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The assessment of senile frailty still implemented with scales and questionnaires. This subjective assessment method is prone to vary greatly with the assessors and scales. Therefore, it is particularly important to explore the Objective diagnosis basis of frailty.With the continuous development of population cohort and observational studies, great progress has been made in the serology of senile frailty.This article mainly reviews the influence mechanism of serum inflammatory factors, hormones, vitamins, homocysteine and related protein molecules on frailty and provides new ideas to further exploring the Objective diagnosis basis of frailty in the elderly.

Objective To explore the potential biomarkers of infantile hemangioma（IH） by bioinformatics methods.Methods The gene expression profile dataset（GSE127487） was downloaded from the GEO database in February 2022.The differentially expressed genes（DEGs） in the IH group and the healthy control group were analyzed with limma software package of R.Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses were performed on DEGs.The protein interaction network was analyzed by STRING,and hub gene, the key gene, was selected by different algorithms using Cytoscape software.The expression of each hub gene in the IH group and the healthy control group was calculated, and finally the diagnostic value of hub gene was verified by receiver operating characteristic（ROC） curve.Results There were 416 DEGs in GSE127487,which were mainly concentrated in vascular development, angiogenesis, development of cardiovascular system, etc, involved in the formation of extracellular matrix structure, molecular function regulation, growth factor binding, etc, and were enriched in signaling pathways such as leukocyte transendothelial migration, cell adhesion molecules, and contraction of vascular smooth muscle.A total of five hub genes, including PECAM1,CD34,CDH5,TEK and THY1,were screened, and their expressions were up-regulated in the IH group, and the area under the ROC curve was greater than 0.7.Conclusion The hub gene of IH is related to the occurrence and development of disease, and is a potential biomarker of IH,which is expected to become a target for diagnosis and treatment of IH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To explore the distribution status, characteristics and clinical significance of quantitative detection modes of five makers of hepatitis B[hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-HBV surface antibody (HBsAb), anti-HBV e antigen (HBeAg), anti-HBV e antibody (HBeAb) and anti-HBV core antibody (HbcAb) ]in the hospital, so as to obtain the prevalence rate of serum markers of HBV infection and realize the scientific management of prevention and treatment of hepatitis B. Methods A total of 16 246 patients in this hospital from October 2020 to October 2021 were selected to be tested for the five makers of hepatitis B using a fully automated chemiluminescent immunoassay analyzer CL6000i. The test results were also categorized and analyzed by different patterns and populations. Results There were 17 patterns in the five makers of hepatitis B in 16 246 patients, including nine common patterns, seven uncommon patterns and one rare pattern. In 16246 patients with hepatitis B, there were 16 128 common patterns (99. 27%), 114 uncommon patterns (0. 71%) and 4 rare patterns (0. 02%) . HBsAg, HBsAb, HBeAg, HBeAb, HBeAb and HBcAb positive rates were 10. 92% (1 774/16 246), 52. 83% (8 582/16 246), 2. 45% (398/16 246), 25. 70% (4 176/16 246) and 47. 90% (7 782/16 246), respectively. The positive rate of HBsAg in male patients[12. 54% (1 059/8 442) ]was significantly higher than that in females[8. 78% (685/7 804) ] (P<0. 05). The proportion of patients aged 30-<40 and 40-<50 years old was higher, which was 11. 13% and 11. 04%, respectively. Conclusion It is recommended that the results of quantitative detection of hepatitis B should be used for population screening and observation of the curative effect of patients with hepatitis B, so as to realize the scientific management of prevention and treatment of hepatitis B in different populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic ancestry inference refers to the application of ancestry inference of population genetics in forensic practice, which aims to assist police investigation and judicial trial. With the rapid development and extensive use of genomics, DNA as a direct carrier of genetic information, has soon replaced various phenotypic markers and become the main research topics of forensic ancestry inference. This paper reviews different kinds of genetic markers used for forensic ancestry inference, the statistical analysis methods applied, and the prospects of the development in this field.

Circular RNA （circRNA） is a type of noncoding RNA with tissue specificity and high stability, which forms a closed continuous loop and is abundantly expressed in tissue cells. According to recent research, the regulatory function of circRNA elucidating in the occurrence and development of disease shows a potential for diagnosing clinical disease and revealing disease mechanism. This paper reviews the biological characteristics, analysis methods of circRNA and its research progress in clinical application as biomarker, and outlooks its application in the field of forensic medicine.

