Journal of investigative medicine : the official publication of the American Federation for Clinical Research
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To investigate the predictive ability of serum matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in the acute phase of Kawasaki disease (KD) with coronary artery lesions (CALs). Patients with KD hospitalized in Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Northwest China, from November 2015 to January 2018 were retrospectively reviewed, and clinical trial indicators and peripheral blood specimens were collected before intravenous immunoglobulin therapy treatment. The independent risk factors were determined using multivariate regression analysis. ⋯ Logistic regression analysis revealed that long-term fever; elevated CRP, ESR, platelets (PLT), and MMP-9; and low albumin (ALB) levels were independent predictors of KD with CALs. A predictive model of KD with CALs using fever duration, CRP, ESR, PLT, and ALB showed significantly improved predictive ability when MMP-9 was added to the model (the area under the curve increased by 0.02; no change in sensitivity; specificity increased from 81.48% to 87.04%; NRI value: 13.46%; IDI value: 5.00%, p<0.05). Adding MMP-9 to traditional risk factors may improve prediction of CALs, the overall predictive ability of model 2 was increased by 5%.
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It has been suggested that immune-inflammatory processes might be involved in the etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia. Since growing evidence indicates that adipokines strongly modulate the course of immune response and inflammatory processes, it is currently suggested the contribution of those factors in the etiology of schizophrenia as well. The aim of this study was to determine the serum levels of 4 adipokines-apelin, resistin, chemerin, and omentin-in patients with schizophrenia as compared with healthy subjects. ⋯ A significant difference in apelin level between men with schizophrenia and control group (p=0.04) was reported. Apelin concentration was significantly correlated with waist-to-hip ratio, whereas chemerin concentration was significantly correlated with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale G score. There exists evidence that apelin might be involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.
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The study aimed to compare the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with different types (ordinary, severe, and critical) of COVID-19. A total of 1280 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were retrospectively studied, including 793 ordinary patients, 363 severe patients and 124 critical patients. The impact of comorbidities on prognosis in ordinary, severe, and critical patients were compared and analyzed. ⋯ The mortality rate of critical patients with diabetes was higher than that of patients without diabetes (71.4% vs 42.7%, p<0.05). Men had a significantly increased risk of death than women (OR=4.395, 95% CI 1.896 to 10.185, p<0.05); patients with diabetes had higher risk of death (OR=3.542, 95% CI 1.167 to 10.750, p<0.05). Comorbidities prolonged treatment time in ordinary patients, increased the mortality rate and reduced the cure rate of critical patients; hypertension and diabetes may be important factors affecting the clinical course and prognosis of ordinary and critical patients, respectively.
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COVID-19 raised tension both within China and internationally. Here, we used mathematical modeling to predict the trend of patient diagnosis outside China in future, with the aim of easing anxiety regarding the emergent situation. According to all diagnosis number from WHO website and combining with the transmission mode of infectious diseases, the mathematical model was fitted to predict future trend of outbreak. ⋯ Based on this model, we estimate that there were approximately 34 undetected founder patients at the beginning of the spread of COVID-19 outside China. The global trend was approximately exponential, with an increase rate of 10-fold every 19 days. Through establishment of this model, we call for worldwide strong public health actions, with reference to the experiences learned from China and Singapore.
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Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common dermatological neoplasms in Caucasian populations. In Mexico, a prevalence of 3.9 per 1000 habitants is estimated. Recently, the macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) has been related to different types of cancer. ⋯ Furthermore, the haplotype 7G showed a significant association with BCC (p=0.02, OR=1.99). Concerning MIF soluble levels, patients with BCC showed a media of 2.1 ng/mL and CS showed 4.4 ng/mL, the comparison between groups was significant (p<0.01). Our findings suggest that the 55 genotype and the haplotype 7G are associated with the susceptibility to BCC; furthermore, a significant difference was found between MIF soluble levels in both study groups.