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The current study aimed to investigate the potential role of the FOXJ2 (forkhead box J2) protein in the pathology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Western blotting was performed to determine the expression levels of FOXJ2 in HCC tissues and HCC cells. Specimens from 110 patients with HCC undergoing hepatic resection were evaluated for FOXJ2 expression using an immunohistochemical assay. The correlation between FOXJ2 expression and clinicopathological factors of the patients was determined by statistical analysis to determine the prognostic merit of FOXJ2 expression in HCC. The detailed involvement of FOXJ2 in the regulation of HCC proliferation was further investigated using FOXJ2-targeting small interfering RNA (siRNA). FOXJ2 protein was identified to be significantly downregulated in HCC tissues compared with adjacent normal liver tissues. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that the expression of FOXJ2 was negatively correlated with Ki-67 levels in HCC specimens (r=−0.679, P<0.001). Furthermore, statistical analysis indicated FOXJ2 expression was significantly associated with histological differentiation (P=0.005), the size of largest tumor (P=0.002) and metastasis (P=0.036). Using Kaplan-Meier analysis, it was demonstrated that high FOXJ2 expression levels predicted significantly improved patient survival rates compared with low FOXJ2 expression levels (P<0.001). In addition, it was observed that interference of FOXJ2 expression using siRNA oligos led to the promotion of proliferation of HepG2 cells. FOXJ2 was markedly downregulated in HCC tissues. The expression of FOXJ2 was correlated with tumor size, histological differentiation and metastasis. Low expression levels of FOXJ2 predicted poor prognosis for patients with HCC, suggesting that FOXJ2 may be a candidate prognostic marker of HCC. Depletion of FOXJ2 caused the promotion of HCC cell proliferation, implicating that FOXJ2 may serve an inhibitory role in the regulation of HCC cell proliferation.

The study aimed to evaluate the influence of the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) evaluation and rehabilitation education guidance on the respiratory and motor functions of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Forty-five patients with COPD admitted from Nov. 2012 to Nov. 2013 were treated with combined bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids. Thirty-five patients admitted from Nov. 2012 to Nov. 2013 and classified as a study group received rehabilitation education guidance on the basis of the treatment of the control group to compare the quality-of-life-scale score, dyspnea index score, and motor function of the two groups of patients after 48 weeks of treatment. After treatment, the CAT score of both groups of patients was significantly lowered. After 48 weeks of treatment, the respiratory function of both groups was significantly improved, but the Medical Research Council (MRC) scale for the study group after treatment was significantly lower than that for the control group. After 48 weeks of rehabilitation exercises, the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) for patients with COPD was significantly prolonged, but the test results were significantly higher for the study group after treatment than for the control group. After receiving CAT rehabilitation education, COPD patients had significantly improved life quality and significantly enhanced exercise tolerance. The treatment mode may be gradually introduced in future clinic and nursing work.

Background. MicroRNA (miR) influences the biological activities of cirrhotic patients with recurrent portal hypertension.Objectives. The current study was designed to investigate risk factors related to the survival of cirrhosis patients and assessed the possibility of using miR-9a-5p predictability to prevent post-treatment portal hypertension. Materials and methods.Patients with portal hypertension due to liver cirrhosis treated from January 2015 to September 2016 were included in this study. Patients without relapse after treatment were selected as the success group while patients with relapse after treatment were selected as the recurrence group. Serum samples from healthy people were also collected. The blood indexes of the 2 groups of patients before and after treatment were compared and the miR-9a-5p serum level in each group was determined. The Kaplan-Meier method was applied to analyze three-year survival, Cox univariate regression was used to analyze the risk factors for recurrence of cirrhotic portal hypertension, and the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum miR-9a-5p, total bilirubin (TBIL) and platelet (PLT) levels in patients with recurrence.Results. The miR-9a-5p level in the recurrence group was higher than that in the success group after treatment. In patients with recurrence, the miR-9a-5p level was negatively correlated with red blood cell count, TBIL, white blood cell count, and PLT count, and positively correlated with albumin. The miR-9a-5p, TBIL and PLT are potential markers of recurrent portal hypertension in liver cirrhosis. The miR-9a-5p had the highest area under the curve (AUC) value in patients with relapse. Conclusions.The miR-9a-5p is a risk factor for the recurrence of cirrhotic portal hypertension after treatment. It may be used as a marker of recurrence, and so has potential clinical value for the diagnosis and treatment of recurrent portal hypertension.

Objective To evaluate the therapeutic effects of telbivudine and entecavir on patients with chronic hepatitis B by meta-analysis method. Methods Databases including the Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE and HighWire were searched from January 2008 to October 2012. Randomized controlled trials on treatment of chronic hepatitis B with telbivudine and entecavir were included. According to the Cochrane systematic reviews, the methodological quality of the included studies was evaluated and effective data was extracted from these studies and analyzed. Results Six studies were included eventually. The telbivudine group included 417 cases and the entecavir group included 396 cases. For 12-week antiviral treatment of chronic hepatitis B, the rate of undetectable HBV DNA was 39.1% with telbivudine and 38.6% with entecavir [OR = 1.04, 95% CI (0.62, 1.73), P > 0.05]; for treatment of HBeAg (+) hepatitis B, the HBeAg clearance rate was 23.8% with telbivudine and 3.8% with entecavir [OR= 8.07, 95% CI (2.69, 24.21), P < 0.05], and the HBeAg seroconversion rate was 6.7% with telbivudine and 3.8% with entecavir [OR = 4.95, 95% CI (1.60, 15.31), P < 0.05]; the ALT normalization rate was 54.3% with telbivudine and 58.5% with entecavir [OR = 0.84, 95% CI (0.49, 1.45), P > 0.05]; and for early-stage treatment, the incidence of adverse events was 17.2% with telbivudine and 22.0% with entecavir [OR = 0.66, 95% CI (0.33, 1.32), P > 0.05]. For 1-year antiviral treatment of chronic hepatitis B, the rate of undetectable HBV DNA was 79.4% with telbivudine and 89.7% with entecavir [OR = 0.46, 95% CI (0.28, 0.74), P < 0.05]; for treatment of HBeAg (+) hepatitis B, the HBeAg clearance rate was 28.9% with telbivudine and 15.6% with entecavir [OR = 2.21, 95% CI (1.06, 4.58), P < 0.05], and the HBeAg seroconversion rate was 31.2% with telbivudine and 18.5% with entecavir [OR = 2.31, 95% CI (1.23, 4.31), P < 0.05]; the ALT normalization rate was 85.8% with telbivudine and 84.9% with entecavir [OR = 0.90, 95% CI (0.29, 2.84), P > 0.05]; and the resistance rate was 6.0% with telbivudine and 0.76% with entecavir [OR = 5.71, 95% CI (1.67, 19.47), P < 0.05]. Conclusions For 1-year treatment of chronic hepatitis B, the difference in ALT normalization between telbivudine and entecavir was not statistically significant; and telbivudine was superior over entecavir in terms of HBeAg undetectable and HBeAg seroconversion; entecavir was superior over telbivudine in terms of HBV DNA undetectable and resistance; and both drugs had similar rates of adverse events in early-stage treatment and no severe adverse event was noted. Both telbivudine and entecavir are effective antiviral drugs against hepatitis B.