Neutrophil percentage-to-albumin ratio is a new diagnostic marker for spontaneous bacterial peritonitis: a prospective multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: The neutrophil percentage-to-albumin ratio (NPAR) is a novel measure of systemic inflammation and infection. Low albumin levels increase the risk of infection, while high neutrophil counts indicate the presence of infection. Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is a serious infection in cirrhotic ascites, and the potential of NPAR in diagnosing SBP is not yet established. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to determine the diagnostic value of NPAR in identifying SBP. PATIENTS: This prospective multicenter study included 465 patients diagnosed with cirrhotic ascites and SBP according to international guidelines. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were collected. The sensitivity and specificity of NPAR values for diagnosing SBP were assessed using the receiver operating characteristic curve. RESULTS: For SBP diagnosis in the total cohort, NPAR of > 17 had a sensitivity of 85.71%, specificity of 66.67%, and 95% CI (42.1-99.6). In culture-positive SBP, the NPAR at a cut-off > 5.2 had a sensitivity of 85.71%, specificity of 83.33%, and 95% CI (0.709 to 0.979), while in culture-negative SBP, the NPAR at a cut-off > 2.1 had a sensitivity of 92.86%, specificity of 33.33% and CI (0.367 to 0.764). The multivariate analysis revealed that albumin (OR = 2.78, [1.11;3.98], INR (OR = 0.198, [0.066;0.596], creatinine (OR = 0.292, [0.1; 0.81], CRP (OR = 3.18, [1.239;4.52] total leukocytic count (TLC) (OR = 1.97, [1.878; 2.07], platelets (OR = 2.09, [0.99; 2.31] and neutrophil (OR = 3.43, [1.04;3.89] were significantly associated with higher prediction rates for culture positive SBP. CONCLUSIONS: NPAR could be a new, affordable, noninvasive test for diagnosing SBP.

Prognostic Implication of MIF Gene Expression in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

BACKGROUND: Cytogenetic and molecular genetic markers have been used recently to stratify risk and predict prognosis of different types of cancers. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that plays an important role in the pathogenesis of many diseases, such as autoimmune diseases and cancers. We studied MIF gene expression behavior to investigate its prognostic impact in childish patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). METHODS: MIF expression was analyzed using quantitative real-time (QRT) PCR. Patients are classified into two groups, high and low MIF expressers, according to median MIF gene expression. RESULTS: We did not find any significant difference between both groups as regards the clinical and hematological picture. However, high MIF expressers had significantly lower incidence of CR (25.8% vs. 72.4%, p = 0.001), higher incidence of refractory (51.6% vs. 24.1, p = 0.029), relapse rates (19.4% vs. 10.3%, p = 0.32), and higher mortality rate (54.8% vs. 20.7, p = 0.007) than lower MIF expressers. In addition, high MIF expressers show significantly shorter DFS (12.48 vs. 25.11 months, cumulative survival 38.7% vs. 72.2%, p < 0.01) and inferior overall survival (20.61 vs. 29.74 months, cumulative survival 45.2% vs. 79.3%, p < 0.001) than low MIF expressers. Multivariate cox-regression analysis adjustment confirmed that high MIF expression was the only independent prognostic factor in ALL patients for OS and DFS in our study (p = 0.004, p = 0.01 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: We found that MIF expression is an important prognostic factor in ALL patients with normal karyotype, and its incorporation into novel risk-adapted therapeutic strategies will improve the current cure rates for this group of patients.

CD49d and CD26 are independent prognostic markers for disease progression in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

CLL is characterized by extremely variable clinical course. Several prognostic factors can predict disease progression and therapeutic outcomes in those patients. The aim was to evaluate the use of CD49d and CD26 as independent prognostic markers in CLL patients. The present study measured surface expression of CD49d and CD26 by three-color flow cytometry in a series of 103 untreated CLL patients. We evaluated the prognostic role of CD49d and CD26 to predict the risk of lymphocyte doubling, disease progression and overall survival. We confirmed that CD49d and CD26 were significant predictors of lymphocyte doubling(P<0.001 for both markers) and disease progression (P<0.001 for both markers) but insignificant for overall survival(P=0.303 and 0.519 respectively. Multivariate analysis between clinical parameters and flow cytometry markers revealed that CD49d and CD26 are independent prognostic markers for lymphocyte doubling (HR=1.487 P=007 and HR=2.248, P=0.014 respectively) and progression to a more advanced stage (HR=3.191, P=0.049 and HR=7.887, P=0.003). Also, concordant expression of both markers was found to improve their predictive power. Many studies reported that CD49d and CD26 combined analysis was found to improve their power to predict the risk of lymphocyte doubling and disease progression. CD49d and CD26 have independent prognostic value and we suggest its use as a part of routine panel for prognostic stratification of CLL.

Evaluation of platelet cross-matching in the management of patients refractory to platelet transfusions.

BACKGROUND: Cross-match-compatible platelets are used to support thrombocytopenic patients who are refractory to randomly selected platelets. However, few studies have addressed the efficacy of using this strategy for patients requiring intensive platelet transfusion therapy. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of cross-match-compatible platelets in an unselected group of patients refractory to platelets from random donors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 406 cross-match-compatible platelet components were administered to 40 evaluable patients who were refractory to random-donor platelets. A solid-phase red cell adherence method was used for platelet cross-matching. The corrected count increment was used to monitor the effectiveness of each platelet transfusion. Multivariate analysis was performed to detect whether any variables could predict the response to transfusion. RESULTS: Statistically significant improvements were found in the mean corrected count increment when comparing cross-match-compatible platelets with randomly selected and incompatible platelets (p<0.001 for each). Compatible platelet transfusions were associated with a good response in 72.9% of cases while incompatible platelets were associated with a poor response in 66.7% of transfusion events (p<0.001). In the presence of clinical factors or alloimmunisation, compatible platelets were associated with good responses in 67.9% and 28.0% respectively vs 100% and 93.3% in their absence (p=0.009, p<0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that cross-matching and alloimmunisation were the strongest predictors of transfusion response at 1 hour, while ABO compatibility, type of units received, followed by alloimmunisation then clinical factors were predictors at 24 hours. DISCUSSION: Platelet cross-matching using the solid-phase red cell adherence technique is an effective and rapid first-line approach for the management of patients refractory to platelet transfusions.