Journal of investigative medicine : the official publication of the American Federation for Clinical Research
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In this retrospective cohort study, we investigated the prognostic value of sarcopenia evaluated by Computed Tomography (CT)-based indices for adverse hospitalization outcomes in patients with acute infections. We analyzed data from 225 patients admitted to the hospital for acute infections between 2019 and 2020. Patients who had undergone an abdominal CT scan either up to 1 month before or within the first 3 days of hospitalization were included. ⋯ Notably, patients with both low SMI and pMD exhibited the poorest hospitalization outcomes: aOR for 1-year mortality 5.015 (95% CI 1.767-14.23, p = 0.002), and prolonged length of stay aOR 3.197, (95% CI 1.159-8.821, p = 0.025). CT-based muscle indices serve as independent prognostic factors in medical patients admitted with acute infection. Incorporating radiological assessments of sarcopenia into routine care for hospitalized patients with acute infection may enable risk stratification and early intervention in reversible conditions.
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Infection with Borrelia burgdorferi can spread and cause central nervous system involvement, known as neuroborreliosis. Microglia phagocytose bacteria, mediate inflammation, and elicit an immune response toward the spirochete. Like other tissue macrophages, microglia can polarize into two different modulatory phenotypes, M1 and M2. ⋯ A decrease of iNOS at 4 h of infection suggests a diminished production of reactive nitrogen species that are a critical component of innate defense against infection. Increased iNOS and simultaneously decreased expression of CX3CR1 at 24 h, may suggest initiation of neuroprotective regulation of microglia recruitment to neuroinflammation. The dynamics of major inflammatory cytokines appear to be important in the microglial response to B. burgdorferi and should be further studied as these could become therapeutic targets in neuroborreliosis.
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Cisplatin (DDP) resistance represents a pivotal contributing factor to chemotherapy failure and adverse patient outcomes in gastric cancer (GC). The objective of the present study was to investigate the roles and underlying mechanisms of myocyte enhancer factor 2A (MEF2A) in DDP resistance in GC. GC cell line AGS and MKN-45 cells were applied to construct DDP-resistant cells. ⋯ Mechanistically, MEF2A acts as a transcriptional activator of NFKBIA, which led to the reduction of phosphorylation of p65 and cytoplasmic retention. Moreover, MEF2A overexpression promoted the sensitivity of GC cells to DDP and tumor growth, whereas these effects were partially reversed by NFKBIA silence. Collectively, MEF2A mitigated the DDP resistance in GC cells by modulatory actions on the NFKBIA/NF-κB signaling, shedding light on MEF2A/NFKBIA might be a promising intervention target for improving DDP resistance in GC.
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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ranks as the fifth most common neoplasm and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Current serum biomarkers for HCC surveillance and early diagnosis, particularly alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) the most commonly used marker, lack satisfactory sensitivity and specificity, highlighting an urgent need for more effective markers with higher accuracy for early HCC detection. The downregulation of melanoma-associated antigen D1 (MAGE-D1) transcription plays a crucial role in apoptosis and inhibits cancer cell proliferation when expressed ectopically. ⋯ The performance of serum MAGED-1 expression in discrimination between HCC and chronic liver condition revealed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.939 using the cutoff (0.752) yielded a sensitivity of 90%, specificity of 85%, and an accuracy of 91%. Evaluation of the diagnostic significance of MAGED-1 demonstrated an AUC value of 0.726, with a sensitivity of 63.6% and a specificity of 73.5%. In conclusion, MAGED-1 might be a specific and sensitive biomarker for HCC, potentially improving the malignancy diagnosis and prognosis.
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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has caused a major global health crisis, primarily targets the upper and lower respiratory tract. But infected individuals may experience different clinical symptoms, ranging from asymptomatic to critical. The vitamin D receptor (VDR) and Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) polymorphisms play a role in the immune response. ⋯ There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of TLR2 23bp indel genotype and allele distribution (p > 0.05). Our study results suggest that the VDR BsmI b allele may have a role in COVID-19 patients with symptomatic findings. These data need to be repeated in different ethnic and larger sample groups.