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OBJECTIVE@#To explore the value of interferon-inducible protein 10 (IP-10) in the auxiliary diagnosis of tuberculosis and the judgment of the severity of disease.@*METHODS@#From February, 2013 to February, 2017, a total of 193 patients with TB admitted in our hospital and 84 healthy control subjects were recruited consecutively. The peripheral blood plasma levels of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and IP-10 were detected using liquid phase chip (Luminex) technique. According to the number of lung fields affected by TB, the patients were divided into group A (with lesions in 1-2 lung fields), group B (3-4 lung fields) and group C (5-6 lung fields), The expressions of IFN-γ and IP-10 in 3 groups were compared.@*RESULTS@#The plasma levels of IP-10 were significantly higher in TB patients than in the control subjects ( < 0.05), but IFN-γ levels were comparable between the two groups ( > 0.05). Among the TB patients, plasma IP-10 levels was the highest in group C ( < 0.05), and IFN-γ levels did not differ significantly among the 3 groups ( > 0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Plasma IP-10 has a certain reference value in the auxiliary diagnosis of active tuberculosis and the judgment of the severity of the disease.
Subject(s)
Humans , Antigens, Bacterial , Biomarkers , Blood , Chemokine CXCL10 , Blood , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary , Blood , DiagnosisABSTRACT
Contexto: los medios de comunicación social (SoMe) son alternativas utilizadas por los pacientes para obtener información sobre psoriasis. Objetivo: describir la frecuencia de uso de SoMe y determinar su asociación con factores demográficos y clínicos. Sujetos y métodos: 200 pacientes con diagnóstico de psoriasis, atendidos en 6 unidades de salud localizados en las ciudades de Quito, Guayaquil y Portoviejo. Resultados: el 72% de los pacientes evaluados usaron internet y de estos, el 93% buscó información sobre psoriasis; las fuentes de información empleadas fueron Google (74,6%), Facebook (29,6%) y foros de salud (18,3%). Existe asociación estadística el mayor uso de SoMe con las variables sexo femenino, edad menor a 45 años, residencia urbana, nivel educativo alto y actividades profesionales (p<0,05). La afectación en la calidad de vida fue más alta en usuarios de SoMe (72,5% vs. 56,9%; p<0.05). El compromiso articular, lesiones en áreas expuestas, severidad de la psoriasis calificada de acuerdo a SAPASI, el tratamiento con inmunomoduladores o inmunosupresores, no se asociaron con e l uso de SoMe. Conclusión: el uso de SoMe en pacientes con psoriasis es usual y se asoció a factores demográficos. Se recomienda a la comunidad dematológica conocer fuentes de información en SoMe disponible para ofrecer a los pacientes. (AU)
Context: social media (SoMe) are alternatives used by patients to obtain information about psoriasis. Objective: to describe the frequency of SoMe use and determine its association with demographic and clinical factors. Subjects and methods: 200 patients diagnosed with psoriasis, treated in 6 health units located in the cities of Quito, Guayaquil and Portoviejo. Results: 72% of the patients evaluated used the internet and of these, 93% looked for information on psoriasis; the sources of information used were Google (74.6%), Face-book (29.6%) and health forums (18.3%). There is a statistical association with the greater use of SoMe with the variables female sex, age younger than 45 years, urban residence, high educational level and professional activities (p <0.05). Affectation in the quality of life was higher in SoMe users (72.5% vs. 56.9%, p <0.05). Joint involvement, lesions in exposed areas, severity of psoriasis qualified according to SAPASI, treatment with immunomodulators or immunosuppressants, were not associated with the use of SoMe. Conclusion: the use of SoMe in patients with psoriasis is usual and associated with demographic factors. It is recommended to the dematological community to know sources of information in SoMe available to offer to patients. (AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adolescent , Adult , Middle Aged , Aged , Patients , Psoriasis , Social Media , Skin Diseases, Papulosquamous , Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases , InternetABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic value of the serum procalcitonin ( PCT ) level in the non-acquired immune deficiency syndrome ( AIDS ) immunocompromised critically ill patients suspected to have infection. Methods A retrospective study was conducted in the non-AIDS immunocompromised patients who were admitted to Department of Critical Care Medicine of Xiangya Hospital, Central South