With the development of medical informatization, more and more patients actively obtain health information from online medical communities. The traditional methods based on statistical analysis are inefficient in dealing with growing mass of medical texts. Based on the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), we propose the Medical of Sentence LDA (MS-LDA) for short online medical texts with distribution features of medical words in online medical communities. Disease-related hot topics are assumed to be generated by sentences, the Gaussian function is employed to fit word distribution, and the correlation weight is exploited to modify word frequency for the information extension in sentences. Furthermore, Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) is introduced to cluster the topic recognition results from disease-related hot topics. Experiments on three representative disease boards from www.MedHelp.org show that the perplexity value and word relevance in topics are significantly improved by MS- LDA. Besides, hot topics concerned by members are automatically mined and texts in online medical community are automatically classified.
Abstract Background At present, serum Aspergillus IgG and IgM antibody detection is mainly used in the diagnosis of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA), but its value in the diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) in non-agranulocytic patients is still unclear. IgM can be used as a marker of acute infection to help diagnose acute infection-related diseases. IgG is a marker of long-term infection and is used to assist in the diagnosis of pre-existing or chronic infection-related diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the value of serum Aspergillus IgG and IgM antibody detection in the diagnosis of IPA and CPA in non-agranulocytic patients. Methods Fifty-eight cases of pulmonary aspergillosis (37 IPA and 21 CPA cases), 15 cases of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia and 50 cases in the healthy control group were collected. The serum (1,3)-β-D-glucan test (G test) was performed with a chromogenic method, and the galactomannan test (GM test) and Aspergillus IgG and IgM antibody detection were performed by commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in all patients. The sensitivity and specificity, cut-off value and area under the curve (AUC) of Aspergillus IgG and IgM antibodies were further obtained by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results The positive rate of the G test, Aspergillus IgG antibody detection and the GM test also showed notable differences among the IPA, CPA, community-acquired bacterial pneumonia and healthy groups ( P = 0.006, P < 0.001 and P = 0.217, respectively). Only the positive rate of the GM test showed a significant difference between the IPA and CPA groups ( P = 0.04). ROC curves indicated that Aspergillus IgG antibody detection had a higher specificity in the IPA group than in the CPA group (0.952). The detection of Aspergillus IgG antibody can preferably distinguish IPA from community-acquired bacterial pneumonia and healthy controls (sensitivity = 0.923, specificity = 0.459, cut-off value = 134.46, AUC = 0.727). It can also distinguish CPA from community-acquired bacterial pneumonia and healthy controls (sensitivity = 0.952, specificity = 0.692, cut-off value = 75.46, AUC = 0.873). Conclusions Serum Aspergillus IgG antibody detection may have certain clinical value in the diagnosis of IPA and CPA in non-agranulocytic patients.
Abstract Background: To improve the diagnosis accuracy of active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) from pneumonia (PN) in low income and inadequate facilities areas is one of the biggest problems facing public health today. Most TB patients are difficult to diagnose, especially those who are acid-fast bacillus smear-negative (AFB - ) but IGRA®.TB test positive (IGRA + ). Thus, we aim to develop a low-cost and rapid risk model for the diagnosis of TB patients with AFB - IGRA + TB from PN. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 41 laboratory variables of 204 AFB - IGRA + TB and 156 PN participants. Candidate variables were identified by t-statistic test and univariate logistic model. The logistic regression analysis was used to construct the multivariate risk model and nomogram with internal and external validation. Results: There were differential correlations between variable pairs in AFB - IGRA + TB and PN. We found several significant variables in TB compared with PN. Among them, uric acid (UA) was up-elevated , acting as a protective factor with an odds ratio (OR) < 1. By integrating five variables, including Age, UA, albumin (ALB), hemoglobin (Hb) and white blood cell counts (WBC), we constructed a multivariate risk model with a concordance index (C-index) of 0.7 (95% CI: 0.61, 0.8). Nomogram showed that UA and Hb had the protection effect, while Age, WBC and ALB acted as risk factors on TB occurrence. Internal and external validation revealed a good agreement between nomogran prediction and actual observations. Conclusions: Differential correlations existed between variable pairs in AFB - IGRA + TB and PN. An integration of five biomarkers (Age, UA, ALB, Hb and WBC) can be used to predict TB in AFB - IGRA + clinical samples from PN.
