Biomarkers in Medicine

Aim: To identify novel metabolic biomarkers for patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Methods: The metabolites in the sera of 63 patients with AIS aged 45∼77 years and 60 healthy individuals were analyzed by liquid chromatography (LC)-mass spectrometry (MS)/MS. The efficiency of significantly altered metabolites as biomarkers of AIS was evaluated by ROC curve analysis. Results: Different metabolic profiles were revealed in AIS patients' sera compared with healthy persons. Twelve significantly altered metabolites had an area under the curve (AUC) value >0...

Kidney transplantation is the most efficient renal replacement therapy. Current diagnostics for monitoring graft health are either invasive or lack precision. Metabolomics is an emerging discipline focused on the analysis of the small molecules involved in metabolism. Given the kidneys' central role in metabolic homeostasis and previous observations of altered metabolites correlating with restricted kidney graft function, metabolomics is highly promising for the discovery of novel biomarkers and the development of novel diagnostics...

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the predictive value of IL-6 for stroke recurrence in acute ischemic stroke. Methods: Patients who were admitted within 48 h of onset were included. At 3-month, stroke recurrence was assessed. IL-6 levels were measured in serum samples taken upon admission. Results: Out of the 305 patients, 47 (15.4%) experienced a stroke recurrence. The risk of stroke recurrence increased by 8% (OR: 1.08; 95% CI: 1.04-1.11; p  < 0.001) for every 1 pg/ml increase in IL-6 serum level, both in unadjusted and adjusted analyses (6%; OR: 1...

Aim: This study uses blood routine, coagulation and biochemical indicators to explore the relationship between the hematological parameters of patients with various types of liver diseases. Methods: The Kruskal-Wallis, Chi-squared and Fisher exact tests were used to compare the hematological parameters and clinical characteristics of three groups of patients with different degrees of liver disease. Spearman correlation analysis is used to analyze the correlation between two continuous variables. The logistic regression model evaluated the odds ratio between variables and disease changes...

Background: The objective was to examine the predictive value of malnutrition, assessed via the Controlling Nutritional status (CONUT) and Prognostic Nutrition Index (PNI) scores, in the development of contrast-associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI) following peripheral vascular intervention (PVI). Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional observational study included the enrollment of 243 consecutive patients who underwent PVI. Patients were categorized into two groups based on the occurrence of CA-AKI...

Biliary tract cancers (BTCs) have rising incidence and mortality rates. Chemotherapy's limited efficacy has led to exploring new treatments like immunotherapy. which offers modest benefits. Moreover, the identification of reliable predictive biomarkers for immune checkpoint therapy in BTCs remains elusive, hindering personalized treatment strategies. This review provides an overview of the current landscape of emerging biomarkers for immunotherapy response in BTCs. We discuss the incremental benefits of combination therapy and the evolving role of immunotherapy in managing advanced BTC...

Aim: To reveal factors affecting 2-year mortality in geriatric patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Methods: Demographic characteristics, clinical and laboratory data, thorax computed tomography (CT) images, second-year survival status, and causes of death were analyzed. Results: The 2-year post-discharge mortality rate of 605 patients was 21.9%. Mean age of patients in the deceased group was 76.8 ± 8.1 years, which was shorter than the life expectancy at birth in Türkiye. Older age (≥85), delirium, some co-morbidities, and atypical thorax CT involvement were associated with a significant increase in 2-year mortality (p < 0...

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Aim: This study intended to investigate the ability of blood MALT1 to estimate acute exacerbation risk in elderly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Methods: Blood MALT1 was detected in 176 elderly COPD patients (aged more than 60 years). Results: MALT1 was elevated in patients with COPD acute exacerbation versus patients with stable COPD ( p  < 0.001). In patients with COPD acute exacerbation, MALT1 was negatively related to forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1 )/forced vital capacity (FVC) ( p  = 0...

Aim: To investigate the association between plasma AAT level and glaucoma. Methods: 163 glaucoma patients and 111 healthy controls were recruited. The plasma AAT levels were measured by ELISA. Results: Plasma AAT level was significantly higher in glaucoma patients than those in healthy controls ( p  < 0.001). Patients with higher plasma AAT level exhibited severer disease stage (early vs. severe: p  < 0.05; H-P-A; early vs. severe: p  < 0.05; early vs. end-stage: p  < 0...

