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Background: The overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS) and complications after liver resections is unsatisfactory. Cancer-related malnutrition and inflammation have an effect on survival but not studied/not clear on postoperative complications., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed prospectively maintained database of 309 patients. The outcome variables included complications in terms of Clavien-Dindo (CD) Score, OS and DFS; We studied effect of preoperative albumin globulin ratio (AGR), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and aspartate transaminase to platelet ratio index (APRI) and dynamic change from pre-operative to postoperative value (Delta-AGR, Delta-NLR, Delta-PLR and Delta-APRI) on complications, OS and DFS., Results: Total 98 patients (31.71%) had postoperative complications. Fifty patients had CD 1 & 2 and 35 (11.33%) had CD 3 & 4, and 13 (4.12%) had mortality (CD 5). Low AGR, high NLR, high PLR and high Delta-AGR and high Delta-APRI predicted increased major complications. Preoperative high NLR predicted worse OS and low AGR predicted worse OS and DFS. Delta-APRI showed trends towards worse OS and DFS., Conclusion: These serum inflammatory markers can predict immediate postoperative complications. Preoperative AGR and preoperative NLR can predict survival after liver resections. High Delta-AGR, which is a new entity, is predicting more postoperative complications and needs further detailed studies., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Chest trauma causes substantial morbidity and mortality and its severity is assessed using clinical diagnosis or scoring systems like Injury severity score (ISS) and thoracic trauma severity score (TTSS). Association of inflammatory cytokines with severity of disease and final clinical outcome is not clearly defined in patients with chest trauma. In this study, we thought to evaluate the inflammatory response in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in chest trauma patients and correlate the level of extracellular cytokines with diseases severity and final outcome., Methods: A total of 65 patients with blunt chest trauma and 30 healthy controls were enrolled in this prospective observational study. Assessment of inflammatory cytokines such as Interleukin (s) - IL-5, IL-13, IL-2, IL-6, IL-9, IL-1β, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-17A, IL-17F,IL-4, IL-21 and IL-22 was performed in both serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid using 13-plex multiplex kit using fluorescence-encoded bead based immunoassays., Results: A significantly higher level of IL-13, IL-2, IL-6, IL-9, IL-1β, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-21 and IL-22 cytokines were observed in patients with blunt chest trauma compared to healthy controls. Level of IL-2, IL-6, IL-1β and IL-17A was significantly raised in the patients with blunt chest trauma who had a fatal outcome during the hospital stay. An elevated cytokine response of IL-13, IL-4, and IL-21 was noted in the group of patients with high (>5) thoracic trauma severity score., Conclusion: Routine monitoring of the inflammatory cytokine level in patients with chest trauma may be used routinely. Longer prospective studies should be encouraged to determine the role of cytokines in patients with chest trauma in predicting the patient final clinical outcome., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Despite the advancement in diagnostic modalities of sepsis, it is still a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Differentiation between sepsis and non-infectious disease states remains a diagnostic challenge. Procalcitonin (PCT) is useful for the diagnosis of sepsis but it varies in cut-off ranges at different clinical settings. The aim of this study was to correlate serum PCT levels with cultures and to evaluate the best cut-off values with high sensitivity and specificity for PCT., Methodology: This prospective study included 305 patients from different medical wards; the patients were classified into group I: controls (n=46), group II: culture-negative sepsis (n=76) and group III: culture-positive sepsis (n=196). Mean p value <0.05 was considered significant., Results: PCT levels were significantly higher in group II and group III as compared with group I. In group II, the best cut-off point for PCT was 1.3ng/ml with 87.30% sensitivity and 78.26% specificity (area under curve 0.86). In group III, the best cut-off value of 2.20ng/ml with 98.47% sensitivity and 89.13% specificity was found (AUC 0.96)., Conclusion: Procalcitonin can accurately differentiate culture-negative and culture-positive sepsis from non-infectious diseases, thus making it a promising biomarker in diagnosis of bacterial sepsis., (Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Aim: The aim of the present study was to assess the Correlation between Neutrophil Lymphocytes Ratio (NLR) and Severity, Progression & Outcome of Covid-19 disease. Methods: The Prospective, Cross-Sectional, Analytical study was conducted at OPD/IPD patients of Geetanjali Medical College and Hospital, Udaipur. Patients with COVID-19 RTPCR positive of OPD/IPD at Geetanjali Medical College