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Abstract Background Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is characterized by a systemic inflammatory response, predominantly associated with hepatitis B virus in the Asia-Pacific region, with a high short-term mortality rate. The platelet to high-density lipoprotein ratio (PHR) has been used to predict the prognosis of patients with various inflammatory diseases. We aim to is to use the PHR to predict the short-term prognosis of patients with HBV-ACLF. Method In this study, we retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 270 HBV-ACLF patients. Using logistic regression, we identified independent risk factors for short-term mortality and developed a prognostic model. This model was then validated, compared, and its clinical utility assessed via decision curve analysis (DCA). Results Among the 270 HBV-ACLF patients, 98 patients died within 28 days. The deceased group exhibited a higher proportion of severe hepatic encephalopathy and ascites. Additionally, there was a statistically significant difference (P = 0.046) in the novel inflammation scoring system, PHR, between the two groups. Following stringent variable selection, PHR was identified as a predictive factor for short-term mortality in HBV-ACLF patients using logistic regression analysis (OR: 0.835 (0.756–0.999), P = 0.009), and it exhibited a synergistic effect with certain traditional scores. The prognostic model constructed based on PHR demonstrated a superior ability to predict short-term mortality compared to traditional scores such as Child-Turcotte-Pugh (AUC: 0.889). Evaluation using calibration curves and decision curve analysis (DCA) suggested its practical utility. Conclusion PHR can predict short-term mortality in patients, with a low PHR upon admission being associated with an increased risk of death.

Background: Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is characterized by a systemic inflammatory response, predominantly associated with hepatitis B virus in the Asia-Pacific region, with a high short-term mortality rate. The platelet to high-density lipoprotein ratio (PHR) has been used to predict the prognosis of patients with various inflammatory diseases. We aim to is to use the PHR to predict the short-term prognosis of patients with HBV-ACLF. Method: In this study, we retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 270 HBV-ACLF patients. Using logistic regression, we identified independent risk factors for short-term mortality and developed a prognostic model. This model was then validated, compared, and its clinical utility assessed via decision curve analysis (DCA). Results: Among the 270 HBV-ACLF patients, 98 patients died within 28 days. The deceased group exhibited a higher proportion of severe hepatic encephalopathy and ascites. Additionally, there was a statistically significant difference (P = 0.046) in the novel inflammation scoring system, PHR, between the two groups. Following stringent variable selection, PHR was identified as a predictive factor for short-term mortality in HBV-ACLF patients using logistic regression analysis (OR: 0.835 (0.756–0.999), P = 0.009), and it exhibited a synergistic effect with certain traditional scores. The prognostic model constructed based on PHR demonstrated a superior ability to predict short-term mortality compared to traditional scores such as Child-Turcotte-Pugh (AUC: 0.889). Evaluation using calibration curves and decision curve analysis (DCA) suggested its practical utility. Conclusion: PHR can predict short-term mortality in patients, with a low PHR upon admission being associated with an increased risk of death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate if inflammation score (IS), calculated from the cornea, anterior chamber, iris, and vitreous, indicates endophthalmitis severity. Methods: In a prospective study, consecutive adults with a clinical diagnosis of post-cataract endophthalmitis within 6 weeks of surgery were recruited. Patients were allocated to IS-based primary treatment (IS < 10: intravitreal injection and IS ≥ 10: vitrectomy) and randomized to two intravitreal antibiotics combinations (vancomycin + ceftazidime and vancomycin + imipenem). Undiluted vitreous microbiology work-up included culture susceptibility, polymerase chain reaction, Sanger sequencing, and targeted next-generation sequencing. Results: The average age of 175 people was 63.4 ± 10.7 years and included 52.6% small incision cataract surgery and 47.4% phacoemulsification surgery. Severe endophthalmitis (IS ≥ 20), diagnosed in 27.4% of people, had a shorter time to symptoms (average 5.4 vs 8.7 days; P = 0.018), poorer presenting vision (all ≤ hand motion), higher culture positivity (50% vs 30.7%; P = 0.032), and higher Gram-negative bacterial infection (70.8% vs 46.2%; P = 0.042). For IS ≥ 20 discriminant and Gram-negative infection, Spearman's coefficient was 0.7 [P < 0.0001, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.59–0.82], with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.9 (95% CI 0.85–0.94, P < 0.0001), a Youden index J of 0.74, a sensitivity of 87.2%, and a specificity of 87.5%. The final vision of >20/400 and >20/100 