Abstract Background Antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies against neutrophil granule bactericidal/permeability‐increasing protein (BPI‐ANCA) has been found in many inflammatory diseases, such as COPD, which can reduce the killing effect of BPI on Gram‐negative bacteria. This study was aimed to assess the clinical significance of BPI‐ANCA detecting in COPD patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa ( P aeruginosa ) colonization. Methods A total of 216 COPD patients with lung P aeruginosa colonization, 244 patients with P aeruginosa infection from June 2015 to June 2018, and 100 healthy individuals were included. Serum BPI‐ANCA, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, and interleukin (IL)‐6 and IL‐1β levels were detected by ELISA, and the lung function of the patients was measured at stable clinical stages. Patients with COPD were grouped according to BPI‐ANCA detection and GOLD criteria, and serum TNF‐α, IL‐6, and IL‐1β levels and indices reflecting lung function were compared and analyzed between groups. Results Positive rate of BPI‐ANCA in COPD patients with P aeruginosa colonization was 48.15%; and compared with BPI‐ANCA(‐) group, FEV 1 %pred and FEV 1 /FVC(%) in BPI‐ANCA(+) patients were significantly decreased, while TNF‐α, IL‐6, and IL‐1β levels were elevated. There were 31.73% and 36.54% BPI‐ANCA(+) patients with severe and very severe airflow limitation, respectively, which was significantly higher than that in the BPI‐ANCA(‐) group. FEV 1 %pred and FEV 1 /FVC(%) were negatively correlated with TNF‐α, IL‐6, IL‐1β, and NEU%. C‐reactive protein (CRP) was negatively correlated with FEV 1 %pred, yet not significantly correlated with FEV 1 /FVC(%). Conclusion BPI‐ANCA positivity is associated with inflammatory status in COPD patients with pulmonary P aeruginosa colonization and can be used as a potential biomarker assessing disease severity.
Abstract Background The clinical significance of serum collagen triple helix repeat protein‐1 (CTHRC1) and mitotic spindle apparatus antibody (MSA) in the diagnosis of small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Methods Of the 229 lung tumor patients selected, 62 patients were divided into SCLC, 94 patients with non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and 73 patients with benign lung disease (BLD). The health controls (HC) had a span of 66 cases with normal physical condition. The serum extracted from each participator and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay was adopted for measuring the serum CTHRC1 and MSA; in the meantime, automatic electrochemiluminescence immunoassay was used for the quantitative determination of serum NSA and CEA. And then, the differences in serum CTHRC1, MSA, NSE, and CEA were compared among involved groups. Results ① Compared with other groups, the concentrations of CTHRC1, MSA, and NSE showed a marked increase in the group of SCLC (all p < 0.01). Especially for SCLC patients with lymph node metastasis, CTHRC1 provided a notably higher level than those without metastasis. ② CTHRC1 and MSA established a diagnostic criterion with the specificity of 90.99% and 86.27% for SCLC, respectively. ③ In series, the specificity of CTHRC1 and NSE was the highest (99.30%), while MSA and NSE had the highest sensitivity (96.72%) in parallel. ④ Both CTHRC1 and MSA were hazardous factors interconnected with SCLC. Conclusion Serum CTHRC1 and MSA had a more exciting prospect of application. When used in conjunction with NSE and CEA, they could optimize the clinical diagnosis value of SCLC.
To detect the value of serum interleukin-17 (IL-17), tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at different disease stages. 141 RA patients were randomly obtained and diagnosed in a large tertiary first-class hospital in Jiangxi Province from November 2021 to January 2022. RA was divided into 38 low activity and remission phase (low remission patients), 72 moderate activity patients, 41 high activity patients, according to the disease activity score 28 (DAS28) of RA and 70 healthy controls. IL-17 and TNF-α in serum detected by flow cytometry; DKK-1by ELISA; rheumatoid factor (RF) and C-reactive protein (CRP) by rate scattering turbidimetry; erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) by Widmanstat method; anti-cyclic citrullinated polypeptide antibody (Anti-CCP) by chemiluminescence. The changes among the groups were statistically analysed and evaluated their diagnostic value. ①Anti-CCP, CRP, and ESR levels in the moderate-to-high activity group were higher than controls, while IL-17, TNF-α, and DKK-1levels higher than low remission group, moderate activity group and controls (p < 0.05). ②IL-17, TNF-α and DKK-1 were positively correlated with RA disease activity, with the correlations of IL-17, TNF-α and DKK-1 all over 0.5 (p < 0.05). ③The ROC curve showed that among all indices the AUC of DKK-1 was the largest, 0. 922, and has the highest sensitivity and negative predictive value for RA, 0.965 and 0.953, respectively. The specificity and positive predictive value of TNF-α is highest, 0.918 and 0.921, respectively, combined them had the highest predictive value in moderate-to-high activity RA, with AUC of 0.968, and had the highest sensitivity of 0.965. The IL-17, TNF-α and DKK-1 levels were elevated in RA and positively correlated with disease activity, involved in the Wnt signalling pathway of inflammatory and joint destructive effects, combining them to monitor the RA disease process and biologically treat the cytokines in the pathogenesis of RA were valuable.
