Background: Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is involved in regulation of immunoglobulin production. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between IL-6 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) ...in the IL-6 promoter and anti-E in red blood cell (RBC) transfusion recipients. Methods: 50 healthy subjects, 54 patients with RBC alloantibody anti-E (responders), and 45 patients without alloantibody (non-responders) were recruited. All patients were E antigen-negative. Results: All healthy subjects and patients had GG at -174 position of IL-6 gene. In our healthy subjects, the frequency of the -572 CC genotype was 58%, that of the -572 CG genotype 38%, and that of the -572 GG genotype 4%. The frequency of G allele of -572 SNP in responders was significantly higher than that in non-responders, (31.5 vs. 16.7%; p = 0.020). The frequency of -572 G-positive genotypes (CG and GG) in responders was also significantly higher than that in non-responders, (55.6 vs. 31.1%; p = 0.016). The relative risk of RBC alloimmunization for patients with the -572 G-positive genotype was significantly higher than that of patients with the -572 CC genotype, (1.771 vs. 0.640; p = 0.016). Conclusion:IL-6 C-572G gene polymorphism is significantly associated with anti-E production, with the allele G as a risk allele.
Abstract
Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are non-coding RNAs with a special circular structure produced formed by the reverse splicing mechanism, which play an important role in a variety of biological ...activities. Viruses can encode circRNA, and viral circRNAs have been found in multiple single-stranded and double-stranded viruses. However, the characteristics and functions of viral circRNAs remain unknown. Sequence alignment showed that viral circRNAs are less conserved than circRNAs in animal, indicating that the viral circRNAs may evolve rapidly. Through the analysis of the sequence characteristics of viral circRNAs and circRNAs in animal, it was found that viral circRNAs and animals circRNAs are similar in nucleic acid composition, but have obvious differences in secondary structure and autocorrelation characteristics. Based on these characteristics of viral circRNAs, machine learning algorithms were employed to construct a prediction model to identify viral circRNA. Additionally, analysis of the interaction between viral circRNA and miRNAs showed that viral circRNA is expected to interact with 518 human miRNAs, and preliminary analysis of the role of viral circRNA. And it has been also found that viral circRNAs may be involved in many KEGG pathways related to nervous system and cancer. We curated an online server, and the data and code are available: http://server.malab.cn/viral-CircRNA/.
Cinnamomum kanehirae Hayata is an endemic tree species in Taiwan. Leaf essential oils from 26 sources of C. kanehirae were obtained by hydrodistillation and their chemical constituents were analyzed ...by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Fifty-eight compounds were identified from C. kanehirae leaf essential oils. The main constituents in leaf essential oils were linalool, 1,8-cineole, β-selinene, 1-hexadecyne, and α-cadinol. According to the chemical compositions of leaf essential oils and their relative contents obtained from GC-MS analyses, cluster analysis, and principal component analysis, the 26 sources examined were classified into five chemotypes: linalool type, linalool/1,8-cineole type, 1,8-cineole type, linalool/α-cadinol type, and mixed type. The biochemical correlations between the major constituents of C. kanehirae were examined and their relationship is discussed.
Electronic health record (EHR) systems have been used widely in research. However, most of the EHRs are highly dimensional and it is challenging to analyze such large data set. Bioinformatics is an ...interdisciplinary science with a focus on data management and interpretation for complex biological phenomena. We investigated biomarkers of nutrition from 3001 patients. Multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios of mortality were calculated according to both albumin and sodium levels. We explore the association of aging predicted by all-cause mortality in future.
Here we have evaluated peripheral nerve regeneration with a porous biodegradable nerve conduit (PGGC), which was made from genipin‐cross‐linked gelatin. To examine the effect of pores, nonporous ...genipin‐cross‐linked gelatin conduit (GGC) was considered as the control. Both the PGGC and the GGC were dark blue in appearance with a concentric and round lumina. The PGGC featured an outer surface with pores of variable size homogeneously traversing, and a partially fenestrated inner surface connected by an open trabecular meshwork. The GGC had a rough outer surface whereas its inner lumen was smooth. Both PGGCs and GGCs had similar hydrophilicity on condition of the same material and cross‐linking degree. The porosity of PGGCs and GGCs was 90.8 ± 0.9% and 24.3 ± 2.9%, respectively. The maximum tensile force of the GGCs (0.12 ± 0.06 kN) exceeded that of the PGGCs (0.03 ± 0.01 kN), but the PGGCs had a higher swelling ratio than GGCs at 0.5, 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 60, 72, and 84 h after soaking in deionized water. Cytotoxic testing revealed the soaking solutions of both of the tube composites would not produce cytotoxicity to cocultured Schwann cells. After subcutaneous implantation on the dorsal side of the rat, the PGGC was degraded completely after 12 weeks of implantation whereas a thin tissue capsule was formed encapsulating the partially degraded GGC. Biodegradability of both of the tube groups and their effectiveness as a guidance channel were examined as they were used to repair a 10 mm gap in the rat sciatic nerve. As a result, fragmentation of the GGC was still seen after 12 weeks of implantation, yet the PGGC had been completely degraded. Histological observation showed that numerous myelinated axons had crossed over the gap region in the PGGCs after 8 weeks of implantation despite only few myelinated axons and unmyelinated axons mostly surrounded by Schwann cells seen in the GGCs. In addition, the regenerated nerves in the PGGCs presented a significantly higher nerve conductive velocity than those in the GGCs (P < 0.05). Thus, the PGGCs can not only offer effective aids for regenerating nerves but also accelerate favorable nerve functional recovery compared with the GGCs.
Abstract Background Currently, there is no definitive management for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) intrahepatic recurrence (IHR) after primary resection (PR). The aim of this study was to analyze ...the outcomes of three modalities for patients who received curative PR and had IHR within the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) criteria. Methods Between 2003 and 2010, patients with IHR after PR were treated with salvage liver transplantation (SLT), re-resection (RR) or local ablation (LA). Clinico-pathological features of primary tumor and recurrent HCC were analyzed to determine the risk factors that adversely affected overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS). Results The study included 130 patients with subgroups of SLT (n = 25), RR (n = 31) and LA (n = 74). The 5-year DFS and OS were 75%, 31% and 17% and 80%, 60% and 58% respectively for each subgroup. SLT had a significantly better DFS than other modalities (p < 0.001). There was no difference in OS. In multivariate analysis, two variables adversely affected DFS: microvascular invasion in PR and not treating patients with SLT. Conclusions SLT provides better DFS for patients with IHR within the UCSF criteria. However, SLT failed to show the same advantage in OS.
Background
Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute, self‐limited vasculitis in infants and young children. Interleukin‐10 (IL‐10) is a potent cytokine that exerts pleiotropic effects on immunoregulation ...and inflammation. Elevated IL‐10 serum levels have been reported in the KD patients.
Methods
In this study, we investigated whether IL‐10 genetic polymorphisms contribute to coronary artery aneurysm (CAA) development among KD patients in Taiwan. A total of 58 KD patients with CAA and 277 unrelated healthy children matched for sex and age were enrolled for this study.
Results
Higher G allele frequencies of IL‐10 at ‐1082 position were observed in KD patients with CAA compared to the controls (P = 0.016, OR: 2.86, 95% CI, 1.17–6.98). In addition, higher IL‐10 GCC haplotype frequencies were also observed in KD patients with CAA (P = 0.016, OR: 2.85, 95% CI, 1.17–6.98).
Conclusion
Our data support the possibility that IL‐10 gene polymorphisms may be related with CAA development of KD in Taiwanese population.
PDF
