Background: Endometrial cancer (EC) is one of the most common malignant tumor in the female reproductive system. The incidence of lymph node metastasis (LNM) is only about 10% in clinically suspected early-stage EC patients. Discovering prognostic model and effective biomarkers for early diagnosis is important to reduce the mortality rate.Methods: We downloaded the RNA-sequencing data and clinical information from the TCGA database. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were used to analyze the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). A least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was conducted to identify the characteristic dimension decrease and distinguish prognosis-related LNM related genes signature. Subsequently, a novel prognosis-related nomogram to predict overall survival (OS). A survival analysis was carried out to explore the individual prognostic signi cance of the risk model and key gene was validated in vitro.Results: In total, 89 LRGs were identi ed. Based on the LASSO Cox regression, 11 genes were selected for the development of a risk evaluation model. The Kaplan-Meier curve indicated that patients in the lowrisk group had considerably better OS (P = 3.583e−08). The area under the curve (AUC) of this model was 0.718 at 5 years of OS. Then, we developed an OS-associated nomogram that included the risk score and clinicopathological features. The concordance index of the nomogram was 0.769. The survival veri cation performed in three subgroups from the nomogram demonstrated the validity of the model.The AUC of the nomogram was 0.787 at 5 years OS. Proliferation and metastasis of HMGB3 were explored in EC cell line. Finally, we revealed that the most frequently mutated genes in the low-risk and high-risk groups are PTEN and TP53, respectively. Conclusions: Our results suggest that LNM plays an important role in the prognosis, and HMGB3 was potential as a biomarker for EC patients. By detecting the mutation of the risk signature, clinicians can accurately treat patients with targeted therapy, thereby improving their survival rate.

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate health literacy and analyze its influencing factors in military health providers of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA Army). Methods From November to December 2018, cluster sampling was used to select 1512 military health providers from the Army Medical University. Health literacy was measured by using the Chinese Citizen Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) (2015 edition). Influencing factors that may affect health literacy were assessed using the chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression models. Results The knowledge rate of health literacy was relatively low (21.6%). The knowledge rate of health-related skills (HRS, 18.7%) was the lowest of the three aspects of health literacy, and the knowledge rate of chronic diseases (CD, 19.6%) was the lowest of the six dimensions of health literacy. Participants who were older, were female, were of Han ethnicity, were the only child in their families, came from urban areas, never used tobacco, and had higher household income were likely to have higher health literacy. Conclusion The health literacy levels of military health providers of the PLA Army are relatively low. Further research and health education are necessary to improve health literacy.

Pancreatic β-cell dysfunction has been demonstrated to mediate key roles in the pathogenesis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Accumulating evidence has supported the functional involvement of microRNAs (miRNAs) in various types of diabetes, including GDM. However, the detailed biological effect of miRNAs in pancreatic β-cell dysfunction remains poorly understood. In the present study, microarray data of miRNAs in the blood plasma of patients with GDM were retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus dataset under the accession number GSE98043. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was performed to measure the expression levels of miR-143-3p in the blood plasma isolated from 30 female patients with GDM women and 30 healthy female individuals. Subsequently, murine pancreatic β-cell line, MIN6 cells were treated with high glucose (HG) to construct in vitro cell models of GDM. miR-143-3p in HG-treated MIN6 cells was overexpressed or knocked down using miR-143-3p mimics and miR-143-3p inhibitor. Cell viability, insulin secretion and proinflammatory cytokine production were examined using CCK-8 and ELISA, respectively Cell apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry assay. The protein expression levels of proteins involved in the TAK1/NF-κB pathway were also assessed using western blot. The levels of miR-143-3p were found to be markedly lower in samples from patients with GDM, which were in turn negatively correlated with blood glucose levels. Overexpression of miR-143-3p in MIN6 cells significantly reversed HG-induced cell apoptosis and impairments in cell viability and insulin secretion. In addition, miR-143-3p overexpression attenuated HG-induced proinflammatory cytokine production by MIN6 cells. Subsequently, TGFβ-activated kinase 1 (TAK1), an upstream regulator of the NF-κB pathway, was found to be a direct target of miR-143-3p in pancreatic β cells through luciferase assays and western blot. Overexpression of TAK1 was revealed to abolish the curative effects of miR-143-3p on insulin secretion, cell viability and inflammatory response in HG-treated MIN6 cells. In addition, miR-143-3p could inactivate the NF-κB pathway by inhibiting TAK1 expression. Collectively, these results suggest that miR-143-3p levels are downregulated in the peripheral blood of patients with GDM. Therefore, miR-143-3p overexpression may serve as a method for preventing pancreatic β cell dysfunction by inhibiting the TAK1/NF-κB pathway.

