Low Prognostic Nutritional Index Contributes to High Adverse Events in Preeclampsia.

Background: Preeclampsia (PE) is a common obstetric complication that has caused significant harm to pregnant mothers. The clinical significance of poor nutritional status in PE patients is unclear. The aim of our study was to evaluate the nutritional status as measured by the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) score at admission, and its ability to predict in-hospitalization adverse events in patients with PE. Methods: We enrolled patients diagnosed with PE in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University from January 2019 to December 2021. Patients were divided into low and high nutritional status group according to the cut-off value of PNI score at admission using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. PNI score were used to explore the relationship between PNI score and in-hospitalization adverse events presented with hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: A total of 733 patients were included in the study. The proportion of adverse events and admission to intensive care unit (ICU) was higher in the low nutritional status group than in the high nutritional status group (P < 0.05). ROC curve analysis revealed an area under curve (AUC) of 0.628 for PNI score and the cut-off value of PNI was 37. The free-event rates determined by KM analysis were significantly lower in the low nutritional status compared to the high nutritional status (P < 0.05). Adjusted multivariate analysis showed that PNI score was independently associated with favorable outcomes (HR: 2.66; 95% CI: 1.724-4.050, P < 0.001). Conclusion: High PNI score at admission was associated with reduced in-hospitalization risk of adverse events in patients with PE. Additional enhancing nutritional status during hospitalization may help to prevent unfavorable prognosis in clinical practices.

Identification of Novel Hypoxia Subtypes for Prognosis Based on Machine Learning Algorithms.

Objective: A reduced level or tension or the deprivation of oxygen is termed hypoxia. It is common for tumours to outgrow their natural source of nutrients, which causes hypoxia in some tumour regions. Hypoxia affects ovarian cancer (OC) in several ways. Methods: In this study, the expression patterns of prognostic hypoxia-related genes were curated, and consensus clustering analyses were performed to determine hypoxia subtypes in OC included in The Cancer Genome Atlas cohort. Two hypoxia-related subtypes were observed and considered for further investigation. The analyses of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), gene ontology, mutation, and immune cell infraction were performed to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms. Results: In total, 377 patients with OC were classified into two subgroups based on the subtype of hypoxia. The clinical outcome was considerably poor for patients with hypoxia subtype 2. DEG and protein-protein interaction analyses revealed that the expression levels of CLIP2 and SH3PXD2A were low in OC tissues. Immune cell infarction analysis revealed that the subtypes were associated with the tumour microenvironment (TME). Conclusion: Our findings established the existence of two distinctive, complex, and varied hypoxia subtypes in OC. Findings from the quantitative analysis of hypoxia subtypes in patients improved our understanding of the characteristics of the TME and may facilitate the development of more efficient treatment regimens.

Concordane of OSTA and lumbar spine BMD by DXA in identifying risk of osteoporosis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the accuracy of Osteoporosis Self-assessment Tool for Asians (OSTA) in identifying the risk of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. To validate use of OSTA risk index by comparing it with the bone mineral density (BMD) of lumbar spine measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). METHODS: The data of lumbar spine BMD (LS BMD) measurements by DXA of 218 postmenopausal women of Han nationality in Sichuan province were compared with OSTA risk index. The concordance of OSTA and LS BMD were calculated and analyzed by fourfold table and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS: The prevalence of osteoporosis in these women was 40.4% and 61.5%, with the LS BMD T score cutoffs -2.5 and -2.0, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of OSTA risk index compared with T score cutoff -2.5 of LS BMD were 59.1%, 56.9% and 57.8%, respectively, while they were 57.5%, 63.1%, 59.6% by T score cutoff -2.0. CONCLUSION: For identifying risk of osteoporosis, the concurrence was lower than those reported studies when comparing LS BMD measurements to OSTA risk index in Chinese Han nationality postmenopausal women of Sichuan province. Physicians should identify women who need BMD measurement according to more factors rather than age and body weight.

[Serum IL-1 receptor antagonist and IL-1beta in patients with Graves' opthalmopathy].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanism of Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) and the relationship between serum IL-1 ra and IL-1beta and the effectiveness of glucocoids in treating GO. METHODS: Serum IL-1ra and IL-1beta were measured by Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Radioimmunoassay (RIA) in three groups of people, which included 20 patients with severe GO (NOSPACES> or = IV), 20 patients with Graves' disease (GD) without ophthalmopathy, and 20 healthy volunteers. Repeated measurements were undertaken in GO patients before and after glucocoids treatment to analyze the relationship between serum IL-1ra, and IL-1beta and the effectiveness of glucocoids therapy. RESULTS: Before glucocoids therapy,GO patients had higher serum IL-1beta and lower IL-1ra/IL-1beta ratio. Glucocoids therapy increased serum IL-1ra and decreased IL-1beta, and thus increased the IL-1ra/IL-1beta ratio. CONCLUSION: Patients with GO have deficiency in IL-1ra synthesis. Glucocoids therapy can stimulate IL-1ra synthesis and inhibit IL-1beta synthesis.

[An investigation on the percentages of TRAb-producing cells in Graves disease].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the presence of the TRAb-producing cell precursors in the cases of Graves disease. METHODS: Peripheral lymphocytes were infected with Epstein-Barr virus, a kind of lymphocyte precursor stimulator, and were stimulated to produce TRAb. RESULTS: The percentages of TRAb-producing cells from Graves disease group were obviously higher than those from healthy control group. The isotype of TRAb in The frequencies of supernants of these EBV-transformed B lymphocytes was predominatly IgM. CONCLUSION: TRAb-specific precursors were higher in the cases of Graves disease than in healthy control.

[The expression of glucocorticold receptor isoform in peripheral blood mononuclear cell with Graves' ophthalmopathy].

OBJECTIVE: To study the expression of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) isoform in the peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) of patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO). METHODS: Semi-quantitative RT-PCR was used to analyze RNA isolated from PBMC of the patients with GO and the normal volunteers. The level of plasma total cortisol (PTC) at 8 a.m. was measured. RESULTS: The hGR alpha/GR beta mRNA ratios of the two groups were 7.58 +/- 5.42 and 14.65 +/- 8.30, respectively. There was significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). The PTC levels of the two groups were 304.23 +/- 92.06 and 313.73 +/- 111.05, and no significant difference between them was noted (P > 0.05). No correlation was found between hGR alpha/GR beta mRNA and PTC levels. CONCLUSION: hGR alpha/GR beta mRNA may play a role in the pathogeny of Graves' ophthalmopathy.