To identify markers for earlier diagnosis of severe pneumonia, we assess the correlation between serum cytokine profile of children with different pneumonia severity.
In 25 hospitalized children, 7 ...with mild pneumonia and 18 with severe pneumonia, the serum concentration of 11 cytokines in three sampling times were dosed. Statistical analysis included parametric and non-parametric tests, Pearson correlation and ROC curve for cut-off definition of cytokines.
At admission, IL-6 serum levels were high in mild or severe pneumonia, and was associated to vomiting (P = 0.019) in both groups; and also to dyspnea (P = 0.012) and white blood cell count (P = 0.045) in patients with severe pneumonia. IL-10 levels were also high in patients with pneumonia and were associated to lymphocytosis (P = 0.025). The ROC curve of the IL-6:IL-10 serum levels ratio discriminated severe pneumonia cases at admission, and persistence of infection in the third day of antibiotic therapy, with positive predictive values of 93% and 89%, respectively.
The balance between IL-6 and IL-10 serum levels showed to be a more discriminative marker for severity definition and evaluation of recovery in patients with pneumonia.
Serum levels of sCD40L, sCD40 and sCD62P were evaluated in sickle cell anemia (SCA) patients aged between 2 and 16 years with normal transcranial Doppler (TCD) and no stroke (G1, n = 24); in SCA ...patients with abnormal TCD (G2, n = 16); in SCA patients with a previous history of stroke (G3, n = 8), and; in healthy controls (aged 2 to 13 years; n = 26).
The levels of sCD40L were significantly higher in the G1, G2 and G3 groups, compared to controls (p = 0.0001, p < 0.0002 and p = 0.004, respectively). Among patients with SCA, higher levels of sCD40L were found in the G3 group, compared to the G2 group (p = 0.03). In the sCD62P analysis, high levels in G3, compared to G1 (p = 0.0001), G2 (p = 0.03) and G4 (p = 0.01), and G2 also had high levels, compared to G1 (p = 0.04). The G1 patients had a higher sCD40L/sCD62P ratio, compared to G2 (p = 0.003) and controls (p < 0.0001). The sCD40L/sCD40 ratios were higher in G1, G2 and G3, compared to controls (p < 0.0001, p = 0.008 and p = 0.002, respectively).
It was concluded that the combination of TCD abnormality, associated with levels of sCD40L and sCD62P, may contribute to a better assessment of the risk for stroke in pediatric SCA patients.
Favor pedir para os autores corrigirem esta frase, pois NÃO é uma sentença completa em inglês: Our data suggest that decreased values of the sLSM1 CD40L/sCD62P ratio involving two inflammatory mediators produced in platelet activation, being unprecedented in the literature.
B and T cell subsets in elderly with frailty syndrome Oliveira, Gabriela Lucena de Almeida; Fonte, Eduardo Jorge Abrantes da; Justino, Maria Eduarda da Costa Brandão ...
Translational medicine of aging,
2023, Letnik:
7
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Background: Aging is related to changes in functional reserve that progressively lead to increased morbidity and mortality. Frailty syndrome, a common entity in older adults, is characterized by ...increased vulnerability to stress secondary to a decline in homeostasis caused by dysregulation. Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the immunocompetence of elderly individuals with frailty syndrome. Methods: A cross-sectional and translational study was carried with sixty-nine older adults with frailty syndrome (patients) and 42 healthy older adults (controls) were included. Results: Low naive TCD4+ cells (P = 0.03) in patients with Frailty syndrome compared to controls. Low levels of total T cells (P = 0.01), TCD4+ (P = 0.005), and TCD4+/TCD8+ ratio (P = 0.04), memory T cells (P = 0.02), memory TCD4+ (P = 0.001), memory T CD8+ (P < 0.0001), and high levels of naïve/memory T cells ratio (p = 0.008) in Frailty syndrome patients with age ≥70 years. Conclusion: Older adults with frailty syndrome have alterations in the cellular immune response, and these findings may be associated with increased morbidity and mortality in these patients.
Abstract
Objective Similar to Human Papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes, different lineages of a genotype also have different carcinogenic capabilities. Studies have shown that specific genotype lineages ...of oncogenic HPV are associated with variable risks for the development of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2/CIN3) and cervical cancer. The present study aimed to analyze the genetic diversity of the HPV16 genotype in women with CIN2/CIN3 and cervical cancer, from the northeast region of Brazil.