Aim: We hypothesized plasma sEH activity correlates with mortality in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients. Methods: Adult patients diagnosed with ARDS enrolled between 2017 and 2019 were included in this study. Results: A total of 337 adult patients met our inclusion criteria. Among them, 107 patients died within 28 days. The plasma sEH activity was higher in nonsurvivors relative to survivors. And a receiver operating characteristic curve with the area under the curve of 0.81 (95% confidence interval: 0...

Introduction: In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of HbA1C/C-peptide ratio on short-term mortality (this period is defined as 30 days after diagnosis) in the patients with myocardial infarction. Materials & Methods: Around 3245 patients who were admitted due to ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention between October 2020 and 2024 were included in this study. Results: In the receiver operating characteristic analysis, the predictive power of the HCR score for mortality in ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients was determined to be 83% sensitivity and 81% specificity...

Background: In this meta-analysis, we investigated C-reactive protein (CRP)'s role in glioma prognosis prediction. Methods: We conducted the current meta-analysis in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. An analysis of the prognostic effect of CRP on glioma was conducted using combined hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: The combined data suggested that a higher CRP level was markedly related to poor overall survival in glioma (hazard ratio: 1...

Aim: We aimed to investigate the predictive value of the Grainyhead-like 2 (GRHL2) expression from circulating blood for recurrence, metastasis and overall death on patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Materials & Methods: We collected blood samples from 122 patients who were admitted to our hospital for NSCLC. Results: Multivariable Cox proportional-hazards analysis in adjusted Model II showed that compared with GRHL2-negative expression, positive expression in patients with NSCLC was associated with increased death risk (HR = 7...

Aim: MicroRNAs can be regarded as biomarkers for gastric cancer (GC) diagnosis in the early stages. This study assesses the expression levels of miR-362-3p, miR-362-5p and miR-363-5p as potential biomarkers for GC. Materials & methods: The expression levels of the miRNAs in 90 pairs of GC and adjacent normal tissue samples were analyzed by quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) and some bioinformatics tools were utilized for analyzing the target genes and possible molecular pathways in which these miRNAs participate...

Osteosarcoma (OS), a primary human malignant tumor that affects the bones, mostly arises in children and adolescents. Even though surgical resection followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy has improved the survival rate up to 60%, the long-term positive effect for most patients with OS is not satisfactory. Hence, elucidating the specific mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of OS is particularly important. Aurora-B, a serine/threonine kinase, plays a crucial role in centrosome regulation, spindle formation and chromosomal separation during mitosis...

Aim: ITIH4 has anti-inflammatory properties toward eosinophilic/neutrophilic inflammation. This study aimed to explore clinical value of ITIH4 in childhood asthma. Materials & methods: Serum ITIH4 and inflammatory cytokines were determined in 120 childhood asthma patients by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: In the entire and acute exacerbation patients, ITIH4 positively associated with IFN-γ, but negatively related to proinflammatory cytokines. ITIH4 was lowest in patients with acute exacerbation, followed by chronic persistent, and highest in clinical remission...

Aim: Salusin-α and salusin-β peptides are crucial in the development of cardiovascular diseases like coronary artery disease (CAD). This study compared serum levels of these peptides in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), those with both OSA and CAD. Materials & methods: Patients without OSA were included in Group 1, those with OSA alone comprised Group 2, and those with OSA and CAD were in Group 3. Results: Salusin-α level was significantly higher in controls than in Groups 2 and 3, while salusin-β levels were significantly higher in Groups 2 and 3 compared with the control group...

Dermatologic disorders, affecting the integumentary system, involve diverse molecular mechanisms such as cell proliferation, apoptosis, inflammation and immune responses. Long noncoding RNAs, particularly Metastasis-Associated Lung Adenocarcinoma Transcript 1 (MALAT1), are crucial regulators of gene expression. MALAT1 influences inflammatory responses, immune cell function and signaling pathways, impacting various physiological and pathological processes, including dermatologic disorders. Dysregulation of MALAT1 is observed in skin conditions like psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and systemic lupus erythematosus...

Aim: Torquetenovirus (TTV) was a promising biomarker for immunity, while lung regional TTV for evaluating the opportunistic infection among immunocompromised hosts (ICH) was unclear. Materials & methods: In the ICH and non-ICH populations, we compared the susceptibility to opportunistic infections, clinical severity and the prognosis between subgroups, respectively. Results: ICH with detectable bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF)-TTV were more susceptible to lung aspergillosis and Mycobacterium infections...