University during January 2011 to December 2014. Demographic characteristics, underlying disease, acute physiology and chronic health evaluationⅡ( APACHEⅡ) score at admission, and clinical records including baseline and peak levels of temperature, white blood count ( WBC ), PCT, and survival rate within 28 days, infection focus, infectious agents ( bacterial, fungi or mixed infection ), and the severity of infection ( sepsis, severe sepsis, or septic shock ) were recorded. Receiver operating characteristic ( ROC ) curve was plotted, and the diagnostic and protective value of above parameters was evaluated. Results A total of 98 patients ( 43 male and 55 female ) were enrolled in the study with a median age of 44 ( 28, 52 ) years old and a median APACHEⅡscore of 17 ( 11, 20 );47 with malignant hematological tumor, 45 with autoimmune diseases, and 6 post solid organ transplantation. Among them 53 patients ( 54.1%) died within 28 days. Twenty-seven patients were diagnosed as systemic inflammatory response syndrome ( SIRS ) without infection. Among 71 patients with infection, 45 were diagnosed as bacterial infection, 10 with fungal infection, and 16 with mixed infection. Sepsis was diagnosed in 7 patients, severe sepsis in 32 patients , and septic shock in 32 patients .①There was no statistical significance in the baseline and peak levels of PCT and WBC, or baseline level of temperature between the groups of SIRS patients without infection and infected patients. The peak level of temperature was significantly higher in the patients with infection as compared with that of the SIRS without infection patients [℃:39.4 ( 38.9, 40.0 ) vs. 38.8 ( 37.8, 39.2 ), Z=-3.268, P=0.001 ]. It was showed by subgroup analysis that in patients with hematological malignant disease or autoimmune diseases, higher level of body temperature was found in infection group compared with non-infection SIRS group [℃:39.5 ( 39.0, 40.0 ) vs. 39.0 ( 38.4, 39.4 ), Z=-2.349, P=0.019;39.0 ( 38.4, 39.5 ) vs. 38.2 ( 37.0, 38.9 ), Z=-2.221, P=0.026 ].②The baseline level of PCT (μg/L ) were 0.54 ( 0.20, 4.19 ), 2.78 ( 0.50, 9.54 ), 1.00 ( 0.45, 6.89 ), and 0.22 ( 0.07, 1.86 ) in non-infection SIRS patients or the patients with bacterial, fungal, and mixed infection, respectively. The peak level of PCT (μg/L ) were 4.19 ( 1.95, 13.42 ), 12.37 ( 3.82, 45.89 ), 1.82 ( 0.49, 17.86 ), and 5.14 ( 2.66, 12.62 ), respectively, in each subgroup. When the comparison was conducted among the patients with different infectious agent, the baseline level of PCT in patients with bacterial infection was significantly higher than that in SIRS patients without infection ( P=0.026 ) and mixed infection patients ( P=0.001 ), and the peak level of PCT was significantly higher than that in the SIRS patients without infection ( P=0.009 ) and the patients with fungal infection ( P=0.016 ). ROC curve showed that the higher value was found in the baseline and peak levels of PCT for diagnosis of septic shock in all patients [ area under ROC curve ( AUC ) of baseline level = 0.681±0.054, P = 0.001; AUC of peak level = 0.690±0.054, P=0.002 ], and the same value was also found in the baseline and peak levels of PCT for diagnosis of bacterial infection in the patients with malignant hematological tumor ( AUC of baseline level=0.687±0.080, P=0.008;AUC of peak level=0.697±0.079, P=0.021 ).③The peak level of PCT (μg/L ) were 4.05 ( 0.53, 31.22 ), 5.78 ( 2.14, 16.68 ), and 11.64 ( 2.94, 58.14 ) in subgroup of patients with sepsis, severe sepsis and septic shock, respectively, and they showed no statistical significance among subgroups ( P>0.05 ). A high serum level of peak PCT strongly indicated the presence of septic shock ( AUC=0.646±0.060, P=0.019 ), especially in the subgroup of patients with systemic autoimmune disease ( AUC=0.689±0.081, P=0.035 ).④The peak level of PCT (μg/L ) in the APACHEⅡ>18 group ( 38 cases ) was significantly higher than that of APACHEⅡ≤18 group [ 60 cases, PCT (μg/L ):11.64 ( 3.36, 39.39 ) vs. 4.42 ( 1.32, 14.70 ), P=0.016 ];there was a certain correlation between the peak level of PCT and the severity of the disease.⑤The peak level of PCT in death group was significantly higher than that of the survival group [μg/L:9.07 ( 3.05, 33.09 ) vs. 4.19 ( 1.26, 14.61 ), P=0.043 ]. ROC curve showed that the peak level of PCT might be valuable in predicting the prognosis in immunocompromised patients ( AUC=0.619±0.057, P=0.043 ). Conclusions The serum level of PCT is found to be a reliable marker for the diagnosis of bacterial infection in immunocompromised critical patients, especially in those with hematologic malignancy. Additionally, PCT provides a useful tool for evaluating the severity of infection and the prognosis of critically ill patients.
