Our results suggested that CCAT1 functions as an oncogenic lncRNA in ICC, which could serve as a potential diagnostic and therapeutic target for ICC patients.

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The potential impact of the surgical correction of strabismus on vision-related quality of life (VRQOL) and the symptoms of anxiety and depression in children with strabismus remain unclear. The present study included 60 children with strabismus: 30 with heterophoria and 30 with heterotropia. A healthy age-and gender-matched control group (n = 60) was also recruited. The psychological instruments that were used were the shortform 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The results demonstrated that eight of the 12 NEI-VFQ-25 subscaleswere significantly impaired in children with strabismus compared with matched controls. Compared with pre-operative values, significant improvements were noted after surgery in the NEI-VFQ-25 summary score, and the anxiety and depression scores. This study demonstrated that the NEI-VFQ-25 instrument can be used in strabismus children and that surgical interventions can improve VRQOL, anxiety and depression in strabismus patients.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the changes of retinal microvascular network in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR). A total of fifteen patients (right eye) with CSCR and 15 normal controls (right eye) were recruited. We used optical coherence tomography angiography to scan 6×6 mm macular retinal blood flow images with the application of a series of customized image segmentation processing program software to obtain microvascular and macrovascular density, and compared the superficial microvascular (SMIR), superficial macrovascular ring (SMAR) and the superficial total microvascular (STMI) density between CSCR patients and control group. Using the annular partition (C1-C6) and quadrant partition methods on the macular, we compared the retinal vessel density changes. We also performed ROC analysis of superficial retinal microvessel density in CSCR retina to investigate the relationship between the microvascular density, the foveal thickness and visual acuity. The density of STMI and SMIR decreased in macular area in the patients with CSCR compared to the normal controls (P<0.05), while the density of SMAR did not change significantly. We found no significant difference in the density of SMIR with the quadrant partition method, whereas the annular partition method showed significantly decreased SMIR density only in the C1 region in patients with CSCR (P<0.05), with no significant difference observed in C2-C6 regions. The density of SMIR had the highest differentiation power in the CSCR group, whereas the density of SC1 ring had the lowest differentiation power by the annular method. The largest area under the ROC curves was 0.77. The correlation index of the SMIR density and visual acuity was −0.544, whereas macular thickness and visual acuity was −0.644 in the CSCR group. The density of STMI and SMIR were decreased in patients with CSCR, which might provide further understanding of the pathogenesis of CSCR.

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The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of high-mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1) silencing on the susceptibility of retinoblastoma (RB) cells to chemotherapeutic drugs and the underlying molecular mechanisms. Western blot analysis revealed that vincristine (VCR), etoposide (ETO) and carboplatin (CBP) significantly increased the expression of HMGB1 in Weri‑Rb-1 and Y79 cells compared with the untreated control (P<0.01). siRNA HMGB1 and siRNA negative control (NC) were transfected to Y79 cells by Lipofectamine™ 2000 and, following VCR treatment, the expression of HMGB1 and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) was analyzed. siRNA HMGB1 transfection silenced HMGB1 expression. The cytotoxicity of VCR to cells with and without siRNA HMGB1 was investigated by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay. siRNA HMGB1 markedly reduced the IC50 value of VCR to RB cells through downregulating the expression of NF-κB, similar to pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (PDTC). Moreover, following siRNA HMGB1, siRNA NC and ammonium PDTC treatment, the apoptosis of RB cells with VCR incubation was evaluated by Hoechst staining, and the expression of cleaved caspase-3, cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), Beclin 1 and p62 were determined with western blot analysis. The LC3 puncta were determined with immunofluorescence assay. The results demonstrated that VCR treatment significantly downregulated the expression of cleaved caspase-3, cleaved PARP and p62, and upregulated the expression of Beclin 1 in RB cells (P<0.01). Similar to the NF-κB inhibitor PDTC, siRNA HMGB1 significantly promoted apoptosis and suppressed autophagy of VCR‑treated RB cells through reversing the effects of VCR on these signaling molecules (P<0.01). Therefore, HMGB1 silencing promoted the susceptibility of RB cells to chemotherapeutic drugs through downregulating NF-κB.