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Macrophages are pivotal in the body's defense and response to inflammation. They are present in significant numbers and are widely implicated in various diseases, including cancer. While molecular and histological techniques have advanced our understanding of macrophage biology, their precise function within the cancerous microenvironments remains underexplored. Enhancing our knowledge of macrophages and the dynamics of their extracellular vesicles (EVs) in cancer development can potentially improve therapeutic management. Notably, macrophages have also been harnessed to deliver drugs. Noninvasive in vivo molecular imaging of macrophages is crucial for investigating intricate cellular processes, comprehending the underlying mechanisms of diseases, tracking cells and EVs' migration, and devising macrophage-dependent drug-delivery systems in living organisms. Thus, in vivo imaging of macrophages has become an indispensable tool in biomedical research. The integration of multimodal imaging approaches and the continued development of novel contrast agents hold promise for overcoming current limitations and expanding the applications of macrophage imaging. This study comprehensively reviews several methods for labeling macrophages and various imaging modalities, assessing the merits and drawbacks of each approach. The review concludes by offering insights into the applicability of molecular imaging techniques for real time monitoring of macrophages in preclinical and clinical scenarios., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent to publish: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Exosomes are extracellular vesicles well known for facilitating cell-to-cell communication by distributing essential macromolecules like proteins, DNA, mRNA, lipids, and miRNA. These vesicles are abundant in fluids distributed throughout the body, including urine, blood, saliva, and even bile. They are important diagnostic tools for breast, lung, gastrointestinal cancers, etc. However, their application as cancer biomarkers has not yet been implemented in most parts of the world. In this review, we discuss how OMICs profiling of exosomes can be practiced by substituting traditional imaging or biopsy methods for cancer detection. Previous methods like extensive imaging and biopsy used for screening were expensive, mostly invasive, and could not easily provide early detection for various types of cancer. Exosomal biomarkers can be utilized for routine screening by simply collecting body fluids from the individual. We anticipate that the use of exosomes will be brought to light by the success of clinical trials investigating their potential to enhance cancer detection and treatment in the upcoming years., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes chronic hepatitis B (CHB), liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The evolution of human gut microbiota during the progression of HBV-related liver diseases remains unclear. Therefore, we prospectively enrolled patients with HBV-related liver diseases and healthy individuals. Through 16S ribosomal RNA amplicon sequencing, we characterized the gut microbiota of the participants and predicted the functions of microbial communities., Results: We analyzed the gut microbiota of 56 healthy controls and 106 patients with HBV-related liver disease [14 with resolved HBV infection, 58 with CHB, and 34 with advanced liver disease (15 with liver cirrhosis and 19 with hepatocellular carcinoma)]. Patients with HBV-related liver disease exhibited a higher degree of bacterial richness (all P < 0.05) than did healthy controls. Beta diversity analyses revealed a distinct clustering pattern between healthy controls and patients with HBV-related liver disease (all P < 0.05). The composition of bacteria (from the phylum level to the genus level) varied across the stages of liver disease. Linear discriminant analysis effect size revealed multiple taxa that differ significantly in abundance between healthy controls and patients with HBV-related liver disease; however, fewer differences were observed among patients with resolved HBV infection, those with CHB, and those with advanced liver disease. The ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes was increased in all three patient groups compared with the ratio in healthy controls (all P < 0.001). The analysis of the sequencing data by using PICRUSt2 revealed the changes in microbial functions with disease progression., Conclusions: The diversity and composition of gut microbiota appear to vary significantly between healthy controls and patients at different stages of HBV-related liver disease. The understanding of gut microbiota may provide novel therapeutic options in these patients., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Posterior scleritis is a rare, inflammatory ophthalmic disease, leading to severe visual impairment if untreated. Posterior scleritis occurring after surgery, unrelated to systemic inflammatory diseases, is even rarer. This report discusses a case