Ultrasensitive and Multiple Biomarker Discrimination for Alzheimer's Disease via Plasmonic & Microfluidic Sensing Technologies.

As the population ages, the worldwide prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) as the most common dementia in the elderly is increasing dramatically. However, a long-term challenge is to achieve rapid and accurate early diagnosis of AD by detecting hallmarks such as amyloid beta (Aß42). Here, a multi-channel microfluidic-based plasmonic fiber-optic biosensing platform is established for simultaneous detection and differentiation of multiple AD biomarkers. The platform is based on a gold-coated, highly-tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG) and a custom-developed microfluidics. TFBG excites a high-density, narrow-cladding-mode spectral comb that overlaps with the broad absorption of surface plasmons for high-precision interrogation, enabling ultrasensitive monitoring of analytes. In situ detection and in-parallel discrimination of different forms of Aß42 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are successfully demonstrated with a detection of limit in the range of ≈30-170 pg mL-1, which is one order of magnitude below the clinical cut-off level in AD onset, providing high detection sensitivity for early diagnosis of AD. The integration of the TFBG sensor with multi-channel microfluidics enables simultaneous detection of multiple biomarkers using sub-µL sample volumes, as well as combining initial binding rate and real-time response time to differentiate between multiple biomarkers in terms of binding kinetics. With the advantages of multi-parameter, low consumption, and highly sensitive detection, the sensor represents an urgently needed potentials for large-scale diagnosis of diseases at early stage.

In situ surface turbidity sensor based on localized light scattering from tilted fiber Bragg gratings.

We propose a compact fiber-optic sensor for in situ and continuous turbidity monitoring, based on surface optical scattering of polarized evanescent waves from targeted particles. The sensor is composed of a tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG) packaged inside a microfluidic capillary. The transmission spectrum of the TFBG provides a fine comb of narrow cladding resonances that are highly sensitive to the turbidity due to the localized light scattering of polarized evanescent waves from the microparticles near the fiber surface (as opposed to traditional bulk/volumetric turbidity measurement). We also propose a transmission spectral area interrogation method and quantify the repeatable correlation between the surface turbidity and the optical spectral area response. We show that the maximum sensitive turbidity response is achieved when the wavelength of the sensing cladding resonance matches the size of surrounding solid particles.

Operando monitoring of dendrite formation in lithium metal batteries via ultrasensitive tilted fiber Bragg grating sensors.

Lithium (Li) dendrite growth significantly deteriorates the performance and shortens the operation life of lithium metal batteries. Capturing the intricate dynamics of surface localized and rapid mass transport at the electrolyte-electrode interface of lithium metal is essential for the understanding of the dendrite growth process, and the evaluation of the solutions mitigating the dendrite growth issue. Here we demonstrate an approach based on an ultrasensitive tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG) sensor which is inserted close to the electrode surface in a working lithium metal battery, without disturbing its operation. Thanks to the superfine optical resonances of the TFBG, in situ and rapid monitoring of mass transport kinetics and lithium dendrite growth at the nanoscale interface of lithium anodes have been achieved. Reliable correlations between the performance of different natural/artificial solid electrolyte interphases (SEIs) and the time-resolved optical responses have been observed and quantified, enabling us to link the nanoscale ion and SEI behavior with the macroscopic battery performance. This new operando tool will provide additional capabilities for parametrization of the batteries' electrochemistry and help identify the optimal interphases of lithium metal batteries to enhance battery performance and its safety.

Operando monitoring of thermal runaway in commercial lithium-ion cells via advanced lab-on-fiber technologies.

Operando monitoring of complex physical and chemical activities inside rechargeable lithium-ion batteries during thermal runaway is critical to understanding thermal runaway mechanisms and giving early warning of safety-related failure. However, most existing sensors cannot survive during such extremely hazardous thermal runaway processes (temperature up to 500 °C accompanied by fire and explosion). To address this, we develop a compact and multifunctional optical fiber sensor (12 mm in length and 125 µm in diameter) capable of insertion into commercial 18650 cells to continuously monitor internal temperature and pressure effects during cell thermal runaway. We observe a stable and reproducible correlation between the cell thermal runaway and the optical response. The sensor's signal shows two internal pressure peaks corresponding to safety venting and initiation of thermal runaway. Further analysis reveals that a scalable solution for predicting imminent thermal runaway is the detection of the abrupt turning range of the differential curves of cell temperature and pressure, which corresponds to an internal transformation between the cell reversible and irreversible reactions. By raising an alert even before safety venting, this new operando measurement tool can provide crucial capabilities in cell safety assessment and warning of thermal runaway.