Objective To characterize the biomarkers and immune cell infiltration for glomeruli of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Methods Differentially expressed genes (DEG) of glomeruli from in datasets GSE96804 and GSE30528 were identified, and functional enrichment analyses for DEG were performed by using the bioinformatics. Hub genes were extracted as the biomarkers of DKD by module analysis from the protein-protein interaction network (PPI). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) were applied to assess the diagnostic efficiency of Hub genes for DKD. The CIBERSORT algorithm was used to analyze the immune infiltration of glomeruli between DKD group (n=7) and the control group (n=4). The t test was used to compare the difference of gene expression and Wilcoxon test was used to compare the difference of immune infiltration between two groups. Results A total of 62 DEG, including 41 downregulated genes and 21 upregulated genes, were detected from the integrated dataset. They were enriched in 52 Gene Ontology terms and 4 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways. Furthermore, we identified ten Hub genes from the PPI network using module analysis, mainly related to extracellular matrix structural constituent, collagen binding, immune cell chemotaxis, extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-serine/threonine-protein kinase (PI3K-Akt) signaling pathway. Consistently, Hub genes showed a predictive effect for DKD by PCA and ROC curve analysis, and the value of area under curve was 0.945, 0.982 and 0.776 in GSE96804, GSE30528 and Merge datasets, respectively. Immune infiltration profiles revealed that compared with normal glomeruli, the glomeruli from DKD contained a higher proportion of M2 macrophages and resting mast cells [(2.77±2.42) % vs (8.68± 3.10) %, 0 vs (8.96±7.14) %, both P<0.05]. Conclusions Hub gene can be used as a biological marker of DKD glomerulopathy, and it has a certain predictive value for DKD. Macrophage infiltration is an important characteristic of DKD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the clinical value of serum uric acid (UA) and Creactive protein (CRP) expression in the onset of the patients with preeclampsia (PE). Methods A total of 160 patients with PE in the Zhenjiang Municipal Maternity and Child Health Care Hos pital from January 2013 to December 2018 were selected as the study group, including 80 mild cases and 80 severe cases, and 40 women with normal pregnancy were selected as the control group. The levels of serum UA and CRP were measured by using the automatic biochemical analyzer. Results The serum UA and CRP levels in the PE patients weresignificantly increased compared with those in the control group, moreover which in the patients with severe PE weresignificantly higher than those in t he patients with mild PE, the differences were statistically significant ( P < 0.05). Objective To investigate the clinical value of serum uric acid (UA) and Creactive protein (CRP) expression in the onset of the patients with preeclampsia (PE). Methods A total of 160 patients with PE in the Zhenjiang Municipal Maternity and Child Health Care Hos pital from January 2013 to December 2018 were selected as the study group, including 80 mild cases and 80 severe cases, and 40 women with normal pregnancy were selected as the control group. The levels of serum UA and CRP were measured by using the automatic biochemical analyzer. Results The serum UA and CRP levels in the PE patients weresignificantly increased compared with those in the control group, moreover which in the patients with severe PE were significantly higher than those in the patients with mild PE, the differences were statistically significant (P < 0. 05). The serum UA in the patients with se vere PE was positively correlated with CRP (P< 0.05), moreover UA had the positive correlation with blood pressure( diastolic and systolic pressures) (P<0. 05) . Conclusion Serum UA in PE promotes the CRP production. UA and CRP are the intrinsic biologic indicators reflecting the blood pressure situation, perhaps may serve as the serological indexes for early diagnosing to PE, and dynamic monitoring can be conducive to early prevention of PE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early detection and effective monitoring of the risk signals of drug-induced liver injury( DILI) are of great importance in the prevention and management of DILI in clinical practice. However,the lack of high sensitivity and strong specificity in the detection of risk signals brings great challenges to the identification and monitoring of risk signals and causes difficulties in establishing the strategies for the prevention and control of DILI. This article analyzes the challenges in the identification of DILI risk signals,summarizes the applicability and limitations of risk signals based on commonly used indices in early recognition,prediction,and early warning of DILI,proposes an identification and monitoring model for DILI risk signals based on specific biomarkers,and elaborates on their potential clinical values,so as to provide a scientific basis for developing targeted strategies for the prevention and control of the risk of DILI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy-specific disease characterized by multiple organ and system damage, which seriously threatens the life of pregnant women and perinatal infants. Because of the unclear pathogenesis and rapid progress in clinical manifestations, there is no pertinence in prevention, treatment and management. The results of active termination of pregnancy and conservative treatment are not satisfactory. PE is still the main cause of maternal and neonatal mortality in developing countries. Current studies have confirmed that early intervention and treatment of PE can effectively reduce maternal and infant mortality and improve prognosis. In recent years, early prediction of the occurrence of PE through serological examination has become a research hotspot, including various cytokines and cyclic RNA, microRNAs, long noncoding RNAs and exosomes, etc. Some of them have achieved good predictive results. This article reviews recent advances in predictive markers of peripheral blood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate judgment of conditions and prognosis has important clinical significance in improving survival rate and optimal distribution of liver source in patients with liver failure. This article reviews the current application of prognostic markers for liver failure such as alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, total bilirubin, prothrombin time, prothrombin time activity, and international normalized ratio and summarizes the new markers discovered in recent years, such as inflammatory response-related markers, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, immune response-related markers, keratin, intestinal flora, microRNAs, liver failure autoantigen and autoantibody, and hemodynamic disorder. It is pointed out that the prognosis of liver failure is affected by many factors and there is still a lack of more sensitive and effective markers and a standardized prognostic scoring system. The new markers used alone or in combination with traditional markers may help to improve the sensitivity and specificity of prognostic evaluation of liver failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug — induced liver injury ( DILI) is one of ihe main causes of acute liver failure, black box warnings, and drug withdrawal from the market, and it is also a major concern in public health, drug research and development, and the pharmaceutical industry. However, a lack of specific diagnostic markers for DILI makes the diagnosis of this disease a major challenge for clinicians. This article summarizes the recent advances in DILI research, including potential mechanisms, pathological features, biomarkers, and in vitro methods, in order to provide a reference for clinical and pathological diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of DILI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liver fibrosis/cirrhosis is the common pathological process of most chronic liver diseases. Many studies have confirmed that a certain degree of the reversal of liver fibrosis or cirrhosis can be achieved after effective treatment. How to use simple serological markers to e-valuate the reversal of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis is a research hotspot at present. This article summarizes the current status of the research on serological markers for the reversal of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of clinical studies have shown that effective etiological therapy might achieve the reversal of liver fibrosis/ early cirrhosis. An accurate assessment of fibrosis reversal is of great importance for treatment decision — making and prognosis prediction. At present, the “gold standard” for the histological evaluation of liver fibrosis/cirrhosis reversal remains to ho perfected, and there is still a controversy over the noninvasive assessment of fibrosis reversal. Long — term cohort studies are needed to observe whether it can improve clinical hard endpoint, and the clinical effect of new anti — fibrotic drugs needs to be further confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, many clinical studies have demonstrated that some patients can achieve the reversal of liver cirrhosis. Therefore, the methods for accurate assessment of whether the reversal of liver cirrhosis can be achieved and when it is achieved have become the hotspots in clinical research. This helps with the specific evaluation of therapeutic outcome, the adjustment of treatment regimen, and the prediction of prognosis. This article introduces the application of various indices after the reversal of liver cirrhosis due to different etiologies from the aspects of rioriinvasive models and liver biopsy, in order to search (or the methods that can accurately reflect the features of reversal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the clinical value of hepatitis B virus core-related antigen (HBcrAg) in predicting the natural course of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and liver fibrosis regression. Methods A total of 138 CHB patients who were admitted to 302 Hospital of PLA, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and Fuzhou Infectious Disease Hospital from January 2013 to December 2015 were enrolled and divided into HBeAg-positive group with 69 patients and HBeAg-negative group with 69 patients. Of all patients, 109 with an Ishak score of ≥3 were treated with entecavir for 72 weeks. Liver biopsy specimens and serum were collected at baseline and after 72 weeks of treatment to observe histopathology and HBcrAg level. The t-test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two group. The chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. A Spearman correlation analysis was also performed. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to analyze the value of HBcrAg in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis. Results In HBeAg-positive CHB patients, serum HBcrAg level was negatively correlated with liver fibrosis stage (r=-0.342, P=0.004); in HBeAg-negative CHB patients, serum HBcrAg level was positively correlated with liver fibrosis stage and inflammation (r=0.439 and 0.437, both P＜0.001). In HBeAg-positive patients, serum HBcrAg level had an AUC of 0.705 in predicting advanced liver fibrosis and 0.701 in predicting liver cirrhosis (both P＜0.05); in HBeAg-negative CHB patients, serum HBcrAg level had AUCs of 0.815, 0.815, 0.726, and 0.675 in predicting mild liver fibrosis, marked liver fibrosis, advanced liver fibrosis, and liver cirrhosis, respectively (all P＜0.05). After antiviral therapy, the group with a high serum HBcrAg level was more likely to experience liver fibrosis regression than that with a low level (53.7% vs 32.7%, χ2=4.888, P=0.027). The patients with liver fibrosis regression had a significantly greater reduction in serum HBcrAg level than those without regression［1.5 (0.4-3.2) log IU/ml vs 0.8 (0.1-1.8) log IU/ml, Z=-1.724, P=0.042］. Conclusion Serum HBcrAg can be used as a new marker in predicting liver fibrosis stage and liver fibrosis regression in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pathological and imaging diagnosis of glioma has significantly evolved in recent years. Glioma grading, together with a number of molecular genetic biomarkers, has been recognized as an important prognostic and predictive factor, which can also guide the treatment strategy of glioma. This article highlights the research progress of MRI for noninvasively grading and molecular characterization of gliomas, including diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI), perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). The multiparametric imaging data analysis could improve imaging diagnosis, introduce the potential to noninvasively detect underlying molecular features of glioma, finally improve the accuracy of prognosis prediction and guide the individual-based treatment for glioma patients. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2017.01.013

