The Molecular Role of Immune Cells in Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a rare and severe condition characterized by chamber dilation and impaired contraction of the left ventricle. It constitutes a fundamental etiology for profound heart failure and abrupt cardiac demise, rendering it a prominent clinical indication for heart transplantation (HTx) among both adult and pediatric populations. DCM arises from various etiologies, including genetic variants, epigenetic disorders, infectious insults, autoimmune diseases, and cardiac conduction abnormalities. The maintenance of cardiac function involves two distinct types of immune cells: resident immune cells and recruited immune cells. Resident immune cells play a crucial role in establishing a harmonious microenvironment within the cardiac tissue. Nevertheless, in response to injury, cardiomyocytes initiate a cytokine cascade that attracts peripheral immune cells, thus perturbing this intricate equilibrium and actively participating in the initiation and pathological remodeling of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), particularly during the progression of myocardial fibrosis. Additionally, immune cells assume a pivotal role in orchestrating the inflammatory processes, which are intimately linked to the prognosis of DCM. Consequently, understanding the molecular role of various immune cells and their regulation mechanisms would provide an emerging era for managing DCM. In this review, we provide a summary of the most recent advancements in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of immune cells in DCM. Additionally, we evaluate the effectiveness and limitations of immunotherapy approaches for the treatment of DCM, with the aim of optimizing future immunotherapeutic strategies for this condition.

Prognostic significance of helicobacter pylori-infection in gastric diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is thought to have an oncogenic effect on the development of gastric malignancies. However, the effect of H. pylori status on the prognosis of gastric diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) remains unconfirmed. This study aimed to identify the prognostic importance of H. pylori infection in de novo gastric DLBCL. METHODS: One hundred and twenty-nine patients diagnosed with primary de novo gastric DLBCL at the West China Hospital of Sichuan University from 1st January 2009 to 31st May 2016 were included. The clinical features of the patients were documented. H. pylori status was assessed via urease breath tests and histologic examinations. The prognostic value of H. pylori was verified via univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: Over a median follow-up of 52.2 months (range 4-116), the 5-year overall survival (OS) for all patients was 78.7%. Patients with H. pylori infections had significantly better 5-year PFS and OS than did the H. pylori-negative subgroup (5-year PFS, 89.3% vs. 74.1%, P = 0.040; 5-year OS, 89.7% vs. 71.8%, P = 0.033). Negative H. pylori status and poor ECOG performance were independent negative prognostic indicators for both PFS and OS (PFS, P = 0.045 and P = 0.001, respectively; OS, P = 0.021 and P < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: H. pylori status in de novo gastric DLBCL can be a promising predictor of disease outcome, and patients with negative H. pylori status require careful follow-up since they tend to have a worse outlook.

Aortopulmonary communication between the arterial trunks in tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia.

We reported a case of a 14-year-old tetralogy of Fallot/pulmonary atresia patient, where a rare tubular aortopulmonary communication between the arterial trunks allowed for well-growth of the pulmonary vasculature. The patient underwent successful one-stage unifocalization, right ventricle-pulmonary artery conduit and ventricular septal defect closure. The tubular communication was considered an aortopulmonary window as opposed to the major aortopulmonary collateral, based on its exclusively intrapericardial course. We highlighted the importance of cross-section imaging in diagnosis and surgical decision-making in such situations.

A Smartphone Colorimetric Sensor Based on Pt@Au Nanozyme for Visual and Quantitative Detection of Omethoate.

A smartphone colorimetric sensor based on the Pt@Au nanozyme was successfully developed for the visual and quantitative detection of omethoate in fruit and vegetables. The anti-omethoate antibody was conjugated on the surface of the Pt@Au nanozyme as a catalytic functional signal probe, and coating antigen conjugated on the surface of magnetic polystyrene microspheres (MPMs) was used as a separation capture probe. In the sensing system, when the catalytic functional signal probe was combined with a separation capture probe containing no omethoate, the visible blue color appeared with the addition of tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) chromogenic solution, and the maximum B value of the sensing system was obtained via the smartphone. With increasing concentrations of omethoate, the visualization of the sensing system decreased, and the B-value obtained via the smartphone dropped. Under optimal detection conditions, the omethoate could be detected in a linear range of 0.5-50 µg/L (R2 = 0.9965), with a detection limit of 0.01 µg/L. The accuracy and reliability of the detection results of this colorimetric sensor were successfully confirmed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and gas chromatography. This colorimetric sensor provides a technical reference and potential strategy for the immunoassay of hazard factors in resource-scarce laboratories.

Altered CSF Proteomic Profiling of Paediatric Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia Patients with CNS Infiltration.

