TASK DEFINITION: Given a passage, construct a question on the basis of the information present in the passage. Construct the question in such a way that (i) it is unambiguous, (ii) it is answerable from the passage, (iii) its answer is unique (iv) it answer uses text phrases from the passage. Avoid creating questions that (i) can't be answered correctly without actually understanding the passage and (ii) uses the same words or phrases given in the passage.
PROBLEM: In mice, the farnesoid X receptor is involved in bacterial translocation, which can result in spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in patients with cirrhosis. We investigated if polymorphisms in the farnesoid X receptor gene influence the risk for spontaneous bacterial peritonitis.', 'Laboratory and clinical data of 293 cirrhotic patients with ascites and 226 healthy controls were prospectively collected. The rs56163822, rs11110390 and rs12313471 polymorphisms of the farnesoid X receptor were determined.', '115 (39%) patients had spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. Distribution of all farnesoid X receptor genotypes matched the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis had a higher frequency of the rs56163822 GT genotype (7.0%) than patients without (1.7%, OR=4.4, p=0.02). This genotype was confirmed as predictor of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis by binary logistic regression analysis (OR=6.8, p=0.018).

SOLUTION: Does a farnesoid X receptor polymorphism predispose to spontaneous bacterial peritonitis?

PROBLEM: Recent studies have indicated a protective role of physiological autophagy in ischemic heart disease. However, the underlying mechanisms of autophagy regulation after ischemia are poorly understood. Exosomes are nano-sized vesicles released from cells that play critical roles in mediating cell-to-cell communication through the transfer of microRNAs. In this study, we observed that miR-30a was highly enriched in exosomes from the serum of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients in vivo and culture medium of cardiomyocytes after hypoxic stimulation in vitro. We also found that hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1 regulates miR-30a, which efficiently transferred via exosomes between cardiomyocytes after hypoxia. Inhibition of miR-30a or release of exosomes increased the expression of the core autophagy regulators beclin-1, Atg12, and LC3II/LC3I, which contributed to maintaining the autophagic response in cardiomyocytes after hypoxia. Taken together, the present study showed that exosomes from hypoxic cardiomyocytes regulate autophagy by transferring miR-30a in a paracrine manner, which revealed a new pathway of autophagy regulation that might comprise a promising strategy to treat ischemic heart disease.

SOLUTION: Does exosomal transfer of miR-30a between cardiomyocytes regulate autophagy after hypoxia?

PROBLEM: Hirschsprung disease (HSCR) is a rare multigenic congenital disorder characterized by the absence of the enteric ganglia. To date, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in pre-miRNAs have been confirmed related with some diseases. Thus, we hypothesized that pre-miRNA polymorphisms might contribute to HSCR susceptibility. We investigated whether rs2910164 and rs11614913 of pre-miR-146a and pre-miR-196a2, are associated with HSCR.', 'Polymorphisms were genotyped using the Taqman method. Real-time PCR was used for detecting the expression level of miR-146a and its target gene ROBO1 in CC and GG genotypes.', 'Significant differences were found in the genotype distribution of rs2910164 and rs11614913 polymorphism between HSCR cases and controls (p = 0.023 and 0.041, respectively). Furthermore, G allele of rs2910164 might increase the risk of HSCR (OR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.06-2.23). Moreover, the expression level of miR-146a for homozygote GG was also higher than homozygote CC (p = 0.0193). In contrast, the expression level of its target gene ROBO1 predicted in bioinformatics for homozygote GG was much lower than homozygote CC (p = 0.0096).

SOLUTION:
Does a common polymorphism in pre-miR-146a underlie Hirschsprung disease risk in Han Chinese?