Resumen Objetivo: realizar una revisión sistemática de los estudios observacionales que analizan la asociación entre la ingesta de alimentos ultraprocesados (UPF) y el riesgo de depresión. Material y métodos: la búsqueda se adhirió a las directrices Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA); se realizó una búsqueda de estudios observacionales publicados hasta junio de 2020 en las bases de datos PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library y Web of Science, seguida de búsquedas manuales adicionales. Ocho revisores, que trabajaron de forma independiente en equipos de dos, seleccionaron los estudios para su elegibilidad, extrajeron los datos y evaluaron el riesgo de sesgo. Los desacuerdos se resolvieron a través de la discusión o, si era necesario, a través de la adjudicación de un tercero. Se evaluaron los estudios transversales mediante la lista de comprobación metodológica de la Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) y los estudios de cohortes y de casos y controles mediante la escala Newcastle-Ottawa (NOS) para la calidad. Se utilizó un formato tabular para resumir los artículos. Resultados: finalmente se seleccionaron 28 estudios que evaluaban la ingesta de UPF y el riesgo de depresión, 21 de los cuales tenían un diseño transversal, 6 un diseño de cohortes y 1 un diseño de casos y controles. De ellos, 4 estudios de cohortes y 17 estudios transversales encontraron que el consumo de UPF se asociaba positivamente con la depresión o los síntomas depresivos. Conclusiones: nuestra revisión demostró que la mayoría de los estudios incluidos en la revisión sistemática mostraron que el consumo de UPF está asociado con el riesgo de depresión. Los estudios futuros deberían considerar el uso de evaluaciones validadas del consumo de alimentos y métodos estandarizados de evaluación de la depresión para promover la comparabilidad entre los estudios.

Abstract Objective: to conduct a systematic review of the observational studies analyzing the association between ultra-processed food (UPF) intake and the risk of depression. Material and methods: the search adhered to the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA); a search for observational studies published until June 2020 was performed in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases, followed by additional manual searches. Eight reviewers, working independently in teams of two, screened studies for eligibility, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. We resolved disagreements through discussion or, if necessary, through adjudication by a third (LH). And the study assessed cross-sectional studies using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) methodological checklist and cohort and case-control studies using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) for quality. We used a tabular format to summarize the articles. Results: twenty-eight studies evaluating UPF intake and risk of depression were finally selected, 21 of which had a cross-sectional design, 6 studies had a cohort design, and 1 had a case-control design. Of these, 4 cohort studies and 17 cross-sectional studies found that consumption of UPF were positively associated with depression or depressive symptoms. Conclusions: our review demonstrated that most studies included in the systematic review showed that UPF consumption is associated with the risk of depression. Future studies should consider the use of validated food intake assessments and standardized depression assessment methods to promote comparability between studies.

The aim of this study was to explore the effect of hsa_circ_0002162 on regulating cell proliferation, apoptosis, and invasion, and investigate its potential target microRNA (miRNA) in tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC). Hsa_circ_0002162 expression was detected in human TSCC cell lines and human oral keratinocytes (HOK) cell line. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, and candidate target miRNA expressions were detected in hsa_circ_0002162 knockdown-treated CAL-27 cells and hsa_circ_0002162 overexpression-treated SCC-9 cells. In the rescue experiment, miR-33a-5p knockdown plasmid was transfected into hsa_circ_0002162 knockdown-treated CAL-27 cells, while miR-33a-5p overexpression plasmid was transfected into hsa_circ_0002162 overexpression-treated SCC-9 cells. Subsequently, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and invasion were detected, and then luciferase reporter assay was performed. Hsa_circ_0002162 expression was increased in human TSCC cell lines SCC-9, CAL-27, HSC-4, and SCC-25 compared with HOK. In CAL-27 cells, hsa_circ_0002162 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation and invasion and promoted apoptosis. In SCC-9 cells, hsa_circ_0002162 overexpression enhanced cell proliferation and invasion and suppressed apoptosis. Furthermore, a negative regulation of hsa_circ_0002162 on miR-33a-5p (but not miR-302b-5p and miR-545-5p) was observed. In the rescue experiment, miR-33a-5p knockdown increased cell proliferation and invasion, and decreased apoptosis in hsa_circ_0002162 knockdown-treated CAL-27 cells, whereas miR-33a-5p overexpression decreased cell proliferation and invasion, but increased apoptosis in hsa_circ_0002162 overexpression-treated SCC-9 cells. The luciferase reporter assay showed the direct binding of hsa_circ_0002162 to miR-33a-5p. In conclusion, hsa_circ_0002162 had an important role in malignant progression of TSCC through targeting miR-33a-5p.

