As an important component of miRNA processing genes, RAN gene encodes the ras-related nuclear protein, which is a unique member of the Ras superfamily of GTPases. The mutations in RAN gene are very likely to play a critical role in pathology-related changes to miRNA transport and expression and thus participate in tumor genesis and development. Currently, accumulating studies have explored the association between RAN SNPs and cancer risk. However, the results are conflicting. In the present study, we performed a systematic review for the association of RAN SNPs with overall cancer risk. Meanwhile, a meta-analysis was conducted based on available data, aiming at clarifying the association between RAN SNPs and cancer susceptibility. After literature search and data extraction, 17 studies containing four RAN SNPs were involved in the systematic review. And 12 studies with two highly studied SNPs (RAN rs14035 C>T and rs3803012 A>G) were included in the final meta-analysis, consisting of 7662 cases and 9807 controls. The results showed that the rs14035 polymorphism was linked to a decreased cancer risk in overall subjects and hospital-based (HB) subgroup, while the rs3803012 polymorphism conferred to an increased cancer risk in overall subjects and population-based (PB) subgroup. Our findings suggested that the two SNPs had the potential to be predictive biomarkers for cancer risk. The study would provide novel clues for the identification of miRNA-related genetic biomarkers applied to predicting cancer susceptibility.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis for the Association of Gene Polymorphisms in RAN with Cancer Risk.

Comment on Wu et al. (2022) 'The effectiveness of distraction as preoperative anxiety management technique in pediatric patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials'.

Authors response to "Comment on Wu et al (2022) 'The effectiveness of distraction as preoperative anxiety management technique in pediatric patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials'".

This systematic review and meta-analysis study aimed to investigate the association between exposure to road traffic noise (RTN) and myocardial infarction (MI). Of 681 studies found by searching in databases, including Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and PubMed on November 29, 2019, the number of 13 studies, including seven cohort, five case-control, and one cross-sectional studies with 1,626,910 participants and 45,713 cases of MI was included. The pooled relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of MI were calculated using a random-effect model across studies. Heterogeneity measures by reporting the I-square index. Subgroup analysis according to the designs and sensitivity analysis based on the Jackknife approach was performed. We observed in the eight studies the association was investigated in different noise exposure groups and in the 10 studies (including two conference papers) the risk of MI was provided per specific unit increment of RTN. We ran two independent types of meta-analyses involving a categorical analysis (comparing the highest and the lowest category of noise exposure groups) and an exposure-response analysis (the risk of MI per 10-dB increment of RTN). The pooled RR (95% CI) of MI for the categorical and exposure-response meta-analyses was calculated 1.03 (0.93, 1.13) and 1.02 (1.00, 1.05), respectively. For both types of meta-analyses, subgroup analysis indicates a significant association in the studies with case-control and cross-sectional designs but not cohort studies. For the exposure-response meta-analysis, a significantly greater risk of MI was observed after excluding the two conference papers (RR = 1.03 and 95% CI = 1.00, 1.05) and by further excluding the studies provided originally the risk of MI only for the categorical analysis (RR = 1.02 and 95% CI = 1.01, 1.03). We did not show a significant publication bias across studies. In conclusion, our study suggests a significant odds of association between exposure to RTN and the risk of MI.