Inflammatory reaction plays a crucial role in the occurence and development of atherosclerosis. Both basic and clinical trials have provided evidence that the expression of inflammatory biomarkers are closely related with the degree of atherosclerosis. Treatment towards inflammatory factors would bring benefit to atherosclerotic patients. This review highlighted the mechanistic rationale and specific therapies targeting traditional and novel inflammatory biomarkers, including C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-17 (IL-17), secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2), lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2), endoglin, chemokine receptor and 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO), so as to review its mechanism of action and treatment prospect. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2016.09.004

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disease in the elderly. Early diagnosis and prediction plays an important role in early intervention and delaying disease progression of AD. This paper focused on the principles and process of pattern classification method, and its application in the clinical study and auxiliary diagnosis of AD. The biomarkers, neuroimaging and cognitive ability scales are important features for pattern classification. Various classification algorithms including Bayesian networks, decision trees, support vector machines (SVM) and multilayer perception have been adopted to distinguish AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and normal aging subjects. Besides, they can effectively trace and analyze MCI patients. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2015.07.005

DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2015.07.001

There is no epidemiological data of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in China. The application of updated diagnostic criteria, publishing of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) consensus in China, development of multimodal imaging and biomarkers promote the clinical understanding on behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). There is still no drugs treating FTD approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Multidisciplinary intervention may delay the progression of bvFTD. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2015.07.006

Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is one of the most serious complications of end-stage liver disease. Type Ⅰ/Ⅱ HRS has a high short-term mortality rate and poor prognosis. The diagnostic criteria for HRS based on serum creatinine cannot keep up with the world, and early diagnosis is of great importance to the treatment and prognosis of HRS. This article introduces the value and clinical significance of seven biomarkers for renal injury in the early diagnosis, differential diagnosis, and prognostic evaluation of HRS. It is pointed out that neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, interleukin-18, and kidney injury molecule-1 may be the biomarkers for early identification of renal injury in patients with liver cirrhosis. A combination of multiple biological indicators, imaging examination, and interventional techniques might be a feasible method for early diagnosis of HRS in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Serum biomarkers have been shown to be helpful for the diagnosis and treatment of lumbar disc degenerative diseases. Understanding the pathogenesis and development process of lumbar disc degenerative diseases through biomarkers is of great significance for the clinical diagnosis, prevention and treatment of lumbar disc degenerative diseases. OBJECTIVE: To review the literature concerning the biomarkers for lumbar disc degenerative diseases to further understand the pathogenesis and help to select new treatment methods. METHODS: SinoMed, VIP, WanFang and PubMed databases were retrieved for the literature published from January 1990 to May 2018 using the keywords of “intervertebral disc degeneration; biomarkers” in English and Chinese, respectively. Relevant articles were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The biomarkers and clinical application of lumbar disc degenerative diseases were summarized. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A total of 206 articles were collected and 32 eligible articles were enrolled after excluding repetitive studies. Various cytokines such as interleukin, interferon, tumor necrosis factor, vascular endothelial growth factor and chemokine were found to be related to lumbar disc degenerative diseases. The biomarkers related to degenerative disc diseases can be used for early diagnosis, disease progression and evaluation of therapeutic effect. However, the development of biomarkers is still limited, such as poor sensitivity and specificity of biomarkers for early lumbar disc degenerative changes, and influence of disease covariates (age, body mass index and depression), so a further investigation is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persistently high risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is one of the indispensable factors of cervical cancer, which is the secondly most common cancer of women in developing countries. Nowadays HPV DNA detection has been more frequently used in cervical cancer initial screening. However, the specificity and sensitivity of HPV DNA detection are low and the triage of HPV positive women is necessary to identify the authentically high-risk population, and avoid the waste of health care resource and excessive treatment. There are different advantages and disadvantages in triage methods including the cytology, HPV DNA genotype, HPV mRNA detection and biological markers such as p16/Ki-67, respectively. Here we briefly describe and evaluate each triage method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is defined as a sharp drop in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and a rapid increase in serum creatinine and is one of the most serious complications of liver failure. Early diagnosis and treatment play a vital role in reducing the mortality and improving the prognosis of liver failure. This article elaborates on the research advances in the diagnostic criteria, pathogenesis, biomarkers, clinical features, and treatment of AKI and points out that constant modification of the definition and staging of AKI and research and development of efficient biomarkers for AKI are future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Forensic