Biomarkers of peripheral blood neutrophil extracellular traps in the diagnosis and progression of malignant tumors.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The mortality rate associated with malignant tumors remains high and there is a lack of effective diagnostic and tumor progression markers. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) can promote tumor-associated thrombosis, invasive metastasis, and inflammatory responses, but there is a lack of research on the value of measuring NETs in the peripheral blood of patients with malignancies. METHODS: We included 263 patients with malignancies (55 gliomas, 101 ovarian, 64 colorectal, and 43 lung cancers) and 75 healthy controls in this study. We compared the levels of citrullinated histone H3 (citH3), cell-free DNA (cfDNA), and systemic inflammation-related parameters, including neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, platelets, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, systemic immune inflammation index, and systemic inflammation response index. We assessed the value of changes in NETs in peripheral blood to determine the diagnosis, venous thromboembolism, clinical staging, and systemic inflammatory response in patients with malignancy. RESULTS: The levels of citH3 and cfDNA in peripheral blood can distinguish between healthy controls and tumor patients. The levels of citH3 and cfDNA before clinical intervention did not predict the risk of combined venous thromboembolism in oncology patients in the short-term after clinical intervention. The levels of citH3, cfDNA, and systemic inflammation-related parameters in the peripheral blood of tumor patients increased with the clinical stage. There was a correlation between cfDNA levels in peripheral blood and systemic inflammation-related parameters in tumor patients, and this correlation was more significant in patients with advanced tumors. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in NETs in the peripheral blood differ between healthy controls and patients with malignant tumors. NETs may be involved in tumor-induced systemic inflammatory responses through interaction with circulating inflammatory cells, thus promoting tumor progression. NETs may be used as markers to assist in the diagnosis and progression of tumor malignancy.

Sequentially modified carbon felt for enhanced p-nitrophenol biodegradation through direct interspecific electron transfer.

The widely applied aromatic nitration in modern industry leads to toxic p-nitrophenol (PNP) in environment. Exploring its efficient degradation routes is of great interests. In this study, a novel four-step sequential modification procedure was developed to increase the specific surface area, functional group, hydrophilicity, and conductivity of carbon felt (CF). The implementation of the modified CF promoted reductive PNP biodegradation, attaining 95.2 ± 0.8% of removal efficiency with less accumulation of highly toxic organic intermediates (e.g., p-aminophenol), compared to carrier-free and CF-packed biosystems. The constructed anaerobic-aerobic process with modified CF in 219-d continuous operation achieved further removal of carbon and nitrogen containing intermediates and partial mineralization of PNP. The modified CF promoted the secretion of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and cytochrome c (Cyt c), which were essential components to facilitate direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET). Synergistic relationship was deduced that glucose was converted into volatile fatty acids by fermenters (e.g., Longilinea and Syntrophobacter), which donated electrons to the PNP degraders (e.g., Bacteroidetes_vadinHA17) through DIET channels (CF, Cyt c, EPS) to complete PNP removal. This study proposes a novel strategy using engineered conductive material to enhance the DIET process for efficient and sustainable PNP bioremediation.