Human metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) is a newly identified metastasis-associated long non-coding RNA. In a previous study, it was identified that plasma levels of MALAT1 were significantly increased in gastric cancer patients with metastasis compared with gastric cancer patients without metastasis and healthy control individuals. However, it is unclear whether plasma levels of MALAT1 may act as a biomarker for evaluating the development of metastasis in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). In the present study, groups that consisted of 47 patients with EOC and metastasis (EOC/DM), 47 patients with EOC without metastasis (EOC/NDM), and 47 healthy control (HC) individuals were established. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to detect the level of plasma MALAT1 in these groups. The results showed that levels of plasma MALAT1 were significantly increased in the EOC/DM group compared with the EOC/NDM and HC groups (P<0.001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis indicated that plasma MALAT1 yielded an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.820 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.734–0.905; P<0.001], distinguishing between EOC/DM and EOC/NDM. ROC analysis also yielded an AUC of 0.884 (95% CI, 0.820–0.949; P<0.001), with 89.4% sensitivity and 72.3% specificity for distinguishing between EOC/DM and HC. Furthermore, multivariate analysis indicated that overexpression of MALAT1, differentiation (poor), tumor-node-metastasis stage (IV), lymph node metastasis (N3), peritoneal invasion (present) and higher serum carbohydrate antigen 125 levels were independent predictors of survival (hazard ratio, 3.322; P=0.028) in patients with EOC. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that patients with increased MALAT1 expression had a poorer disease-free survival time. In conclusion, the levels of plasma MALAT1 may act as a valuable biomarker for the diagnosis of metastasis.

Background: Currently, colorectal cancer has become a common gastrointestinal malignancy that usually occurs in the colon and rectum, and ferroptosis plays a vital role in the pathology and progression of colorectal tumors. Methods: A total of 627 patients (51 normal and 644 tumor samples) from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-COAD and TCGA-READ were included in the study. Lasso and Cox's regression was employed to analyze the characteristic lncRNAs in colorectal cancer samples, and a distinctive prognostic model of ferroptosis-related lncRNAs was established. By analyzing the divergence between the high and low-risk groups of ferroptosis-related lncRNAs, 15 characteristic lncRNAs related to the prognosis of colorectal cancer were evaluated. Kaplan-Meier analysis, operation characteristic curve (ROC), nomogram, and gene set enrichment analyses (GSEA) further confirmed the validity of the characteristic prognostic model with ferroptosis-related lncRNAs. Results: Kaplan-Meier analysis confirmed a high-risk group of ferroptosis-related lncRNA interrelated with a poor prognosis in colorectal cancer. AUC estimates of 1 -, 3 -, and 5-year survival rates for ferroptosis-related lncRNA characteristic models were 0.745, 0.767 and 0.789. GSEA analysis showed that immune and malignancy-related pathways were active in the high-risk score group. In addition, differential analyses of immune function, including Checkpoint, cytolytic, HLA, and T cell co-inhibition, differed significantly betwixt low -and high-risk groups.CD160,

The objective of this study is to provide comprehensive and up-to-date estimates on the disease burden of BPH in 204 countries and territories between 1990 and 2019. Data about incidence, year lived with disability (YLD), and their age-standardized rates (ASRs) for 21 regions, 5 Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintiles, 204 countries and territories, and 12 age categories from 1990 to 2019 were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study. Estimated annual percentage changes (EAPCs) of the ASRs and the associations between SDI and the ASRs were estimated. The effects of population growth, population aging, and age-specific rate on the changes in the absolute numbers of incidence and YLD were quantified. Globally, there were 11.26 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 8.79, 14.46) new cases and 1.86 million (95%UI: 1.13, 2.78) YLD due to BPH in 2019. The global ASRs of incidence (EAPC: −0.031, 95% CI: −0.050, −0.012) and YLD (EAPC: −0.058, 95% CI: −0.084, −0.031) decreased slightly from 1990 to 2019, whereas the absolute numbers increased dramatically from 1990 (incidence by 105.7% and YLD by 110.6%), mainly driven by the population growth (53.5% for incidence and 54.4% for YLD) and population aging (55.7% for incidence and 63.2% for YLD). The burden of BPH varied markedly among different regions, socioeconomic status, and countries. As the population is growing and aging, great efforts are required to develop effective prevention, treatment and management strategies to meet the high and increasing burden of BPH worldwide.

Objective To investigate the expression and clinical value of the E-selectin gene ( SELE) in colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods Using gene expression profiles and clinicopathological data for patients with CRC from The Cancer Genome Atlas, and tumor and adjacent normal tissues from 31 patients with CRC from Xianyang Central Hospital, we studied the correlation between SELE gene expression and clinical parameters using Kaplan–Meier and Cox proportional hazards regression analyses. Results Higher expression of SELE was significantly associated with a poorer prognosis and shorter survival in patients with CRC. The median expression level of SELE was significantly higher in CRC tissues compared with healthy adjacent tissue. Cox regression analysis showed that the prognosis of CRC was significantly correlated with the expression of SELE. Immunohistochemical analysis also showed that positive expression of E-selectin increased significantly in line with increasing TNM stage. Conclusion: This study confirmed that SELE gene expression is an independent prognostic factor in patients with CRC.

Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a common condition characterized by the increase and activation of osteoclasts. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 5 (ERK-5) on postmenopausal osteoporosis by regulating the biological behaviors of osteoblasts. Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats were ovariectomized to develop an osteoporosis model. A lentivirus packaging system was employed to generate lentiviruses capable of up- or down-regulating the expression of ERK-5 in ovariectomized rats. The femoral biomechanical properties, bone mineral density (BMD), contents of calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and bone turnover markers in rats, as well as viability, cycle and apoptosis of osteoblasts and ALP activity in osteoblasts were measured in the ovariectomized rats so as to explore the functional significance of ERK-5 in postmenopausal osteoporosis. The femoral mechanical strength of ovariectomized rats was enhanced by overexpression of ERK-5. Meanwhile femoral BMD, and bone metabolism were increased, and bone turnover normalized in the ovariectomized rats when ERK-5 was overexpressed. Lentivirus-mediated ERK-5 overexpression in osteoblasts was observed to inhibit osteoblast apoptosis, and promote viability, accompanied with increased ALP activity. Taken together, ERK-5 could decelerate osteoblast apoptosis and improve postmenopausal osteoporosis by increasing osteoblast viability. Thus, our study provides further understanding on a promising therapeutic target for postmenopausal osteoporosis.