RESUMO OBJETIVO Nosso estudo teve como objetivo investigar o valor diagnóstico do lncRNA H19 para doença arterial coronariana (DAC) e explorar os possíveis mecanismos. Métodos Um total de 30 pacientes com DAC e 30 pessoas saudáveis, bem como pacientes com diferentes doenças cardiovasculares foram incluídos neste estudo. O sangue foi extraído de cada participante para preparar amostras de soro e a expressão de lncRNA H19 foi detectada por qRT-PCR. A análise da curva ROC foi utilizada para analisar o valor diagnóstico de H19 para DAC. Efeitos da informação básica dos pacientes e estilo de vida na expressão de H19 foram analisados. O nível plasmático de TGF-β1 foi medido por ELISA. A linha de células endoteliais da artéria coronária primária (HCAEC) humana de sobre-expressão de H19 foi construída e os efeitos da sobre-expressão de H19 na expressão de TGF-β1 foram analisados por Western blot. Resultados A expressão de H19 foi especificamente regulada positivamente em pacientes com DAC, mas não em pessoas saudáveis e em pacientes com outros tipos de doenças cardiovasculares. A análise da curva ROC mostrou que o nível de expressão de H19 pode ser usado para prever com precisão a DAC. Sexo, idade e estilo de vida dos pacientes não têm efeitos significativos sobre a expressão de H19, mas a expressão de H19 foi maior em pacientes com curso mais longo da doença em comparação com os controles. A expressão de H19 correlacionou-se positivamente com o nível sérico de TGF-β1 e a superexpressão de H19 aumentou significativamente o nível de proteína de TGF-β1 em HCAEC. Conclusão A superexpressão de H19 participa da patogênese da DAC aumentando o nível de expressão de TGF-β1 e o nível de expressão de H19 pode servir como marcador diagnóstico de DAC.

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: Our study aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of lncRNA H19 for coronary artery disease (CAD) and to explore its possible mechanisms. Methods: A total of 30 CAD patients and 30 healthy individuals, as well as patients with different cardiovascular diseases, were included in this study. Blood was drawn from each participant to prepare serum samples, and the expression of lncRNA H19 was detected using qRT-PCR. The ROC curve analysis was used to analyze the diagnostic value of H19 for CAD. The effects of patients' basic information and lifestyle on H19 expression were analyzed. The plasma level of TGF-β1 was measured by ELISA. The H19 overexpression in the human primary coronary artery endothelial cell (HCAEC) line was constructed, and the effects of H19 overexpression on the TGF-β1 expression were analyzed using Western blot. The results of H19 expression were specifically upregulated in patients with CAD but not in healthy individuals and patients with other types of cardiovascular diseases. The ROC curve analysis showed that the H19 expression level could be used to predict CAD accurately. Gender, age, and patients' lifestyle had no significant effects on H19 expression, but H19 expression was higher in patients with a longer course of disease in comparison with the controls. H19 expression was positively correlated with the serum level of TGF-β1, and H19 overexpression significantly increased TGF-β1 protein level in HCAEC. Conclusion: H19 overexpression participates in the pathogenesis of CAD by increasing the expression level of TGF-β1, and H19 expression level may serve as a diagnostic marker for CAD.

