Serum lymphocytes and cytokines: diagnostic value and influence on the immune status in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the absolute number of serum T lymphocytes and cytokine levels and the characteristics of patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis and to assess their effect on the immune status of these patients and their diagnostic and predictive value for tuberculosis. METHODS: We included 1,069 patients with active tuberculosis, 51 patients with latent tuberculosis infection, and 600 health individuals. Absolute serum T-lymphocyte counts and cytokine levels were quantified. RESULTS: T lymphocytes were significantly reduced in patients with active tuberculosis when compared with healthy individuals. The immune function of patients gradually decreased with age and was stronger in female patients than in males. Th1 cells expressed higher levels of cytokines than did Th2 cells. Logistic regression analysis showed that reduced CD3+ T, CD8+ T, and NK cell counts, as well as reduced IL-4 and IFN-g expression, were independent influencing factors for active tuberculosis. ROC analysis showed that the sensitivity and specificity of absolute CD3+ T and CD8+ T lymphocyte counts and combined factors were significantly higher than were those of IL-4 and IFN-g for diagnosing active tuberculosis. CONCLUSIONS: Serum T-lymphocyte counts and cytokine levels can assess the immune status of tuberculosis patients; they are also useful biomarkers for predicting and diagnosing tuberculosis.

Serum lymphocytes and cytokines: diagnostic value and influence on the immune status in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis / Linfócitos e citocinas séricas: valor diagnóstico e influência no estado imunológico de pacientes com tuberculose pulmonar

ABSTRACT Objective: To determine the absolute number of serum T lymphocytes and cytokine levels and the characteristics of patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis and to assess their effect on the immune status of these patients and their diagnostic and predictive value for tuberculosis. Methods: We included 1,069 patients with active tuberculosis, 51 patients with latent tuberculosis infection, and 600 health individuals. Absolute serum T-lymphocyte counts and cytokine levels were quantified. Results: T lymphocytes were significantly reduced in patients with active tuberculosis when compared with healthy individuals. The immune function of patients gradually decreased with age and was stronger in female patients than in males. Th1 cells expressed higher levels of cytokines than did Th2 cells. Logistic regression analysis showed that reduced CD3+ T, CD8+ T, and NK cell counts, as well as reduced IL-4 and IFN-g expression, were independent influencing factors for active tuberculosis. ROC analysis showed that the sensitivity and specificity of absolute CD3+ T and CD8+ T lymphocyte counts and combined factors were significantly higher than were those of IL-4 and IFN-g for diagnosing active tuberculosis. Conclusions: Serum T-lymphocyte counts and cytokine levels can assess the immune status of tuberculosis patients; they are also useful biomarkers for predicting and diagnosing tuberculosis.

RESUMO Objetivo: Determinar o número absoluto de linfócitos T séricos e os níveis de citocinas séricas, bem como as características, de pacientes com tuberculose pulmonar ativa e avaliar o efeito desses no estado imunológico desses pacientes e seu valor diagnóstico e preditivo para tuberculose. Métodos: Foram incluídos 1.069 pacientes com tuberculose ativa, 51 pacientes com tuberculose latente e 600 indivíduos saudáveis. Foram realizadas a contagem absoluta de linfócitos T séricos e a quantificação de citocinas séricas. Resultados: Os linfócitos T estavam significativamente reduzidos nos pacientes com tuberculose ativa em comparação com os indivíduos saudáveis. A função imunológica dos pacientes diminuiu gradativamente com a idade e mostrou-se mais forte nas mulheres do que nos homens. As células Th1 expressaram maiores níveis de citocinas do que as células Th2. A análise de regressão logística mostrou que contagens reduzidas de células T CD3+, T CD8+ e NK e expressão reduzida de IL-4 e IFN-g foram fatores de influência independentes para tuberculose ativa. A análise ROC mostrou que a sensibilidade e especificidade dos valores absolutos de linfócitos T CD3+ e T CD8+ e de fatores combinados foram significativamente maiores do que as da IL-4 e do IFN-g para o diagnóstico da tuberculose ativa. Conclusões: A contagem de linfócitos T séricos e os níveis de citocinas séricas podem avaliar o estado imunológico de pacientes com tuberculose; também são biomarcadores úteis na predição e diagnóstico da tuberculose.

Connection of Ru nanoparticles with rich defects enables the enhanced electrochemical reduction of nitrogen.

The electrochemical reduction of N2 into NH3 under ambient conditions is an attractive topic in the chemical industry, but the chemical inertness of N2 and the competing hydrogen evolution reaction hamper the activity and selectivity of this reaction. Herein, we connected Ru nanocrystals through a facile annealing process, which constructed intraparticle grain boundaries and stacking faults in the connection regions to enhance the N2 reduction reaction. The connected Ru nanoparticles exhibited an enhanced yield rate and faradaic efficiency for NH3 production. At -0.1 V versus RHE, the connected Ru nanoparticles exhibited a maximum yield rate of 29.3 µg cm-2 h-1 (148.0 µg mgcat-1 h-1) for NH3 production with a faradaic efficiency of 7.0%. Mechanistic study revealed that the promotion of the electrochemical reduction of N2 over connected Ru nanoparticles could be attributed to the decreased work function and facilitated electron transfer, which originated from the abundant defects in the connection region.

Sulfur edge in molybdenum disulfide nanosheets achieves efficient uranium binding and electrocatalytic extraction in seawater.

Electrochemical extraction of uranium in seawater provides a promising strategy for the persistent supply of fuel in the nuclear industry. However, current operation voltage for the electrochemical extraction of uranium in seawater generally requires a high applied voltage (∼-5 V). Herein, we constructed S-terminated MoS2 nanosheets with abundant electrochemically active S-edge sites for efficient binding and reduction of uranium. In 100 ppm of uranium-spiked seawater at an applied voltage of -3 V, the S-terminated MoS2 nanosheets exhibited a considerable extraction capacity of 1823 mg g-1. After 30 min electrolysis in 100 mL of real seawater with 100 times concentrated uranium (330 ppb), the extracted uranium (29.5 µg) consumes electricity of 8.7 mW h. Moreover, we concentrated 12 L of real seawater (3.3 ppb) into 20 mL of aqueous solution containing 1752.6 ppb U by adding a reverse potential. In the mechanistic study, we directly observed the uranium clusters and single atoms confined by the S-edge at atomic resolution, which served as the intermediate and accounted for the boosted uranium extraction in seawater.

Synthesis of Uranium Single Atom from Radioactive Wastewater for Enhanced Water Dissociation and Hydrogen Evolution.

As a common nuclide in radioactive wastewater, uranium (U) is generally treated by landfill, which induces the massive abandonment of uranium resources. In this work, a pulse voltammetry method for the synthesis of U single atoms on MoS2 (U/MoS2 ) nanosheets from radioactive wastewater for the electrocatalytic alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is reported. The mass loading of U single atoms is facilely controlled with high selectivity for coexisting ions in radioactive wastewater. In the electrolyte of 1 m of KOH, U/MoS2 nanosheets with 5.2% of U single atoms exhibit relatively low overpotentials of 72 mV at 10 mA cm-2 . The mechanistic study reveals that the HER on U/MoS2 includes the water dissociation on U single atoms to form OH* and H transfer from OH* to adjacent S-edge atoms. This procedure exhibits decreased activation energy for transition state in water dissociation and optimized Gibbs free energy for H* adsorption.