Compared with the MMSE, the MoCA-P is significantly better for detecting MCI in the elderly, particularly in the oldest old population, and it also displays more effectiveness in detecting dementia.

Background: Low serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) level and secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) are very common in hemodialysis patients. However, the outcomes of patients with low PTH level or SHPT have not been carefully compared. Therefore, in the present study, we compared the outcomes of hemodialysis patients with low PTH level or SHPT. Methods: This was a multi-center, prospective, cohort study of 647 patients. The patients were recruited between 1 September 2016 and 1 January 2017 and followed until 31 December 2018. The participants were allocated to a low PTH group [serum intact PTH (iPTH) concentration < 60 pg/ml] and an SHPT group (iPTH ⩾ 600 pg/ml) according to their mean iPTH concentration across the entire observation period, and the outcomes were compared between these groups. The primary outcome was a composite outcome, which comprised all-cause mortality, non-fatal acute myocardial infarction, non-fatal acute stroke, and acute heart failure. Results: A total of 197 hemodialysis patients were allocated to the two groups: 87 with low PTH level and 110 with SHPT; 450 patients with time-averaged iPTH concentrations of 60–600 pg/ml were excluded. Kaplan–Meier analysis of the composite endpoint revealed a significant difference between participants with low PTH level and those with SHPT ( p = 0.002). Cox multiple regression showed that participants with low PTH level had a higher incidence of the composite endpoint than those with SHPT (relative risk: 1.337, 95% confidence interval: 1.059–1.688). Conclusion: Hemodialysis patients with low PTH level had a higher incidence of mortality and non-fatal cardiovascular events than those with SHPT, irrespective of whether the participants were age-matched.

The incidence of liver cancer ranks seventh globally, with nearly half of all cases occurring in East Asia, but currently, there are very few drugs to treat it. Our previous studies demonstrated that the signal integration protein Gab2 is a potential drug target for the prevention and therapy of liver cancer. Here, we screened for and identified two miRNAs that target Gab2 to suppress the proliferation and migration of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. First, we predicted Gab2-targeting miRNAs through biological websites, and we selected nine miRNAs that were reported in the literature as being abnormally expressed in liver cancer and fatty liver tissue. Then, we measured the expression of these miRNAs in the hepatic epithelial cell line HL-7702 and the HCC cell line HepG2. The expression levels of miR-9, miR-181a, miR-181c, miR-34a, and miR-134 were high in HL-7702 cells but low in HepG2 cells, and their expression patterns were the opposite of Gab2 in these cells. Furthermore, we transfected miR-9, miR-34a, miR-181a, and miR-181c mimics into HepG2 cells and found that only miR-9 and miR-181a reduced the level of Gab2 proteins. miR-9 also reduced the Gab2 mRNA level, but miR-181a did not affect the Gab2 mRNA levels. Using a miRNA-Gab2 3′UTR binding reporter, we confirmed that miR-9 and miR-181a bind to the Gab2 3′UTR region. Finally, we introduced miR-9 and miR-181a mimics into HepG2 cells and found that cell proliferation and migration were significantly inhibited. In conclusion, we identified two novel miRNAs targeting Gab2 and provided potential drug targets for the prevention and treatment of liver cancer.

Introduction: Studies showed that pre-dialysis BP variability (BPV) was an independent risk factor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among HD patients, but which is limited on how intradialytic BPV affects prognosis.Methods: In this study, we designed a retrospective cohort study to examine the association between intradialytic BPV and CVD outcomes in HD patients. A total of 202 patients who underwent HD in our center were included, and all intradialytic BP measurements of November 2017 were obtained from the database. Patients were divided into four groups according to variability independent of the mean (VIM) interquartile. Results: The mean age was 62.1 ± 14.3 years, 60.9% were male, and median VIM was 14.75 (12.60-18.59). Multiple-regression analyses showed patients age, dialysis vintage, serum albumin, and the percentage of intradialytic weight gain as significant predictors of VIM (all p values were <0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that CVD mortality was greater in patients with higher VIM (p = 0.05), whereas all-cause mortality had no significant difference between the four groups overall (p = 0.149). Furthermore, multivariate regression analyses demonstrated that VIM (HR = 1.091, p < 0.004) and age (HR = 1.059, p = 0.003) were significant independent predictors for CVD death. Logistic-regression models revealed that higher VIM groups were more likely to have CVD-related hospitalization (OR = 1.085, p = 0.030), whereas the association between VIM and all-cause hospitalization was not statistically significant (OR = 1.015, p = 0.669).Conclusions: This retrospective study suggested that higher intradialytic BPV was associated with increasing age, longer dialysis vintage, lower albumin, and greater ultrafiltration; intradialytic BPV could be an effective predictor for CVD mortality and hospitalization in the HD population.

No abstract