissues. Furthermore, the methylation of IL10 CGI was significantly associated with patients'' age at diagnosis (r=−0.201; P=0.03). Subgroup analyses demonstrated that the association between IL10 CGI hypomethylation and the risk of GC was specific for patients with low differentiation (P=1×10⁻⁷) and Borrmann types III+IV (P=1×10⁻⁷). In addition, IL10 CGI hypomethylation was significantly associated with the risk of GC for patients without smoking history (P=3×10⁻⁷) or a family history of cancer (P=2×10⁻⁷). The results from Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated that IL10 CGI hypomethylation was associated with a significantly shorter overall survival of patients with GC (P=0.041). Similar results were identified for patients with GC who did not have smoking history (P=0.037) or a family history of cancer (P=0.049). The results from this study demonstrated that IL10 CGI hypomethylation may be considered as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with GC in the Chinese population.     

Expression of Cx43-related microRNAs in patients with tetralogy of Fallot

Background

Abnormal expression of connexin 43 (Cx43) has been reported to play an important role in the development of conotrunccal anomalies. However, less is known about the underlying reason for its abnormal expression. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), as an important part of gene expression regulation, have been implicated in some cardiac diseases. This study aimed to investigate the expression of Cx43 and its related miRNAs in patients with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), and illustrate the potential role of abnormal miRNAs regulation to Cx43 expression in the pathology of TOF.

Methods

Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect the expression of Cx43 and 10 Cx43-related miRNAs in the myocardium from 30 TOF patients and 10 normal controls. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect Cx43 protein expression. Putative miRNA binding sites in the 3’UTR of Cx43 were examined in 200 TOF patients and 200 healthy individuals, using Sanger sequencing, to exclude sequence variations resulting in binding difficulties of miRNAs.

Results

Cx43 mRNA and protein expression in the myocardium tissue was significantly increased in TOF patients. The expression of MiR-1 and 206 was significantly decreased in the TOF patients as compared with the controls (P<0.05). No obvious difference was observed in the expression of the other 7 miRNAs between the TOF patients and controls (P>0.05). No meaningful sequence variation was detected in the putative miR1/206 binding sites in the 3’UTR of Cx43.

Conclusions

This study indicated that miR-1 and 206 is down-regulated in TOF patients, which may cause an up-regulation of Cx43 protein’s synthesis. It provided a clue that miR-1 and 206 might be involved in the pathogenesis of TOF, additional experiments are needed to determine if in fact, miR-1 and 206 contribute substantially to TOF.     

闭合性腹部伤后肠损伤诊断的探讨

目的 探讨闭合性腹部伤后肠损伤的诊断。方法 回顾性分析66例闭合性腹部伤后肠损伤的临床资料，并按伤后8h内手术和8h后手术分为两组，进行比较。结果所选的66例在腹膜炎、腹腔积液、失血、手术发现及发病率和病死率上两组没有差别。白细胞升高和腹腔积液（B超）最常见。结论 闭合性腹部伤后肠损伤在没有明确指征作腹腔穿刺、腹腔灌洗、剖腹探查时，白细胞升高和不能解释的腹腔积液有明显的诊断价值。     

北方汉族人原发性高血压易感性与肿瘤坏死因子α和转化生长因子β基因型多态性的关联

目的：探讨中国北方地区汉族人肿瘤坏死因子α和转化生长因子β基因型的多态性与原发性高血压发病的相关性。 方法：①选择2004-06／2005—01哈尔滨市第一医院门诊和住院原发性高血压患者36例为高血压组，男20例，女16例。选择2004—04／2005-12哈尔滨市第一医院健康体检者40人为对照组，男23人，女17人。均为北方汉族，且均对检测项目知情同意。②采用顺序特异性引物聚合酶链反应方法检测肿瘤坏死因子α和转化生长因子β基因型别多态性变化。③计数资料差异性比较采用χ^2检验。 结果：原发性高血压患者36例和健康者40人均进入结果分析。①原发性高血压组肿瘤坏死因子α（308A）等位基因频率明显高于对照组（42％，10％，P〈0．01）。②两组转化生长因子β基因频率差异不明显（P〉0．05）。 结论：中国北方地区汉族人肿瘤坏死因子α（308h）等位基因位点的多态性可能与原发性高血压的易感性相关联。     

Diagnosis of solid breast lesions by elastography 5-point score and strain ratio method

Purpose

To compare the diagnostic performance of 5-point scoring system and strain ratio by sonoelastography in the assessment of solid breast lesions.

Material and methods

One hundred and eighty-seven solid masses in 155 patients were scanned by two-dimensional ultrasonography and sonoelastography. Elasticity scores were determined with a 5-point scoring method, and the strain ratio was based on the comparison of the average strain measured in the lesion with the adjacent breast tissue in the same depth. Pathological results were taken as gold standards to compare the diagnostic efficacy of two methods with clinical diagnostic test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.

Results

Among 187 lesions, 130 were benign and 57 were malignant. The mean scores (1.62 ± 0.69 vs 4.07 ± 0.26, P < 0.05) and strain ratios (2.06 ± 1.27 vs 6.66 ± 4.62, P < 0.05) were significantly higher of malignant than benign lesions. The area under the curve for the 5-point scoring system and for strain ratio-based elastographic analysis was 0.892 and 0.909, respectively (P > 0.05). For 5-point scoring, sonoelastography had 84.2% sensitivity, 84.6% specificity, 84.5% accuracy, 70.6% positive predictive value and 92.4% negative predictive value. When a cutoff point of 3.06 was used, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive and negative predictive values were 87.7%, 88.5%, 88.2%, 76.9% and 94.3%, respectively for the strain ratio (P > 0.05).

Conclusions

The 5-point scoring system and strain ratio has similar diagnostic performance, and the strain ratio could be more objective to differentiate the masses when those masses were difficult to be judged by using 5-point scoring system in sonoelastographic images.     

Metabolic changes in early childhood using LCModel with corrected water scaling method

Purpose:

To examine metabolic changes of the brain in early infancy measured by the LCModel with the water scaling method (LCModel‐WS), and to determine whether the unsuppressed water signal (UWS) on the MR console and the area of the unsuppressed water peak (AUW) in the LCModel can be used to correct metabolite concentrations.

Materials and Methods:

MR spectroscopy was performed on a 1.5 Tesla MR scanner. To determine whether UWS and AUW increases linearly with PD and exp(‐TE/T2), these values were measured using three phantoms with different PD and T2 values. UWS and AUW were also measured (PRESS, TR = 5000 ms, TE = 30 ms, VOI = 4.5 mL) in 57 pediatric controls (aged 2 weeks to 15 years).

Results:

Phantom studies revealed UWS and AUW increases linearly with PD and exp(‐TE/T2). UWS and AUW were high in controls younger than 2 years of age, but gradually decreased to become almost constant after 4 years (UWS = 504 × 10³, AUW = 2.05 × 10⁷). AUW was linearly proportional to UWS in controls. These indicated that metabolite concentrations should be multiplied by the ratio of UWS/504 × 10³ or AUW/2.05 × 10⁷. Age dependent metabolite concentrations corrected by the ratio were obtained.

Conclusion:

Both UWS and AUW can be used to correct metabolite concentrations; these corrections can significantly improve quantification of metabolites' concentration in early childhood. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2012;35:174‐180. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.