Analysis of Epstein-Barr virus activity and clinical characteristics in patients with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome / 中华地方病学杂志

Objective:To study the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) activity and its clinical characteristics in patients with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). Methods:From January 2016 to August 2017, patients with HFRS who were hospitalized in the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University were routinely tested by EBV serology, and were divided into two groups according to their presence or absence of EBV infection, namely EBV active group and non-EBV active group. The clinical data between the two groups were compared and analyzed by SPSS 18.0.Results:A total of 188 HFRS patients were enrolled, including 73 cases in EBV active group and 115 cases in non-EBV active group. The EBV active rate of HFRS patients was 38.83% (73/188). The incidences of lumbago [57.53% (42/73) vs 42.61% (49/115)], abdominal pain [42.47% (31/73) vs 20.00% (23/115)], skin and mucosa congestion [57.53% (42/73) vs 39.13% (45/115)], and conjunctiva edema [50.68% (37/73) vs 28.70% (33/115)] in EBV active group were significantly higher than those in non-EBV active group (χ 2 = 3.983, 11.008, 6.083, 9.239, P < 0.05). There were 10, 7 and 43 patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) stage 1, 2 and 3 in EBV active group and 5, 13 and 53 patients in non-EBV active group. Degree of AKI in EBV active group was higher than that in non-EBV active group, and the difference was statistically significant (χ 2 = 12.615, P < 0.05). In EBV active group, the proportion of patients whose renal function recovery over 15 days [23.29% (17/73)] and white blood cell count [11.26 (3.39 ~ 54.23) × 10 9/L] were significantly higher than those in non-EBV active group [6.96% (8/115), 10.03 (2.91 ~ 66.99) × 10 9/L], and the differences were statistically significant (χ 2 = 10.330, Z = - 2.003, P < 0.05). Conclusion:HFRS patients may cause latent EBV activity, complicate their clinical features, cause severe renal damage and prolong the recovery time of renal function.

BMP-4 genetic variants and protein expression are associated with platinum-based chemotherapy response and prognosis in NSCLC.

To explore the role of genetic polymorphisms of bone morphogenic proteins 4 (BMP-4) in the response to platinum-based chemotherapy and the clinical outcome in patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC), 938 patients with stage III (A+B) or IV NSCLC were enrolled in this study. We found that the variant genotypes of 6007C > T polymorphisms significantly associated with the chemotherapy response. The 6007CC genotype carriers had a higher chance to be responder to chemotherapy (adjusted odd ratio = 2.77; 95% CI: 1.83-4.18; adjusted < 0.001). The 6007C > T polymorphisms and BMP-4 expression also affect the prognosis of NSCLC. Patients with high BMP-4 expression had a significantly higher chance to be resistant to chemotherapy than those with low BMP-4 expression (OR = 2.81; 95% CI: 1.23-6.44; P = 0.01). The hazard ratio (HR) for 6007TT was 2.37 times higher than 6007CC (P = 0.003). In summary, the 6007C > T polymorphism of BMP-4 gene and BMP-4 tissue expression may be used as potential predictor for the chemotherapy response and prognosis of advanced NSCLC.

Circulating miR-125b is a novel biomarker for screening non-small-cell lung cancer and predicts poor prognosis.

PURPOSE: MicroRNAs are small, non-coding RNAs that are critical regulators of various diseases including cancer, and may represent a novel class of cancer biomarkers. Recent reports have highlighted the oncogenic aspects of miR-125b. However, the level and clinical relevance of circulating miR-125b transcripts in human serum of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients are unclear. The purpose of this study was to identify circulating miR-125b transcripts in human serum for use as a biomarker for stratification and prediction of prognosis in NSCLC. METHODS: We analyzed serum levels of miR-125b in 193 patients with different stages of NSCLC. Blood samples were collected before surgery and therapy. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction of circulating miR-125b transcripts was performed directly in serum to improve the efficiency of miRNA assessment. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of serum miR-125b. RESULTS: We found that serum miR-125b was consistently expressed in the non-tumor group and was significantly associated with NSCLC stage. miR-125b expression was capable of separating NSCLC patients from control groups with an area under the curve of 0.786. Furthermore, patients with high miR-125b expression displayed a significantly poorer prognosis compared with patients with low expression (p < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis indicated that high miR-125b expression was an independent prognostic factor for survival. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that serum miR-125b may represent a novel biomarker in NSCLC patients and that high miR-125b expression is an independent prognostic factor for survival.