Methods A cross-sectional multicenter study was conducted in the northeast region of Brazil, from 2014 to 2016. This study included 196 cases of HPV16 variants (59 and 137 cases of CIN2/CIN3 and cervical cancer, respectively). The difference of proportion test was used to compare patients with CIN2/CIN3 and cervical cancer, based on the prevalent HPV16 lineage (p < 0.05).
Results According to the histopathological diagnosis, the percentage of lineage frequencies revealed a marginal difference in the prevalence of lineage A in CIN2/CIN3, compared with that in cervical cancer (p = 0.053). For lineage D, the proportion was higher in cancer cases (32.8%), than in CIN2/CIN3 cases (16.9%), with p = 0.023.
Conclusion HPV16 lineage A was the most frequent lineage in both CIN2/CIN3 and cervical cancer samples, while lineage D was predominant in cervical cancer, suggesting a possible association between HPV16 lineage D and cervical cancer.
Nephrolithiasis is considered a systemic disease. A link has been established between nephrolithiasis, cardiovascular disease (CVD), the metabolic syndrome and atherosclerosis. A significant ...correlation has been found between the high levels of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) and CVD and atherosclerosis, including coronary and femoral artery disease. To the best of our knowledge, oxLDL has not been evaluated in patients with nephrolithiasis. This study aimed to evaluate serum levels of oxLDL, anti-oxLDL antibodies (oxLDL-ab) and other markers of atherosclerosis in patients with nephrolithiasis, according to the severity of the disease. The population sample consisted of 94 patients of 30–70 years of age with no symptoms of CVD who presented with renal calculi documented by ultrasonography, abdominal X-ray or computed tomography. The patients were divided into two groups: Group 1 (≥ 3 stones) and Group 2 (1–2 stones). A comparison control group was formed with 21 healthy individuals. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were used to assess oxLDL and oxLDL-ab. Lipid peroxidation indexes were also analyzed. Median serum oxLDL values were higher in Groups 1 and 2 compared to the control group (≥ 3 stones,
p
= 0.02; 1–2 stones,
p
= 0.03). Median serum anti-oxLDL antibody levels were lower in the patients in Group 1 compared to the controls (
p
= 0.03). There was no significant difference in the oxLDL/oxLDL-ab ratio between patients and controls. These findings suggest that this may be the link between nephrolithiasis and the greater incidence of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease in patients with kidney stones.
Gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers, and an increasing number of studies have found that microRNAs (miRNAs) play essential roles in gastric cancer progression; however, the roles of ...specific miRNAs involved in the immune response to this disease remain unclear. We compared the miRNA expression in tissues from primary gastric cancer patients and healthy controls to find miRNAs dysregulated in gastric cancer and used bioinformatics tools to determine potential roles of these miRNAs in the immune system. We evaluated 25 primary gastric cancer tissues and five healthy gastric tissues. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed for a set of miRNAs, followed by the prediction of their target genes and functional enrichment analysis of these targets. Analysis of a microarray dataset showed that the miRNA miR-196a-5p was significantly upregulated, while miR-374a-5p and miR-375 were downregulated in gastric cancer patients. In addition, miR-374-5p was significantly downregulated in patients with metastasis compared with its expression levels in non-metastatic patients (
p
= 0.03). Bioinformatics analysis suggested that the pathways regulated by these differentially expressed miRNAs were related to the immune response, cell adhesion, and cell migration. Most importantly, this study provides a new insight into the potential use of multiple miRNAs to find distinct pathways of immune regulation in gastric cancer.
The extracellular matrix plays an important role in cellular balance, and collagen fibers are its most important component. Over the last few years, second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy has ...been used for the analysis of collagen fibers in several types of gynaecological cancers, such as breast and ovarian cancer. The value of collagen parameters obtained with this technique to gain insights on the physiopathology and on the prognostic evaluation of cancer has been advocated. Herein, we have characterized the collagen fibers in squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC) and preneoplastic lesions using the SHG microscopy. Collagen parameters, quantity, organization, and uniformity, of VSCC, adjacent skin of VSCC or preneoplastic lesions were compared with values obtained in normal tissue of healthy control. There was an evident decrease in the values of collagen fiber parameters in the VSCC. Increased quantity and uniformity of tumor associated collagen fibers were associated with the presence of lymph node metastases, which suggest a prognostic value of such parameters in the evaluation of vulvar cancer.