The association between road traffic noise and myocardial infarction: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Diabetes mellitus, particularly type 2 diabetes, is a major public health burden globally. Diabetes is known to be associated with several comorbidities in high-income countries. However, our understanding of these associations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the epidemiological transition is leading to a growing dual burden of non-communicable and communicable disease, is less clear. We therefore conducted an umbrella review to systematically identify, appraise and synthesise reviews reporting the association between diabetes and multiple key comorbidities in LMICs.
We searched Medline, Embase, Global Health, and Global Index Medicus from inception to 14 November 2020 for systematic reviews, with or without meta-analyses, of cohort, case-control or cross-sectional studies investigating the associations between diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD), chronic kidney disease (CKD), depression, dengue, pneumonia, and tuberculosis within LMICs. We sought reviews of studies focused on LMICs, but also included reviews with a mixture of high-income and at least two LMIC studies, extracting data from LMIC studies only. We conducted quality assessment of identified reviews using an adapted AMSTAR 2 checklist. Where appropriate, we re-ran meta-analyses to pool LMIC study estimates and conduct subgroup analyses.
From 11 001 articles, we identified 14 systematic reviews on the association between diabetes and CVD, CKD, depression, or tuberculosis. We did not identify any eligible systematic reviews on diabetes and pneumonia or dengue. We included 269 studies from 29 LMICs representing over 3 943 083 participants. Diabetes was positively associated with all comorbidities, with tuberculosis having the most robust evidence (16 of 26 cohort studies identified in total) and depression being the most studied (186 of 269 studies). The majority (81%) of studies included were cross-sectional. Heterogeneity was substantial for almost all secondary meta-analyses conducted, and there were too few studies for many subgroup analyses.
Diabetes has been shown to be associated with several comorbidities in LMICs, but the nature of the associations is uncertain because of the large proportion of cross-sectional study designs. This demonstrates the need to conduct further primary research in LMICs, to improve, and address current gaps in, our understanding of diabetes comorbidities and complications in LMICs.

Diabetes comorbidities in low- and middle-income countries: An umbrella review.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional bowel disease characterized by abdominal pain or discomfort associated with altered bowel habits. Several clinical studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of acupuncture and moxibustion for IBS. Many systematic reviews of acupuncture and moxibustion for IBS have been published in recent years, but their results are not entirely consistent.
To evaluate the methodological, reporting, and evidence quality of systematic reviews of acupuncture and moxibustion for IBS.
Systematic reviews of acupuncture and moxibustion for IBS published before February 20, 2023 were searched in eight databases: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data, VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals, and China Biology Medicine. The keywords used for literature search were acupuncture, moxibustion, systematic review, meta-analysis, and irritable bowel syndrome.
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials of acupuncture and moxibustion for IBS were included.
Relevant information was independently extracted by two investigators. The A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2), Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020), and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) were used to evaluate the methodological quality, reporting quality and evidence quality, respectively.
A total of 342 studies were retrieved and 15 systematic reviews were included. The results of AMSTAR 2 showed low methodological quality in 2 studies and very low methodological quality in the remaining 13 studies, with main issues being failure to register a protocol, incomplete search strategy, not providing a list of excluded studies, incomplete consideration of the risk of bias in the included studies, and a failure to assess the publication bias. The results of PRISMA 2020 showed seriously deficient reporting quality of 2 studies, somewhat deficient reporting quality of 12 studies, and relatively complete reporting quality of 1 study, with the main problems being lack of a complete search strategy, non-availability of a list of excluded studies with justification for their exclusion, not conducting heterogeneity and sensitivity analyses, not evaluating the credibility of the evidence, and not registering the protocol. The results of GRADE showed that the quality of the evidence is low or very low.
Most included systematic reviews interpreted findings to suggest that acupuncture and moxibustion have benefits for IBS. However, there is a need to improve the methodological, reporting and evidence quality of the systematic reviews. Larger, multicenter, rigorously designed randomized controlled trials and high-quality systematic reviews are required to obtain more robust evidence.
Ma YY, Hao Z, Chen ZY, Shen YX, Liu HR, Wu HG, Bao CH. Acupuncture and moxibustion for irritable bowel syndrome: An umbrella systematic review. J Integr Med. 2024; 22(1): 22-31.

Acupuncture and moxibustion for irritable bowel syndrome: An umbrella systematic review.

