Sleep disturbance is a frequent and serious complication of hemodialysis (HD). Low serum vitamin D levels have been associated with sleep quality in non-HD subjects. Our aim was to examine the possible association between serum vitamin D levels and the presence of sleep disturbance in HD patients. We recruited 141 HD patients at the HD center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University during 2014–2015. Serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) were determined by the competitive protein-binding assay. Sleep quality was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Demographic, clinical and laboratory data were recorded. Meanwhile, 117 healthy control subjects were also recruited and underwent measurement of 25(OH)D. Eighty-eight patients (62.4%) had sleep disturbance (PSQI scores ≥ 5). Patients with sleep disturbance showed lower levels of 25(OH)D as compared to those without sleep disturbance (85.6 ± 37.4 vs. 39.1 ± 29.1 nmol/L, p < 0.001). In multivariate analyses, serum levels of 25(OH)D (≤48.0 nmol/L) were independently associated with sleep disturbance in HD patients (OR 9.897, 95% CI 3.356–29.187, p < 0.001) after adjustment for possible variables. Our study demonstrates that low serum levels of vitamin D are independently associated with sleep disturbance in HD patients, but the finding needs to be confirmed in future experimental and clinical studies.

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Accumulating evidences have shown microRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in the progression of human cancers including colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the biological function and molecular mechanism of miRNAs in CRC still remains to be further investigated. Using microarray, we found and confirmed that miR-208a-3p was up-regulated in CRC tissues. Its high expression was statistically associated with distant metastasis and TNM stage. Functional assays revealed inhibition of miR-208a-3p suppressed proliferation, invasion and migration, and induced cell apoptosis of CRC cells. Moreover, we identified programmed cell death protein 4 (PDCD4), a well-known tumor suppressor, is a direct target of miR-208a-3p. We also found that overexpression of PDCD4 suppressed cell proliferation, invasion, and migration. Importantly, silencing of PDCD4 efficiently abrogated the promoting effects on CRC cells proliferation, invasion, and migration caused by inhibition of miR-208a-3p. Our findings confirmed the oncogenic role of miR-208a-3p via targeting PDCD4 in CRC, identifying miR-208a-3p as a potential diagnosis and therapeutic biomarker for CRC.