Full-spectrum nonmetallic plasmonic carriers for efficient isopropanol dehydration.

Plasmonic hot carriers have the advantage of focusing, amplifying, and manipulating optical signals via electron oscillations which offers a feasible pathway to influence catalytic reactions. However, the contribution of nonmetallic hot carriers and thermal effects on the overall reactions are still unclear, and developing methods to enhance the efficiency of the catalysis is critical. Herein, we proposed a new strategy for flexibly modulating the hot electrons using a nonmetallic plasmonic heterostructure (named W18O49-nanowires/reduced-graphene-oxides) for isopropanol dehydration where the reaction rate was 180-fold greater than the corresponding thermocatalytic pathway. The key detail to this strategy lies in the synergetic utilization of ultraviolet light and visible-near-infrared light to enhance the hot electron generation and promote electron transfer for C-O bond cleavage during isopropanol dehydration reaction. This, in turn, results in a reduced reaction activation barrier down to 0.37 eV (compared to 1.0 eV of thermocatalysis) and a significantly improved conversion efficiency of 100% propylene from isopropanol. This work provides an additional strategy to modulate hot carrier of plasmonic semiconductors and helps guide the design of better catalytic materials and chemistries.

Operando optical fiber monitoring of nanoscale and fast temperature changes during photo-electrocatalytic reactions.

In situ and continuous monitoring of thermal effects is essential for understanding photo-induced catalytic processes at catalyst's surfaces. However, existing techniques are largely unable to capture the rapidly changing temperatures occurring in sub-µm layers at liquid-solid interfaces exposed to light. To address this, a sensing system based on a gold-coated conventional single-mode optical fiber with a tilted fiber Bragg grating inscribed in the fiber core is proposed and demonstrated. The spectral transmission from these devices is made up of a dense comb of narrowband resonances that can differentiate between localized temperatures rapid changes at the catalyst's surface and those of the environment. By using the gold coating of the fiber as an electrode in an electrochemical reactor and exposing it to light, thermal effects in photo-induced catalysis at the interface can be decoded with a temperature resolution of 0.1 °C and a temporal resolution of 0.1 sec, without perturbing the catalytic operation that is measured simultaneously. As a demonstration, stable and reproducible correlations between the light-to-heat conversion and catalytic activities over time were measured for two different catalysis processes (linear and nonlinear). These kinds of sensing applications are ideally suited to the fundamental qualities of optical fiber sensors, such as their compact size, flexible shape, and remote measurement capability, thereby opening the way for various thermal monitoring in hard-to-reach spaces and rapid catalytic reaction processes.

Combined physical confinement and chemical adsorption on co-doped hollow TiO2 for long-term cycle lithium-sulfur batteries.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have long been expected to be promising high-energy-density secondary batteries because of their high theoretical specific capacity and element abundances. Yet, their poor cyclability and low rate-capacity strongly limited their practical application. Herein, a nitrogen and sulfur dual doped hollow TiO2 sphere is designed and synthesized for the sulfur host. The dual doped hollow TiO2 can enhance the adsorption ability of soluble lithium polysulfides, which effectively promote the conversion reaction of lithium polysulfides from high-order to low-order in Li-S batteries. What is more, the hollow spherical TiO2 host provides a deposition space for lithium polysulfides and blocks polysulfide migration from the cathode to the electrolyte. Both theoretical calculations and experimental studies confirmed that the electrochemical properties of the sulfur electrode are significantly improved by the dual doped hollow TiO2 sphere. The typical as-prepared dual doped hollow TiO2 cathode coated sulfur has a capacity of 1258 mA h g-1 for the first discharge and a capacity decay as low as 0.0648% per cycle during 500 cycles with a sulfur loading of 3.8 mg cm-2.

Fast-Response Oxygen Optical Fiber Sensor based on PEA2 SnI4 Perovskite with Extremely Low Limit of Detection.