Background: This study aimed to investigate the clinical efficacy of target artery perfusion of verapamil combined with chemotherapy in treating esophageal cancer (EC).
Methods: A total of 46 patients with EC (stage III and IV) were treated with verapamil combined with chemotherapy via target artery infusion. Two to four courses per month of the treatment were administrated. Imaging modalities used in staging EC before and after treatment include gastroscopy/endoscopic ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT) combined with 64-detector-row gemstone spectral imaging/3.0-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The clinical beneficial rate and survival time were also evaluated. Results: Out of 46 patients, 2 cases achieved complete remission (CR) and 39 cases achieved partial remission (PR). There were 3 cases had no change and 2 cases with progressive disease. The overall effective rate (CR + PR) was 89.13%. After treatment, dysphagia in 42 patients was significantly improved except 5 cases with narrow type. A total of 11 cases with hoarseness caused by recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis before therapy recovered normal voice and another 7 cases were completely relieved. Forty-five patients were treated with 1 course of radiotherapy, and 1 patient was treated by operation after 2 to 4 courses of treatment and clinical tumor stage had decreased. A total of 42 patients (91.30%) survived for more than a year, 24 patients (52.17%) survived for more than 2 years, and 12 patients (26.09%) survived for more than 3 years. Patients also achieved better Karnofsky performance status (KPS) scores, body weight, and positive clinical benefit of the dosage of analgesics, which were 91.30% (42/46), 52.17% (24/46), and 66.67% (4/6), respectively. No significant complication was observed before and after verapamil.
Conclusions: Target artery infusion of verapamil combined with chemotherapy drug significantly reduced the clinical tumor stage of advanced EC (≥ stages III), improved the quality of life, and prolonged the survival time. And patients regained the opportunity of radical radiotherapy or surgery when the clinical tumor stages were decreased.
BACKGROUND Cystatin C is a protease inhibitor that is increased in the serum of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and is associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study aimed to evaluate the association between serum levels of cystatin C and arterial stiffness, associated with dyslipidemia, obesity, and increased pulse pressure, in middle-aged and elderly individuals without CKD in a population in China. MATERIAL AND METHODS A cross-sectional population-based study included 1,138 patients aged ≥40 years without CKD, defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate measured by serum creatinine (eGFRSCr) ≥60 ml/min/1.73 m². Study participants provided clinical details, including height and weight, and blood samples for serum measurements of cystatin C and lipid profiles and completed a clinical questionnaire. Pulse pressure was calculated as the mean systolic pressure (SBP) minus the diastolic pressure (DBP). Data underwent multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS An increase in serum levels of cystatin C was associated with an increased risk of arterial stiffness. Each standard deviation in the increase of cystatin C resulted in a 22% increased risk of dyslipidemia, a 27% increased risk of obesity, and a 24% increased risk of increased pulse pressure, after adjusting for confounders. These associations were further confirmed in a sensitivity analysis by excluding participants with hypertension, diabetes, and patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). CONCLUSIONS In middle-aged and elderly individuals without CKD, arterial stiffness determined by obesity, dyslipidemia and increased pulse pressure, was significantly associated with increased serum levels of cystatin C.
