BackgroundHematologic and biochemical analytes of Sprague-Dawley rats are commonly used to determine effects that were induced by treatment and to evaluate organ dysfunction in toxicological safety assessments, but reference intervals have not been well established for these analytes. Reference intervals as presently defined for these analytes in Sprague-Dawley rats have not used internationally recommended statistical method nor stratified by sex. Thus, we aimed to establish sex-specific reference intervals for hematologic and biochemical parameters in Sprague-Dawley rats according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute C28-A3 and American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology guideline.MethodsHematology and biochemistry blood samples were collected from 500 healthy Sprague-Dawley rats (250 males and 250 females) in the control groups. We measured 24 hematologic analytes with the Sysmex XT-2100i analyzer, 9 biochemical analytes with the Olympus AU400 analyzer. We then determined statistically relevant sex partitions and calculated reference intervals, including corresponding 90% confidence intervals, using nonparametric rank percentile method.ResultsWe observed that most hematologic and biochemical analytes of Sprague-Dawley rats were significantly influenced by sex. Males had higher hemoglobin, hematocrit, red blood cell count, red cell distribution width, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, white blood cell count, neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, percentage of neutrophils, percentage of monocytes, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and triglycerides compared to females. Females had higher mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, plateletcrit, platelet count, eosinophils, percentage of lymphocytes, percentage of eosinophils, creatinine, glucose, total cholesterol and urea compared to males. Sex partition was required for most hematologic and biochemical analytes in Sprague-Dawley rats. We established sex-specific reference intervals, including corresponding 90% confidence intervals, for Sprague-Dawley rats.ConclusionsUnderstanding the significant discrepancies in hematologic and biochemical analytes between male and female Sprague-Dawley rats provides important insight into physiological effects in test rats. Establishment of locally sex-specific reference intervals allows a more precise evaluation of animal quality and experimental results of Sprague-Dawley rats in our toxicology safety assessment.

Background: Increasing evidence shows that dysregulated expression of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can serve as diagnostic or prognostic markers in bladder cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical values of dysregulated lncRNAs in bladder cancer.Methods: Eligible studies were systematically searched in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases from inception to December 2017. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated to investigate the correlation between lncRNAs and clinicopathological parameters. Pooled hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to explore the prognostic value of lncRNAs in bladder cancer. Pooled diagnostic parameters were also calculated to estimate the performance of lncRNAs in diagnosing bladder cancer. All statistical analyses were performed by using STATA 13.1 program.Results: A total of 37 relevant studies were included to the present systematic review according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, including 26 on clinicopathological parameters, 19 on prognosis, and 7 on diagnosis. For clinicopathological parameters, MALAT1 expression was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.731; 95% CI: 1.409–5.292; p = 0.003), and high-level expression of XIST was related to larger tumor size (OR = 2.473; 95% CI: 1.159–5.276; p = 0.019) and higher TNM stage (OR = 0.400; 95% CI, 0.184–0.868; p = 0.020). For the prognostic values, the most significant association was observed between increased expressions of SPRY4-IT1 and poor overall survival (OS) (HR = 3.716; 95% CI: 2.084–6.719; p < 0.001); high MALAT1 expression was significantly associated with poor OS (HR = 1.611; 95% CI: 1.076–2.412; p = 0.020). For the diagnostic values, UCA1 expression profile achieved a combined AUC of 0.92, with sensitivity of 0.84 and specificity of 0.89 in distinguishing patients with bladder cancer from non-cancerous controls.Conclusions: In summary, systematic review elaborated that abnormal lncRNAs expression can serve as potential markers for prognostic evaluation in bladder cancer patients. In addition, the diagnostic meta-analysis concluded that abnormally expressed UCA1 can function as potential diagnostic markers for bladder cancer.

Echinococcus granulosus sensu stricto (s.s.), Echinococcus multilocularis and Echinococcus canadensis are the common causes of human echinococcosis in China. An accurate species identification tool for human echinococcosis is needed as the treatments and prognosis are different among species. The present work demonstrates a method for the simultaneous detection of these three Echinococcus species based on multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR). Specific primers of this mPCR were designed based on the mitochondrial genes and determined by extensive tests. The method can successfully detect either separated or mixed target species, and generate expected amplicons of distinct size for each species. Sensitivity of the method was tested by serially diluted DNA, showing a detection threshold as less as 0.32 pg for both E. granulosus s.s. and E. canadensis, and 1.6 pg for E. multilocularis. Specificity assessed against 18 other parasites was found to be 100% except weakly cross-react with E. shiquicus. The assay was additionally applied to 69 echinococcosis patients and 38 healthy persons, confirming the high reliability of the method. Thus, the mPCR described here has high application potential for clinical identification purposes, and can further provide a useful tool for evaluation of serology and imaging method.