J Formos Med Assoc
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Emerging research findings suggest that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are key regulators to fibrosis formation. Nevertheless, the role of lncRNA GAS5-AS1 in the progression of precancerous oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) remains to be elucidated. ⋯ We showed the reduced expression of GAS5-AS1 in OSF tissues and demonstrated its effect on the myofibroblast activities and the level of p-Smad and α-SMA, indicating its potential contribution in OSF pathogenesis.
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Behcet's disease (BD) patients should have recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) but they may or may not have atrophic glossitis (AG). This study mainly assessed the frequencies of serum gastric parietal cell antibody (GPCA), thyroglobulin antibody (TGA), and thyroid microsomal antibody (TMA) positivities in 30 AG-positive RAS/BD (AG+RAS/BD) and 33 AG-negative RAS/BD (AG־RAS/BD) patients. ⋯ AG+RAS/BD patients do have significantly higher frequencies of serum GPCA, TGA, and TMA positivities than healthy control subjects. This finding indicates that the concomitant presence of AG may result in significantly elevated frequencies of serum GPCA, TGA, and TMA positivities in BD patients.
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Interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine involved in the inflammatory processes of dental pulp. IL-8 and urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) are two inflammatory mediators. However, the role of transforming growth factor beta-activated kinase-1 (TAK1) and mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathways in responsible for the effects of IL-1β on IL-8 and uPA expression/secretion of dental pulp cells are not clear. ⋯ IL-1β is important in the pathogenesis of pulpal inflammatory diseases and repair via stimulation of IL-8 and uPA expression and secretion. These events are associated with TAK1 and MEK/ERK signaling. Blocking of TAK1 and MEK/ERK signaling has potential to control inflammation of dental pulp.
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Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus and the leading cause of end-stage renal disease in the world. The most characteristic marker of DKD is albuminuria, which is associated with renal disease progression and cardiovascular events. ⋯ In recent years, novel agents are applied for preventing DKD development and progression, including new types of glucose-lowering agents, pentoxifylline, vitamin D analog paricalcitol, pyridoxamine, ruboxistaurin, soludexide, Janus kinase inhibitors and nonsteroidal minerocorticoid receptor antagonists. In this review, recent large studies about DKD are also summarized.