To explore the clinical significance of tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated protein (TRAP1), mitotic arrest deficient 2 (mad2) and anti-nuclear mitotic spindle apparatus antibody (MSA) in the diagnosis of small cell lung cancer (SCLC).Serum concentrations of TRAP1 and MSA were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), including SCLC group (Num.=86), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) group (Num.=105), pulmonary nodules (PN) group (Num.=94), and 60 healthy subjects as control group (Num.=60). Whereas fluorescence quantitative PCR (qt-PCR) method was used to detect the expression of mad2.The expression of TRAP1 was low in SCLC and NSCLC compared with the other two groups, and was the lowest in SCLC, which was negatively correlated with the occurrence of the disease (P<0.05); the sensitivity and specificity of TRAP1 for SCLC were 75.29%, 93.33%, and the area under SCLC curve was 0.903; compared with the other three groups, the level of MSA was the highest in the SCLC, and the results were significantly different (P<0.05), while the area under the SCLC curve was 0.856, and the sensitivity and specificity were 62.78% and 95.24%, respectively. Mad2 is overexpressed in SCLC, but not in PN. The area under the SCLC curve is 0.835, and the sensitivity and specificity are 56.98% and 92.38%; TRAP1 levels are negatively correlated with SCLC tumor stage, the level of TRAP1 was significantly lower in stage III-IV than in stage I-II (P<0.05); combined analysis of TRAP1 and MAD2 and MSA showed that the sensitivity and specificity for SCLS were 95.35% and 99.05%, respectively.TRAP1 is of great value in the early diagnosis of SCLC as well as differential diagnosis with NSCLC. TRAP1 combined with MAD2 and MSA improved the sensitivity and specificity and provided a new idea for the clinical diagnosis of SCLC.
To research the diagnostic performance of clinical potential bone turnover indexes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) complicated with osteoporosis (OP).This study involved 87 RA patients, 48 with OP, and 39 without OP, and 204 non-RA control patients, including those with systemic lupus erythematosus, ankylosing spondylitis, primary Sjogren's syndrome, systemic sclerosis, and healthy patients. The levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], β-crosslaps (β-CROSSL), parathyroid hormone (PTH) were measured by electrochemiluminescence (ECLIA), and the level of bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP) was measured by lectin affinity method.The serum concentration of 25(OH)D in the RA with OP group was significantly lower than the control group (P<0.01), while the levels of β-CROSSL, BALP in the RA with OP group considerably exceeded those found in the control group (P<0.01). The levels of β-CROSSL and PTH were significantly higher in RA patients with OP than without OP (P<0.01), while the level of 25(OH)D was statistically lower than without OP (P<0.01). An unconditional logistical regression analysis proved an association with low 25(OH)D and elevated β-CROSSL in RA with OP, with 25(OH)D demonstrating greatest diagnostic potential according to the ROC curve.The significantly reduced levels of 25(OH)D and excessive β-CROSSL may indicate a high risk of the secondary osteoporosis in RA patients.
The project is aimed to detect anti-mitotic spindle apparatus antibody (MSA) and anti-centromere antibody (ACA) and explore the clinical value for the diagnosis of small cell lung cancer (SCLC), providing clinical evidence for molecular studies of SCLC.93 SCLC patients, 208 patients with other cancers and 50 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. MSA antibodies were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). MSA, ACA and anti nuclear antibodies (ANA) were examined by indirect immuno-fluorescence (IIF). And the results were retrospectively analyzed.① the positivity for MSA and ACA by IIF assay was respectively 36.56% and 30.11% in SCLC group, higher than in other tumor groups (P<0.01), ② in correlative analysis, the RR (Relative Ratio) value between MSA and SCLC was as high as 12.93, 12.74, and the RR value of ACA and ANA with SCLC was respectively 4.31 and 3.48. ③ the area under ROC (Receiver operating characteristic) curve (AUC) of MSA detection for SCLC was 0.778, with medium diagnostic value.MSA and ACA might serve as a new marker for SCLC because of its high detection rate. These two markers may participate in the occurrence and development of SCLC, resulting from the highly strong risk. So, the study have some application value for early detection, clinical diagnosis and potential treatments of SCLC.
Background: The present study evaluated the potential of hsa_circ_0001445 as a biomarker in plasma for postmenopausal patients with osteoporosis (OPO). Materials & methods: The expression levels of hsa_circ_0001445 in plasma were detected in healthy controls, patients with osteopenia (OPE) and patients with OPO by using quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR. Results: The expression levels of hsa_circ_0001445 in plasma were much lower in OPO patients compared with OPE patients and healthy controls. Its expression was positively correlated with the T-score and was negatively correlated with β-isomerized C-terminal telopeptides (β-CTx). It could distinguish OPE or/and OPO patients from healthy controls. Moreover, its expression was significantly upregulated in the plasma of OPO patients after anti-osteoporotic treatment. Conclusion: Hsa_circ_0001445 in plasma may be a novel potential diagnostic biomarker for OPO.