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The aim of this study was to establish plasma cytokine/chemokine profiles in patients with 3 different presentations of active tuberculosis (TB), compared to the profiles observed in bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-vaccinated healthy individuals and patients with other pulmonary diseases (non-TB patients). To this end, plasma samples were collected from 151 TB patients including 68 pulmonary TB (PTB), 43 endobronchial TB, and 40 tuberculosis pleurisy (TP) patients, as well as 107 no-TB cases including 26 non-TB patients and 81 BCG-vaccinated healthy controls. A liquid array-based multiplexed immunoassay was used to screen plasma samples for 20 distinct cytokines and chemokines. Multinomial logistic regression was used to analyze associations between cytokines/chemokines and TB/non-TB patients. Compared to our findings with the no-TB donors, the median plasma levels of the proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines TNF-α, IL-6, IP-10, IFN-γ, and MIP-1β were significantly elevated in TB patients, suggesting their potential use as biomarkers for diagnosing TB patients. Further comparisons with healthy donors showed that only the median TNF-α plasma level was highly produced in the plasma of all 3 types of TB patients. Plasma IL-6 production was higher only in TP patients, while the plasma levels of IP-10, IFN-γ, and MIP-1β were markedly enhanced in both PTB and TP patients. Unexpectedly, among the above cytokines/chemokines, MIP-1β was also highly expressed in non-TB patients, compared with healthy donors. Our results suggested that TNF-α may be an ideal biomarker for diagnosing the 3 forms of TB presentation, while the other factors (IL-6, IP-10, MCP-1, and IFN-γ) can potentially facilitate differential diagnosis for the 3 TB presentation types. Further characterization of immune responses associated with different types of TB diseases will provide a basis for developing novel TB diagnostics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Candida albicans is the leading cause of healthcare associated bloodstream infections. Chemokine CXCL13 is well-known involved in inflammation, but its role in candidemia has not been assessed. Our study firstly demonstrated that serum CXCL13 levels were significantly elevated in candidemic patients compared with bacteremic patients and control subjects by ELISA, and CXCL13 concentrations were positively and significantly correlated with clinical Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores and several laboratory parameters in patients. Moreover, ROC curve analysis showed the diagnostic efficiency of CXCL13 was superior to CRP and PCT. To further study the role of CXCL13, a mouse model was established. Importantly, the data showed the dramatically elevated levels of CXCL13 in mice serum and infected kidney, were significantly correlated with renal fungal burden and pathology scores. In conclusion, our results indicated that CXCL13 had strong potential as a novel biomarker of diagnosis and prognosis for candidemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]