Longitudinal associations between serum IL-34 with severity and prognosis in community-acquired pneumonia patients.

BACKGROUND: Interleukin-34 (IL-34) is a hematopoietic cytokine and a ligand of colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF-1R). Numerous studies have demonstrated that IL-34 is involved in several inflammatory diseases. Nevertheless, the role of IL-34 is obscure in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) patients. This research aimed to assess the associations of serum IL-34 with severity and prognosis in CAP patients through a longitudinal study. METHODS: CAP patients and healthy volunteers were recruited. Peripheral blood samples were collected. Serum IL-34 and inflammatory cytokines were tested by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Demographic characteristics and clinical information were acquired through electronic medical records. RESULTS: Serum IL-34 was elevated in CAP patients compared with healthy volunteers. The content of serum IL-34 was gradually upregulated with increased CAP severity scores. Mixed logistic and linear regression models suggested that serum IL-34 elevation was associated with increased PSI and SMART-COP scores. Correlative analysis found that serum IL-34 was positively correlated with inflammatory cytokines among CAP patients. A longitudinal study indicated that higher serum IL-34 at admission elevated the risks of mechanical ventilation and death during hospitalization. Serum IL-34 had a higher predictive capacity for death than CAP severity scores. CONCLUSION: There are prominently positive dose-response associations between serum IL-34 at admission with the severity and poor prognosis, suggesting that IL-34 is implicated in the occurrence and development of CAP. Serum IL-34 may serve as a biomarker to forecast disease progression and poor prognosis in CAP patients.

Integrated analysis of multiple microarray studies to establish differential diagnostic models of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis based on a metalloproteinase-associated module.

Background: The ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) subtypes of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are autoimmune diseases influenced by multiple complex factors. The clinical treatment strategies for UC and CD often differ, indicating the importance of improving their discrimination. Methods: Two methods, robust rank aggregation (RRA) analysis and merging and intersection, were applied to integrate data from multiple IBD cohorts, and the identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were used to establish a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. Molecular complex detection (MCODE) was used to identify important gene sets. Two differential diagnostic models to distinguish CD and UC were established via a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) logistic regression, and model evaluation was performed in both the training and testing groups, including receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, calibration plots and decision curve analysis (DCA). The potential value of MMP-associated genes was further verified using different IBD cohorts and clinical samples. Results: Four datasets (GSE75214, GSE10616, GSE36807, and GSE9686) were included in the analysis. Both data integration methods indicated that the activation of the MMP-associated module was significantly elevated in UC. Two LASSO models based on continuous variable (Model_1) and binary variable (Model_2) MMP-associated genes were established to discriminate CD and UC. The results showed that Model_1 exhibited good discrimination in the training and testing groups. The calibration analysis and DCA showed that Model_1 exhibited good performance in the training group but failed in the testing group. Model_2 exhibited good discrimination, calibration and DCA results in the training and testing groups and exhibited greater diagnostic value. The effects of Model_1 and Model_2 were further verified in a new IBD cohort of GSE179285. The MMP genes exhibited high value as biomarkers for the discrimination of IBD patients using published cohort and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining data. The MMP-associated gene levels were statistically significantly positively correlated with the levels of the differentially expressed cell types, indicating their potential value in differential diagnosis. The single-cell analysis confirmed that the expression of ANXA1 in UC was higher than that in CD. Conclusion: MMP-associated modules are the main differential gene sets between CD and UC. The established Model_2 overcomes batch differences and has good clinical applicability. Subsequent in-depth research investigating how MMPs are involved in the development of different IBD subtypes is necessary.

Diagnostic Value of Video-assisted Mediastinoscopy and Endobronchial Ultrasound-guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration for Mediastinal Lymphadenectasis without Pulmonary Abnormalities.

