Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin is a better biomarker than cystatin C for the prediction of imminent acute kidney injury in critically ill patients.

Aims The prevention of acute kidney injury can be lifesaving for the intensive care unit patients. However, conventional methods are not sufficient for the prediction of the risk of future acute kidney injury. In this study, the promising biomarker, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, was compared with cystatin C as an indicator for the risk of future acute kidney injury. Methods One hundred and eighty-three adult patients without chronic kidney disease or renal replacement therapy were included in this study. The plasma and urine concentrations of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin and cystatin C were assessed on the second day after intensive care unit admission and were followed for seven days to monitor the development of acute kidney injury. Acute kidney injury diagnosis was based on the risk, injury, failure, loss, end-stage renal failure criteria. Results Thirty-four per cent of the patients had acute kidney injury; 17 patients who did not fulfil criteria at the beginning, developed acute kidney injury from days 3 to 7 after admission. The mean serum creatinine on admission did not significantly differ between this and control groups (0.72 ± 0.20 and 0.83 ± 0.21; P = 0.060); however, the serum and urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin concentrations on the second day were significantly different (median: 75.69 [54.18-91.18] and 123.68 [90.89-166.31], P = 0.001; and median: 17.60 [8.56-34.04] and 61.37 [24.59-96.63], P = 0.001). Notably, the 48-h serum cystatin C concentration did not differ. Conclusion Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin concentrations in the urine and serum on the second day of intensive care unit admission could be used to predict the development of acute kidney injury in the following three to seven days in the intensive care unit; however, the cystatin C concentration did not have predictive value.

Poor Prognostic Factors in Patients Undergoing Surgery After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Ovarian, Tubal, or Peritoneal Cancer.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the survival-related factors of patients with advanced stage ovarian cancer who underwent debulking surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). METHODS: Two hundred three patients with stage IIIC to IV ovarian cancer who underwent debulking surgery after NAC between 2002 and 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. Overall survival-associated factors, including the performance of optimal surgery, the timing of NAC cycles, the presence of tumour regression according to the pathology report, and lymphadenectomy, were explored using logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Of the 203 patients, 82% (n = 165) underwent optimal surgery. The median follow-up time was 34 months (range 1-124), and the median overall survival was 37.5 months (95% CI 32.6-42.3). The 5-year overall survival rate was 31.3%. Performance of optimal surgery; <4 NAC cycles; presence of tumour regression (either macroscopically, microscopically, or no tumour present) in the omentum according to the pathology report; and lymphadenectomy were found to be statistically significant based on a univariate Cox analysis. Of these factors, >1 cm residual tumour, no tumour regression in the omentum according to the pathology report, and >4 NAC cycles were significant predictors of a poor prognosis based on a multivariate Cox model (hazard ratio [HR] 1.62, 95% CI 1.02-2.59; HR 2.07, 95% CI 1.36-3.17; HR 1.55, 95% CI 1.07-2.34, respectively). CONCLUSION: Results of the study support that >1 cm residual tumour at the end of the surgery, the presence of a macroscopic tumour in the omentum, and >4 NAC cycles were independent poor prognostic factors in patients with advanced stage ovarian, tubal, or peritoneal cancer who underwent surgery after NAC.

Serum Angiopoietin Levels are Different in Acute and Chronic Myeloid Neoplasms: Angiopoietins do not only Regulate Tumor Angiogenesis.

Molecular balance between Angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) and Angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) has important effects in tumor angiogenesis. Ang-2 was shown to be elevated and proved to be a prognostic factor in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). To date studies revealed increased angiogenesis in bone marrows (BMs) of both myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) and AML patients. We conducted this study to demonstrate circulating levels of Ang-1 and Ang-2 in MPN patients since no data exists in literature. Thirty-three newly diagnosed MPN, 27 newly diagnosed AML patients and 25 controls (HC) were enrolled and Angiopoietin levels were determined with ELISA. We found that Ang-1 levels were higher whereas Ang-2 levels were lower in MPN and HC when compared to AML. Our results suggest that though angiogenesis is increased in both AML and MPN, angiopoietin serum level profile of the two diseases are different, and MPN patients have similar Ang-1 and Ang-2 levels as HC. We conclude that, according to our results Ang-1 and Ang-2 do not only regulate tumor angiogenesis and the difference between angiopoietin levels of acute and chronic myeloid neoplasms could be a reflection of other effects of these growth factors on tumor malignancy.

The effect of metformin on mean platelet volume in diabetic patients.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Metformin, the most commonly used antidiabetic, also has an antiatherogenic effect. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is increased in patients with high thrombogenic activation and also at risk for atherosclerosis. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of metformin on MPV values in newly diagnosed type II DM patients on metformin monotherapy. In this study, 60 newly diagnosed type II DM patients (45 females, 15 males), who had applied to the Kocaeli University School of Medicine Endocrinology outpatient clinic, and 47 healthy individuals (35 females, 12 males) were included. The two groups have similarity for age, sex and body mass index. The patients with additional disease, nephropathy, smoking and using drugs that may affect the MPV were excluded. At baseline and 6 months after metformin treatment, patient demographics and laboratory values were compared. MPV was higher among type II DM patients than the control group (p < 0.001). After 6 months of metformin treatment, MPV values were significantly decreased (p < 0.001). HbA1c and mean platelet mass were also significantly decreased (p = 0.022 and 0.001, respectively). There was no correlation between MPV and HbA1c values (r = -0.13, p = 0.926). Metformin, which has been shown to exhibit antiatherogenic effect through positive effects on cholesterol levels, inflammatory markers and vascular adhesion molecules, decreased MPV values that appear to play a crucial role at the beginning of atherosclerosis development. We conclude that our result may contribute to the explanation for antiatherogenic effect of metformin.