and Hospital, Udaipur were included. For the study, 103 patients of Covid-19 Positive were considered. Results: The study was carried out in 103 COVID patients. Out of total patients, 56 i.e. 54.37% were of age group 50-69 and 28(27.18%) of age 30-49 years.15.53% patients were of age more and 70 years and only 2.91% patients were observed under age of 30 years. Out of 103 patients, 71(68.93%) were males and 32(31.07%) were females. Regarding place of admission, 59(57.28%) were in ward and 44 (42.72%) were in ICU. Out of 103 patients, 69 (66.99%) patients had moderate CT severity score, 28(27.18%) had mild CT severity score and 6 (5.83%) had severe CT score. Fever, cough, shortness of breath and weakness were found to be the most common symptoms. Sore throat, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, body ache, cold, chest pain, abdomen pain and loss of taste were also seen in some cases. Conclusion: It was concluded that Neutrophil-Lymphocytes Ratio (NLR) has significant correlation with Clinical profile, Progression of disease and Outcome in Covid-19 and Neutrophil Lymphocytes Ratio (NLR) also had significant correlation with Biochemical markers, Radiological findings and Co-morbidities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Delayed graft function is an early complication leading to impaired creatinine clearance, urine formation and determinant of long term graft outcome. The aim of the present study was to determine the earliest predictive cut-off value of uKIM-1 level in patients with delayed graft function and acute tubular necrosis. Methods We have determined the serial urinary KIM-1 normalized to urinary creatinine ( uKIM-1, pg/mg) level at 0, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 48 h of post-transplant by ELISA methods. Result The normalized uKIM-1 and AUC-ROC, of uKIM-1 were progressively increased up to 48 h in both delayed graft function ( DGF) and immediate graft function ( IGF). The u KIM-1 values were significantly high at 6, 12, 18, 24 and 48 h in patients with DGF as compared to that of IGF except at half an hour post-transplant values. Although, progressive increase in uKIM-1 values were observed in both groups of patients; there was an overlap of values between two groups up to 12 h. The earliest non-overlapping values of uKIM-1 between the groups were observed at 18 h onwards and minimum difference of 923.43 pg/mg. The earliest predictive AUC-ROC of uKIM-1 in patients with DGF without overlap with IGF was also observed at 18 h post-transplant with specificity of 100% and sensitivity of 89.9%. Conclusion Serial uKIM-1 measurement can be used as non-invasive diagnostic biomarkers to predict the incident of DGF in living donor renal transplant recipients. At 18th post-transplant hour uKIM-1 can predict DGF with 100% specificity and 89.9% sensitivity with a cut-off value of normalized KIM-1 of 923.43 pg/mg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollution in water used for irrigation is a major cause of stress generation in plant system. Under these stress conditions, reactive oxygen species derived from molecular oxygen can accumulate in plant, resulting in the oxidation of nucleic acids, lipids, chlorophyll and so on. This study was conducted in Allium cepa to analyze the alteration in the levels of nonenzymatic antioxidants as a consequence of Mathura refinery waste water (MRWW) exposure. The studied antioxidants were glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid (ASC). Their determination was carried out in A. cepa bulbs exposed to different concentrations of MRWW that is 0.25×, 0.5×, 0.75× and 1.0×. A significant increase in the levels of these nonenzymatic antioxidants in onion bulbs upon treatment with MRWW suggested that these can serve as suitable biomarkers of toxicity. The toxicity of waste water was also tested on the level of tocopherol (Toc) and carotenoid (CAR) in onion bulbs, and in both the cases a high level of these metabolites was noticed. Phenolic content of A. cepa after the waste water insult was found to be increased, again a manifestation of adaptation against heavy metal and oxidative stress. It is clear from our findings that GSH, ASC, Toc and CAR in A. cepa system could serve as potential biomarkers for the presence of toxicants like heavy metals and its hazards in MRWW. The test waste water demonstrated profound effects on these parameters which is suggestive of the warrior strategies adopted by the plant system against the pollution-induced stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Podocyte injury is an early feature of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Recently, urinary exosomal Wilm's tumor-1 protein (WT1), shed by renal epithelial cells, has been proposed as a novel biomarker for podocyte injury. However, its usefulness as biomarker for early diabetic nephropathy has not been verified yet. We investigated urinary exosomal WT1 in type-1 diabetic patients to confirm its role as a non-invasive biomarker for predicting early renal function decline. Methods: The expression of WT1 protein in urinary exosomes from spot urine samples of type-1 diabetes mellitus patients (n = 48) and healthy controls (n = 25) were analyzed. Patients were divided based on their urinary albumin excretion, ACR (mg/g creatinine) into non- proteinuria group (ACR<30 mg/g, n = 30) and proteinuria group (ACR>30 mg/g, n = 18). Regression analysis was used to assess the association between urinary exosomal levels of WT1 with parameters for renal function. