8-Hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine as a biomarker of oxidative stress in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Background/aim: 8-Hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) is a biomarker of oxidative stress and has been implicated in many diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical value of plasma 8-OHdG level in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). Materials and methods: A total of 154 subjects were enrolled in this study, including 20 healthy volunteers, 24 COPD patients in the stable phase, and 110 AECOPD patients. Peripheral blood samples, demographic information, and clinical characteristics were collected from all subjects at the time of being recruited into the study. Plasma 8-OHdG level was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent a ss ay. Results: 8-OHdG was increased in patients with AECOPD compared to healthy subjects and patients with stable COPD, especially in smokers. It also increased with the GOLD stage, mMRC grade, CAT score, and group level of combined COPD assessment. Additionally, further analysis revealed that 8-OHdG was negatively correlated with FEV1, FEV1% predicted, and FEV1/FVC and positively correlated with C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, and neutrophil CD64. Conclusion: 8-OHdG is associated with spirometric severity, symptomatic severity, exacerbation risk, and inflammatory biomarkers in AECOPD patients, suggesting it as a promising biomarker for reflecting disease severity and guiding the choice of optimal therapeutic decision.

RpoS-dependent expression of OsmY in Salmonella enterica serovar typhi: activation under stationary phase and SPI-2-inducing conditions.

OsmY is a periplasmic protein with two BON domains which may attach to phospholipid membranes. Previous reports showed that the expression of OsmY in Escherichia coli was hyperosmotically inducible and RpoS dependent. But little work was done to investigate the expression and function of OsmY in Salmonella. Here, we detected the endogenous OsmY in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) with polyclonal antibody. The results showed that the expression of OsmY was also RpoS dependent and was activated under stationary phase. Further, using in vitro culture, we established the Salmonella pathogenesis island (SPI)-1 and SPI-2-inducing conditions with hyperosmolarity and low-phosphate, low-magnesium medium (pH 5.8), respectively, and found that only SPI-2-inducing conditions can activate the expression of OsmY. osmY deletion mutant showed delayed growth compared with wild-type S. Typhi in SPI-2-inducing conditions. The results indicated that OsmY may function to resist the stress and be favorable for Salmonella's replication in the Salmonella-containing vesicles of macrophage.

Age at onset of recurrent major depression in Han Chinese women - a replication study.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between age at onset (AAO) and major depression (MD) has been studied in US, European and Chinese populations. However, larger sample studies are needed to replicate and extend earlier findings. METHODS: We re-examined the relationship between AAO and the clinical features of recurrent MD in Han Chinese women by analyzing the phase I (N=1848), phase II (N=4169) and total combined data (N=6017) from the CONVERGE project. Linear, logistic, multiple linear and multinomial logistic regression models were used to determine the association of AAO with continuous, binary and categorical variables. RESULTS: The effect size of the association between AAO and clinical features of MD was quite similar in the phase I and phase II samples. These results confirmed that MD patients with earlier AAO tended to suffer more severe, recurrent and chronic illness and cases of MD with earlier AAO showed increased neuroticism, greater family history and psychiatric comorbidity. In addition, we showed that earlier AAO of MD in Han Chinese women was associated with premenstrual symptoms, postnatal depression, a highly authoritarian or cold childhood parental rearing style and a reduced probability for having melancholia. LIMITATIONS: Data were collected retrospectively through interview and recall bias may have affected the results. CONCLUSIONS: MD with earlier AAO in Han Chinese women shows a distinct set of clinical features which are similar to those reported in Western populations.

The prevalence, clinical correlates and structure of phobic fears in Han Chinese women with recurrent major depression.

BACKGROUND: Phobic fears are common in the general population and among individuals with major depression (MD). We know little about the prevalence, clinical correlates, and structure of phobic fears in Chinese women with MD. METHODS: We assessed 22 phobic fears in 6017 Han Chinese women with MD. We used exploratory factor analysis to examine the structure of these phobic fears. We examined the relationship between individual phobic fears and the severity of MD, neuroticism, comorbid panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and dysthymia using logistic regression models. RESULTS: The frequency of phobic fears ranged from 3.0% (eating in public) to 36.0% (snakes). Phobic fears were significantly associated with more severe MD, high neuroticism, and co-morbid panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and dysthymia. Our factor analysis suggested four underlying subgroups of phobic fears which differed in their clinical correlates, severity and patterns of comorbidity. LIMITATIONS: Data were collected retrospectively through interview and recall bias may have affected the results. CONCLUSIONS: Phobic fears are correlated with comorbid MD and more severe MD. These phobic fears clearly subdivide into four subgroups that differ meaningfully from each other.

Validity and reliability of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Patient Health Questionnaire-2 to screen for depression among college students in China.

INTRODUCTION: This study examined the validity and reliability of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2). The optimal cutoff score when screening for depression among Chinese college students was also determined. METHODS: A total of 959 participants completed the PHQ-9 and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) questionnaire. The Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders was used to diagnose depression. Statistical tests were performed to determine the reliability, validity, and receiver operating characteristic curve of the data. The concurrent validity was tested by examining associations between PHQ-9 and BDI. The sensitivity and specificity, as well as the positive and negative predictive values, were calculated for different cutoff scores of PHQ-9 and PHQ-2. RESULTS: The internal consistency values of PHQ-9 and PHQ-2 were 0.854 and 0.727, respectively. The test-retest reliability values of PHQ-9 and PHQ-2 were 0.873 and 0.829, respectively. The scores of PHQ-9 (r = 0.790) and PHQ-2 (r = 0.651) were significantly associated with that of BDI. PHQ-9 had an optimal cutoff score of 11, which indicated a sensitivity of 0.89 and a specificity of 0.97, with an area under the curve of 0.977 (95% confidence interval: 0.966-0.988). The PHQ-2 demonstrated satisfactory sensitivity (0.81) and specificity (0.96) at the cutoff score of 3, and its area under the curve was 0.939. DISCUSSION: The PHQ-9 and the PHQ-2 are valid and reliable tools to screen depression in Chinese college students. For screening purposes, cutoff scores of 11 and 3 are recommended for PHQ-9 and PHQ-2, respectively.

Resemblance of symptoms for major depression assessed at interview versus from hospital record review.

BACKGROUND: Diagnostic information for psychiatric research often depends on both clinical interviews and medical records. Although discrepancies between these two sources are well known, there have been few studies into the degree and origins of inconsistencies. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We compared data from structured interviews and medical records on 1,970 Han Chinese women with recurrent DSM-IV major depression (MD). Correlations were high for age at onset of MD (0.93) and number of episodes (0.70), intermediate for family history (+0.62) and duration of longest episode (+0.43) and variable but generally more modest for individual depressive symptoms (mean kappa = 0.32). Four factors were identified for twelve symptoms from medical records and the same four factors emerged from analysis of structured interviews. Factor congruencies were high but the correlation of factors between interviews and records were modest (i.e. +0.2 to +0.4). CONCLUSIONS: Structured interviews and medical records are highly concordant for age of onset, and the number and length of episodes, but agree more modestly for individual symptoms and symptom factors. The modesty of these correlations probably arises from multiple factors including i) inconsistency in the definition of the worst episode, ii) inaccuracies in self-report and iii) difficulties in coding medical records where symptoms were recorded solely for clinical purposes.