Identification of potential predictive biomarkers and biological pathways and the correction with immune infiltration in the activation of Crohn's disease.

Crohn's disease (CD), a subtype of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), has increasing prevalence in the world. Due to the lack of cure strategy, most patients with CD develop progressive disease companying with a series of serious complications. Therefore, exploring molecular mechanism differences between active and inactive CD will help in the screening of predict markers and therapeutic targets. In this study, we analyzed differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and molecular pathways through between active and inactive CD patients. In addition, the abundance of 22 immune cell types were assessed by using the CIBERSORT. The hub DEGs were screened out by the CytoHubba in Cytoscape, followed by the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression. Finally, the clinical predictive model was constructed by binary logistic regression model. The diagnostic efficacy was tested by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and verified in independent datasets. The results showed that there were 137 DEGs between the active and inactive CD. Most of them were involved in regulating the immunity process. In addition, the decreased abundance of CD8 T cells and the increased abundance of M0, M1 macrophages, and neutrophils were closely related to CD activation. CXCL9, C3AR1, IL1B, and TLR4 were the hub gene and can be applied to the prediction of CD activation. Our results provided important targets for the prediction of CD activation and the selection of therapeutic targets.

Diagnostic significance of combined detection of Epstein-Barr virus antibodies, VCA/IgA, EA/IgA, Rta/IgG and EBNA1/IgA for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

The objective of this study was to investigate the diagnostic significance of EBV antibody combined detection for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in a high incidence region of southern China. Two hundred and eleven untreated NPC patients, 203 non-NPC ENT patients, and 210 healthy controls were recruited for the study. The titers of VCA/IgA and EA/IgA were assessed by immunoenzyme assay, and the levels of Rta/IgG and EBNA1/IgA were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The levels of VCA/IgA, EA/IgA, Rta/IgG and EBNA1/ IgA demonstrated no association with gender or age (p>0.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve and the area under the curve were used to evaluate the diagnostic value. The sensitivity of VCA/IgA (98.1%) and the specificity of EA/IgA (98.5%) were the highest. When a logistic regression model was used to combine the results from multiple antibodies to increase the accuracy, the combination of VCA/IgA+Rta/IgG, whose area under the curve was 0.99, had the highest diagnostic efficiency, and its sensitivity, specificity and Youden index were 94.8%, 98.0% and 0.93 respectively. The data suggest that the combination of VCA/IgA+Rta/IgG may be most suitable for NPC serodiagnosis.

[Prognostic significance of serum anti-Epstein-Barr virus antibodies in nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed to investigate the association between serum against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antibodies levels and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients' prognosis. METHODS: Blood samples from 140 primary NPC patients without metastasis were collected before and after treatment. The titers of VCA/IgA and EA/IgA were detected by immunoenzyme assay, and the levels of NA1/IgA and Rta/IgG were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). All patients received consequent follow-up and long-term efficacy and survival assessment. RESULTS: Post-treatment serum levels of VCA/IgA, EA/IgA, NA1/IgA and Rta/IgG in NPC patients significantly decreased than those before treatment, while had significantly higher than those in control individuals (P < 0.05). Patients in remission had significantly lower pre-treatment serum levels of VCA/IgA and EA/IgA than patients with progression (P < 0.05). None of serum levels of VCA/IgA, EA/IgA, NA1/IgA and Rta/IgG was associated with the 3-year overall survival (P > 0.05). The progression-free survivals were significantly lower in patients with higher pre-treatment VCA/IgA (> or = 1 : 320) and EA/IgA (> or = 1:80) levels than in those with lower VCA/IgA ( < 1 : 320) and EA/IgA (< 1 : 80) levels, respectively (61.8% vs. 86.5% , 61.3% vs. 86.5%, P < 0.001). Cox regression model analysis demonstrated that pre-treatment serum VCA/IgA level was an independent risk factor for progression-free survival (HR = 3.80, P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Anti-EBV VCA/IgA and EA/IgA might provide information regarding the prognosis of NPC patients.

[Combined detection of Epstein-Barr virus antibodies for serodiagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the value of combined detection of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) VCA/IgA, EA/IgA, Rta/IgG and EBNA1/IgA in serodiagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). METHODS: Serum samples obtained from 211 untreated patients with NPC and 203 non-NPC ENT patients were examined for the presence of VCA/IgA and EA/IgA by immunoenzymatic assay and for Rta/IgG and EBNA1/IgA by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was generated to confirm the cutoff values of different antibodies. The evaluation indexes of combined detection of multiple antibodies used for serodiagnosis of NPC were calculated with compounded positive judgment method. RESULTS: Compared to a single antibody, combined detection achieved a higher sensitivity and specificity. The sensitivity of VCA/IgA + Rta/IgG + EBNA1/IgA (98.1%) was higher than the other 3 combinations with a specificity, accuracy, Youden index and positive predictive value (PPV) of 88.7%, 93.5%, 0.868 and 90.0%, respectively. The combination of EA/IgA+Rta/IgG+EBNA1/IgA had the highest specificity (95.1%), accuracy (94.9%), Youden index (0.899) and PPV (95.2%), with a sensitivity of 94.8%, suggesting its higher accuracy in the serodiagnosis of NPC. Combined detection of the 4 antibodies had the highest sensitivity (98.6%) with a specificity, accuracy, Youden index and PPV of 88.2%, 93.5%, 0.868 and 89.7%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Combined detection of Rta/IgG against immediate early antigens, EA/IgA against early antigens, VCA/IgA against late antigens, and EBNA1/IgA against latent antigens provides better understanding of the expression profiles of EBV lytic and latent antigens with excellent complementarity, and may serve as an optimal combination for NPC serodiagnosis.

[Relationship between clinical stages of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and Epstein-Barr virus antibodies Rta/IgG, EBNA1/IgA, VCA/IgA and EA/IgA].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between the clinical stages of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antibodies Rta/IgG, EBNA1/IgA, VCA/IgA and EA/IgA. METHODS: Serum samples obtained from 211 untreated patients with NPC categorized by the project of 92' stage were examined for the presence of the EBV antibodies Rta/IgG and EBNA1/IgA by enzyme-linked immnunosorbent assay (ELISA) and for VCA/IgA and EA/IgA by immunoenzymatic assay. The positive rates and antibody levels in the NPC patients in different TNM stages and clinical stages were analyzed statistically. RESULTS: No significant difference in Rta/IgG rA value was found in the NPC patients in different TNM or clinical stages (P>0.05). The EBNA1/IgA rA value was significantly lower in stage T1, N0, and clinical stage I than in the other corresponding T stages, N stages and other clinical stage (P<0.05). The antibody titers of VCA/IgA and EA/IgA differed significantly between the N stages and the clinical stages (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The expression of EBV Rta/IgG is not associated with NPC stage. The expression of EBNA1/IgA is relatively low in early NPC. The antibody level of VCA/IgA and EA/IgA are significantly correlated to the degree of neck lymph node metastasis, and might be helpful to classify the clinical stages of NPC.