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Objective To investigate the correlation between platelet-related parameters and the severity as well as prognosis of septic patients.Methods A total of 91 patients with sepsis were included in this study, and the platelet-related parameters were detected in all patients within 24 hours and 72 hours after admission to hospital, respectively.Clinical information of each patient was recorded including age, gender and underlying diseases, APACHE Ⅱ score at admission and the incidence of the consequent multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and 28-day mortality.The differences in platelet-related parameters between non-severe sepsis group and severe sepsis group were compared, the correlation between plateletrelated parameters and the prognosis was studied by using rank method and the reliability of platelet-related parameters to predict the prognosis was estimated by using receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC).Results The differences in results of platelet-related parameters between non-severe sepsis group and severe sepsis group within 24 hours and 72 hours after admission were as follows : platelet count : (166.34 ± 58.27) ×109L-1vs.(198.57±65.82) ×109L-1, P=0.02and (138.85 ± 53.31) ×109L-1vs.(173.79 ± 67.48) × 109 L-1, P =0.00;the platelet distribution width (PDW) : (13.84 ± 2.46) ％ vs.(12.73±1.72)％, P=0.01 and (16.07 ±2.87)％ vs.(13.86 ±2.31)％, P=0.00;mean platelet volume (MPV) : (10.17 ±1.82) fl (femto-liter) vs.(9.32 ±1.34) fl, P=0.01 and (11.49 ± 1.53)fl vs.(10.37 ± 1.24) fl, P =0.00, respectively.The value of the PDW showed positive correlation with the prognosis (dead) (r=0.51, P＜0.05), and the MPV did likewise (r=0.53, P＜0.05, while the platelet count negatively correlated (r =-0.61, P ＜ 0.05), These characteristics were more obvious at 72 hours after admission (rPDW =0.68, rPv =0.67, rPLT =-0.71, P ＜0.01).The areas under the ROC curve 72 hours after admission as follows: PLT count0.95, PDW0.93 and MPV0.93, respectively, which were higher than those of PLT count (0.88), PDW (0.82) and MPV (0.83) within 24 hours after admission.The sensitivity and specificity of platelet count 72 hours after admission predicting the prognosis of death were 91.24％ and 80.35％, respectively.Conclusions The changes of platelet-related parameters in septic patients are related to the severity of the disease, and platelet count at 72 hours after admission may play an important role in prognosis of disease.
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BACKGROUND: Beside autoimmunity, coagulation pathway is also involved in the pathogenesis of chronic urticaria (CU). Previous studies showed that plasma D-dimer levels paralleled the severity of the disease. To date, there are no data concerning D-dimer level in Thai patients with CU. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to find the relationship between plasma D-dimer levels and the disease severity of Thai CU patients. The secondary objective is to analyze plasma D-dimer level in each group of patients who performed autologous plasma skin testing (APST) and autologous serum skin testing (ASST). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed case record forms of chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) patients aged at least 18 years in Skin Allergy Clinic, Siriraj Hospital Mahidol University, Bangkok, during June 2008 to June 2011. RESULTS: Of 120 patients, plasma D-dimer level was abnormal in 58 patients (48.3%). The study showed statistically significant positive correlation between disease severity and plasma D-dimer level (p < 0.05, r = 0.537). There was no statistically significant difference in plasma D-dimer level between APST positive and negative groups, and also between ASST positive and negative groups. In APST negative group, plasma D-dimer level was elevated in 29 patients (47.5%) and correlated with disease severity. CONCLUSION: This study showed elevated plasma D-dimer levels in nearly half of Thai patients with CIU. There was a positive correlation between plasma D-dimer levels and the severity of disease activity. Investigation for plasma D-dimer level may be an alternative way to evaluate disease severity in patients with CIU.