Association of Growth Differentiation Factor-15 Polymorphisms and Growth Differentiation Factor-15 Serum Levels with Susceptibility to Multiple Myeloma in a Chinese Population.

BACKGROUND: The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF15) rs1058587, rs4808793, and rs1059369 polymorphisms, serum concentrations of GDF15, and International Staging System (ISS) staging or Durie-Salmon staging system (DS) staging in multiple myeloma patients and whether its polymorphism affects the expression of serum GDF15 in Chinese population. METHODS: A total of 120 patients with multiple myeloma and 119 healthy controls were included in the study. The SNaPshot technique was used to detect the GDF15 gene polymorphisms. Serum GDF15 levels were measured using an Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA) kit. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in genotype distribution or allele frequency of three loci between multiple myeloma patients and healthy controls. However, the genotype distribution and allele frequencies of rs1059369 in ISS stage I were significantly different from those in ISS stage II (p = 0.008), and the distribution of rs1058587 genotype was different between ISS stage II and ISS stage III (p = 0.014). The overall serum concentration of GDF15 and the same genotype at the same locus (rs1058587: GC, GG; rs4808793: CC, GC; rs1059369: AA, AT, and TT) in patients with multiple myeloma was significantly higher than in the healthy control group (all p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed the genotype distribution and allele frequencies of rs1059369 and rs1058587 of GDF15 gene have some association with ISS and DS stage. But the polymorphism of GDF15 did not affect the expression of serum GDF15 in patients with multiple myeloma.

Diagnostic value of fibrinogen to prealbumin ratio and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase to platelet ratio in the progression of AFP-negative hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to comprehensively assess the diagnostic value of fibrinogen to prealbumin ratio (FPR) and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase to platelet ratio (GPR) as single markers or in combination in patients with alpha-fetoprotein-negative (AFP-negative) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: A total of 199 healthy controls and 515 AFP-negative patients were enrolled in this study, including 180 HCC inpatients, 151 liver cirrhosis (LC) patients, and 184 chronic hepatitis (CH) cases. Mann-Whitney U or Kruskal-Wallis H test were used to analyze differences between groups in laboratory parameters and clinicopathological features. The diagnostic value of FPR and GPR, alone or in combination, in AFP-negative HCC (AFP-NHCC) patients was determined via a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS: The levels of FPR and GPR were gradually increased in the development of AFP-NHCC and positively correlated with the tumor size and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stages. Moreover, GPR was associated with Edmondson-Steiner grades. After univariate logistic regression analysis, FPR and GPR remained independent predictors of adverse outcomes. The combination of FPR and GPR had a good ability to detect AFP-NHCC from the control group (area under curve [AUC] = 0.977), AFP-negative CH (AUC = 0.745), and AFP-negative LC (AUC = 0.666). FPR combined with GPR possessed a larger area (0.943, 0.971) and sensitivity (87.50%, 89.81%) than FPR or GPR alone for differentiating AFP-NHCC with tumor size < 3 cm or at the BCLC-A stage. CONCLUSIONS: The pretreatment levels of FPR and GPR played vital roles in the development of AFP-NHCC, especially in patients with early or small AFP-NHCC.

Correlation between Pretreatment Hematologic Parameters and Cervical Cancer Patients Undergoing Hysterectomy: a Retrospective Study.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to investigate the correlation of mean platelet volume (MPV), MPV/ platelet count, and monocyte to lymphocyte ratio (MLR) between cervical cancer patients and healthy people and to evaluate the value of those parameters in early diagnosis of cervical cancer. METHODS: The study population included 137 cervical cancer patients undergoing hysterectomy and 113 healthy controls. The clinical features (age, pathology type, tumor staging, and tumor size) were collected from the hospital information system. The hematology parameters (white blood cell, red blood cell, hemoglobin, platelet count, neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, mean platelet volume, platelet distribution width) are obtained in the laboratory information system. RESULTS: We found that the monocyte count and MLR value are higher in the cervical cancer group. The MPV and MPV/platelet are lower in the cervical cancer group. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis shows that MPV+MLR can generate a moderate specificity with 71.68%, sensitivity with 65.69%, and AUC with 0.718 to distinguish cervical cancer and healthy people. CONCLUSIONS: MPV/platelet and MLR may be helpful for the early diagnosis of cervical cancer. A larger clinical data analysis is necessary to evaluate the diagnostic value of hematologic parameters in cervical cancer.

Single and Combined Use of Preoperative Inflammatory Biomarkers and CA199 in Diagnosing Pancreatic Cancer.

