Early Changes in Circulatory T Helper Type 1, 2, and 17 Cells of Patients with Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest after Successful Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.

BACKGROUND: Immune disorder is an important feature of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) after the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). We investigated the expression of circulatory T helper type (Th) 1, Th2, and Th17 cells to explore the early immune alteration in OHCA patients after ROSC. METHODS: During July-September 2016 and March-September 2017, 65 consecutive OHCA patients with ROSC >12 h and 30 healthy individuals were enrolled in this study. Clinical and 28-day survival data were collected. Peripheral blood samples were analyzed to evaluate the expression of Th1/Th2/Th17 cells by flow cytometry from OHCA patients after ROSC on days 1 and 3 and from healthy individuals. RESULTS: Compared with healthy individuals, T lymphocyte counts and Th1 cell counts decreased on days 1 and 3 after ROSC (1464 [1198, 2152] vs. 779 [481, 1140] vs. 581 [324, 1118]/µl, χ2 = 30.342, P < 0.001; 154 [90, 246] vs. 39 [19, 78] vs. 24 [12, 53]/µl, χ2 = 42.880, P < 0.001), and Th2 and Th17 cell counts decreased on day 3 (17.0 [10.8, 24.0] vs. 9.0 [3.0, 15.5]/µl, Z = -3.228, P = 0.001; 4.7 [2.7, 9.1] vs. 2.7 [1.0, 6.5]/µl, Z = -2.294, P = 0.022). No change in CD4+/CD3+ lymphocyte ratio was seen on day 1 or day 3 (57.9 [49.4, 63.0] vs. 55.4 [46.5, 66.5] vs. 55.4 [50.2, 67.0]%, χ2 = 0.171, P = 0.918). Th1/CD4+ lymphocyte ratio decreased on days 1 and 3 (19.0 [14.0, 24.9] vs. 9.3 [4.6, 13.9] vs. 9.5 [4.9, 13.6]%, χ2 = 25.754, P < 0.001), and Th2/CD4+ lymphocyte ratio increased on day 1 and decreased on day 3 (1.9 [1.2, 2.5] vs. 2.5 [1.6, 4.0] vs. 1.9 [1.6, 3.8]%, χ2 = 6.913, P = 0.032). Th1/Th2 cell ratio also decreased on both days (9.4 [7.3, 13.5] vs. 3.1 [1.9, 5.6] vs. 4.2 [2.8, 5.9], χ2 = 44.262, P < 0.001). Despite an upward trend in the median of Th17/CD4+ lymphocyte ratio in OHCA patients, there was no significant difference compared with healthy individuals (0.9 [0.4, 1.2] vs. 0.7 [0.4, 1.2] vs. 0.6 [0.3, 1.0]%, χ2 = 2.620, P = 0.270). The dynamic expression of Th1/Th2/Th17 cells on days 1 and 3 were simultaneously analyzed in 28/53 OHCA patients who survived >3 days; patients were divided into survivors (n = 10) and nonsurvivors (n = 18) based on 28-day survival. No significant differences in Th1/Th2/Th17 cell counts, ratios in CD4+ lymphocytes, and Th1/Th2 cell ratio were seen between survivors and nonsurvivors on both days (all P > 0.05). There was no difference over time in both survivors and nonsurvivors (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Downregulated T lymphocyte counts, including Th1/Th2/Th17 subsets and Th1/Th2 cell ratio imbalance, occur in the early period after ROSC, that may be involved in immune dysfunction in OHCA patients.

