The relationship between visceral adiposity and acute pancreatitis (AP) has not been completely elucidated. This study evaluated the significance of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and the ratio of VAT to skeletal muscle tissue (VAT/SMT) in the prognosis of AP patients. Based on a 1:2 propensity score matching, 306 hospitalized patients were enrolled in the study analysis from 2010 to 2017. VAT, subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), and SMT were measured using unenhanced computed tomography (CT). Cox proportional hazards models were applied for the analysis. VAT and the VAT/SMT ratio were significantly higher in the severe AP (SAP) and moderately severe AP (MSAP) groups compared to the mild AP (MAP) group (both p < 0.001). Intensive care transfer, AP severity, systemic complications, and prognostic scores (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II [APACHE-II] score ≥ 8, Ranson’s score ≥ 3, Bedside Index of Severity in Acute Pancreatitis [BISAP] score ≥ 3, and the systemic inflammatory response syndrome [SIRS] score ≥ 2) significantly correlated with VAT and the VAT/SMT ratio in AP patients. The multivariate adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for VAT and the VAT/SMT ratio in the relationship of body parameters and AP mortality were 1.042 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.019–1.066) and 7.820 (95% CI, 1.978–30.917), respectively. Compared with other prognostic scores, VAT had the highest area under the curve of receiver operating characteristics (ROC) (0.943, 95% CI, 0.909–0.976). High VAT and VAT/SMT ratio are independent negative prognostic indicators of AP. Clinical study registration number: NCT03482921 . Date of registration: 03/23/2018.

Circular RNA (circRNA) is a kind of endogenous non-coding RNAs and has shown diagnostic values in various cancers. This study aimed to explore whether hsa_circ_0001789 could be a novel biomarker for gastric cancer (GC). Quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR was used to detect the expression of hsa_circ_0001789 in 108 paired GC and paracancerous tissues as well as in 24 paired plasma specimens. Possible associations between hsa_circ_0001789 expression and clinicopathologic factors of GC patients were examined using one-way ANOVA. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was established to investigate the diagnostic value of hsa_circ_0001789 in GC. GC tissues and plasma samples showed down-regulated hsa_circ_0001789 levels than their counterparts, which were closely correlated with the malignant characteristics of GC. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of hsa_circ_0001789 in GC tissues was 0.82, while the cut-off value was 9.5, indicating a favorable diagnostic value. Compared with the traditional tumor biomarkers, hsa_circ_0001789 had preferred AUCs that reached 0.786 for predicting the stage of invasion, 0.603 for predicting the stage of lymphatic metastasis, 0.722 for predicting the stage of distant metastasis, and 0.786 for predicting TNM stage. Hsa_circ_0001789 may be a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of gastric carcinoma.

Background: Recent studies have shown that microRNA-99a(miR-99a)plays a key role in the development of virious malignancies; however, its relationship with gastric cancer remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the functions and potential mechanisms of miR-99a in gastric cancer. Methods: Real-time qRT-PCR was used to assess the expression levels of miR-99a in gastric cancer tissue samples and cell lines compared to their matched adjacent normal tissues and a normal gastric mucosa epithelial cell line, respectively. SGC-7901 cells were transfected with miR-99a mimics and negative controls to determine the effects of miR-99a overexpression on cell proliferation, cell cycle transition, migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells in vitro . The role of miR-99a in endogenous c-Src expression in gastric cancer cells was also investigated by qRT-PCR and Western blotting. Results: Our results showed a significant increase in miR-99a expression in both gastric cancer tissues and cells compared to normal tissues and cells. Overexpression of miR-99a significantly promoted the cell proliferation, migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells compared to normal cells, with a concurrent increase in the S+G2 phases of the cell cycle. Further investigations found that miR-99a overexpression led to significant upregulation of endogenous c-Src. Conclusion: Taken together, our findings suggest that miR-99a may act as a tumour promoter in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer by indirectly modulating c-Src expression.