BACKGROUND Mediastinal diseases are difficult to diagnose due to diverse origins and complex anatomical structure of the mediastinal tissues. The prospective study aimed to compare the diagnostic efficiency of video-assisted mediastinoscopy (VAM) and endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) for mediastinal lesions without pulmonary abnormalities. MATERIAL AND METHODS We divided 100 mediastinal lymphadenectasis patients without pulmonary abnormalities into a VAM group and an EBUS group. The pathological results of each group were regarded as the endpoints. SPSS19.0 statistical software was used. RESULTS The diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of VAM were 96%, 97.4%, and 100%, respectively; those of EBUS-TBNA diagnosis were 62%, 87.1%, and 100%, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference in the diagnostic sensitivity of benign mediastinal lesions between the 2 groups (P<0.01). Compared with the EBUS group (62%), the accuracy in the VAM group was significantly higher (96%) (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS We found that the diagnostic accuracy of VAM for mediastinal lymphadenectasis without pulmonary abnormalities is superior to that of EBUS. Therefore, for patients with mediastinal lymphadenectasis or mediastinal mass and without pulmonary abnormalities, mediastinoscopy is recommended as the first choice.

Redox responsive release of hydrophobic self-healing agents from polyaniline capsules.

Redox-responsive nanocapsules consisting of conductive polyaniline and polypyrrole shells were successfully synthesized by using the interface of miniemulsion droplets as a template for oxidative polymerizations. The redox properties of the capsules were investigated by optical spectroscopies, electron microscopy, and cyclic voltammetry. Self-healing (SH) chemicals such as diglycidyl ether or dicarboxylic acid terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS-DE or PDMS-DC) were encapsulated into the nanocapsules during the miniemulsion process and their redox-responsive release was monitored by (1)H NMR spectroscopy. The polyaniline capsules exhibited delayed release under oxidation and rapid release under reduction, which make them promising candidates for anticorrosion applications.

Gold-nanoparticle-stabilized pluronic micelles exhibiting glutathione triggered morphology evolution properties.

Nanocomposites constructed from metallic nanoparticles and amphiphilic copolymers have attracted substantial interest for various potential applications. Here we report on the nanocomposites prepared through cross-linking pluronic micelles with gold nanoparticles. The covalent binding of gold nanoparticles onto the micelles and the thermoresponsibility of the system was followed via ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The gold-nanoparticle-stabilized pluronic micelles can take thiol-exchange reaction with glutathione and their morphology spontaneously evolved and reassembled into large "vesicular"-like nanocapsules. Obvious temperature responsibility was followed in the gold-nanoparticle-stabilized pluronic micelles system and also the glutathione triggered nanocapsules systems. It is believed that the high stability and glutathione responsibility of the Au-NPs shell-cross-linked micelles allowed for high potential in drug delivery and biosensors.

Highly soluble PEGylated pyrene-gold nanoparticles dyads for sensitive turn-on fluorescent detection of biothiols.

Highly soluble fluorescent pyrene derivative with substantially improved fluorescence intensity in aqueous buffer was obtained via PEGylation strategy. The highly soluble PEGylated pyrene (PEO-Py) non-covalently adsorbed onto the surface of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) to form dyads with quenched fluorescence due to highly efficient energy transfer between PEO-Py and Au NPs. The PEO-Py/Au NPs dyads were used for the sensitive turn-on fluorescent detection of biothiols. The fluorescence of PEO-Py was restored by the addition of cysteine (Cys), indicating that Cys can modulate the energy transfer between PEO-Py and Au NPs. This phenomenon then allowed for the sensitive detection of Cys with a limit of detection (LOD) of 11.4 nM. The linear range of determination of Cys was from 1.25 x 10(-8) to 2.25 x 10(-7) M. None of the other amino acids found in proteins showed obvious interference with the determination. It was important to note that the detection sensitivity of the PEO-Py/Au NPs system was more than 5-fold improved compared with the Py/Au NPs system. In addition, other biothiol molecules, such as glutathione, could also be detected by this sensor system. The method was also successfully applied to the determination of the total content of aminothiols in human plasma. Therefore an easily prepared, inexpensive, high solubility fluorescent probe has been realized and is also expected to detect other biological analytes of interest.