Understanding the level and characteristics of protection from past SARS-CoV-2 infection against subsequent re-infection, symptomatic COVID-19 disease, and severe disease is essential for predicting future potential disease burden, for designing policies that restrict travel or access to venues where there is a high risk of transmission, and for informing choices about when to receive vaccine doses. We aimed to systematically synthesise studies to estimate protection from past infection by variant, and where data allow, by time since infection.
In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we identified, reviewed, and extracted from the scientific literature retrospective and prospective cohort studies and test-negative case-control studies published from inception up to Sept 31, 2022, that estimated the reduction in risk of COVID-19 among individuals with a past SARS-CoV-2 infection in comparison to those without a previous infection. We meta-analysed the effectiveness of past infection by outcome (infection, symptomatic disease, and severe disease), variant, and time since infection. We ran a Bayesian meta-regression to estimate the pooled estimates of protection. Risk-of-bias assessment was evaluated using the National Institutes of Health quality-assessment tools. The systematic review was PRISMA compliant and was registered with PROSPERO (number CRD42022303850).
We identified a total of 65 studies from 19 different countries. Our meta-analyses showed that protection from past infection and any symptomatic disease was high for ancestral, alpha, beta, and delta variants, but was substantially lower for the omicron BA.1 variant. Pooled effectiveness against re-infection by the omicron BA.1 variant was 45·3% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 17·3-76·1) and 44·0% (26·5-65·0) against omicron BA.1 symptomatic disease. Mean pooled effectiveness was greater than 78% against severe disease (hospitalisation and death) for all variants, including omicron BA.1. Protection from re-infection from ancestral, alpha, and delta variants declined over time but remained at 78·6% (49·8-93·6) at 40 weeks. Protection against re-infection by the omicron BA.1 variant declined more rapidly and was estimated at 36·1% (24·4-51·3) at 40 weeks. On the other hand, protection against severe disease remained high for all variants, with 90·2% (69·7-97·5) for ancestral, alpha, and delta variants, and 88·9% (84·7-90·9) for omicron BA.1 at 40 weeks.
Protection from past infection against re-infection from pre-omicron variants was very high and remained high even after 40 weeks. Protection was substantially lower for the omicron BA.1 variant and declined more rapidly over time than protection against previous variants. Protection from severe disease was high for all variants. The immunity conferred by past infection should be weighed alongside protection from vaccination when assessing future disease burden from COVID-19, providing guidance on when individuals should be vaccinated, and designing policies that mandate vaccination for workers or restrict access, on the basis of immune status, to settings where the risk of transmission is high, such as travel and high-occupancy indoor settings.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, J Stanton, T Gillespie, and J and E Nordstrom.

Past SARS-CoV-2 infection protection against re-infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

