Expression and diagnostic value of circulating miRNA-190 and miRNA-197 in patients with pulmonary thromboembolism.

Background: Diagnosing pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) remains challenging due to the lack of specific clinical symptoms and biomarkers. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have proved to be potential biomarkers for numerous cardiovascular diseases. The aims of this study were to quantitatively analyze the expression of plasma miRNA-190 and miRNA-197 in patients with PTE and to evaluate the diagnostic value for PTE.

Quantitative analysis of cell-free DNA in ovarian cancer.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between cell-free DNA (cf-DNA) levels and clinicopathological characteristics of patients with ovarian cancer using a branched DNA (bDNA) technique, and to determine the value of quantitative cf-DNA detection in assisting with the diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Serum specimens were collected from 36 patients with ovarian cancer on days 1, 3 and 7 following surgery, and additional serum samples were also collected from 22 benign ovarian tumor cases, and 19 healthy, non-cancerous ovaries. bDNA techniques were used to detect serum cf-DNA concentrations.

Correlation between small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and carotid artery intima-media thickness in a healthy Chinese population.

Background: Small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (sdLDL-C) concentration was useful in the assessment of the presence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and its severity. We examined whether SdLDL-C is more closely associated with carotid artery intima-media thickness (CA-IMT), a surrogate measure of atherosclerosis, than LDL-C and traditional CVD risk factors in Chinese healthy subjects.

Methods: We measured CA-IMT, blood pressure (BP), sdLDL-C, glucose metabolism and lipid in 183 native Chinese healthy subjects.