Interleukin-6 in pregnancy with sickle cell disease Costa, Manuela Freire Hazin; Torres, Leuridan Cavalcante; Matta, Marina Cadena da ...
Hematology, Transfusion and Cell Therapy,
10/2019, Letnik:
41, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Despite advances in health care for sickle cell disease patients, as well as in the improvement in reproductive issues mainly in women with the disease, pregnancy is still a challenge, both for the ...mother and the child, with high rates of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Besides their chronic hemolytic status and vaso-occlusive events that confer systemic complications, pregnant women also have higher rates of pain episodes, infections, abortion, intrauterine growth retardation, pre-term births, eclampsia, stillbirth and the hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets syndrome. The physiologic mechanisms of the disease in pregnancy are still unknown and chronic inflammatory responses may interfere in the adverse outcomes. The cytokine and chemokine profiles in pregnancy with sickle cell disease remain unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cytokine profile of the inflammatory response of pregnant women with sickle cell disease.
Blood samples from 20 pregnant women with sickle cell disease, 24 women with sickle cell disease in steady state, 16 healthy pregnant women and a control group with 9 women at childbearing age were assayed for interleukin-6.
Pregnant women with sickle cell disease presented high serum levels of interleukin-6, compared to healthy pregnant women (p=0.0115).
These data suggest that the increased production of interleukin-6 may occur during pregnancy with sickle cell disease and that the role of this cytokine in the sickle cell disease pathophysiology and pregnancy complications should be further studied.
Maternal RhD alloimmunization is an inflammatory response against protein antigens in fetal red blood cells (RBC). However, not all women become alloimmunized when exposed to RhD
fetal RBC. Thus, ...this study aimed to evaluate levels of inflammatory chemokines in RhD
pregnant women with erythrocyte alloimmunization. CXCL8, CXCL9, CCL5, and CXCL10 levels were determined from cell culture supernatants by flow cytometry in 46 (30 non-alloimmunized RhD
and 16 previously alloimmunized RhD
) pregnant women. CXCL8 levels were significantly higher (
< 0.004), and CXCL9 (
< 0.008) and CXCL10 (
< 0.003) levels were significantly lower in alloimmunized pregnant women. No significant difference in CCL5 levels was detected between the groups. Fetal RHD genotyping was performed in the alloimmunized RhD
group by real-time PCR. Anti-D alloantibody was detected in 10 mothers and anti-D and -C in six mothers. Twelve fetuses were RHD positive and four were RHD negative. Further studies of serum chemokines and placenta tissue could provide a better understanding of the cells involved in the pathogenesis of maternal erythrocyte alloimmunization.
There is evidence that aldosterone plays a role in the pathogenesis of vascular calcification. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of spironolactone, a mineralocorticoid receptor ...antagonist, on the progression of coronary calcification (CC) in peritoneal dialysis patients and to identify the factors involved in this progression.
Thirty-three patients with a coronary calcium score (CCS) ≥ 30, detected through multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) and expressed in Agatston units, were randomly assigned to a group receiving 25mg spironolactone per day for 12 months (spironolactone group) and a control group not receiving this drug. The primary outcome was a percentage change in CCS from baseline to end of the study (relative progression), when a further MDCT was conducted. Patients who had progression of CC were compared with those who did not progress.
Sixteen patients, seven in the spironolactone group and nine in the control group, concluded the study. The relative progression of the CCS was similar in both groups, 17.2% and 27.5% in the spironolactone and control groups respectively. Fifty-seven percent of the treated patients and 67% of those in the control group presented progression in the CC scores (p = 0.697). Progressor patients differed from non-progressors because they presented higher levels of calcium and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and lower levels of albumin.
In peritoneal dialysis patients, spironolactone did not attenuate the progression of CC. However, large-scale studies are needed to confirm this observation. Disorders of mineral metabolism and dyslipidemia are involved in the progression of CC.
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