Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2019-09-01"
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- circRNA-miRNA cross-talk in the transition from paroxysmal to permanent atrial fibrillationPublication . Costa, Marina C.; Cortez-Dias, Nuno; Gabriel, André F.; De Sousa, João; Fiuza, Manuela; Gallego, Javier; Nobre, Ângelo; Pinto, Fausto J.; Enguita, Francisco J.Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent cardiac arrhythmia in western countries. The factors governing the progression of AF to a permanent chronic condition are still not well characterized. Among epigenetic factors, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) such as miRNAs and lncRNAs have been recently described as important players involved in the AF progression. We hypothesize about the existence of additional regulatory layers in AF involving an intricate cross-talk between different ncRNA species, namely miRNAs and circRNAs for the establishment of a chronic AF condition. Methods and results: We have performed an unbiased study analyzing the expression profile for miRNAs and circRNAs in left-atrial biopsies from patients with paroxysmal and permanent AF by RNA-seq. The transition from paroxysmal to permanent AF is characterized by a pattern of down-regulated miRNAs, concomitant to the appearance of specific circRNA species. The analysis of the sponging activities of the circRNAs exclusively expressed in permanent AF samples, allowed us to determine that they could be responsible for the downregulation of specific miRNAs in establishment of a permanent AF condition. Conclusion: Sponging activity of circRNAs sequestering specific miRNAs is an important factor to be considered for the determination of the molecular mechanisms involved in AF progression.
- A prognostic model for the outcome of Nobel Biocare Dental Implants with peri-Implant disease after one yearPublication . Nobre, Miguel de Araújo; Salvado, Francisco; Nogueira, Paulo Jorge; Rocha, Evangelista; Ilg, Peter; Maló, PauloBackground: This investigation, based on a 1-year retrospective cohort study, aimed to estimate and validate a prognostic model for ailing and failing implants due to peri-implant disease. Methods: A total of 240 patients (male: 97; female: 143; average age of 57.3 years) with at least one ailing or failing implant were included: 120 patients for model derivation and 120 patients for model validation. The primary outcome measure was the implant status: success, defined as the arrest of the disease, or failure defined as implant extraction, prevalence or re-incidence of peri-implant disease). Potential prognostic risk indicators were collected at the baseline evaluation. The relative risk (RR) was estimated for the predictors through logistic regression and the c-statistic (95% confidence interval) was calculated for both derivation and validation sets. The significance level was set at 5%. Results: The risk model retrieved the prognostic factors age (RR = 1.04), history of Periodontitis (RR = 3.13), severe peri-implant disease status (RR = 3.26), implant length (RR = 3.52), early disease development (RR = 3.99), with good discrimination in both the derivation set (0.763 [0.679; 0.847]) and validation set (0.709 [0.616; 0.803]). Conclusions: A prognostic risk model for estimating the outcome of implants with peri-implant disease is available, with a good performance considering the c-statistic evaluation.