Oxygen sensor is an important technique in various applications including industrial process control, medical equipment, biological fabrication, etc. The reported optical fiber-based configurations so far, using gas-sensitive coating do not meet the stringent performance targets, such as fast response time and low limit of detection (LOD). Tin-based halide perovskites are sensitive to oxygen with potential use for sensor applications. Here, the halide perovskite-based oxygen optical fiber sensor by combining phenylethylammonium tin iodide (PEA2 SnI4 ) and tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG) is demonstrated. The PEA2 SnI4 -based oxygen optical fiber sensor is reversible at room temperature with a response time of about 10 s, and the experimental LOD approaches to an extremely low oxygen concentration of about 50 ppm. The as-fabricated oxygen sensor shows a relative response change of 0.6 dB for an oxygen concentration increase from 50 ppm to 5% with good gas selection against NO2 , CO, CO2 , H2 . This work extends the sensor applications of halide perovskites, providing a novel technique for rapid and repeatable oxygen gas detection at a low level.

Operando monitoring of ion activities in aqueous batteries with plasmonic fiber-optic sensors.

Understanding ion transport kinetics and electrolyte-electrode interactions at electrode surfaces of batteries in operation is essential to determine their performance and state of health. However, it remains a challenging task to capture in real time the details of surface-localized and rapid ion transport at the microscale. To address this, a promising approach based on an optical fiber plasmonic sensor capable of being inserted near the electrode surface of a working battery to monitor its electrochemical kinetics without disturbing its operation is demonstrated using aqueous Zn-ion batteries as an example. The miniature and chemically inert sensor detects perturbations of surface plasmon waves propagating on its surface to rapidly screen localized electrochemical events on a sub-µm-scale thickness adjacent to the electrode interface. A stable and reproducible correlation between the real-time ion insertions over charge-discharge cycles and the optical plasmon response has been observed and quantified. This new operando measurement tool will provide crucial additional capabilities to battery monitoring methods and help guide the design of better batteries with improved electro-chemistries.

Nb2CTx MXene-tilted fiber Bragg grating optofluidic system based on photothermal spectroscopy for pesticide detection.

An optofluidic system based on photothermal spectroscopy is proposed, which combines molecular photothermal effect with Nb2CTx MXene-tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG) for the detection of organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) with temperature compensated. Under the irradiation of excitation light, the photothermal effect of OPs produces a detectable change in the refractive index of the sample, and the concentration of chlorpyrifos can be quantified using TFBG. The Nb2CTx MXene coated TFBG allow more molecules to be absorbed on the surface of TFBG, which enhances the interaction between light and matter, and improves the sensitivity of detection. The temperature compensation is performed by referring to the core mode of TFBG, thereby eliminating the influence of ambient temperature on the photothermal detection. The experimental results show that the sensitivity reaches 1.8 pm/ppm with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.35 ppm, and the obtained temperature compensation coefficient is 4.84 ppm/°C. This photothermal biosensor has the advantages of low LOD, temperature compensation and real-time online monitoring, making it a good candidate in medicine, chemistry and environmental monitoring.

Ultrasensitive detection of endocrine disruptors via superfine plasmonic spectral combs.

The apparent increase in hormone-induced cancers and disorders of the reproductive tract has led to a growing demand for new technologies capable of detecting endocrine disruptors. However, a long-lasting challenge unaddressed is how to achieve ultrahigh sensitive, continuous, and in situ measurement with a portable device for in-field and remote environmental monitoring. Here we demonstrate a simple-to-implement plasmonic optical fiber biosensing platform to achieve an improved light-matter interaction and advanced surface chemistry for ultrasensitive detection of endocrine disruptors. Our platform is based on a gold-coated highly tilted fiber Bragg grating that excites high-density narrow cladding mode spectral combs that overlap with the broad absorption of the surface plasmon for high accuracy interrogation, hence enabling the ultrasensitive monitoring of refractive index changes at the fiber surface. Through the use of estrogen receptors as the model, we design an estradiol-streptavidin conjugate with the assistance of molecular dynamics, converting the specific recognition of environmental estrogens (EEs) by estrogen receptor into surface-based affinity bioassay for protein. The ultrasensitive platform with conjugate-induced amplification biosensing approach enables the subsequent detection for EEs down to 1.5 × 10-3 ng ml-1 estradiol equivalent concentration level, which is one order lower than the defined maximal E2 level in drinking water set by the Japanese government. The capability to detect EEs down to nanogram per liter level is the lowest limit of detection for any estrogen receptor-based detection reported thus far. Its compact size, flexible shape, and remote operation capability open the way for detecting other endocrine disruptors with ultrahigh sensitivity and in various hard-to-reach spaces, thereby having the potential to revolutionize environment and health monitoring.

