Journal of investigative medicine : the official publication of the American Federation for Clinical Research
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Cardiomyocyte hypertrophy is a response to stress or hormone stimulation and is characterized by an increase of cardiomyocyte size. Abnormal long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) expression profile has been identified in various cardiovascular diseases. Though some lncRNAs had been reported to participate in regulation of cardiac hypertrophy, the universal lncRNA profile of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy had not been established. ⋯ Functional study showed that inhibition of uc.242 dramatically decreased hypertrophic marker expression levels and cardiomyocyte surface area under the condition of angiotensin II stimulation. The expression of Hgf and Tnc was also decreased in cardiomyocytes after silencing of uc.242. Summarily, the present study provided crucial clues to explore therapeutic targets for pathological cardiac hypertrophy.
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Circular RNA (circRNA) is an endogenous RNA molecule with a stable closed-loop structure. The circular RNA HIPK3 (circHIPK3) is highly expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma and facilitates tumor growth. However, its role in cervical cancer (CC) and its regulatory mechanisms are not well-studied. ⋯ Overexpressed circHIPK3 could remarkably expedite the proliferation, migration and invasion of SiHa cells, and knocking down circHIPK3 could significantly impede the proliferation, migration and invasion of HeLa cells. MiR-485-3p can directly bind to circHIPK3 and the 3'UTR of FGF2. Overexpression of circHIPK3 triggered the upregulation of FGF2 expression while knockdown of circHIPK3 reduced FGF2 expression in CC cells, and the transfection of miR-485-3p mimics reversed the upregulation of FGF2 expression and enhanced malignant phenotypes in CC cells with overexpressed circHIPK3.
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China has experienced an outbreak of COVID-19 since December 2019. This study investigated the differences between the imported and local cases of COVID-19 in Nanyang, China. In this study, a total of 129 COVID-19 confirmed cases with a clear epidemiological history admitted to hospitals in Nanyang from January 24 to February 26, 2020 were enrolled. ⋯ The imported group showed more advanced and severe abnormalities in the CT scan whereas the local group showed milder pulmonary abnormalities. The proportion of severe and critically severe patients in the imported group was higher than that in the local group. In conclusion, the imported cases have more severe or critically severe patients with a higher mortality rate than the local cases.
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The aim of this study is to evaluate the mesenteric artery stenosis (MAS) in routinely performed CT angiography (CTA) of patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) planned for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) before the procedure. Patients with AS (AS group) who routinely underwent CTA before the TAVI procedure due to severe AS and patients who had CTA for other indications (control group) were retrospectively and sequentially scanned. The demographic characteristics of the patients in both groups were similar. ⋯ In addition, the rate of patients with significant MAS in at least 1 artery (45.2% vs 22.5%, p=0.001) and the rate of patients with significant stenosis in multiple arteries were also significantly higher in the AS group (8.2% vs 1.8%, p=0.037). According to the study results, patients with AS are at a higher risk for MAS. Chronic mesenteric ischemia should be kept in mind in patients with AS who have symptoms such as non-specific abdominal pain and weight loss.
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The previous studies have shown that plasma chitotriosidase (CHIT) levels increase in many diseases with inflammation. However, there are no reported studies investigating the relationship between CHIT and chronic heart failure (CHF) which is an inflammatory process. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the role of CHIT in diagnosis and severity of CHF in this study. 36 patients (50% male, mean age 63.17±10.18 years) with left ventricular ejection fraction <40% and 27 controls (44% male, mean age 61.33±8.73 years) were included in this study. ⋯ Plasma CHIT and NT-proBNP levels were higher in patients with CHF than in controls (CHIT 931.25±461.39 ng/mL, 232.79±61.28 ng/mL, p<0.001; NT-proBNP, 595.31±428.11 pg/mL vs 78.13±30.47 pg/L; p<0.001). Also, the levels of these parameters increased in IHF compared with NIHF (CHIT, 1139.28±495.22 ng/mL, 671.22±237.21 ng/mL, p=0.002; NT-proBNP, 792.87±461.26 pg/mL vs 348.36±202.61 pg/mL, p=0.001) and there was a strong correlation between NT-proBNP and CHIT (r=0.969, p<0.001). According to this study findings, plasma CHIT level increases in CHF and its increased levels are correlated with NT-proBNP which is used diagnosis and prognosis of HF.