Platelet/Lymphocyte, Lymphocyte/Monocyte, and Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratios as Biomarkers in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease.

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to assess the diagnostic value of platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte/monocyte ratio (LMR), and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as biomarkers in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD). MATERIAL AND METHODS Demographic and laboratory data were acquired for 198 RA and 103 RA-ILD patients and 290 healthy controls. The subjects were categorized into female and male groups and further subcategorized based on age into <60 years and ≥60 years subgroups. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), receiver operating characteristics (ROC), Pearson analysis, multiple linear regression analysis, and logistic regression analysis were performed to analyze the association of PLR, NLR, and LMR with RA and RA-ILD. RESULTS Mean PLR and NLR were lowest in the control group, followed by the RA and RA-ILD groups (p<0.05). Mean LMR was lowest in the RA-ILD group, followed by the RA and control groups (p<0.05). The area under the ROC (AUROC) values of the PLR to distinguish between RA and controls, RA-ILD and controls, and RA-ILD and RA were 0.676, 0.776, and 0.650, respectively (p<0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis suggested a significantly positive association between the level of PLR and the level of DAS28 (p<0.001). The odds ratio of PLR was 1.101 for RA (p=0.023) and 1.217 for RA-ILD (p<0.001) when compared to the controls. CONCLUSIONS PLR may be applied as a new biomarker for predicting and diagnosing RA and RA-ILD and for distinguishing RA-ILD patients from RA patients and healthy subjects.

Association between Physical Activity and Telomere Length in a North Chinese Population: A China Suboptimal Health Cohort Study.

Several studies have demonstrated an association between physical activity and telomere length; however, the association remains inconsistent. A cross-sectional study consisting of 588 participants (375 females, median age of 33.8 years) was carried out to investigate the association between telomere length and physical activity in a general population from North China. The results show that relative telomere length is not significantly different in participants in the northern Chinese population with different levels of physical activity, either in the model only adjusted for age (F = 2.127, P = 0.120) or in the model adjusted for demographics and lifestyle (F = 1.227, P = 0.294). The gender-stratified analysis also produced insignificant results. Our study confirmed a non-significant association between physical activity and telomere length in the northern Chinese population, which adds to the inconsistent association between physical activity and telomere length across different ethnic populations.

[Cloning and expression of human interleukin-32 and studies on its bioactivity].

AIM: To clone human interleukin-32(hIL-32) gene and express it in E.coli efficiently. METHODS: The gene of hIL-32 was amplified by RT-PCR from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) which stimulated with Con A for 60 h. The PCR product was inserted into the pMD18-T vector. The hIL-32 cDNA confirmed by sequencing was inserted into expression vector pET-30a(+) and expressed in E.coli BL21(DE3) strain. The hIL-32 protein expression was induced by IPTG and assayed by SDS-PAGE and coomassie blue stain. The recombination protein was identified by Western blot and its biological activity was analyzed. RESULTS: DNA sequencing confirmed that the cloned cDNA was identical to the published sequence of hIL-32 that the nucleotide sequence of this gene was 567 bp. The recombinant plasmid pET30a-hIL32 was transformed into E.coli BL21(DE3) strain for expression. An expected 28 kDa protein of hIL-32 was found mainly in the induced host strains by SDS-PAGE and coomassie blue stain. The 28 kDa protein was recognized by anti-IL-32 antibody in western blot. The purified recombination protein could induce the producing of IL-6 in the human PBMC. CONCLUSION: We have successfully cloned the gene and expressed the protein of hIL-32 and the expressed protein has specific bioactivity.