Type 2 cytokine‑associated immunity may be involved in the pathogenesis of allergic asthma. Although interleukin 27 (IL‑27) has been reported as an initiator and suppressor of T‑helper 1 (Th1) and T‑helper 2 (Th2) responses, respectively, its effects on the development of asthma remain unclear. In the present study, mice were induced and challenged with ovalbumin and received subsequent intranasal administration of IL‑27. Total and differential cell counts were determined from Wright‑Giemsa‑stained cytospins, whereas the cytokine levels were detected using ELISA. In addition, the expression levels of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 1, STAT3, GATA‑binding protein‑3 (GATA3) and T‑bet (T‑box transcription factor) were analyzed in T cells by western blot analysis. Their corresponding mRNA expression levels were determined by quantitative PCR. Airway remodeling was assessed by conventional pathological techniques. The results indicated that intranasal administration of IL‑27 ameliorated airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness in an acute model of asthma. Furthermore, IL‑27 prevented airway remodeling in a chronic model of asthma. Following administration of IL‑27, the mRNA expression levels of STAT1 and T‑bet were upregulated, while those of GATA3 were downregulated. Moreover, the phosphorylation levels of STAT1 and STAT3 were increased. Taken together, these findings demonstrated that intranasal administration of IL‑27 ameliorated Th2‑related allergic lung inflammation and remodeling in mouse models of asthma by repairing both the STAT1 and STAT3 pathways.
Abstract Background To investigate the correlation between the thickness of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL) -6, visfatin, juxtaposed with another zinc finger protein 1 (JAZF1) and type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM) macroangiopathy. Methods The study enrolled 82 patients with T2DM with macroangiopathy (the Complication Group), and 85 patients with T2DM (the Diabetes Group) who were admitted to Shandong Provincial Third Hospital from February 2018 to February 2020. In addition, 90 healthy people who underwent physical examination at the same hospital during the same period were enrolled (the Healthy Control Group). Age, gender, height, weight, waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), diabetic course and therapeutic drugs, waist hip ratio (WHR), and body mass index (BMI) were recorded and calculated. Results The baseline characteristics of the three groups were comparable, and the diabetic course of the Complication Group and the Diabetes Group was not significantly different ( P > 0.05). The WHR of the Complication Group was higher than that of the Diabetes Group and the Healthy Control Group, with statistical significance ( P < 0.05). The FPG, 2hPG, HbA1C, CRP, IL-6, Visfatin, JAZF1, HOMA-IR, EAT thickness, and baPWV of the Complication Group were all higher than those of the Diabetes Group and the Healthy Control Group ( P < 0.05, respectively). The JAZF1 and FIns of the Complication Group and Diabetes Group were lower than those of the Healthy Control Group, and JAZF1 of the Complication Group was lower than the Diabetes Group with statistical significance ( P <0.05, respectively). Pearson correlation analysis showed that the EAT thickness was positively correlated with CRP, IL-6, visfatin, and JAZF1 ( r = 0.387, 0.451, 0.283, 0.301, respectively, all P <0.001). Pearson correlation analysis showed that baPWV was positively correlated with EAT thickness, CRP, IL-6, visfatin, and JAZF1 ( r = 0.293, 0.382, 0.473, 0.286, respectively, all P < 0.001). Multivariate stepwise regression analysis showed that FPG, 2hPG, HbA1C, CRP, IL-6, visfatin, JAZF1, and EAT thickness were independent risk factors that affected T2DM macroangiopathy. Conclusions Clinical monitoring and treatment of T2DM macroangiopathy can use CRP, IL-6, Visfatin, JAZF1, and EAT thickness as new targets to delay the progression of the disease. Further research on the relationship between the above factors and the pathogenesis of T2DM macroangiopathy may be helpful provide new treatment strategies.
Interleukin (IL)‑27 can inhibit the differentiation of Th2 cells and plays a role in the development of asthma. However, whether the therapeutic administration of IL‑27 in a mouse model of asthma can inhibit allergic responses remains a matter of debate. Additionally, the mechanisms through which IL‑27 ameliorates inflammatory responses in asthma are not yet fully understood. Thus, the aim of the present study was to examine the effects of IL‑27 on asthma using a mouse model and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. For this purpose, mice received an intranasal administration of IL‑27 and the total and differential cell counts, levels of cytokines and type 1 regulatory T (Tr1) cells in the lungs were detected. The protein and mRNA levels of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)1 and STAT3 were analyzed and airway remodeling was assessed. The results indicated that IL‑27 did not ameliorate airway inflammation, airway hyperresponsiveness, and airway remolding when administrated therapeutically. Preventatively, the administration of IL‑27 decreased the concentrations of Th2 cytokines and increased the number of Tr1 cells. The protein and mRNA levels of STAT1 and STAT3 were increased. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that the prophylactic administration of IL‑27 ameliorates asthma by alleviating the lung Th2 inflammatory environment through the restoration of both the STAT1 and STAT3 pathways. IL‑27 may thus prove to be useful as a novel agent for the prevention of asthma.
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