BACKGROUND: To determine the diagnostic value of preoperative inflammatory biomarkers and CA199, alone or in combination, in diagnosing pancreatic cancer (PCC). METHODS: This retrospective study was comprised of 75 PCC patients and 83 healthy controls (HC). The participant's medical data was mined from the electronic records of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University. The data included the preoperative circulating albumin/fibrinogen ratio (AFR), the platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), the lymphocyte/monocyte ratio (LMR), the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and the derived NLR (dNLR). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under the ROC curve (AUROC) were used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of these candidate biomarkers for PCC. RESULTS: A single AFR significantly distinguished PCC from the healthy controls (AUROC: 0.903, 95% CI: 0.846 - 0.945) and had a significantly higher sensitivity and larger AUROC than CA199 (AUROC: 0.814, 95% CI: 0.774 - 0.871). The combinations of AFR with CA199 (AUROC: 0.932, 95% CI: 0.881 - 0.966), RDW with CA199 (AUROC: 0.905, 95% CI: 0.849 - 0.946), Alb with CA199 (AUROC: 0.869, 95% CI: 0.806 - 0.917), and Fib with CA199 (AUROC: 0.921, 95% CI: 0.868 - 0.958) also yielded higher sensitivities and larger AUROCs than CA199 alone. CONCLUSIONS: Circulating AFR was an effective biomarker in diagnosing PCC. Combining AFR, RDW, Alb, and Fib with CA199 could improve the diagnostic efficacy for PCC.

Diagnostic value of platelet-lymphocyte ratio and hemoglobin-platelet ratio in patients with rectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and hemoglobin-platelet ratio (HPR) combined or not with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in rectal cancer. METHODS: We recruited 235 patients pathologically diagnosed with rectal cancer, 113 patients with benign rectal diseases, and 229 healthy control patients in this retrospective analysis. Then, the correlation between PLR, HPR, and clinicopathological findings was analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to assess the diagnostic value of PLR and HPR combined or not with CEA in rectal cancer patients. RESULTS: The levels of PLR, HPR, and CEA were higher in rectal cancer patients than those in the subjects with benign rectal diseases (P < .001) and the healthy controls (P < .001). Platelet-lymphocyte ratio and HPR were associated with lymph node metastasis and tumor stage, rather than serosa invasion, distant metastasis, or tumor size. PLR or HPR combined with CEA produced larger area under curve (AUC) (AUCPLR+CEA  = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.70-0.79, AUCHPR+CEA  = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.71-0.80) than PLR (P < .0001), HPR (P < .0001), or CEA (P = .024) alone. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that PLR or HPR combined with CEA can increase diagnostic efficacy and may be a useful diagnostic marker for patients with rectal cancer.

The Relationship of Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio or Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio and Pancreatic Cancer in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

BACKGROUND: The objective of the current study is to determine the importance of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in combination with cancer antigen 199 (CA199) in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer (PC) in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: The study population comprised 45 PC patients with type 2 diabetes, 50 patients with type 2 diabetes alone, and 60 control subjects. All data was mined from the electronic records of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University in Nanning, Guangxi, China. RESULTS: We found that the NLRs and PLR of PC patients with type 2 diabetes were higher compared to patients with type 2 diabetes alone and healthy subjects. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis for the diagnosis of PC in type 2 diabetic patients revealed that the combination of NLR and CA199 had higher specificity than either NLR or CA199 alone, while the combination of PLR and CA199 had higher sensitivity than either PLR or CA199 alone. The area under the ROC curve (AUROC) for PLR combined with CA199 was significantly larger than CA199 alone, and the AUROC for NLR combined with CA199 was also larger than CA199 alone, al-though this difference was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Combining PLR and CA199 values could allow earlier diagnosis of PC in type 2 diabetic patients.

Correlation between hematological parameters and ancylostomiasis: A retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE: Our aim intended to determine the relationship between hematological parameters (neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio [NLR], platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio [PLR], and eosinophil-to-lymphocyte ratio [ELR]) and ancylostomiasis. METHODS: There were 140 patients with ancylostomiasis and 159 healthy controls enrolled in this study. All data were collected from electronic medical records of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University. RESULTS: The levels of NLR, PLR, and ELR in ancylostomiasis patients were significantly higher than those in the healthy controls (all P = 0.000). A receiver operating characteristic curve was generated to assess the diagnostic efficacy of these three hematological parameters. ELR (AUC = 0.850; sensitivity = 75.00%; specificity = 86.80%) showed the superior AUC than those of NLR (AUC = 0.718; sensitivity = 53.57%; specificity = 88.68%) and PLR (AUC = 0.806; sensitivity = 68.57%; specificity = 86.79%), respectively. A multivariate regression model using the two selected indices (RBC and ELR) was established with the model's sensitivity and specificity reached 82.86% and 96.23%, respectively. In the ancylostomiasis patient group, NLR (r = -0.452, P = 0.000) and PLR (r = -0.357, P = 0.000) were reversely associated with eosinophils. CONCLUSION: The pretreatment levels of the three hematological parameters (NLR, PLR, and ELR) may serve as valuable indicators for distinguishing patients with ancylostomiasis from healthy controls. NLR and PLR are negatively associated with the previous indicator, eosinophils.