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine the diagnostic performance of exosomal WT-1. Results: WT1 protein was detected in 33 out of 48 diabetic patients and in only 1 healthy control. The levels of urinary exosomal WT1 protein is significantly higher (p = 0.001) in patients with proteinuria than in those without proteinuria. In addition, all the patients with proteinuria but only half of the patients without proteinuria were positive for exosomal WT1. We found that the level of exosomal WT1 were associated with a significant increase in urine protein-to-creatinine ratio, albumin-to-creatinine ratio, and serum creatinine as well as a decline in eGFR. Furthermore, patients exhibiting WT1-positive urinary exosomes had decreased renal function compared to WT1-negative patients. ROC analysis shows that WT-1 effectively predict GFR<60 ml. min-1/1.73 m2. Conclusion: The predominant presence of WT1 protein in urinary exosomes of diabetic patients and increase in its expression level with decline in renal function suggest that it could be useful as early non-invasive marker for diabetic nephropathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and various toxicants present in Mathura Refinery Waste Water (MRWW) on Allium cepa were examined as a model plant system. The study was based on exposure of A. cepa to different concentrations of MRWW and compared to untreated control (exposure of onion bulbs with aquaguard purified water) to determine the total protein content and activities of certain antioxidant enzymes. These enzymes were evaluated for their efficacy to serve as biomarkers of refinery waste water pollution. DNA damaging potential of MRWW was also investigated. Data demonstrated maximal enhancement in ascorbate peroxidase activity subsequent to MRWW insult, although a significant increase in activities was also noted for other enzymes in the following order: superoxide dismutase > glutathione-S-transferase > catalase. This is suggestive of their potency as a biomarker of MRWW toxicity. Increase in activities of monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR; 152%) and deoxyribonuclease (345%) were also found in the A. cepa system as a result of MRWW exposure. In conclusion, A. cepa system might thus serve as an appropriate tool for monitoring water pollution, especially produced by petroleum waste and heavy metals in term of induction of glutathione peroxidase, MDHAR, and deoxyribonuclease activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: Gall bladder cancer (GBC) tends to present in advanced stages, therefore, early diagnosis of GBC is necessary. There is no ideal single tumor marker available presently for the diagnosis and prognosis of GBC. Platelet distribution width (PDW) is an early marker for activated platelets and has been used in a variety of tumors to assess prognosis. This study was designed to evaluate the utility of PDW in identifying GBC patients and its association with tumor markers, staging and resectability of GBC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross sectional study was done on 100 patients of GBC and 100 age- and sex- matched healthy controls. PDW was evaluated and compared between GBC and healthy controls. Receiver-operating characteristics was plotted to determine optimal cut-off for identifying GBC patients and to determine sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of PDW. Correlation between serum tumor markers (carbohydrate antigen 19-9, carcinoembryonic antigen, and carbohydrate antigen 125) and PDW were evaluated. Association of PDW with hyperbilirubinemia, staging and resectability of GBC was also studied. RESULTS: A significantly higher PDW with a median of 18.1 was observed in GBC as compared to healthy controls with median value of 13. PDW was found to have a very high sensitivity (90%), specificity (95%), PPV (94%) and NPV (90%) in identifying GBC at cut-off of 16 with area under the curve (AUC) of 0.97. An increase of PDW was observed with increasing stage and unresectable GBC. However, it was not statistically significant. Significant positive correlation was observed between PDW and all three serum tumor markers and good positive correlation with r = 0.61 was observed with CA 19-9. CONCLUSION: PDW was associated with GBC and may be considered as a cost- effective marker in adjunct to other investigations for the diagnosis of GBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B Introduction: b Gall bladder cancer is one of the most common malignancy of biliary tract. This was a pilot study done to identify the association of PDW with Carcinoma of gall bladder and has found a positive correlation with the index. [Extracted from the article]