Thalidomide (THD) has been found to synergize with cisplatin (DDP) in certain types of cancers; however, their combined use in the treatment of cervical cancer has not been reported to date, at least to the best of our knowledge. Thus, the present study aimed to explore the synergistic effects of THD and DDP and determine their regulatory effects on the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) and Janus kinase 1 (JAK1)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathways in cervical cancer. For this purpose, 0-160 µM THD and 0-64 µM DDP monotherapy or in combination were used to treat the HeLa and SiHa cervical cancer cell lines. This was followed by the calculation of the combination index (CI) and 160 µM THD and 16 µM DDP were then used to treat the cells. Relative cell viability and apoptosis, as well as the mRNA and protein levels of PI3K, AKT, JAK1 and STAT3 were evaluated. The results revealed that THD and DDP monotherapy suppressed the viability of the HeLa and SiHa cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Moreover, THD and DDP treatment exerted a more prominent suppressive effect on the relative viability of HeLa and SiHa cells compared with DDP monotherapy at several concentration settings; further CI calculation revealed that the optimal synergistic concentrations were 160 µM for THD and 16 µM for DDP. Subsequently, combined treatment with THD and DDP suppressed relative cell viability, whereas it promoted cell apoptosis compared with THD or DPP monotherapy; it also inhibited the PI3K/AKT and JAK1/STAT3 signaling pathways compared with DPP or THD monotherapy in both HeLa and SiHa cells. On the whole, the present study demonstrated that THD synergizes with DDP to exert suppressive effects on cervical cancer cell lines. This synergistic action also inactivated the PI3K/AKT and JAK1/STAT3 pathways. Thus, these findings suggest that the combined use of THD and DPP may have potential for use in the treatment of cervical cancer.

Background: Endometrial cancer (EC) is one of the most common malignant tumor in the female reproductive system. The incidence of lymph node metastasis (LNM) is only about 10% in clinically suspected early-stage EC patients. Discovering prognostic model and effective biomarkers for early diagnosis is important to reduce the mortality rate. Methods: We downloaded the RNA-sequencing data and clinical information from the TCGA database. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were used to analyze the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). A least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was conducted to identify the characteristic dimension decrease and distinguish prognosis-related LNM related genes signature. Subsequently, a novel prognosis-related nomogram to predict overall survival (OS). A survival analysis was carried out to explore the individual prognostic significance of the risk model and key gene was validated in vitro. Results: In total, 89 LRGs were identified. Based on the LASSO Cox regression, 11 genes were selected for the development of a risk evaluation model. The Kaplan–Meier curve indicated that patients in the low-risk group had considerably better OS (P = 3.583e−08). The area under the curve (AUC) of this model was 0.718 at 5 years of OS. Then, we developed an OS-associated nomogram that included the risk score and clinicopathological features. The concordance index of the nomogram was 0.769. The survival verification performed in three subgroups from the nomogram demonstrated the validity of the model. The AUC of the nomogram was 0.787 at 5 years OS. Proliferation and metastasis of HMGB3 were explored in EC cell line. Finally, we revealed that the most frequently mutated genes in the low-risk and high-risk groups are PTEN and TP53, respectively. Conclusions: Our results suggest that LNM plays an important role in the prognosis, and HMGB3 was potential as a biomarker for EC patients. By detecting the mutation of the risk signature, clinicians can accurately treat patients with targeted therapy, thereby improving their survival rate.