Discrimination of Bulk and Surface Refractive Index Change in Plasmonic Sensors with Narrow Bandwidth Resonance Combs.

A method to enable surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors to discriminate between bulk and surface-localized refractive index changes is demonstrated with modified gold-coated tilted fiber Bragg grating SPR sensors (TFBG-SPR). Without this capability, all high-resolution SPR sensors should be using reference channels and strict temperature control to prevent the contamination of the desired detection of surface-localized chemical or binding events by drift of the refractive index of the medium, in which the experiment is carried out. The very fine comb of high-quality-factor resonances of a TFBG-SPR device coupled to the large differential sensitivity of some of the resonances to various perturbations is used to measure unambiguously the refractive index changes within a surface layer thinner than 25 nm from those of the bulk surrounding. The enabling modification of the conventional TFBG-SPR is a reduction of the gold coating from its optimum value near 50-30 nm: at this lower thickness, a surface plasmon wave can still be excited by a limited number of cladding mode resonances, but at the same time, the metal is thin enough to allow modes away from the SPR to tunnel across the metal and probe the bulk RI value. Measurements and simulations of the deposition of a self-assembled monolayer of 1-dodecanethiol in ethanol show that the bulk refractive index changes as small as 0.0004 can be distinguished from the formation of a 1 nm thick coating on the surface of the fiber.

Selective detection of cadmium ions using plasmonic optical fiber gratings functionalized with bacteria.

Environmental monitoring and potable water control are key applications where optical fiber sensing solutions can outperform other technologies. In this work, we report a highly sensitive plasmonic fiber-optic probe that has been developed to determine the concentration of cadmium ions (Cd2+) in solution. This original sensor was fabricated by immobilizing the Acinetobacter sp. around gold-coated tilted fiber Bragg gratings (TFBGs). To this aim, the immobilization conditions of bacteria on the gold-coated optical fiber surface were first experimentally determined. Then, the coated sensors were tested in vitro. The relative intensity of the sensor response experienced a change of 1.1 dB for a Cd2+ concentration increase from 0.1 to 1000 ppb. According to our test procedure, we estimate the experimental limit of detection to be close to 1 ppb. Cadmium ions strongly bind to the sensing surface, so the sensor exhibits a much higher sensitivity to Cd2+ than to other heavy metal ions such as Pb2+, Zn2+ and CrO42- found in contaminated water, which ensures a good selectivity.

Association of Overlapped and Un-overlapped Comorbidities with COVID-19 Severity and Treatment Outcomes: A Retrospective Cohort Study from Nine Provinces in China.

OBJECTIVE: Several COVID-19 patients have overlapping comorbidities. The independent role of each component contributing to the risk of COVID-19 is unknown, and how some non-cardiometabolic comorbidities affect the risk of COVID-19 remains unclear. METHODS: A retrospective follow-up design was adopted. A total of 1,160 laboratory-confirmed patients were enrolled from nine provinces in China. Data on comorbidities were obtained from the patients' medical records. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratio ( OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of the associations between comorbidities (cardiometabolic or non-cardiometabolic diseases), clinical severity, and treatment outcomes of COVID-19. RESULTS: Overall, 158 (13.6%) patients were diagnosed with severe illness and 32 (2.7%) had unfavorable outcomes. Hypertension (2.87, 1.30-6.32), type 2 diabetes (T2DM) (3.57, 2.32-5.49), cardiovascular disease (CVD) (3.78, 1.81-7.89), fatty liver disease (7.53, 1.96-28.96), hyperlipidemia (2.15, 1.26-3.67), other lung diseases (6.00, 3.01-11.96), and electrolyte imbalance (10.40, 3.00-26.10) were independently linked to increased odds of being severely ill. T2DM (6.07, 2.89-12.75), CVD (8.47, 6.03-11.89), and electrolyte imbalance (19.44, 11.47-32.96) were also strong predictors of unfavorable outcomes. Women with comorbidities were more likely to have severe disease on admission (5.46, 3.25-9.19), while men with comorbidities were more likely to have unfavorable treatment outcomes (6.58, 1.46-29.64) within two weeks. CONCLUSION: Besides hypertension, diabetes, and CVD, fatty liver disease, hyperlipidemia, other lung diseases, and electrolyte imbalance were independent risk factors for COVID-19 severity and poor treatment outcome. Women with comorbidities were more likely to have severe disease, while men with comorbidities were more likely to have unfavorable treatment outcomes.