Testis-specific protein Y-encoded 1 regulates androgen receptor expression through the MAPK/ERK pathway in male hepatocellular carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the mechanism of testis-specific protein Y-encoded 1 (TSPY1) in male hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: This experimental study was carried out at Guangxi Medical University's First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi, China, between January 2016 and December 2019. The expression of TSPY1, androgen receptor (AR), messenger ribonucleic acids (mRNAs), and proteins were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blotting. The co-localization and interaction of TSPY1 and AR were observed by immunofluorescence assay and co-immunoprecipitation. Hepatocellular carcinoma cells overexpressing and silencing TSPY1 were constructed, and the expression and phosphorylation levels of TSPY1, AR, and mitogen-activated protein kinases/extracellular signal-regulated kinases (MAPK/ERK) signaling pathway-related key molecules ERK1/2, p38, and JNK were also detected. RESULTS: The expression levels of TSPY1, AR mRNAs, and proteins were highly positively correlated in HCC cells in different metastatic potentials with a high correlation coefficient of R=0.929 and R=0.884. Testis-specific protein Y-encoded 1 and AR were then co-localized in the nucleus of HCC cells, and TSPY1 and AR can interact with each other. In addition, the expression of AR and phosphorylation of ERK1/2 were enhanced in TSPY1 overexpressed Huh7 cells. They were reduced in HCCLM3 cells with TSPY1 knockdown expression. In addition, in response to blocking MAPK/ERK signaling activity, AR was reduced in expression. CONCLUSION: These findings suggested that there was a positive correlation between TSPY1 expression and AR in male HCC cells, and high TSPY1 expression stimulates AR expression, MAPK/ERK signaling pathway may be involved in its mechanism.

Diagnostic Value of Albumin to Fibrinogen Ratio in Cervical Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Albumin to fibrinogen ratio (AFR) play a crucial role in the progression and prognosis of many malignant tumors. This study aimed to comprehensively assess the diagnostic value of AFR as single markers or in combination with squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag), cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) in cervical cancer. METHODS: A total of 323 cervical cancer inpatients, 143 patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and 317 healthy controls were analyzed. Differences in laboratory parameters and clinicopathological features were calculated using the Mann-Whitney U or Kruskal-Wallis H test. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the predicted value of AFR, alone or combined with SCC-Ag, CA-125 for the diagnosis of cervical cancer. RESULTS: The levels of AFR in patients with cervical cancer were significantly lower than those in the CIN patients and the control subjects. AFR were not only negatively correlated with the tumor stage, but also related to histology typing, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, depth of stromal infiltration, tumor size, and tumor stage; however, it was not associated with the blood group. AFR combined with SCC-Ag possessed a larger area under the curve (AUC; AUCAFR+SCC-Ag = 0.924, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.900, 0.944) than AFR (P < 0.001), SCC-Ag (P < 0.001), or CA-125 (P < 0.001) did alone. CONCLUSIONS: The pretreatment levels of AFR, alone or combined with SCC-Ag, CA-125 could improve the diagnostic efficiency of cervical cancer.

Diagnostic value of hematological parameters platelet to lymphocyte ratio and hemoglobin to platelet ratio in patients with colon cancer.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to retrospectively analyze the value of the hematological parameter platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and hemoglobin to platelet ratio (HPR) in patients with colon cancer. METHODS: The hematological parameters and clinical data of 354 cases patients with colon cancer, 108 cases patients with benign colon tumors and 123 healthy controls were collected from our hospital electronic medical records. RESULTS: Compared with the colon benign tumor group and the healthy control group, the colon cancer group had an increased PLR value and a decreased HPR value. The correlation between the clinicopathological features and the laboratory parameters of colon cancer patients was analyzed, and the results showed that both PLR and HPR were associated with tumor invasion and tumor size. Compared with PLR (AUC = 0.725, 95%CI: 0.682-0.765), HPR (AUC = 0.752, 95%CI: 0.710-0.790) or carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (AUC = 0.710, 95%CI: 0.666-0.751) used alone, the combination with PLR and CEA (AUC = 0.790, 95%CI: 0.750-0.826) or with HPR and CEA (AUC = 0.814, 95%CI: 0.775-0.848) can improve specificity and produce greater AUC in differentiating colon cancer from benign colon cancer. CONCLUSION: Combined application of PLR, HPR, and CEA may improve the diagnostic efficacy of distinguishing between colon cancer and benign colon tumors.

