Thyroid cancer is a common malignant tumor. Long non-coding RNA colon cancer-associated transcript 1 (lncRNA CCAT1) is highly expressed in many cancers; however, the molecular mechanism of CCAT1 in thyroid cancer remains unclear. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the effect of CCAT1 on human thyroid cancer cell line FTC-133. FTC-133 cells were transfected with CCAT1 expressing vector, CCAT1 shRNA, miR-143 mimic, and miR-143 inhibitor, respectively. After different treatments, cell viability, proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis were measured. Moreover, the regulatory relationship of CCAT1 and miR-143, as well as miR-143 and VEGF were tested using dual-luciferase reporter assay. The relative expressions of CCAT1, miR-143, and VEGF were tested by qRT-PCR. The expressions of apoptosis-related factors and corresponding proteins in PI3K/AKT and MAPK pathways were analyzed using western blot analysis. The results suggested that CCAT1 was up-regulated in the FTC-133 cells. CCAT1 suppression decreased FTC-133 cell viability, proliferation, migration, invasion, and miR-143 expression, while it increased apoptosis and VEGF expression. CCAT1 might act as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-143. Moreover, CCAT1 activated PI3K/AKT and MAPK signaling pathways through inhibition of miR-143. This study demonstrated that CCAT1 exhibited pro-proliferative and pro-metastasis functions on FTC-133 cells and activated PI3K/AKT and MAPK signaling pathways via down-regulation of miR-143. These findings will provide a possible target for clinical treatment of thyroid cancer.

Background Studies have reported associations between health‐related quality of life (HRQOL), social support, and mental stress of patients with chronic wound, while the causal relationship is unclear and little is known about the HRQOL of hospitalized them. We therefore investigated the status of HRQOL of hospitalized patients with chronic wound and the causal relationships among social support, mental stress (anxiety and depression) and HRQOL of which. Methods A cross‐sectional survey was conducted and the demographic and disease characteristics, HRQOL, perceived social support and mental stress of 216 hospitalized patients with chronic wound was surveyed through questionnaires collected by face to face interview. Results (1) The HRQOL of the non‐retired patients was better than that of the retirees (P < .05); Patients with a diabetic foot ulcer, who slept less than 5 hours per night, with moderate pain, wound odor had worse HRQOL (P < .05); Sleep status, diagnosis, and pain scores were entered into the prediction equation of physiological quality of life (PQOL) of the patients (r2 = 0.125, P < .05), retired or not and wound odor were entered into the prediction equation of mental quality of life (MQOL) (r2 = 0.127, P < .05). (2) Perceived social support had a positive predictive effect on the HRQOL of hospitalized patients with chronic wound (β = 1.161, P < .001), and a negative predictive effect on mental stress of them (β = −0.902, P < .001). The effect of social support on the HRQOL of hospitalized patients with chronic wound was to provide a buffering effect on their mental stress, the estimated value was 2.121, 95% CI (1.46, 3.25). Conclusion (a) The HRQOL of hospitalized patients with chronic wound was poor and sleep status, diagnosis, pain, retirement status and whether the wound has odor were the main demographic and disease characteristic factors which affected their HRQOL. (2) Perceived social support improved the HRQOL of hospitalized patients with chronic wound by buffering their mental stress.

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most common endocrine malignancy. Studies have confirmed an association between microRNA (miRNA) and the BRAF mutation in various cellular biological processes of PTC. This study aimed to clarify the potential relationship between miR-150-5p and the BRAF mutation in PTC. Human PTC cell lines B-CPAP and TPC-1 were transfected with the miR-150-5p mimic, an inhibitor, and the corresponding controls. Then, cell proliferation, viability, and apoptosis were detected by bromodeoxyuridine, trypan blue exclusion, and flow cytometry assays. The expressions of the main factors of cell cycle, epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), and DNA mismatch repair were examined by Western blot analysis and a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Additionally, pc-BRAF was transfected into B-CPAP and TPC-1 cells to determine the relationship between miR-150-5p and BRAF . In addition, the methyl ethyl ketone (MEK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signal pathway was examined using Western blot analysis. Overexpression of miR-150-5p promoted cell proliferation and viability, inhibited apoptosis, and upregulated cell cycle factor expressions at 50 passages of B-CPAP and TPC-1 cells after transfection. Overexpression of miR-150-5p led to an obvious decrease in E-cadherin expression, but enhanced N-cadherin, Slug and Vimentin, ZEB1, and Snail expression. Moreover, overexpression of miR-150-5p markedly suppressed POLD3, MSH2, and MSH3 expression. Furthermore, BRAF overexpression increased the expression level of miR-150-5p in TPC cells, and overexpression of telomerase reverse transcriptase further enhanced the promoting effect of BRAF on miR-150-5p expression in B-CPAP and TPC-1 cells. Finally, BRAF overexpression activated the MEK/ERK signal pathway in B-CPAP and TPC-1 cells. These data indicated that miR-150-5p promoted cell proliferation, suppressed apoptosis, and accelerated the EMT process by regulation of the BRAF mutation. Our findings will help elucidate the pathogenesis of PTC and identify biomarkers.

PurposeThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of postoperative thyroid-stimulating hormone suppression (TSHS) on bone mineral density (BMD) in Chinese postmenopausal women with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC).Patients and methodsA total of 225 postmenopausal women with DTC who had received TSHS were included in the study. Postmenopausal women with postoperative DTC undergoing thyroid residual ablation or metastasis treatment between 2009 and 2015 were enrolled and followed up for 2 years. They were divided into two groups: TSHS group (median thyroid-stimulating hormone [TSH] <0.3 μIU/mL) and postmenopausal control group (median TSH >0.3 μIU/mL). Lumbar 1–4 BMD levels were measured by a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at baseline and 6, 12 and 24 months. All patients had calcium and vitamin D supplementation. The diagnosis of osteopenia (−1 SD > T >−2.5 SD) and osteoporosis (T <−2.5 SD) was made according to WHO guidelines.ResultsThyroid cancers included 211 papillary carcinomas and 14 follicular carcinomas. One hundred and fifty-four patients were in the TSHS group, and 71 patients were in the non-suppressed TSH group (postmenopausal controls). No significant differences were found in the BMD of the lumbar spine between baseline and after 6, 12 and 24 months, pre and post treatment in TSHS and non-suppressed TSH patients. Compared with pre-TSHS, there was a reduction in the BMD of 1.9% in the lumbar spine at the 2-year follow-up. Significant difference in the number of osteopenia and osteoporosis patients at 24 months (χ2=2.88, P=0.004) was found between the TSHS (103/152) and postmenopausal control (32/68) groups. TSHS is not a significant risk of bone loss, but it is the incidence of osteopenia in postmenopausal women with DTC.ConclusionOur 2-year follow-up data indicated that TSHS had little effect on BMD in postmenopausal women with DTC. Large population with at least 5-year follow-up should be further investigated. BMD in postmenopausal women with DTC should be followed up regularly.

Objective: To evaluate the changes and the prognostic value of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Subjects and Methods: A total of 79 patients with DTC and 30 healthy individuals were divided into four groups: (1) a healthy control group (n = 30); (2) DTC without recurrence (n = 35; 23 papillary, 12 follicular); (3) DTC with local recurrence (n = 24; 15 papillary, 9 follicular), and (4) DTC with lung metastasis (n = 20; 13 papillary, 7 follicular). Serum VEGF and thyroglobulin levels were measured in all patients. Results: Serum levels of VEGF were significantly higher in the lung metastasis group than in the other three groups (p < 0.05). Serum thyroglobulin concentration positively correlated with VEGF expression (r = 0.8678, p < 0.001) in patients with thyroid cancer recurrence. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that clinical staging (OR = 1.851, 95% CI 1.04–3.47; p = 0.038), noncompliance with postoperative thyroxin replacement therapy (OR = 1.935, 95% CI 1.03–3.65; p = 0.042) and postoperative levels of thyroglobulin (OR = 1.892, 95% CI 1.01–3.56, p = 0.032) were independent predictors for thyroid cancer recurrence. Every additional 100 ng/l of serum VEGF levels increased the risk of thyroid cancer recurrence by 20.3%; but this did not reach statistical significance (OR = 1.203, 95% CI 0.95–1.52; p = 0.125). Conclusions: Serum VEGF increased in patients with recurrent thyroid cancer following surgical therapies. The predictive value of serum VEGF requires further investigation.

This study establishes that BCAR4 has pro-proliferative effects on normal thyroid cells. BCAR4 up-regulation promotes proliferation and suppresses apoptosis of NTHY-ORI 3-1 cells and human primary thyrocytes, and EGFR is highly expressed in BCAR4 over-expressing-cells. In contrast, BCAR4 up-regulation did not modulate cell viability or cell cycle progression when EGFR was knocked-down. Further, the phosphorylated forms of PI3K, AKT, mTOR and p70S6K were up-regulated by BCAR4 up-regulation, and the alteration in these kinases induced by BCAR4 up-regulation was abolished when EGFR was knocked-down. This study therefore revealed the pro-proliferative role of lncRNA BCAR4 in NTHY-ORI 3-1 cells and human primary thyrocytes; where BCAR4 accelerated thyroid cells proliferation by EGFR up-regulation and the modulation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling. These findings indicate that targeting BCAR4 has potential in hyperthyroidism treatment.

The aim of this research was to identify tea varieties containing high levels of catechin methyl ester that could be used as important sources for genetic breeding and in the production of high quality tea. We examined 113 species that have been preserved in the Taitung Branch of the Tea Research and Extension Station of Taiwan (TTES). The average level of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-O-(3-O-methyl) gallate (EGCG3''Me) was 0.45% for all varieties screened. Among them, 16 varieties with higher EGCG3''Me content (>0.8%) were considered good candidates for manufacturing partially fermented tea. Analysis of these tea varieties revealed that the EGCG3''Me content in leaves did not correlate with the caffeine content. Genetic assessments revealed that the lengths of their internal transcribed spacers (ITS) were in the range of 638-670 bp and that the sequence identities were in the range of 0.690-1. Two major groups were constructed by phylogenetic analysis, I and II, with a genetic distance of 0.08 based on the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 sequences between the ribosomal genes. Our results provide genetic information about tea varieties with elevated EGCG3''Me content and indicate the need for a comprehensive genetic assessment of tea germplasms preserved in the TTES to better serve the future of tea breeding.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the prevalence of anxiety and depression among hospitalized patients with a chronic wound and explore the influence of demographic factors, disease characteristics, social support, and coping styles on their mental status. METHODS Investigators recruited 216 patients with a chronic wound. The Self-rating Anxiety Scale and Self-rating Depression Scale were used to measure anxiety and depression. Patients’ coping style and their social support were assessed through face-to-face interviews. RESULTS Overall, 36.6% of participants presented with symptoms of anxiety, and 37% showed depressive symptoms. Participants who typically had less than 5 hours of sleep; experienced more severe pain; or had an odorous wound, negative coping style, or lower level of social support had a higher prevalence of anxiety and depression (P < .05). Men with higher monthly incomes who lived in the city were more likely to develop anxiety than women with lower monthly incomes who lived outside the city (P < .05). Participants with fewer years of education and without spouses were more likely to experience depression than married participants with more education (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of anxiety and depression among hospitalized patients with a chronic wound is high. Support from loved ones including a spouse and a positive coping style are key protective factors for mental health and well-being.