Glasgow prognostic score is a predictive index for postoperative infectious complications after total proctocolectomy in ulcerative colitis patients.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Glasgow prognostic score is a systemic inflammatory-based score. The aim of this study was to determine whether the Glasgow prognostic score was a useful predictor of short-term outcomes in patients who undergo total proctocolectomy for ulcerative colitis. METHODS: eighty ulcerative colitis patients who underwent a total proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis or permanent end ileostomy from June 2014 to March 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into a lower Glasgow prognostic score group and a higher Glasgow prognostic score group. RESULTS: postoperative infectious complication occurred more frequently in the higher Glasgow prognostic score group (8.3 % vs 29.5 %, p = 0.018). According to the univariate and multivariate analysis, only a higher Glasgow prognostic score was associated with an increased risk of postoperative infectious complication (OR: 5.478, 95 % CI: 1.236-24.279). CONCLUSION: Glasgow prognostic score is a simple and useful indicator of postoperative infectious complications.

Integrated bioinformatics analysis identified COL11A1 as an immune infiltrates correlated prognosticator in pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) is the most common pancreatic cancer, with high mortality rate and limited treatment options. Tumor infiltrating cells and genes in microenvironment are emerging as pivotal players in PAAD progression and prognosis. In this study, we obtained genes expression data set GSE119794 of PAAD, which contains data from 10 tumor and 10 normal samples. A total of 262 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 169 up-regulated and 93 down-regulated genes, were obtained based on expression fold change and significance. Combining the pathway analysis of DEGs and GSEA analysis of all genes, four KEGG pathways were enriched. The 4 pathways include pancreatic secretion, protein digestion and absorption, fat digestion and absorption, and PPAR signaling pathways. Functional enrichment of Gene Ontology significantly enriched extracellular matrix, an important component in microenvironment. In the Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, we screened out 3 hub genes of COL11A1, KRT19 and CXCL5 by CytoHubba. At last, the expression level, prognostic significance and correlation with tumor infiltrates were validated in TCGA database, with GEPIA and TIMER. The validation identified Collagen Type XI Alpha 1 Chain (COL11A1), an extracellular matrix structural constituent, as a hazardous prognosticator with significant correlation with macrophage, neutrophil and dendritic cells. In sum, we identified COL11A1 as an immune infiltrates correlated prognosticator in pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Allozyme variation and population genetic structure of Betula alnoides from Guangxi, China.

Allozyme variation and population genetic structure of Betula alnoides Buch Ham. ex D. Don in 11 natural populations from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, were investigated by starch gel electrophoresis. Variation at 15 loci from 10 enzyme systems was analyzed. Allozyme analysis revealed a high level of genetic variation in this species, with percentage of polymorphic loci (P(p)), the average number of alleles per locus (A(p)), and the expected heterozygosity (H(ep)) being 55.2%, 2.0, and 0.204, respectively, which exceeds the average level among out-crossing wind-pollinated woody species at the population level. At the species level, P(s), A(s), and H(es) were 60.0%, 2.67, and 0.206, respectively. The observed heterozygosity (H(op)) was higher than H(ep), indicating the existence of natural selection against homozygotes. The negative fixation index (F = -0.216) implied a significant excess of heterozygosity at the population level Among-population differentiation (F(ST)) accounted for 4.0% of the total variation. No significant correlation was detected between the genetic distance and geographic distance among populations. Extensive gene flow was inferred, based on the allozyme data (N(m) = 6.000 from F(ST), N(m) = 5.605 from the "private allele" method). The results demonstrated that the fragmentation status of B. alnoides had no remarkable effects on the population genetic structure of this species. Some populations are recommended for both in situ genetic conservation and germplasm collection for breeding programs.