Presepsin as a novel diagnostic biomarker for differentiating active pulmonary tuberculosis from bacterial community acquired pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: The expression of presepsin in active pulmonary tuberculosis (APTB) is unknown. We observed the expression of presepsin in APTB, and to evaluate the value for discriminating between APTB and bacterial community acquired pneumonia (BCAP). METHODS: Consecutive APTB patients who were accurately diagnosed by sputum culture and BCAP patients were enrolled from August 2013 to July 2015. Clinical data were collected, and plasma presepsin concentrations were tested. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were performed for diagnostic analysis. RESULTS: In all, 133 healthy individuals, 103 APTB and 202 BCAP patients were enrolled. Presepsin concentrations in APTB group (218.0 [146.0, 368.0] pg/ml) were higher than those in the healthy control group (128.0 [101.5, 176.5] pg/ml, P<0.001), and lower than the concentrations measured in the BCAP group (532.0 [364.0, 852.3] pg/ml, P<0.001). Simple APTB and miliary tuberculosis patients showed no significant differences in presepsin concentrations. Compared with both Gram-positive and negative bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis caused a limited increase of presepsin. With the cut-off value set at 401pg/ml, presepsin demonstrated high positive predictive value, allowing initial discriminating between APTB and BCAP. Presepsin combined with CURB-65 score could significantly improve the discrimination ability. CONCLUSIONS: Presepsin concentrations in APTB patients were slightly increased, and may be helpful for initial discrimination between APTB and BCAP.

Changes in intestinal microflora in rats with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

AIM: To implement high-throughput 16S rDNA sequencing to study microbial diversity in the fecal matter of rats with acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS). METHODS: Intratracheal instillation of lipopolysaccharide was used to induce ALI, and the pathological changes in the lungs and intestines were observed. D-lactate levels and diamine oxidase (DAO) activities were determined by enzymatic spectrophotometry. The fragments encompassing V4 16S rDNA hypervariable regions were PCR amplified from fecal samples, and the PCR products of V4 were sequenced by Illumina MiSeq. RESULTS: Increased D-lactate levels and DAO activities were observed in the model group (P < 0.01). Sequencing results revealed the presence of 3780 and 4142 species in the control and model groups, respectively. The percentage of shared species was 18.8419%. Compared with the control group, the model group had a higher diversity index and a lower number of species of Fusobacteria (at the phylum level), Helicobacter and Roseburia (at the genus level) (P < 0.01). Differences in species diversity, structure, distribution and composition were found between the control group and early ARDS group. CONCLUSION: The detection of specific bacteria allows early detection and diagnosis of ALI/ARDS.

[Risk factors and early diagnosis of acute kidney injury in patients with sepsis].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze related risk factors of sepsis complicated acute kidney injury (AKI), and to explore the precaution equation for early clinical diagnosis. METHODS: A retrospective review of patients with sepsis complicating AKI admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) of Affiliated Hospital of Binzhou Medical University from April 2011 to April 2013 were enrolled. Fifty-eight sepsis patients without AKI were enrolled as control. Eleven indexes including age, mean arterial pressure (MAP) score, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) score, 24-hour urine volume, 24-hour net liquid intake score, serum creatinine (SCr) score, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), oxygenation index, blood lactic acid score and plasma albumin were collected as possible risk factors for AKI in sepsis patients. The risk factors and calculation of the critical value were analyzed by multiple factor logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Nine factors with statistical significance for AKI in sepsis patients analyzed with univariate analysis were substituted in logistic regression model including MAP score, SOFA score, APACHEII score, 24-hour urine volume, 24-hour net liquid intake score, SCr score, BUN, oxygenation index, blood lactic acid score. After variable screening SCr score, MAP score, 24-hour net liquid intake score and blood lactic acid score were substituted in regression equation: Y=0.237X1 + 0.139X2 + 0.057X3 + 0.051X4 (X1, X2, X3, X4 typified SCr score, MAP score, blood lactic acid score and 24-hour net liquid intake score), F=125.897, P=0.000. The diagnostic cutoff appeared as 0.778. The sensitivity, the specificity, the Youden index, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 80%, 100%, 0.8, 100% and 74%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: SCr score, MAP score, blood lactic acid score and 24-hour net liquid intake score were risk factors of sepsis complicating AKI. When the value higher than 0.778 from regression equation Y=0.237X1 + 0.139X2 + 0.057X3 + 0.051X4, it hinted there was risk related to AKI in sepsis patients. The equation can help the clinicians diagnose sepsis and AKI earlier.