Clinics
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Preterm birth is the leading cause of infant mortality. The mechanisms that instigate preterm birth remain elusive and this makes it difficult to predict or prevent preterm birth. In this study, the authors found that SP-A induced pathological damage to the placenta and promoted preterm birth. ⋯ SP-A also induced dysregulation of arginine metabolism by inhibiting NOS2 and ARG2. Overexpression of STOX1 aggravated SP-A induced oxidative stress, pathological damage, and preterm birth, whereas knockdown of STOX1 alleviated SP-A induced oxidative stress, pathological damage and preterm birth. The present study uncovers that SP-A induces preterm birth by promoting oxidative stress via upregulating STOX1, which provides new targets for the prediction and prevention of preterm birth.
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The aim is to evaluate the diagnostic value of Activin A levels in serum and pleural fluid on Parapneumonic Pleural Effusion (PPE). ⋯ Activin A in pleural fluid correlated with disease severity could act to diagnose PPE.
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This study aimed to investigate the effect of Zinc Finger E-box Binding Homeobox 1 (ZEB1) regulation by Micro Ribonucleic acid (miR)-448 on Breast Cancer (BC) cells and their sensitivity to chemotherapy. ⋯ miR-448 suppresses cell proliferation and invasion and promotes apoptosis by targeting ZEB1. Moreover, it can increase the sensitivity of cells toward paclitaxel and 5-fluorouracil.
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Budget cuts among other factors undermine the use of state-of-the-art equipment by many research groups. This doesn't mean that their scientific data are not reliable or top-notch. Resort to adaptations is a recurrent need in their reality. The aim of this study was to assess whether scintigraphy with 99mTcO4 is effective in evaluating the functionality of thyroid grafts after cryopreservation in rats. ⋯ The viability and functionality of cryopreserved thyroid autotransplantation in rats who underwent total thyroidectomy were successfully accessed by the scintigraphy protocol developed.
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The authors design an animal model of neonatal sepsis to analyze the treatment of neonatal septic shock with Methylene Blue (MB) in a swine model. ⋯ The MB improved biomarkers related to septic shock prognosis, although an improvement in the blood levels could not be detected. MB might be a beneficial drug for hemodynamic instability in infants.