Background: Expression of STK40 is observed in some cancer types, while its role in lowgrade gliomas (LGG) is unclear. The present study aimed to demonstrate the relationship between STK40 and LGG based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and bioinformatics analysis. Methods: Kruskal-Wallis test, Wilcoxon sign-rank test, and logistic regression were used to evaluate the relationship between clinicopathological features and STK40 expression. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analysis were used to evaluate prognostic factors. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and immuno-infiltration analysis were used to determine the significant involvement of STK40 in function. Results: High STK40 expression in LGG was associated with WHO grade (P<0.001), IDH status (P<0.001), primary therapy outcome (P=0.027), 1p/19q codeletion (P<0.001) and histological type (P<0.001). High STK40 expression predicted a poorer overall survival (OS) (HR: 3.07; 95% CI: 2.09-4.51; P<0.001), progression-free survival (PFS) (HR:2.11; 95% CI: 1.59-2.81; P<0.001) and disease specific survival (DSS) (HR: 3.27; 95% CI: 2.17-4.92; P<0.001). STK40 expression (HR: 2.284; 95% CI: 1.125-4.637; P=0.022) was independently correlated with OS in LGG patients. GSEA demonstrated that pathways including cell cycle mitotic, neutrophil degranulation, signaling by Rho GTPases, signaling by interleukins, M phase, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and naba secreted factors were differentially enriched in STK40 high expression phenotype. Immune infiltration analysis showed that STK40 expression was correlated with some types of immune infiltrating cells. Conclusion: STK40 expression was significantly correlated with poor survival and immune infiltration in LGG, and it may be a promising prognostic biomarker in LGG.

Cytoplasmic FMR1 interacting protein 1 (Cyfip1) is a new candidate tumor suppressor gene, which may play an impor- tant role in the occurrence and development of cancers. However, the role of Cyfip1 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains poorly known. The aim of this study was to investigate the Cyfip1 mRNA expression in NPC and its association with clinicopathological features. The study population comprised 114 Chinese individuals, including 69 NPC tissues and 45 non-cancerous nasopharyngeal tissues. We used real-time fluorescent relatively quantitative PCR to evaluate the Cyfip1 mRNA expression in NPC tissues and non-cancerous nasopharyngeal tissues. The expression level of Cyfip1 mRNA was significantly lower in patients with NPC than in the control samples (p=0.001). Furthermore, low expression level of Cyfip1 mRNA was significantly associated with invasive range (T3-T4 vs T1-T2, p=0.001), lymph node metastasis (N1-N3 vs   N0, p=0.010), distant metastases (M1 vs M0, p=0.040) and clinical stage (III-IV vs I-II, p<0.001). Our results suggest the association between Cyfip1 mRNA expression and NPC. Detecting the expression of Cyfip1 may provide clinically useful information for diagnosis, progression and treatment methods in NPC.

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To determine genetic associations between oxcarbazepine (OXC)-induced cutaneous adverse drug reactions (cADRs) and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) variants in the Eastern Han Chinese population. Methods: A total of 120 patients were enrolled in this study, including 30 subjects with OXC-induced cADRs (case group) and 90 OXC-tolerant patients (control group). High-resolution HLA genotyping was conducted for HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C, and HLA-DRB1, and allele frequencies were compared. Results: No patient carried the HLA-B *1502 allele in the case group, the frequency of HLA-B *1502 allele in the control group was 6.1%. HLA-A*3201 allele was detected in 13.3% of 30 patients with OXC-induced cADRs (4/ 30) and 0% of 90 OXC-tolerant patients (0/90). The difference in HLA-A*3201 frequency between the two groups was statistically significant [P = 0.004, odds ratio (OR) = 15.877, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.817-138.720]. Conclusions: Eastern Han Chinese patients with the HLA-A*3201 allele may be more susceptible to OXC-induced cADRs, while the HLA-B*1502 allele is not correlated with it. The precise association between HLA alleles and OXC-induced cADRs warrants further study.

Background Approximately 60% of patients with autoimmune encephalitis (AE) exhibit secondary acute symptomatic seizures and showed highly sensitive to immunotherapy. However, it is difficult for many patients to receive early immunotherapy since the early identification of the cause in AE is more complex. This study aimed to investigate the early predictors of initial immune-related seizures and to guide the evaluation of treatment and prognosis. Methods One hundred and fifty-four patients with new-onset “unknown etiology” seizures with a course of disease less than 6 months were included. Serum and/or cerebrospinal fluid neuron-specific autoantibodies (NSAbs), including N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), α-amino-3-hydroxy-5- Methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid receptor 1 (AMPAR1), AMPAR2, anti-leucine rich glioma inactivated 1 antibody (LGI1), anti-gamma-aminobutyric acid type B receptor (GABABR), anti-contact protein-related protein-2 (CASPR2) were used to screen for immune etiology of the seizures. In addition, patients with epilepsy and encephalopathy were also examined via brain MRI, long-term video EEG, antibody prevalence in epilepsy and encephalopathy (APE2) score, and modified Rankin Scale (mRS). A logistic regression model was used to analyze the early predictors of immune etiology. Results Thirty-four cases (22.1%) were positive for NSAbs. Among all 154 patients, 23 cases of autoimmune encephalitis (AE) (21 cases of NSAbs positive), 1 case of ganglionic glioma (NSAbs positive), 130 cases of epilepsy or seizures (12 cases of NSAbs positive) were recorded. Also, there were 17 patients (11.0%) with APE2 ≥ 4 points, and all of them met the clinical diagnosis of AE. The sensitivity and specificity of APE2 ≥ 4 points for predicting AE were 73.9% and 100%. The results of multivariate analysis showed that the NSAbs and APE2 scores independently influenced the early prediction of initial immune-related seizures (P < 0.05). Conclusion NSAbs and APE2 scores could act as early predictors of initial immune-related seizures.