European journal of clinical investigation
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Eur. J. Clin. Invest. · Aug 2021
Prognostic role of KL-6 in SSc-ILD patients with pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis.
Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) is a high-molecular-weight (200kDa) glycoprotein proposed as a diagnostic biomarker for differentiating interstitial lung disease (ILD). Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare immune-mediated disorder, and ILD is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (PPFE) has been described to have a poor prognosis in SSc-ILD patients. This study undertook to compare serial changes in KL-6 in SSc-ILD patients with and without PPFE, to verify its prognostic value as a disease biomarker. ⋯ These results suggest that serial measurements of KL-6 in the follow-up of these patients may help to monitor disease progression. In real life, in SSc-ILD patients PPFE should be always evaluated at CT and when present should suggest a tight follow-up to monitor its evolution.
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Eur. J. Clin. Invest. · Aug 2021
Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on routine oncology versus emergency care at a high volume cancer centre.
We investigated the influence of population-wide COVID-19 lockdown measures implemented on 16, March 2020 on routine and emergency care of cancer outpatients at a tertiary care cancer centre in Vienna, Austria. ⋯ We demonstrate the feasibility of maintaining antineoplastic therapy administration during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, our data underline the need for adapted management strategies for emergency presentations of cancer patients.
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Eur. J. Clin. Invest. · Aug 2021
Serum vaspin levels and carotid intima-media thickness in predialysis patients.
Visceral adipose tissue-derived serine proteinase inhibitor (vaspin) is an adipokine that correlates with insulin resistance and obesity in human beings. Previous studies have evaluated the serum vaspin levels in several diseases such as chronic haemodialysis patients and coronary artery disease. To our knowledge, serum vaspin levels have not yet been reported in predialysis patients. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) is a noninvasive procedure to detect early atherosclerotic changes. The aim of this study was to evaluate serum vaspin levels in predialysis patients and their relationships with glomerular filtration rate and CIMT levels. ⋯ This is the first report to describe the association between serum vaspin levels and CIMT in predialysis patients. We concluded that serum vaspin levels were decreased in predialysis patients than control subjects. In addition, serum vaspin levels were found to be significantly correlated with glomerular filtration rate and CIMT.
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Eur. J. Clin. Invest. · Aug 2021
Clustering of blood cell count abnormalities and future risk of death.
The identification of novel predictors of poor outcome may help stratify cardiovascular risk. Aim was to evaluate the individual contribution of blood cell count parameters, as well as their clustering, on the risk of death and cardiovascular events over the long term in the population-based Malmö Diet and Cancer Study cohort. ⋯ The easily assessable clustering of anaemia, leukocytosis and thrombocytosis heralds higher incidence of death and adverse cardiovascular events.
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Eur. J. Clin. Invest. · Aug 2021
MicroRNA-122 contributes to lipopolysaccharide-induced acute kidney injury via down-regulating the vitamin D receptor in the kidney.
Our previous studies showed that vitamin D receptor (VDR) depletion promotes lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) in mice, and renal VDR is down-regulated in AKI, but the mechanism of VDR down-regulation is unclear. ⋯ Collectively, these studies provide evidence that miR-122 directly targets VDR in renal tubular cells, which strongly suggest that miR-122 up-regulation in the kidney under LPS challenge contributes to kidney injury by down-regulating VDR expression.