Medicine / Fayixue Zazhi is the property of Journal of Forensic Medicine Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The etiology of recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) is very complicated. The prethrombotic state related to RSA is hotspot research in recent years. More and more research indicated that the pathogenic factor of RSA could include the coagulation factor V mutation, prothrombin gene polymorphism, MTFHR gene mutation, protein C deficiency, protein S defect, fibrinogen gene mutation, anti-phospholipid syndrome antibody, angiotensin converting enzyme gene insertion and deletion, and PAI-1 gene polymorphism. There is no sufficient evidence that low -molecular -weight heparin can improve pregnancy outcome in RSA the patients with prethrombotic state. Medical researchers still actively explore the therapeutic regimen of RSA the prethrombotic state related to RSA, and put forward some useful treatment suggestions based on their experience in treatment of RSA and in assisted reproductive technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution can lead to respiratory diseases and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Pregnant women in a high metabolic state are more sensitive to air pollutants, while the fetuses in a critical period of physiological development are also more sensitive to pollutants. Studies in recent years have shown that the exposure to air pollution is associated with several adverse perinatal outcomes, including spontaneous abortions, intrauterine growth retardation, preterm births, and low birth weight (LBW). However, the underlying mechanism is unclear. At present, many biomarkers of the exposure to air pollution, such as DNA adducts, were screened out by the applications of exposomics and metabonomics. Biomarkers can be used to reflect the level of internal exposure in an individual. It is thought that those biomarkers are more accurate than the monitoring of exposed contaminants. It is important that those biomarkers can be used to explore the potential mechanism of adverse pregnant outcomes related with the exposure to air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcoholic liver fibrosis is a series of pathological changes caused by excessive intrahepatic deposition of fibrous connective tissue due to hepatocyte inflammation and necrosis caused by excessive drinking. Laboratory markers help with the differentiation of alcoholic liver disease, and a combination of these markers and examination of liver fibrosis can be used for the diagnosis of alcoholic liver fibrosis. Liver biopsy remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis, but its clinical application is limited by its invasiveness. Therefore, more and more new serum molecular markers with a diagnostic value have been identified in recent years, and great breakthroughs have been made. In addition, a noninvasive diagnostic and predictive model based on various biochemical parameters and imaging findings also brings new hope to the diagnosis and treatment of liver fibrosis. This article reviews the recent research advances in the noninvasive diagnosis of alcoholic liver fibrosis by serum markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that liver fibrosis and some cases of early liver cirrhosis can be reversed, and thus a timely, accurate judgment of fibrosis degree has important clinical significance in prevention/treatment and prognostic evaluation of chronic liver diseases. In recent years, great achievements have been made in the application of serum markers and transient elastography for the evaluation of liver fibrosis. This article introduces the value of serological markers and related models in evaluating liver fibrosis, including CHI3L1, GP model, Forns, APRI, and FIB-4 index, and reviews the advances in the application of transient elastography in determining fibrosis stage in patients with chronic liver diseases. It is pointed out that a combination of these two methods has a high value in evaluating fibrosis degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the immunological abnormalities beyond central nervous system (CNS) associated with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSDs). Methods Clinical data of 56 patients with NMOSDs from January 2010 to December 2013 enrolled in Department of Neurology at Peking University People's Hospital were analyzed retrospectively. All patients were divided into 2 groups: neuromyelitis optica (N = 33) and non-neuromyelitis optica (N = 23). Each patient underwent detailed physical examination including internal medicine and nervous system. Records of complicated autoimmune diseases as well as scoring of Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) were used to evaluate disease severity. Part of patients received detection of multiple immunological indicators. Results In all patients with NMOSDs, there were 3 cases with Hashimoto thyroiditis, one case with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Sjögren's syndrome (SS), asthma, hyperthyroidism, rheumatoid arthritis and iridocyclitis, respectively. In patients whose immunological indices were available, the first three abnormal immunological changes were abnormal thyroid function (10/17), positive anti-nuclear antibody (14/28) and positive complement 3 (8/19). In addition, NMOSDs got worsen in 2 cases after delivery. Conclusions NMOSDs coexist with many kinds of autoimmune diseases and multiple autoantibodies. The above-mentioned autoimmunity may be related to the pathogenesis of NMOSDs. Besides, pregnancy or delivery may aggravate the disease severity of NMOSDs. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2014.09.009

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The majority of cases, the diagnosis is made at an advanced stage. The prognosis is poor with a 5-year survival rate less than 16% and the median overall survival 1 year or so. In recent years, research has focused on the potential role of new biological factors involved in the carcinogenic process. It’s well known that thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1) was a special lineage-survival oncogene in lung cancer according to recent researches. It has become apparent that TTF-1 expression has biological and clinical functions in the opposite direction that act in tumor progression. Herein, we summarize the role of this transcription factor in the development, diagnosis, and prognosis of lung cancer in the hope of providing insights into the utility of TTF-1 as a novel biomarker of lung cancer.