Palladium-coated plasmonic optical fiber gratings for hydrogen detection.

Surface plasmon resonance excitation with tilted fiber Bragg gratings has been typically studied using gold films to target biochemical sensing applications. However, surface plasmons can be excited on other metal coatings as well. In this work, plasmonic optical fiber grating platforms are developed using palladium films. Since the optical properties of this metal differ from the ones of gold, simulations are carried out to define the optimal thickness. Due to the phase transition of palladium in the presence of hydrogen, intensity changes in the optical transmission of the devices are produced. It is demonstrated that these platforms can be used for hydrogen detection at concentrations way below the lower explosive limit.

Extracellular regulated kinase 5 mediates osteoporosis through modulating viability and apoptosis of osteoblasts in ovariectomized rats.

Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a common condition characterized by the increase and activation of osteoclasts. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 5 (ERK-5) on postmenopausal osteoporosis by regulating the biological behaviors of osteoblasts. Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were ovariectomized to develop an osteoporosis model. A lentivirus packaging system was employed to generate lentiviruses capable of up- or down-regulating the expression of ERK-5 in ovariectomized rats. The femoral biomechanical properties, bone mineral density (BMD), contents of calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and bone turnover markers in rats, as well as viability, cycle and apoptosis of osteoblasts and ALP activity in osteoblasts were measured in the ovariectomized rats so as to explore the functional significance of ERK-5 in postmenopausal osteoporosis. The femoral mechanical strength of ovariectomized rats was enhanced by overexpression of ERK-5. Meanwhile femoral BMD, and bone metabolism were increased, and bone turnover normalized in the ovariectomized rats when ERK-5 was overexpressed. Lentivirus-mediated ERK-5 overexpression in osteoblasts was observed to inhibit osteoblast apoptosis, and promote viability, accompanied with increased ALP activity. Taken together, ERK-5 could decelerate osteoblast apoptosis and improve postmenopausal osteoporosis by increasing osteoblast viability. Thus, our study provides further understanding on a promising therapeutic target for postmenopausal osteoporosis.

A 3-Dimensional Finite Element Analysis of Adjacent Segment Disk Degeneration Induced by Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion After Pedicle Screw Fixation.

BACKGROUND: Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) is an effective treatment of upper lumbar intervertebral disk herniation. However, its clinical efficacy for adjacent segment disk degeneration (ASDD) remains undefined. Therefore, the biomechanical evaluation of ASDD caused by TLIF after pedicle screw fixation (PSF) was explored via a 3-dimensional (3D) finite element analysis. METHODS: Computed tomography images of a healthy male adult volunteer were used in this study. A L3-4 3D finite element model (model) was successfully constructed using Pro/E software, which was also used to establish the L4-5 of the TLIF, PSF, and PSF + TLIF models. Under the same loading conditions, the protrusion and retraction of the adjacent intervertebral disk and the stress distribution of the annulus fibrosis, facet joint, and articular process in the TLIF, PSF, and PSF + TLIF models were all compared. RESULTS: Protrusion and retraction of the adjacent intervertebral disk were more notable in the PSF + TLIF model than in the PSF model under the same loading conditions. The stress of the annulus fibrosis of the PSF + TLIF model was stronger relative to that of the PSF model under flexion, extension, or lateral bending. The stress of the articular process of the PSF + TLIF model was also stronger than that of the PSF model under extension or lateral bending. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence that TLIF may aggravate ASDD after PSF. Furthermore, the findings provided in this report represent the theoretic basis for the clinical analysis of ASDD caused by TLIF after PSF.

Improved detection sensitivity of γ-aminobutyric acid based on graphene oxide interface on an optical microfiber.

Interfacing bio-recognition elements to optical materials is a longstanding challenge to manufacture sensitive biosensors and inexpensive diagnostic devices. In this work, a graphene oxide (GO) interface has been constructed between silica microfiber and bio-recognition elements to develop an improved γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) sensing approach. The GO interface, which was located at the site with the strongest evanescent field on the microfiber surface, improved the detection sensitivity by providing a larger platform for more bio-recognition element immobilization, and amplifying surface refractive index change caused by combination between bio-recognition elements and target molecules. Owing to the interface improvement, the microfiber has a three times improved sensitivity of 1.03 nm/log M for GABA detection, and hence a lowest limit of detection of 2.91 × 10-18 M, which is 7 orders of magnitude higher than that without the GO interface. Moreover, the micrometer-sized footprint and non-radioactive nature enable easy implantation in human brains for in vivo applications.