of bilateral posterior scleritis, after cataract surgery in both the eyes, treated with high-dose steroids., Case Presentation: A 55-year-old man, who had undergone bilateral sequential cataract surgery one week before, presented with sudden loss of vision and ocular pain in both eyes. The patient had no systemic diseases or neurological symptoms. Serous retinal detachment of the macula with optic disc swelling was observed on fundus examination in both the eyes, and bilateral thickening of choroid and sclera was seen in ultrasonography. Under diagnosis of bilateral posterior scleritis due to the increased signal of sclera in both the eyes on magnetic resonance imaging, high-dose steroid therapy was performed. After treatment, improvement in visual acuity and retinal detachment were observed, and thereafter, it has been maintained without relapse., Conclusions: With high-dose steroid therapy, we successfully treated a rare case of bilateral posterior scleritis following cataract surgery in both eyes. To our knowledge, this is the first report on posterior scleritis occurring after surgery, unrelated to systemic inflammatory diseases., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Development of gastrointestinal (GI) complications is adversely associated with prognosis in the critically ill. However, little is known about their impact on the outcome of non-critically ill patients. In this study, we aimed to investigate the incidence of GI complications and their influence on prognosis of hospitalized pneumonia patients., Methods: Adult patients admitted with a diagnosis of pneumonia from 2012 to 2014 were included. Medical records were reviewed to obtain patients' demographics, physical signs, comorbidities, laboratory results, clinical events, and the Confusion, Urea, Respiratory rate, Blood pressure and age ≥ 65 (CURB-65) score was calculated to assess the severity of pneumonia. GI complications, including bowel distension, diarrhea, GI bleeding and ileus, were evaluated during the first 3 days of hospitalization and their association with patient outcomes, such as hospital mortality and length of stay, was analyzed., Results: A total of 1001 patients were enrolled, with a mean age of 73.7 years and 598 (59%) male. Among them, 114 (11%) patients experienced at least one GI complication and diarrhea (5.2%) was the most common. The hospital mortality was 14% and was independently associated with an increase in the CURB-65 score (odds ratio [OR] 1.952 per point increase; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.516-2.514), comorbid malignancy (OR 1.943; 95% CI 1.209-3.123), development of septic shock (OR 25.896; 95% CI 8.970-74.765), and the presence of any GI complication (OR 1.753; 95% CI 1.003-3.065)., Conclusions: Compared to a critical care setting, GI complications are not commonly observed in a non-critical care setting; however, they still have a negative impact on prognosis of pneumonia patients, including higher mortality and prolonged length of hospital stay.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic implication of findings of intratumoral metabolic heterogeneity on pretreatment (18)F-FDG PET/CT scans in patients with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) of the breast., Methods: One hundred and twenty-three female IDC patients who underwent pretreatment 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography/computed tomography ((18)F-FDG PET/CT) scans were retrospectively evaluated in this study. The heterogeneity factor (HF) defined as the derivative (dV/dT) of a volume threshold function from 40% to 80%, was computed for each primary tumor. Other metabolic PET parameters (maximum standardized uptake value [SUVmax], metabolic tumor volume [MTV], and total lesion glycolysis [TLG]) were measured. The HF was compared with clinicopathologic factors and other PET parameters. Univariate and multivariate analyses for the overall survival (OS) were performed., Results: The HF ranged from 0.02 to 6.72 (mean, 0.35 ± 0.82) and significantly correlated with MTV (r = 0.955; p < 0.0001) and TLG (r = 0.354; p = 0.0001). The HF was significantly higher (implying more heterogeneity) in tumors with higher T and N stages. The optimal cut-off values for the OS determined using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were 0.34 for the HF, 5.6 for SUVmax, 8.55 cm(3) for MTV, and 14.43 for TLG. The OS rate among the 123 patients was 86.2%. T stage (1, 2 vs. 3, 4), N stage (0, 1 vs. 2, 3), M stage (0 vs. 1), ER status (+ vs. -), SUVmax (≤ 5.6 vs. > 5.6), MTV (≤ 8.55 cm(3) vs. > 8.55 cm(3)), TLG (≤ 14.43 vs. > 14.43), and HF (< 0.34 vs. ≥ 0.34) affected the OS on univariate analysis. After adjustment for the effects of TNM stage and ER status, the HF and MTV were significant predictors of OS. Among the PET parameters, the best prognostic factor for OS was the HF., Conclusions: Intratumoral metabolic heterogeneity correlated closely with the MTV and significantly affected the OS in IDC patients. The HF may act as a robust surrogate marker for the prediction of OS in IDC patients.