This article summarizes the clinical research highlights of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias in 2013. It includes epidemiology, risk factors, diagnostic biomarkers and therapy of these disorders. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2014.04.004

BACKGROUND: Melanomas, a highly malignant tumor of the skin, have no effective therapy to date. OBJECTIVE: To review the melanoma stem cell markers identified and existing therapies. METHODS: We retrieved database of CNKI and PubMed for articles addressing melanoma stem cell markers and targeted therapies, which were published from January 2010 to December 2016. The key words were “melanoma, cancer stem cell, marker, therapy” in Chinese and English, respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Forty articles were included in the final review. It is important to separate cancer stem cells from tumor cells by tumor stem cell markers for the study of tumor growth, recurrence, metastasis and drug resistance. There are still no generally recognized markers of melanoma stem cells, but the generally studied markers are CD20, CD133, CD271, ABCB5 and SOX10. To date, we have a poor understanding of melanoma stem cell markers, and further investigations on the markers and targeted therapies are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the association of plasma amino acids and the risk of developing of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and their prediction ability of T2DM in a rural Chinese population. Methods A nested case-control study was carried out in the Handan Eye Study conducted from 2006 to 2013. During follow-up, 209 individuals developed diabetes, and 394 individuals matched for age and gender were identified as controls. Relationship of metabolic biomarkers to incident T2DM was assessed by conditional logistic regression. Results After adjusted for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and family history of diabetes, the plasma concentrations of tyrosine, leucine, valine, alanine and glycine were significantly associated with incident T2DM, and the odds ratios (OR) [95% confidence interval(CI)] were 4.56 (1.77-11.73), 5.73 (1.80-18.25), 6.73 (2.02-22.34), 5.89 (2.26-15.36) and 0.39 (0.17-0.89), respectively (Model 2, all P<0.05). After further adjustment of fasting plasma glucose and triglyceride, only tyrosine and the combination of four-amino acids were still significantly associated with incident rate of T2DM, and the OR (95%CI) were 3.36 (1.10-10.29) and 1.11 (1.02-1.22), respectively (Model 3, both P<0.05). None of these amino acids significantly improved the C-statistics and net reclassification improvement. Only the four-amino acids combination significantly improved the integrated discrimination improvement, but the net changes were not remarkable. Conclusions Levels of branched-chain and aromatic amino acids, alanine and glycine, particularly tyrosine, are significantly associated with incident T2DM. However, none of these amino acids significantly improves T2DM risk prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the effects of 5-bromodeoxyuiidine (BrdU) tracing in vivo on the biological stams of bone marrow stromal stem cells(BMSCs). Methods: Healthy adult beagle dog bone marrow was extracted, then cultured and indentified by BrdU markers, the cell cycle, apoptosis rate, cell viability were determined in vitro. The stem cells were given implantation of autogenous femoral head defect by BMSCs labeled BrdU in vivo, the other side were given implantation of autogenous bone as the control, the bone mass and molecular markers expression were recorded. Results: The BrdU labeling rate of BMSCs in vitro was 85.2%. The apoptosis rate of BrdU group was 3.62± 1.33%, the unlabeled group was 3.52± 1.08%. The cell survival rate of BrdU group and unlabeled group were 96.31± 1.39% and 95.20± 2.10%(P>0.05). knmuiioliistochemical staining of BrdU labeled BMSCs showed positive BrdU staining, the positive rate was 81.6%. The expression quantity and the intensity of osteocalcin and collagen in the transplantation bone side were higher than those of the control side. The bone mass in the transplantation bone side was 17.46± 2.12%, which was 9.06± 1.24% in the control (P<0.05). Conclusion: BrdU labeled BMSCs could effectively reflect the biological state of cells in vitro, it showed that the BMSCs transplantation could survive hi vivo, it could promote the bone formation and repair of necrotic bone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatic fibrosis is the common pathological basis of various chronic liver diseases. Liver biopsy remains the gold standard for the assessment and diagnosis of liver fibrosis, but its invasiveness and high requirements for operation limit its clinical application. This article introduces the development of noninvasive diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis, such as serological and imaging techniques. However, these methods cannot completely replace liver biopsy. Therefore, a comprehensive noninvasive diagnosis model for hepatic fibrosis has become a research hotspot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there are various indicators for evaluating the effect of anti-HBV therapy, they have low accuracy and sensitivity. New indicators are still needed to guide clinical practice. Recent studies have found that HBV RNA might be a new potential indicator for clinical detection. This article reviews the basic concepts of HBV RNA, related detection methods, and the value of HBV RNA in clinical diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Resistin has been shown to play an important role in the pathogenesis and progression of osteoarthritis. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between resistin level in serum and synovial fluid and the severity of knee osteoarthritis. METHODS: Seventy-four patients with knee osteoarthritis and 79 healthy individuals were recruited. The Noyes score method was used to assess articular cartilage damage arthroscopically. The severity of knee osteoarthritis was evaluated according to the Western Ontario McMaster University Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) score. The radiographic severity of knee osteoarthritis was assessed by the Kellgren-Lawrence (K-L) grading system. The levels of resistin and cross linked C-telopeptide of type II collagen (CTX-II) in serum and synovial fluid were determined by ELISA. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The resistin level in the synovial fluid was positively correlated with the radiographic severity of knee osteoarthritis, WOMAC pain, WOMAC function, and WOMAC total scores, but showed no correlation with the WOMAC stiffness score. There were no significant correlations between the serum level of resistin and WOMAC total scores, subscale or K-L Grading system in the the osteoarthritis patients. Multiple regression analysis showed that the correlation between the synovial fluid level of resistin and WOMAC scores was of significance after removal of other confounding factors, and the resistin level in the synovial fluid was positively correlated with Noyes scores and CTX-II level. These results suggest that the resistin level in the synovial fluid can serve as a potential biomarker reflecting the severity of knee osteoarthritis and cartilage degenerative degree in patients with osteoarthritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biomarkers currently known for the early diagnosis of liver diseases often have poor sensitivities and specificities, and thus it is very important to find new biomarkers with high sensitivities and specificities for the early diagnosis of liver diseases. The emerging metabolomics technology has been widely used and may help to achieve this goal. This article reviews the research advances in the role of metabolomics based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in the identification of biomarkers for liver diseases and emphasizes its significance in the early diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis evaluation of liver diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dysplastic nodule (DN) is an important stage for precancerous hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lesions progressing to HCC and has a very high risk of canceration. According to the difference in atypia, DN is classified into low-grade DN (LGDN) and high-grade DN (HGDN). This article summarizes the pathological features, radiological features, and biomarkers of LGDN and HGDN, briefly describes the risk of the canceration of DN into HCC, and points out that it is necessary to enhance the knowledge of DN, the precancerous HCC lesions, in clinical physicians. DN screening to identify nodules with a high risk of canceration and related intervention help to prevent the development of HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the incidence rate of fatty liver tends to increase markedly, and liver biopsy is the gold standard for the diagnosis of fatty liver, but it has some inevitable shortcomings. At present, there lacks a convenient, cheap, and accurate noninvasive diagnostic method for clinical practice. This article reviews the significance of various serological markers in the diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and points out that liver enzyme, aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase ratio, serum ferritin, serum selenium, uric acid, high fasting insulin level, retinol-binding protein-4, cytokeratin-18, PNPLA3 gene, and TM6SF2 gene have great significance in the diagnosis of NAFLD. There are still controversies over the value of interleukin-28B in the diagnosis of NAFLD, and more clinical trials are needed. We believe that in the near future, a combination of various serum markers may become an accurate noninvasive method for the diagnosis of NAFLD and the assessment of the degree of liver fatty degeneration and fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) is a kind of mass spectrometry technology, and it has successfully detected many new biomarkers, which is related to diseases, especially in the aspects of diagnosis and treatment of tumor，moreover it can quickly detect specific proteins expressed in cancer patients, aid to set specific treatments, and predict the outcome of treatment and the possibility of recurrence. In recent years, domestic and foreign scholars have carried out a number of MALDI-TOF-MS study ，which is about the analysis of differential promoetic and the detection of molecular protein related to drug resistance in ovarian cancer. The origin and present situation of MALDI-TOF-MS technology，the research progress in the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer, the challenges and application prospect, will be discussed in this paper. These will provid new ideas and methods for ovarian cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liver fibrosis is an important pathological stage for the progression of chronic liver diseases to liver cirrhosis. Timely and accurate assessment of fibrosis degree plays an important role in guiding the treatment of chronic liver diseases. With the development of molecular biology techniques and wide application of molecular diagnostic techniques, the measurement of novel serum molecular diagnostic markers may contribute to the early diagnosis and precise treatment of liver fibrosis. A number of novel serum molecular markers with a diagnostic value have been identified, including fibroblast factor, matrix metalloproteinases and their inhibitors, extracellular matrix-related markers, and non-coding RNAs. In addition, genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics also have certain diagnostic values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a series of "omics" technologies such as genomics, epigenomics and proteomics are proposed, the concept of metabolomics