Patients with AS had higher levels of OPN compared with controls. The plasma OPN level was correlated with serum ALP, OCN and CTX-I levels, but not with disease activity in AS. OPN might be involved in bone remodelling rather than in inflammation in AS.

We confirmed that significant productivity loss arises from MDD and that this loss can be reduced with psychiatric intervention after a time period as short as 8 weeks. Mental health professionals should work with employers to devise a cost-effective system to provide workers with accessible quality care.

Background: TIP60 is involved in transcriptional regulation acting as a coactivator or corepressor. Also, TIP60 acetylates histones to modulate chromatin remodeling. Results: TIP60 enhances transcriptional activity of RelA/p65, which is the active subunit of NF-B through their physical interaction. Conclusion: TIP60 is critical cofactor of RelA/p65 for transcription of NF-B target genes. Significance: TIP60 is involved in the NF-B pathway in hepatocarcinoma cells.

PurposeEarly-life stress (ELS) has a long-lasting effect on affective function and may entail an increased risk for major depressive disorder (MDD). However, resilience can play a protective role against developing psychopathology. In this study, we investigated the relationships of depressive symptoms with ELS and resilience in MDD.Materials and MethodsTwenty-six patients with MDD as well as age- and gender-matched healthy controls were included in this study. Each subject was assessed concerning ELS, resilience, and depressive symptom severity with self-report questionnaires. Independent samples t-test and Mann-Whitney test were performed to compare ELS and resilience between the patient and control groups. Spearman correlation analyses and linear regression analysis were conducted to investigate significant ELS and resilience factors associated with depressive symptoms.ResultsIn the MDD patient group, subjects reported greater exposure to inter-parental violence, and five factor scores on the resilience scale were significantly lower in comparison to the control group. In linear regression analysis, in regards to resilience, depressive symptom score was significantly associated with self-confidence and self-control factors; however, ELS demonstrated no significant association with depressive symptoms.ConclusionAmong resilience factors, self-confidence and self-control may ameliorate depressive symptoms in MDD. ELS, including inter-parental violence, physical abuse and emotional abuse, might be a risk factor for developing depression. Assessment of early-life stress and intervention programs for increasing resilience capacity would be helpful in treating MDD.

The interaction between symptom provocation and WM occurring in the fronto-striatal system may hold the key to the neurobiology of OCD.

Patients with RA had higher plasma sTREM-1 levels than healthy controls, and plasma sTREM-1 levels were correlated with disease activity measures, suggesting that plasma sTREM-1 could play a role in the inflammatory process associated with TNF-α, and that it may be a useful disease activity marker in RA.

No abstract

Altered expression of microRNAs has been strongly implicated in human cancers, and growing evidence is emerging that a number of miRNAs are downregulated in cancer associated with CpG island hypermethylation. Although pancreatic cancer is one of the most malignant human cancers, the roles of miRNAs underlying the tumorigenesis of pancreatic cancer are still poorly understood. In the present study, we explored the molecular functional role of microRNA-1247 as tumor suppressor associated with epigenetic alteration in pancreatic cancer. CpG islands methylation of miR-1247 is frequently observed in various pancreatic cancer cell lines and in primary pancreatic tumors, but not in normal pancreatic tissue. Ectopic expression of miR-1247 in five pancreatic cancer cell lines results in suppressing of cell growth, proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro and tumorigenicity of pancreatic cancer cells in vivo. Interestingly, we found one putative target gene of miR-1247, regulator of chromosome condensation 2 (RCC2), harbored miR-1247 target sequences in the 3′ UTR of its mRNA. In functional studies in vitro to understand the interaction between miR-1247 and RCC2, decreasing of RCC2 gene expression by miR-1247 was observed by immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry at both mRNA and protein levels. Moreover, luciferase reporter assay confirmed that RCC2 was a direct target of miR-1247. Taken together, our data suggest that CpG island hypermethylation of miR-1247 is responsible for its downregulation in pancreatic cancer, and ectopic expression of miR-1247 functions as a potential tumor suppressor targeting RCC2 in pancreatic cancer cells.