Lung cancer is the most prevalent types of cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Among all cancers, lung cancer has the highest incidence, accompanied by a high mortality rate at the advanced stage. Favorable prognostic biomarkers can effectively increase the survival rate in lung cancer. Our results revealed FAM83A (Family with sequence similarity 83, member A) overexpression in lung cancer tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues. Furthermore, high FAM83A expression was closely associated with poor lung cancer survival. Here, through siRNA transfection, we effectively inhibited FAM83A expression in the lung cancer cell lines H1355 and A549. FAM83A knockdown significantly suppressed the proliferation, migration, and invasion ability of these cells. Furthermore, FAM83A knockdown could suppress Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/Choline kinase alpha (CHKA) signaling activation in A549 and H1355. By using a bioinformatics approach, we found that FAM83A overexpression in lung cancer may result from miR-1-3p downregulation. In summary, we identified a novel miR-1-FAM83A axis could partially modulate the EGFR/choline phospholipid metabolism signaling pathway, which suppressed lung cancer growth and motility. Our findings provide new insights for the development of lung cancer therapeutics.

(1) Background: The acute effects of ozone, cold temperature and particulate matter less than 2.5 μm (PM_2.5) in size related to asthma attacks are well known worldwide. The adverse effects of ozone and cold temperature on asthma morbidity in Taiwan are still inconclusive. (2) Methods: This retrospective study included patients who had asthma emergency room visits (ERVs) from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2019 in a regional hospital in Taiwan. The short-term negative effects were estimated using Distributed Lag Non-Linear Models (DLNMs) for the relative risks (RRs) of asthma ERVs associated with PM_2.5, ozone and cold temperature exposures within 5 days. (3) Results: There was a significant association between a 10 ppm increase in PM_2.5 exposure and asthma ERVs at a 2-day lag (RR 1.166, 95% confidence interval (C.I.): 1.051–1.294). There was a significant association between ozone and asthma ERVs at a 1-day lag (RR 1.179, 95% C.I.: 1.034–1.345). The ambient temperature in cold weather compared with the temperature of minimum asthma ERV showed an RR of 1.214, 95% C.I.: 1.009–1.252 at a 1-day lag. (4) Conclusions: This study provides evidence that short-term exposure to fine suspended particulates, ozone and inverse temperature is associated with asthma exacerbation.

(1) Background: The etiologies of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) remain unclear. The level of mean particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) was not associated with SSHL, but the maximum PM2.5 level exhibited a negative association with SSHL in Korea. Exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) for 2 weeks increased the risk of SSHL. The lag effects of SSHL after air pollution exposure were limited. We aimed to evaluate the association of SSHL with air pollution exposure to determine whether air pollution exposure caused delayed effects. (2) Methods: This observational study used inpatient data obtained from electronic health records at the Tri-Service General Hospital from 2011 to 2019. The data of all SSHL patients were retrieved. The air quality dataset from Songshan station from 2011 to 2019 was used. The main outcomes were the relative risks (RRs) of SSHL associated with PM2.5, O₃, and NO₂ exposures within 1 month. The relationships between these factors were examined using distributed lag nonlinear time series models. (3) Results: The RR of SSHL associated with PM2.5 exposure was 1.195 (95% confidence interval (C.I.: 1.047–1.363) for a 10 unit increase at a lag of 7 days. The RR of SSHL associated with O₃ exposure was 1.14 (95% C.I.: 1.003–1.3) for a 10 unit increase at a lag of 9 days. The RR of SSHL associated with NO₂ exposure was 1.284 (95% C.I.: 1.05–1.57) for a 10 unit increase at a lag of 23 days. (4) Conclusions: In our study, SSHL was confirmed to be associated with air pollution exposure with a lag effect. We discussed possible mechanisms to explore possible biological hypotheses and support further research. Large-scale studies including participants with other ethnicities and causal relationships are needed to confirm our findings.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) and ischemic stroke (IS) are intricately linked to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Patients who suffer from both COPD and AF demonstrate a 2.85-fold greater risk of IS. However, the long-term risk remains insufficiently explored. Methods: This study utilized data from the Taiwanese National Health Insurance dataset spanning 2000 to 2015. Patients who were newly diagnosed with COPD, identified using the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification [ICD-9-CM] codes of 491, 492, and 496 and diagnosed with AF (ICD-9-CM code 427.3), were included in the study. The measured events included ISs (ICD-9-CM codes 433–437). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were employed to evaluate IS risk factors in this longitudinal analysis. Results: The combined presence of COPD and AF increased the risk of IS, with an adjusted hazard ratio of 5.722 (95% CI: 2.737–8.856, p < 0.001), AF without COPD with an adjusted HR of 3.506 (95% CI: 1.459–5.977, p < 0.001), and COPD with AF with an adjusted HR of 2.215 (95% CI: 1.099–3.538, p < 0.001) compared with patients without COPD and AF. Elderly patients exhibited a greater burden of cardiovascular comorbidities, including obstructive sleep apnea, thus further compounding the risk of IS. Conclusions: The coexistence of COPD and AF was associated with a markedly elevated risk of IS. The result highlights the additive and synergistic contributions of COPD and AF to the risk for IS. Aggressive treatment may mitigate the risk of IS.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) induces atrial fibrillation (AF) and stroke, and COPD with AF increased ischemic stroke (IS) in a cross-sectional study. Therefore, healthcare providers must be concerned and well-informed about this particular situation. For this study, inpatient data were obtained from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database in 2010. We identified patients who were hospitalized with COPD (International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification [ICD-9-CM] is 491, 492, and 496). Patients who experienced AF (ICD-9-CM to 427.3) during the same admission or after COPD hospitalization were discharged and defined as new-onset AF. The outcome was IS (ICD-9-CM as 433–437). The factors related to IS after COPD were used for multivariate logistic regression. There were 4177/62,163 (6.72%) patients with incident IS. The risk of IS after COPD hospitalization was shown to have an adjusted odds ratio of 1.749 (95% CI: 1.584–1.93, p < 0.001) for patients with new-onset AF. Other factors included advanced age, atherosclerosis factors, comorbidity severity, sepsis and lower-level hospital admission. In conclusion, COPD patients suffering from new-onset AF had an increased incidence of IS in the population observation study. New-onset AF was an omit risk factor for IS in COPD in the Chinese population.

Diagnosing melanocytic lesions is among the most challenging problems in the practice of pathology. The difficulty of physically masking melanin pigment and the similarity of its color to commonly used chromogens often complicate examination of the cytomorphology and immunohistochemical staining results for tumor cells. Melanin bleach can be very helpful for histopathological diagnosis of heavily pigmented melanocytic lesions. Although various depigmentation methods have been reported, no standardized methods have been developed. This study developed a fully automated platform that incorporates hydrogen peroxide-based melanin depigmentation in an automated immunohistochemical analysis. The utility of the method was tested in one cell block of malignant melanoma cells in pleural effusion, ten ocular melanoma tissue samples, and ten cutaneous melanoma tissue samples. Our results demonstrated that the proposed method, which can be performed in only 3 hours, effectively preserves cell cytomorphology and immunoreactivity. The method is particularly effective for removing melanin pigment to facilitate histopathological examination of cytomorphology and for obtaining an unmasked tissue section for immunohistochemical analysis.