BACKGROUND: For childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), central nervous system leukemia (CNSL) is still the main reason of treatment failure. Changes of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteome are deemed to occur after intrathecal chemotherapy. OBJECTIVE: To find critical CSF biomarkers, which could be utilized to increase diagnostic and prognostic accuracy of CNSL. METHODS: We performed proteomic profiling of CSF before and after the treatment of six sporadic paediatric patients diagnosed as ALL with central nervous system (CNS) involvement. CSF samples were properly processed and analyzed through the use of label-free liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). RESULTS: Among identified 428 unique proteins in all CSF samples, we quantified 10 altered proteins with diverse biological functions after induction chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: The levels of those 10 proteins change during the treatment of CNSL. Some of the proteins are likely to play a vital biological role as biomarkers for the development of ALL. In addition, our results indicated the feasible and reproducible utility of CSF for diagnosis and prognosis of patients with CNSL.

Prediction of Overall Survival and Progression-Free Survival by the 18F-FDG PET/CT Radiomic Features in Patients with Primary Gastric Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma.

Purpose. To determine whether the radiomic features of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) contribute to prognosis prediction in primary gastric diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (PG-DLBCL) patients. Methods. This retrospective study included 35 PG-DLBCL patients who underwent PET/CT scans at West China Hospital before curative treatment. The volume of interest (VOI) was drawn around the tumor, and radiomic analysis of the PET and CT images, within the same VOI, was conducted. The metabolic and textural features of PET and CT images were evaluated. Correlations of the extracted features with the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were evaluated. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to assess the prognostic value of the radiomic parameters. Results. In the univariate model, many of the textural features, including kurtosis and volume, extracted from the PET and CT datasets were significantly associated with survival (5 for OS and 7 for PFS (PET); 7 for OS and 14 for PFS (CT)). Multivariate analysis identified kurtosis (hazard ratio (HR): 28.685, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.067-398.152, p=0.012), metabolic tumor volume (MTV) (HR: 26.152, 95% CI: 2.089-327.392, p=0.011), and gray-level nonuniformity (GLNU) (HR: 14.642, 95% CI: 2.661-80.549, p=0.002) in PET and sphericity (HR: 11.390, 95% CI: 1.360-95.371, p=0.025) and kurtosis (HR: 11.791, 95% CI: 1.583-87.808, p=0.016), gray-level nonuniformity (GLNU) (HR: 6.934, 95% CI: 1.069-44.981, p=0.042), and high gray-level zone emphasis (HGZE) (HR: 9.805, 95% CI: 1.359-70.747, p=0.024) in CT as independent prognostic factors. Conclusion. 18F-FDG PET/CT radiomic features are potentially useful for survival prediction in PG-DLBCL patients. However, studies with larger cohorts are needed to confirm the clinical prognostication of these parameters.

Ability of 18F-FDG PET/CT Radiomic Features to Distinguish Breast Carcinoma from Breast Lymphoma.

Purpose. To investigate the value of SUV metrics and radiomic features based on the ability of 18F-FDG PET/CT in differentiating between breast lymphoma and breast carcinoma. Methods. A total of 67 breast nodules from 44 patients who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT pretreatment were retrospectively analyzed. Radiomic parameters and SUV metrics were extracted using the LIFEx package on PET and CT images. All texture parameters were divided into six groups: histogram (HISTO), SHAPE, gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), gray-level run-length matrix (GLRLM), neighborhood gray-level different matrix (NGLDM), and gray-level zone-length matrix (GLZLM). Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were generated to evaluate the discriminative ability of each parameter, and the optimal parameter in each group was selected to generate a new predictive variable by using binary logistic regression. PET predictive variable, CT predictive variable, the combination of PET and CT predictive variables, and SUVmax were compared in terms of areas under the curve (AUCs), sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. Results. Except for SUVmin (p=0.971), the averages of FDG uptake metrics of lymphoma were significantly higher than those of carcinoma (p ≤ 0.001), with the following median values: SUVmean, 4.75 versus 2.38 g/ml (P < 0.001); SUVstd, 2.04 versus 0.88 g/ml (P=0.001); SUVmax, 10.69 versus 4.76 g/ml (P=0.001); SUVpeak, 9.15 versus 2.78 g/ml (P < 0.001); TLG, 42.24 versus 9.90 (P < 0.001). In the ROC curves analysis based on radiomic features and SUVmax, the AUC for SUVmax was 0.747, for CT texture parameters was 0.729, for PET texture parameters was 0.751, and for the combination of CT and PET texture parameters was 0.771. Conclusion. The SUV metrics in 18FDG PET/CT images showed a potential ability in the differentiation between breast lymphoma and carcinoma. The combination of SUVmax and PET/CT texture analysis may be promising to provide an effectively discriminant modality for the differential diagnosis of breast lymphoma and carcinoma, even for the differentiation of subtypes of lymphoma.