was regained in 50.2% and 29.1% of people, respectively. The susceptibility of common Gram-positive cocci and Gram-negative bacilli was the highest for vancomycin (95.0%) and colistin (88.6%), respectively. NGS detected polymicrobial infection in 88.5% of culture-negative endophthalmitis. Conclusions: Higher inflammation scores indicated severe disease and Gram-negative infection in post-cataract endophthalmitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purposes: The present study investigated the prognostic value of inflammation-based prognostic scores in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who underwent hepatectomy. Methods: In total, 493 patients diagnosed HCC using the Milan criteria who underwent hepatic resection were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were evaluated according to several prognostic nutrition indices. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify clinicopathological variables associated with the overall survival (OS). Results: According to a univariate analysis, higher values in the Glasgow Prognostic Score [GPS] (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.99, p = 0.002), modified GPS [mGPS] (HR = 2.26, p < 0.001), C-reactive protein [CRP]-to-albumin ratio [CAR] (HR = 1.86, p = 0.0012), and CONUT (HR = 1.65, p = 0.008) and a lower value of prognostic nutritional index [PNI] (HR = 2.36, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with a poor OS. A multivariate analysis showed that a CAR ≥ 0.037 (HR = 1.67, 95% CI 1.06–2.64, p = 0.03), FIB4-index > 3.25 (HR = 1.98, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.25–3.14, p = 0.004) and PIVKA-II > 40 mAU/ml (HR = 1.72, 95% CI 1.14–2.61, p = 0.01) were independent prognostic factors. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the CAR was an independent prognostic score in patients with HCC and superior to other inflammation-based prognostic scores in terms of the prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Gut‐associated intestinal lymphoid tissue, the largest secondary lymphoid organ in the human body, constantly samples antigens from the gut lumen, presenting as a default response the activation of TCD4+FOXP3+ regulatory T cells that secrete a profile of anti‐inflammatory cytokines maintaining gut homeostasis denominated from an immunological perspective as mucosal tolerance. However, when antigens are sampled in an inflammatory setting, the immune response may either be protective, in the case of harmful pathogens, or cause further inflammatory reactions as in food allergy, inflammatory bowel diseases, coeliac disease or food protein‐induced enterocolitis syndrome. Therefore, there is a need for accurate and consistent experimental models. However, a drawback in comparing these models is the lack of a classification system similar to that which is already used for humans. Thus, the aim of this work was to propose a classification system of the small intestinal histomorphology in experimental mice. To do this we used a mouse antigen‐specific gut inflammation model developed by our research group. Duodenum sections stained with haematoxylin‐eosin and Alcian blue were scanned using the APERIO scanning system and analysed with the ImageScope® software. The evaluated parameters were villus area, villus height and width, enterocyte count, mononuclear intra‐epithelial leucocyte and goblet cell counts, and architectural and cellular ratios. Food‐sensitized animals challenged with a diet containing the corresponding food allergen presented, as for humans, time‐dependent shortened and widened villi accompanied by leucocyte infiltrate and loss of goblet cells. With these data, we were able to establish a classification system for experimental intestinal inflammation in mice thus permitting better comparisons among and between experiments than has been possible previously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Evidence supports the predictive potential of inflammatory marker-derived scores (inflammation scores) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection on prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, no study has longitudinally assessed the predictive values of inflammation scores combined with hepatitis B virus status on survival of these patients. Therefore, a study was designed to evaluate the prognostic capacity of preoperative, dynamic changes in integrated scores, through a combination of general inflammation scores and HBV infection status, on HCC patients undergoing tumor resection.Methods: The clinicopathological data of 247 patients with primary HCC who underwent liver resection were collected. Inflammation-related laboratory examinations were performed 1 week before operation, and 1 week, 1 month, 3months, and 6months after operation. The prognostic values of preoperative and dynamic changes in integrated inflammation scores were studied using the Cox regression models.Results: Elevated preoperative integrated inflammation scores, including co-Glasgow prognostic score (coGPS), co-modified Glasgow prognostic score (comGPS), co-C reactive protein to albumin ratio (coCRP/ALB), co-prognostic index (coPI), co-neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (coNLR), co-lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (coLMR), coNLR-PLR and coCRP/ALB-PLR, were associated with decreased overall survival (OS). Dynamic changes in coGPS, comGPS, coCRP/ALB, coPI, coPLR, coNLR, coSII, coNLR-PLR, and coCRP/ALB-PLR were independent prognostic factors of OS. coCRP/ALB-PLR was significantly associated with disease free survival.Conclusions: Preoperative and dynamic changes in integrated inflammation scores, particularly for coCRP/ALB-PLR were important and stable prognostic markers in HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the predictive value of the inflammatory score for the progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy (CRT). Methods: 235 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer were selected. All patients underwent clinical evaluation, laboratory examination and imaging examination before treatment. The PFS and OS were compared between the two groups, and the predictive factors were evaluated on the prognosis of patients with poor prognosis, tumor reduction rate, and tumor metastasis within 6 months. Results: The average PFS and OS of the patients were 10.2 months and 18.8 months, respectively. Glasgow prognosis score (GPS) 2 and plasma fibrinogen (FIB)≥ 400mg/dL were independent predictors of poor PFS and OS. Onokazu Temple prognostic index (OPNI) was a predictor of increased tumor reduction rate after CRT (P<0.05). Patients with GPS 2 and FIB≥ 400mg/dL had early metastasis rate increased significantly (P<0. 05). Conclusion: Glasgow prognosis score, fibrinogen, and OPNI are effective predictors for prognosis of patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer treated with radiotherapy and chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the present investigation was to assess the protective impact of gentiopicroside (GPS) on acute myocardial infarction (AMI) through the modulation of NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain, leucine-rich repeat, and pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) signaling. H9c2 cells were subjected to varying concentrations of GPS, and subsequently, the cells and Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were segregated into control, model, GPS, t-BHQ (an Nrf2 activator), and GPS + ML385 (an Nrf2 inhibitor) groups. The levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were analyzed. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cell apoptosis were assessed, while Nrf2 and the expression of the NLRP3 inflammatory body signal pathway were evaluated using western blot and immunofluorescence techniques. The infarct area and pathological changes were also examined. Treatment with varying doses of GPS resulted in increased viability of H9c2 cells. Notably, the model group exhibited significantly elevated levels of cell apoptosis, MDA, and ROS compared to the control group, while SOD and Nrf2 levels were significantly reduced. Furthermore, the expression of NLRP3, cleaved caspase-1, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-18 were found to be augmented. Following the implementation of GPS in cells and animals, there was a notable reduction in MDA and ROS levels, a decrease in the rate of cellular apoptosis, and a mitigation of inflammation scores. In addition, there was an increase in the expression of SOD and Nrf2. However, the protective effects of GPS were negated when co-administered with ML385. GPS exhibits therapeutic properties in AMI rats by activating Nrf2 expression, thereby reducing the NLRP3 inflammatory body and alleviating the inflammatory response and oxidative stress of myocardial cells. GPS may hold promise as a potential drug for the treatment of AMI., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Purpose: The study was designed to investigate the effects of a novel spironolactone chalcone in the prevention of peritoneal fibrosis. Methods: Wistar rats (n = 30) were randomly assigned to 3 groups: bacteria (B), spironolactone amide treatment (S), and control (C) groups. C group received only dextran beads while S and B groups were given bacteria and dextran beads intraperitoneally, but spironolactone chalcone was also given to S group. The treatments were administered daily. The rats were sacrificed on day 15 to quantify peritoneal adhesion and for histological examination of the peritoneal tissues using hematoxylin, eosin and Masson's trichrome dyes. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit was used to determine TGFβ1 content of peritoneal fluids and serum samples. Results: Spironolactone chalcone treatment at a dose of 30 mg/kg body weight daily for 15 days significantly reduced peritoneal total adhesion score in S group compared to untreated B group (p < 0.01). S group also showed significantly lower mean peritoneal thickness, inflammation score, and fibrosis score compared to B group. Serum transforming growth factor ß1 was also reduced significantly in S group animals on spironolactone chalcone treatment compared to B group. Conclusion: Spironolactone chalcone is a potentially effective candidate for decreasing the extent of peritoneal injury caused by bacterial peritonitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]