To determine the effectiveness of telemedicine in the delivery of diabetes care in low- and middle-income countries.
We searched seven databases up to July 2020 for randomized controlled trials investigating the effectiveness of telemedicine in the delivery of diabetes care in low- and middle-income countries. We extracted data on the study characteristics, primary end-points and effect sizes of outcomes. Using random effects analyses, we ran a series of meta-analyses for both biochemical outcomes and related patient properties.
We included 31 interventions in our meta-analysis. We observed significant standardized mean differences of -0.38 for glycated haemoglobin (95% confidence interval, CI: -0.52 to -0.23; 
Although we determined that telemedicine is effective in improving several diabetes-related outcomes, the certainty of evidence was very low due to substantial heterogeneity and risk of bias.
Mesurer l'efficacité de la télémédecine dans la prise en charge du diabète au sein des pays à faible et moyen revenu.
Nous avons examiné sept bases de données, la plus récente datant de juillet 2020, en quête d'essais cliniques randomisés s'intéressant à l'efficacité de la télémédecine dans les soins prodigués aux patients diabétiques résidant dans des pays à faible et moyen revenu. Nous y avons trouvé des informations sur les caractéristiques de l'étude, les principaux critères d'évaluation et l'ampleur des effets pour les résultats obtenus. Grâce à des modèles à effets aléatoires, nous avons mené une série de méta-analyses sur les résultats biochimiques et les propriétés des patients concernés.
Notre méta-analyse a tenu compte de 31 interventions. Nous avons observé d'importantes différences moyennes standardisées: −0,38 pour l'hémoglobine glyquée (intervalle de confiance de 95%, IC: −0,52 à −0,23; 
Bien que nous ayons établi l'efficacité de la télémédecine dans l'amélioration de nombreux résultats liés au diabète, le degré de certitude s'est révélé très bas en raison d'une grande hétérogénéité et du risque de biais.
Determinar la eficacia de la telemedicina en la prestación de servicios de atención sanitaria de la diabetes en los países con ingresos bajos y pocos medios.
Se realizaron búsquedas en siete bases de datos hasta julio de 2020 para encontrar ensayos controlados aleatorios que investigaran la eficacia de la telemedicina en la prestación de servicios de atención de la diabetes en países con ingresos bajos y pocos medios. Se extrajeron datos sobre las características del estudio, las principales variables de evaluación y los tamaños del efecto de los resultados. Utilizando el análisis de los efectos aleatorios, realizamos una serie de metaanálisis tanto para los resultados bioquímicos como para las propiedades relacionadas con los pacientes.
Incluimos 31 intervenciones en nuestro metaanálisis. Se observaron diferencias medias estandarizadas significativas de -0,38 para la hemoglobina glicosilada (intervalo de confianza del 95%, IC: -0,52 a -0,23; I
Aunque se determinó que la telemedicina es eficaz para mejorar varios resultados relacionados con la diabetes, la certeza de las pruebas fue muy baja debido a la considerable heterogeneidad y el riesgo de sesgo.
الغرض تحديد مدى فعالية العلاج الطبي عن بعد في تقديم الرعاية لمرض السكري في البلدان منخفضة الدخل والبلدان متوسطة الدخل. الطريقة قمنا بالبحث في سبع قواعد للبيانات حتى يوليو/تموز 2020، عن تجارب معشاة مضبطة بالشواهد للتحقق من فعالية العلاج الطبي عن بعد في تقديم الرعاية لمرض السكري في البلدان منخفضة الدخل والبلدان متوسطة الدخل. واستخلصنا البيانات حول خصائص الدراسة، ونقاط النهاية الأولية، وأحجام تأثير النتائج. وباستخدام تحليلات التأثيرات العشوائية، قمنا بإجراء سلسلة من التحليلات التلوية لكل من النتائج الحيوية الكيميائية، والخصائص المتعلقة بالمريض. النتائج قمنا بتضمين 31 تدخلاً في تحليلنا التلوي. لاحظنا متوسطات فروق معيارية ملموسة بقيمة -0.38 في الهيموجلوبين السكري (فاصل الثقة 95%: -0.52 إلى -0.23؛ / 
探讨远程医疗在中低收入国家糖尿病护理方面的应用效果。.
截至 2020 年 7 月，我们检索了 7 个数据库，开展随机对照试验以研究远程医疗在中低收入国家糖尿病护理方面的应用效果。我们提取了与研究特征、主要终点和结果效应值有关的数据。通过使用随机效应分析，我们针对生化结果和相关患者属性进行了一系列荟萃分析。.
我们将 31 项干预措施纳入了荟萃分析。我们观察到显著的标准化均数差，具体地，糖化血红蛋白的标准化均数差为0.38（95% 置信区间，CI：0.52 至 0.23；
虽然我们确定远程医疗可以有效地改善一些糖尿病引起的症状，但由于存在严重的异质性和偏差风险，证据确定性非常低。.
Определить эффективность телемедицины для оказания медицинской помощи при диабете в странах с низким и средним уровнем доходов.
Авторы провели поиск по семи базам данных до июля 2020 года на предмет рандомизированных контролируемых исследований, посвященных эффективности телемедицины как способа оказания помощи при диабете в странах с низким и средним уровнем доходов. Были извлечены данные о характеристиках исследования, основных конечных точках и величинах эффекта в результатах. Используя анализ случайных эффектов, авторы выполнили серию метаанализов как биохимических результатов, так и связанных с ними свойств пациентов.
В метаанализ был включен 31 случай вмешательства. Авторы наблюдали значительную стандартизованную разницу средних значений, составившую -0,38 для гликированного гемоглобина (95%-й ДИ: -0,52–-0,23; 
Хотя было выявлено, что телемедицина эффективна для улучшения некоторых результатов, связанных с диабетом, достоверность доказательств была очень низкой из-за значительной неоднородности и риска систематической ошибки.

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