Mitophagy is a vital form of autophagy for selective removal of dysfunctional or redundant mitochondria. Accumulating evidence implicates elimination of dysfunctional mitochondria as a powerful means employed by autophagy to keep the immune system in check. The process of mitophagy may restrict inflammatory cytokine secretion and directly regulate mitochondrial antigen presentation and immune cell homeostasis. In this review, we describe distinctive pathways of mammalian mitophagy and highlight recent advances relevant to its function in immunity. In addition, we further discuss the direct and indirect evidence linking mitophagy to inflammation and autoimmunity underlying the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases including inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC).

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are long, non-coding RNAs that result from the non-canonical splicing of linear pre-mRNAs. However, the characteristics and the critical role of circRNA in co-/post-transcriptional regulation were not well recognized until the “microRNA sponge” function of circRNA is discovered. Recent studies have mainly been devoted to the function of the circular RNA sponge for miR-7 (ciRS-7) and sex-determining region Y (SRY) by targeting microRNA-7 (miR-7) and microRNA-138 (miR-138), respectively. In this review, we illustrate the specific role of circRNAs in a wide variety of cancers and in regulating the biological behavior of cancers via miR-7 or miR-138 regulation. Furthermore, circRNA, together with its gene silencing ability, also shows its potential in RNA interference (RNAi) therapy by binding to target RNAs, which provides a novel perspective in cancer treatment. Thus, this review concerns the biogenesis, biological function, oncogenesis, progression and possible therapies for cancer involving circRNAs.

Whether probiotics are beneficial at all stages of treatment in inflammatory bowel disease or superior to placebo remains controversial. Two reviewers independently selected randomized controlled trials comparing probiotics with controls in inflammatory bowel disease and extracted data related to remission/response rates, relapse rates, and adverse events. Subanalyses were also performed. Twenty-three randomized controlled trials with a total of 1763 participants met the inclusion criteria. From the meta-analysis, probiotics significantly increase the remission rates in patients with active ulcerative colitis (UC) (P = 0.01, risk ratio [RR] = 1.51). The remission rates were significantly higher in patients with active UC treated with probiotics than placebo (P < 0.0001, RR = 1.80). Unfortunately, subgroup analysis found that only VSL#3 significantly increased the remission rates compared with controls in patients with active UC (P = 0.004, RR = 1.74). Interestingly, VSL#3 (P < 0.00001, RR = 0.18) also significantly reduced the clinical relapse rates for maintaining remission in patients with pouchitis. No significantly different adverse events were detected between probiotics and controls in the treatment of UC (P = 0.94, RR = 0.99) or CD (P = 0.33, RR = 0.87). Administration of probiotics results in additional benefit in inducing remission of patients with UC. VSL#3 are beneficial for maintaining remission in patients with pouchitis. And, probiotics can provide the similar effect as 5-aminosalicylic acid on maintaining remission of UC, although no additional adverse events presented.

Summary: Background: Recent evidence found probiotics could inhibit Helicobacter pylori colonization from both in vitro and in vivo studies.Aim: To systematically evaluate whether adding probiotics to anti‐H. pylori regimens could improve eradication rates and reduce side effects during anti‐H. pylori treatment.Methods: Eligible articles were identified by searches of electronic databases. We included all randomized trials comparing probiotics supplementation to placebo or no treatment during anti‐H. pylori regimens. Statistical analysis was performed with Review Manager 4.2.8. Subanalysis/Sensitivity analysis was also performed.Results: We identified 14 randomized trials (n = 1671). Pooled H. pylori eradication rates were 83.6% (95% CI = 80.5–86.7%) and 74.8% (95% CI = 71.1–78.5%) for patients with or without probiotics by intention‐to‐treat analysis, respectively, the odds ratio (OR) was 1.84 (95% CI = 1.34–2.54); the occurrence of total side effects were 24.7% (95% CI = 20.0–29.4%) and 38.5% (95% CI = 33.0–44.1%) for groups with or without probiotics, especially for diarrhoea, the summary OR was 0.44 (95% CI = 0.30–0.66).Conclusions: Our review suggests that supplementation with probiotics could be effective in increasing eradication rates of anti‐H. pylori therapy, and could be considered helpful for patients with eradication failure. Furthermore, probiotics show a positive impact on H. pylori therapy‐related side effects.