High neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio predicts acute allograft rejection in kidney transplantation; a retrospective study

Background/aim: Our research focused on the identification of easily available and sensitive markers for early prediction of acute kidney allograft rejection (AR). We aimed to investigate the association between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and AR in kidney transplant patients. Materials and methods: The medical records of 51 kidney transplant patients [12 female/39 male; median age of 32 (IQR: 24­44) years] were evaluated retrospectively. We considered a cut-off value of >2.5 as high NLR. Results: A total of 22 biopsy-proven AR patients and 29 controls were evaluated. The AR group had a higher NLR compared to the controls (P < 0.001). NLR levels over 2.5 [95% CI: 54.88 (9.96­302.3), P < 0.001] were significantly associated with AR in univariate analysis. The NLR levels were the only significant factor associated with AR in multivariate models, in model 1 (adjusted by age and sex) [95% CI: 114 (11.1­1175), P < 0.001], and in model 2 (adjusted by steroid dosage, uric acid, and NLR) [95% CI: 4.60 (1.59­29.3), P = 0.004]. Conclusions: Our data showed that higher NLR values (>2.5) are associated with AR in kidney transplant patients, leading to the conclusion that NLR might be an easily available and useful marker option for detection of AR in this patient population.

Sex differences in sodium deposition in human muscle and skin.

The aim of this work was to investigate possible sex differences in the patterns of sodium deposition between muscle and skin using sodium MRI. A total of 38 subjects were examined for comparisons: 20 males, aged 25-79years with a median age of 51; 18 females, aged 38-66years, median age 53. All subjects underwent sodium MRI scans of the calf muscles together with cross sections through four calibration standards containing known sodium contents (10mM, 20mM, 30mM, and 40mM). Tissue sodium concentrations (TSC) in muscle and skin were then calculated by comparing signal intensities between tissues and reference standards using a linear analysis. A Wilcoxon rank sum test was applied to the ΔTSC (=TSCmuscle-TSCskin) series of males and females to examine if they were significantly different. Finally, a multiple linear regression was utilized to account for the effects from two potential confounders, age and body mass index (BMI). We found that sodium content appears to be higher in skin than in muscle for men, however women tend to have higher muscle sodium than skin sodium. This sex-relevant sodium deposition is statistically significant (P=3.10×10-5) by the Wilcoxon rank sum test, and this difference in distribution seems to be more reliable with increasing age. In the multiple linear regression, gender still has a statistically significant effect (P<1.0×10-4) on the difference between sodium deposition in muscle and skin, while taking the effects of age and BMI into account.

Extranodal multifocal Rosai-Dorfman disease: response to 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine treatment.

Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) or "sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy" is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder of unknown etiology. The disease usually presents with painless lymphadenopathy with occasional extranodal involvement in various organs. We report a case of a 36-year-old man with a history of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), who recently presented with inguinal lymphadenopathy. Following the diagnosis of RDD on lymph node biopsy, he developed symptoms of spinal cord compression due to a mass lesion discovered at T6-7 vertebral level. 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (18FDG) positron emission tomography (PET-CT) revealed extensive disease with lung, renal and bone involvement. The patient received a short course of steroid therapy for cord compression findings and 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine (2-CdA) treatment was initiated for long-term disease control. He had a dramatic sustained response to treatment with six courses of 2-CdA. These results suggest that 2-CdA can be an effective treatment of choice and positron emission tomography with 18FDG can be used for determining the extent of disease and for follow-up in RDD.