Hydrogen peroxide and glucose concentration measurement using optical fiber grating sensors with corrodible plasmonic nanocoatings.

We propose and demonstrate hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and glucose concentration measurements using a plasmonic optical fiber sensor. The sensor utilizes a tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG) written in standard single mode communication fiber. The fiber is over coated with an nm-scale film of silver that supports surface plasmon resonances (SPRs). Such a tilted grating SPR structure provides a high density of narrow spectral resonances (Q-factor about 105) that overlap with the broader absorption band of the surface plasmon waves in the silver film, thereby providing an accurate tool to measure small shifts of the plasmon resonance frequencies. The H2O2 to be detected acts as an oxidant to etch the silver film, which has the effect of gradually decreasing the SPR attenuation. The etching rate of the silver film shows a clear relationship with the H2O2 concentration so that monitoring the progressively increasing attenuation of a selected surface plasmon resonance over a few minutes enables us to measure the H2O2 concentration with a limit of detection of 0.2 µM. Furthermore, the proposed method can be applied to the determination of glucose in human serum for a concentration range from 0 to 12 mM (within the physiological range of 3-8 mM) by monitoring the H2O2 produced by an enzymatic oxidation process. The sensor does not require accurate temperature control because of the inherent temperature insensitivity of TFBG devices referenced to the core mode resonance. A gold mirror coated on the fiber allows the sensor to work in reflection, which will facilitate the integration of the sensor with a hypodermic needle for in vitro measurements. The present study shows that Ag-coated TFBG-SPR can be applied as a promising type of sensing probe for optical detection of H2O2 and glucose detection in human serum.

Predictive value of microRNA-132 and its target gene NAG-1 in evaluating therapeutic efficacy of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs treatment in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a common chronic rheumatic disorder, accompanied by the differential expression of various microRNAs (miRNAs) in patients suffering from the condition, some of which have the potential to serve as novel complementary AS biomarkers. During this study, AS patients were recruited in connection with our investigation into the correlation of microRNA-132 (miR-132) in peripheral blood and its target gene NAG-1 expressions in relation with the clinical efficacy of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) treatment in patients with AS. A total of 218 AS patients who had been previously treated with oral diclofenac sodium and were placed into either the response (n = 175) or non-response groups (n = 43) following a 16-week period of therapeutic evaluation. An additional 113 healthy patients were also recruited for the purposes of the study. AS patient peripheral blood samples were obtained at the 0th, 8th, and 16th week, with the corresponding samples of the healthy patients collected at week 0. The expressions of miR-132 and NAG-1 were detected by RT-qPCR and analyzed using a ROC curve for the elucidation of the diagnostic value of peripheral blood miR-132 expressions as well as their predictive value among AS patients undergoing NSAIDs treatment. The targeting relations of miR-132 and NAG-1 were validated by microRNA.org and luciferase assay. Greater levels of peripheral blood miR-132 expression were observed among AS patients prior to treatment, in comparison to the healthy patients in the study. Prior to treatment, the area under the miR-132 ROC curve (AUC) of AS patients was 0.965, with a critical point of 2.605. The sensitivity and specificity of miR-132 were 91.7 and 97.3%, respectively, in regard to the AS diagnostic clinical efficacy. In comparison with the non-response group, the miR-132 expression of patients in the response group exhibited descended levels while the mRNA expression of NAG-1 increased. The ROC results indicated that the AUC of miR-132 was 0.876 with its sensitivity and specificity observed to be 95.3 and 80.0%, respectively. The AUC of NAG-1 was 0.912 with its sensitivity and specificity observed to be 76.6 and 79.1%, respectively. In comparison with the high miR-132 expression group and the low NAG-1 mRNA expression group, significantly improved blood biochemistry indexes, sign indexes, blood indexes, and adverse reaction rate were observed among the low miR-132 expression group and the high NAG-1 mRNA expression group. The microRNA.org and luciferase assay revealed NAG-1 to be a target of miR-132. Based on the results of this study, it was concluded that the expressions of MiR-132 and NAG-1 could serve as biological markers in the prediction of the therapeutic efficiency of NSAID treatment in AS patients.