occurs. Metabolomics is a top-down system biology approach, which analyzes endogenous metabolites by using high throughput, high resolution and high sensitivity based on metabolic analysis platform. By identifying characteristic biomarkers and analyzing the biomarkers of metabolic pathway, it will provide a new way for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Therefore, it is more and more widely used in bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary cystic fibrosis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, pulmonary tuberculosis, lung cancer and other respiratory diseases. In this paper, the application of metabolome analysis in respiratory disease of recent years has been briefly reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To study the changes of the levels of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) and matrix metalloprotein-9 (MMP-9) in patients with lung cancer and its clinical significance. Methods: 91 cases of patients with lung cancer were selected as the case group treated in our hospital from March 2014 to March 2016, and selected40 healthy people as the control group in the same period, used enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect the levels of serum VEGF, TIMP-1, MMP-9 in two groups, then analyzed the relationship between the above indexes and pathological characteristics of patients with lung cancer, and the correlation was analyzed by Spearman test. Results: The levels of serum VEGF, MMP-9, TIMP-1 in case group were higher than control group respectively, the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The levels of serum VEGF, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 were related to the tumor volume, TNM stage, lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis in patients with lung cancer. Serum MMP-9 correlated with TIMP-1 (r=0.337, P<0.05), serum MMP-9 correlated with VEGF (r=0.312, P<0.05), and serum TIMP-1 correlated with VEGF (r=0.316, P<0.05) in patients with lung cancer. Conclusion: Serum VEGF, TIMP-1, MMP-9 are interaction and co participation in the occurrence, invasion and metastasis of lung cancer, which are available as biological markers on diagnosis and prognosis assessment of lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disorder. It has become clear that PD can have a preclinical phase, a period during which neurodegeneration has already begun years before the onset of typical motor symptoms. Consequently, if the early neurodegeneration in PD can be timely diagnosed, it will significantly slow down the progression of the disease and improve the quality of life. To date, there is no fully reliable and validated biomarker for the early diagnosis of PD, but some promising biomarker candidates exist.

Background and objective Bone metastasis is common in lung cancer patients. The β isomer of the C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (β-CTX) and bone-specific alkaline phosphates (BAP) are regarded as important bone turnover markers in bone resorption and formation. Thus, the aims of this study are to determine the correlation of these bone turnover markers with the extent of bone metastasis of lung cancer. Methods A total of 92 patients with bone metastasis of lung cancer from Tianjin Union Medicine Center were enrolled in this study between July 2009 and July 2012. The bone metastasis lesion was diagnosed by ECT combined with X-ray and CT imaging. The bone turnover marker levels of β-CTX and BAP were measured by ELISA. Results Among the 92 patients, 58 cases had 3 bone-metastasis number than that in patients with less than 3 (P

Neurodegenerative diseases include a heterogeneous group of diseases with complicated and overlapped clinical phenotypes. It is difficult to diagnose or identify this kind of disease due to insidious onset and chronic and progressive development. Since processes in the brain can be monitored by analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), abundant research efforts focus on the efficacy of biomarkers in CSF to indicate specific neurodegenerative lesions and to assist the diagnosis process, assessing whether one biomarker or several biomarkers together could be the reliable tools for diagnosis of specific neurodegenerative diseases. This article mainly reviews the research status and supplementary value in diagnosis and differentiation of CSF biomarkers in common degenerative diseases [e.g. multiple sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)].

Background and objective Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Thus far, good tumor markers for diagnosing this disease have not been found. Therefore, the discovery of novel biomarkers through the application of new methods has become a hotspot in lung cancer research. The aim of this study is to analyze low-molecular-weight metabolites in the serum and urine samples of lung cancer patients and patients with other lung diseases through metabolomics and to explore potential tumor markers further. Methods Both serum and urine samples from 19 lung cancer patients and 15 patients with other lung diseases were subjected to metabolomic analysis using gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Orthogonal to partial least squares discriminant analysis was performed for modeling. Two sample t-test was used to identify differences in metabolite concentrations. Results A total of 57 metabolites were found in the serum, and 38 metabolites were found in the urine. Multivariate statistical analysis yielded a significant distinction in the metabolic profiles between lung cancer patients and patients with other lung diseases. The t-test results indicated a total of 13 metabolites in the serum and 7 metabolites in the urine with statistically significant differences. Conclusion Metabolomics is useful in discriminating between lung cancer and other lung diseases. As a novel approach, it has potential in the diagnosis of lung cancer at molecular level.