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are extremely associated with different carcinomas. Despite consequential accomplishments, there is still need to establish more promising biomarkers to discriminate cancerous progressions. Therefore, we have developed HPVbase (http://crdd.osdd.net/servers/hpvbase/), a comprehensive resource for three major efficacious cancer biomarkers i.e. integration and breakpoint events, HPVs methylation patterns and HPV mediated aberrant expression of distinct host microRNAs (miRNAs). It includes clinically important 1257 integrants and integration sites from different HPV types i.e. 16, 18, 31, 33 and 45 associated with distinct histological conditions. An inclusive HPV integrant and breakpoints browser was designed to provide easy browsing and straightforward analysis. Our study also provides 719 major quantitative HPV DNA methylation observations distributed in 5 distinct HPV genotypes from higher to lower in numbers namely HPV 16 (495), HPV 18 (113), HPV45 (66), HPV 31 (34) and HPV 33 (11). Additionally, we have curated and compiled clinically significant aberrant expression profile of 341 miRNAs including their target genes in distinct carcinomas, which can be utilized for miRNA therapeutics. A user-friendly web interface has been developed for easy data retrieval and analysis. We foresee that HPVbase an integrated and multi-comparative platform would facilitate reliable cancer diagnostics and prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Although case-control studies have identified numerous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with prostate cancer, the clinical role of these SNPs remains unclear. Objective: Evaluate previously identified SNPs for association with prostate cancer and accuracy in predicting prostate cancer in a large prospective population-based cohort of unscreened men. Design, setting, and participants: This study used a nested case-control design based on the Malmö Diet and Cancer cohort with 943 men diagnosed with prostate cancer and 2829 matched controls. Blood samples were collected between 1991 and 1996, and follow-up lasted through 2005. Measurements: We genotyped 50 SNPs, analyzed prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in blood from baseline, and tested for association with prostate cancer using the Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test. We further developed a predictive model using SNPs nominally significant in univariate analysis and determined its accuracy to predict prostate cancer. Results and limitations: Eighteen SNPs at 10 independent loci were associated with prostate cancer. Four independent SNPs at four independent loci remained significant after multiple test correction (p <0.001). Seven SNPs at five independent loci were associated with advanced prostate cancer defined as clinical stage ≥T3 or evidence of metastasis at diagnosis. Four independent SNPs were associated with advanced or aggressive cancer defined as stage ≥T3, metastasis, Gleason score ≥8, or World Health Organization grade 3 at diagnosis. Prostate cancer risk prediction with SNPs alone was less accurate than with PSA at baseline (area under the curve of 0.57 vs 0.79), with no benefit from combining SNPs with PSA. This study is limited by our reliance on clinical diagnosis of prostate cancer; there are likely undiagnosed cases among our control group. Conclusions: Only a few previously reported SNPs were associated with prostate cancer risk in the large prospective Diet and Cancer cohort in Malmö, Sweden. SNPs were less useful in predicting prostate cancer risk than PSA at baseline. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), a live attenuated tuberculosis vaccine that acts as a non-specific immune system stimulant, is the most effective adjuvant treatment for patients with intermediate or high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). However, to date, there are no reliable tests that are predictive of BCG treatment response. In this study, we evaluated the performance of OncuriaTM, a bladder cancer detection test, to predict response to intravesical BCG. OncuriaTM data was evaluated in voided urine samples obtained from a prospectively collected cohort of 64 subjects with intermediate or high risk NMIBC prior to treatment with intravesical BCG. The OncuriaTM test, which measures 10 cancer-associated biomarkers was performed in an independent clinical laboratory. The ability of the test to identify those patients in whom BCG is ineffective against tumor recurrence was tested. Predictive models were derived using supervised learning and cross-validation analyses. Model performance was assessed using ROC curves. Pre-treatment urinary concentrations of MMP9, VEGFA, CA9, SDC1, PAI1, APOE, A1AT, ANG and MMP10 were increased in patients who developed disease recurrence. A combinatorial predictive model of treatment outcome achieved an AUROC 0.89 [95% CI: 0.80–0.99], outperforming any single biomarker, with a test sensitivity of 81.8% and a specificity of 84.9%. Hazard ratio analysis revealed that patients with higher urinary levels of ANG, CA9 and MMP10 had a significantly higher risk of disease recurrence. Monitoring the urinary levels of a cancer-associated biomarker panel enabled the discrimination of patients who did not respond to intravesical BCG therapy. With further study, the multiplex OncuriaTM test may be applicable for the clinical evaluation of bladder cancer patients considering intravesical BCG treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]