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An increasing body of evidence indicates the involvement of microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) in the initiation and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). miR-296-5p was recently identified as a tumor suppressor in a variety of human cancer types; however, its function in CRC remains largely unknown. The present study demonstrated that the expression of miR-296-5p was significantly downregulated in CRC tissues and cell lines. The overexpression of miR-296-5p markedly inhibited proliferation, and induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in CRC cells. Bioinformatics analysis suggested that high mobility group AT-hook 1 (HMGA1) may be a target of miR-296-5p in CRC cells. Further experiments showed that miR-296-5p bound the 3'-untranslated region of HMGA1 and decreased its expression in CRC cells. HMGA1 was overexpressed in CRC tissues and was inversely correlated with the expression of miR-296-5p. The restoration of HMGA1 significantly reversed the inhibitory effect of miR-296-5p on the proliferation of CRC cells. Overall, the findings of the present study indicate that miR-296-5p suppressed the progression of CRC, at least partially via targeting HMGA1. Thus, miR-296-5p is a potential target for novel therapies in CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study aims to investigate the serum levels of anti-nucleosome antibody (ANuA) isotypes in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and clarify ANuA isotypes that may diagnose and predict SLE. We detected anti-nucleosome antibodies (ANuA) in the serum from 120 patients with SLE, 99 patients suffering from other autoimmune diseases (OAD), and 50 healthy controls by performing IgG-, IgA-, and IgM-specific ELISAs. The serum levels of total anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA IgG), ANuA IgG subclasses (IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, and IgG4), anti-dsDNA antibodies, and the avidities of ANA IgG were also analysed using ELISAs. The levels of three ANuA isotypes (IgG, IgA, and IgM) were significantly higher in patients with SLE than in patients with OAD and healthy controls (p < 0.05). Moreover, the concentrations of ANuA isotypes increased in the active SLE and lupus nephritis (LN) groups and in patients with SLE presenting high-avidity IgG ANA (p < 0.05). Furthermore, ANuA isotype levels decreased significantly with drug therapy, while anti-dsDNA IgG levels decreased with the same trend. Additionally, ANuA isotypes were positively related to the SLEDAI (SLE Disease Activity Index) score, RAI (relative avidity index) of high-avidity IgG ANAs, and serum anti-dsDNA IgG levels. Last, the sensitivity and specificity values for SLE were 83.33 and 96.67% for ANuA IgG, 85.83 and 93.33% for ANuA IgA, and83.33 and 86.67% for ANuA IgM, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity values for LN were 61.67 and 96.67% for ANuA IgG, 49.17 and 96.67% for ANuA IgA, and 52.50 and 96.67% for ANuA IgM, respectively. In conclusion, we evaluated whether ANuA isotypes represent a diagnostic tool to predict SLE activity and define subsets of patients with LN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The automatic anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies assay offered great advantages over traditional methods in terms of improved precision, reliability, technical simplicity, short turnaround time and high-speed throughput. In this study, we evaluated the main technical performance and diagnostic accuracy of the first automatic anti-CCP assay approved in China. Methods. The study comprised 106 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, 203 non-RA rheumatic disease controls and 46 healthy persons. Anti-CCP, rheumatoid factor (RF), α1-acid glycoprotein, C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were measured and compared. The precision, reference intervals for Chinese population and cut-off value for RA diagnosis, as well as the suitable diluent for anti-CCP were assessed. The positive rate and score of anti-CCP were compared with RF and acute-phase reactants, according to the new RA criteria. Results. Within- and between-run imprecision, expressed as the coefficient of variation, were 0.47-1.36% and 1.15-2.63%, respectively. Upper 95% reference limit of anti-CCP in healthy Chinese was 8.8 U/mL. The area under curve of the receiver operating characteristic(ROC) for anti-CCP and RF were 0.882 (95% CI 0.833-0.930) and 0.844 (95% CI 0.792-0.897), respectively. Based on the cut-off value set by ROC, compared to RF, anti-CCP had higher sensitivity (96.8% vs. 78.3%) and specificity (90.9% vs. 70.7%). With 17 U/mL set as the optimal cut-off for anti-CCP, the total positivity of anti-CCP was comparable to that of RF (76.4% vs. 75.5%), but the high-positivity rate of anti-CCP was significantly higher (74.5% vs. 62.3%, p < 0.005). Conclusions. Our results confirm anti-CCP as a more sensitive and specific marker than RF for the diagnosis of RA. The diagnostic performance of the Elecsys anti-CCP assay makes it a useful adjunct to clinical practice in the Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The chemokine CXCL1, known as growth-related oncogene α (GRO-α), is a potent chemoattractant and regulator of neutrophils. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the regulatory response of CXCL1 in the serum of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in the active stage of disease and to assess whether it was implicated in the pathogenesis/inflammatory process in lupus. Methods: CXCL1 serum concentrations were examined in 90 SLE patients, 56 other autoimmune diseases (OADs) patients and 100 healthy controls using enzyme-linked immunosorbent methodology. Results: SLE patients exhibited significant increases in serum CXCL1 concentrations [1492.86 (735.47–2887.34) pg/ml] compared with OADs patients [155.88 (10.77–366.78) pg/ml] and healthy controls [13.58 (8.46–37.22) pg/ml] (p < 0.001). Moreover, the level of CXCL1 decreased as the level of anti-dsDNA IgG decreased after treatment between the anti-dsDNA-positive SLE patients and the anti-dsDNA-negative SLE patients. Additionly, serum CXCL1 concentrations were related to different disease activity levels in SLE and lupus nephritis (LN) and high avidity of IgG ANAs (HA IgG ANAs) (p < 0.05). Furthermore, CXCL1 serum concentrations were significantly correlated with the SLE Disease Activity Index(SLEDAI) score, relative avidity index (RAI) of HA IgG ANAs and the levels of anti-dsDNA IgG, CRP, ESR, albumin, C3 and C4.Additionally, Statistical analysis revealed that positivity for IgG ANA (p < 0.001), the presence of HA IgG ANAs (p = 0.001) and the logarithmic level of anti-dsDNA IgG (p = 0.021) were significantly associated with the logarithmic level of CXCL1 with standard partial regression coefficients (95% CI) of 2.371 (1.734–3.009), 1.231 (0.52–1.937) and 0.409 (0.062–0.755), respectively. Finally, using cutoff points of 1182.17 pg/mL and 1500.31 pg/mL, serum CXCL1 levels had a similar sensitivity of 76% and specificity of 100% and 75% for the diagnosis of active SLE and LN, respectively. Conclusions: Serum CXCL13 concentrations might represent a potential marker of disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]