Compare the accuracy and precision of Coulter LH780, Mindray BC-6000 Plus, and Sysmex XN-9000 with the international reference flow cytometric method in platelet counting.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of different platelet counting methods (optical, impedance, fluorescence and hand counting) applied in different analysers by comparing with the international flow cytometric reference method (IRM). METHODS: A total of 333 blood samples from different subgroups (168 cases with thrombocytopenia, 136 cases with normal platelet counts and 29 cases with thrombocytosis) were tested. Regarding IRM as the gold standard, we compared the accuracy and precision of different platelet count methods; i.e. LH780 (impedance), BC-6000 Plus (optical (O) and impedance (I)), Sysmex XN-9000 (optical (O), impedance (I), fluorescence (F)), and hand counting. RESULTS: Sysmex XN-9000-F (r = 0.988) had the best correlation with IRM for thrombocytopenic samples; BC-6000 Plus-I (r = 0.966) was more relevant to IRM than any other method for samples with normal platelet counts. Correlation between Sysmex XN-9000-I (r = 0.960) and IRM was the highest among these methods for samples with thrombocytosis. For bias evaluation, the average bias of Sysmex XN-9000-F was -1.5 × 109/L (95% LA = -9.4 to +6.4) for samples with thrombocytopenia, compared with IRM. BC-6000 Plus-I had a small mean difference with IRM for samples with normal platelet counts or thrombocytosis. Moreover, all evaluated methods had acceptable sensitivity, specificity, and concordance rates as compared with IRM in the diagnosis of thrombocytopenia and thrombocytosis. CONCLUSIONS: Platelet counting by Sysmex XN-9000-F is more accurate than other methods for thrombocytopenic samples. BC-6000 Plus-I has superior association and consistency for normal platelet counts. As for thrombocytosis patients, Sysmex XN-9000-I has the highest correlation with IRM while Sysmex XN-9000-O has the highest diagnosis efficacy.

The value of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase to platelet ratio in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Our study aimed to evaluate the value of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase to platelet ratio (GPR) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).A total of 565 patients with pathological diagnosis of HCC were retrospectively analyzed and 414 patients diagnosed with cirrhosis were treated as a control group. All clinical materials were collected from the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University.The preintervention NLR, GPR, and α-fetoprotein (AFP) were significantly higher in HCC patients than in the controls (PNLR < .000, PGPR < .000, PAFP < .000). The NLR and GPR were correlated with the Barcelona clinic liver cancer (BCLC) stages, Child-Pugh grades, and tumor size, but not with Edmondson-Steiner grades. Combined use of NLR or GPR with AFP produced larger area under the curve (AUC) (AUCNLR+AFP = 0.916; AUCNLR+AFP = 0.953) than NLR (P < .000), GPR (P < .000), or AFP (P < .000) used alone.The preintervention hematologic parameters (NLR and GPR) studied herein were associated with the BCLC stages of HCC. Combined use of NLR or GPR with AFP may improve early detection and diagnosis of HCC.

Relationship between blood parameters and Clonorchis sinensis infection: A retrospective single center study.

Our study aims to retrospectively investigate neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and eosinophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (ELR) in patients infected with Clonorchis sinensis. This study analyzes a total of 151 patients with C. sinensis infections and 53 healthy control patients from our hospital. We found close relationships between the three candidate markers and the stages of C. sinensis infection-related biliary obstruction. The NLRs, PLRs and ELRs of patients with C. sinensis infections were significantly higher than those of healthy individuals; of those, ELRs showed the most superior diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity = 62.9%, specificity = 92.5%). Further, we constituted a logistic regression prediction model; applying two variables (age and NLR) with a sensitivity of 88.89% and a specificity of 83.78% in differentiating C. sinensis-related cholelithiasis from C. sinensis-untreated patients. Cancer antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) is a commonly used marker in the diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma. Significant correlation was observed between NLR and CA19-9 in patients with C. sinensis-related cholangiocarcinoma (r = 0.590, P = 0.000). In the receiver operating characteristic analysis for separating C. sinensis-related cholelithiasis and cholangiocarcinoma, the cutoff value of PLR was 145.14 with a sensitivity of 65.62% and a specificity of 68.89%; the sensitivity of CA19-9 was 75.00% with a specificity of 77.78%. PLR showed acceptable efficiency to separate C. sinensis-related cholelithiasis from cholangiocarcinoma. In conclusion, all of the candidate markers (PLRs, NLRs and ELRs) may act as the valuable supplement in detecting C. sinensis infections and diseases.