Reputation systems provide a form of social control and reveal behaviour patterns in the uncertain and risk-laden environment of the open Internet. However, proposed reputation systems typically focus on the effectiveness and accuracy of reputation management, and suffer from a number of common vulnerabilities. As a result, introducing reputation management into the business environment may only replace the problems it hopes to solve with new issues. This paper aims to improve the security and robustness of reputation systems through 1) identifying the basic requirements in that area, 2) analyzing existing reputation systems for e-Commerce and a handful of other environments to compare their design choices and solutions provided, and 3) compiling a number of topical practices into guidelines for future research and development of reputation systems.

Epithelial cadherin (E-cadherin; CDH1) may influence pericellular proteolysis and intracellular signal transduction, which plays an essential part of tumor invasion. In our study we investigated the correlation between CDH1 gene polymorphism and endometriosis in two groups of pre-menopausal Taiwanese women, group 1 (n = 150) consisting of women with severe stage IV endometriosis and group 2 (n = 159) of women with no endometriosis. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to identify the cuttable (C) and uncuttable (T) polymorphism of the CDH1-Pml I gene (rs1801026) located on the 3’-untranslated region (3’-UTR) of chromosome 16 and compare the genotypes and allelic frequencies of this gene in both groups. We found that the genotype and allele distributions of the CDH1-Pml I C/T polymorphism were significantly different in both groups. In group 1 the CDH1*C frequency was 47.7% and the T frequency 52.3%, while the CC homozygote frequency was 6.7%, the TT homozygote 11.3% and the CT heterozygote 82%. In group 2 the CDH1*C frequency was 17% and the T frequency 83%, while the CC frequency was 0.6%, the TT 66.1% and the CT 33.3%. These data indicate that the CDH1 gene polymorphism may be associated with the development of severe endometriosis and that the CDH1 gene C allele is related to higher susceptibility to endometriosis.

Insulin-like growth factor II (IGF2) has been shown to play a role in abnormal cell growth and carcinogenesis. We investigated if the IGF2 gene Apa I polymorphism at exon 9 was associated with the susceptibility to endometriosis, analyzing 120 women with moderate/severe endometriosis and 103 controls. The genotype frequencies did not differ statistically between the endometriosis (aa = 25.4, ab = 57.4, bb = 17.2%) and control (aa = 20.8 ab = 52.8, bb = 26.4%) groups. The allele frequencies did not differ either: a = 54.1, b = 45.9% among women with endometriosis and a = 47.2, b = 52.8% in the control group. Therefore, no indication was found for an association of this polymorphism with endometriosis susceptibility.

Estrogen plays a role in the pathogenesis of leiomyoma. The CYP17 gene codes for the cytochrome P450c17alpha enzyme, which is involved in the biosynthesis of estrogen. Our aim was to investigate if CYP17 polymorphism could be a useful marker to predict the susceptibility to leiomyoma. Our sample of female subjects was divided into two groups: (1) with leiomyoma (n = 159); (2) without leiomyoma (n = 128). A 169-bp fragment encompassing the A1/A2 polymorphic site of the CYP17 gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), restricted by enzyme MspA1I and electrophored on agarose gel. Genotypes and allelic frequencies for this polymorphism in both groups were compared. There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding the distribution of the CYP17 gene polymorphism frequencies. The A1 homozygote/heterozygote/A2 homozygote proportions for CYP17 in both groups were: (1) 17.0/46.5/36.5%, and (2) 17.2/45.3/37.5%. The proportions for alleles A1 and A2 were also comparable in the two groups. A1 and A2 allele frequencies were: 7% (40.3/59) in group 1, and 2% (39.8/60) in group 2. No significant association was observed between the risk of leiomyoma and polymorphisms of the CYP 17 gene. So, CYP17 gene polymorphism does not appear to be a useful marker for the prediction of leiomyoma susceptibility.