Prognostic significance of soluble CD25 in patients with sepsis: a prospective observational study.

Objectives: The diagnosis of sepsis is challenging, the need for sensitive and specific diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers has not been met. Soluble CD25 (sCD25) is a readily available biomarker reported to represent the severity of the disease. This study aimed to assess the association between sCD25 and mortality in patients with sepsis.

Differentially expressed miRNAs in sepsis-induced acute kidney injury target oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction pathways.

Objective: To identify specific miRNAs involved in sepsis-induced AKI and to explore their targeting pathways.

Methods: The expression profiles of miRNAs in serum from patients with sepsis-induced AKI (n = 6), sepsis-non AKI (n = 6), and healthy volunteers (n = 3) were investigated by microarray assay and validated by quantitative PCR (qPCR). The targets of the differentially expressed miRNAs were predicted by Target Scan, mirbase and Miranda.

Inhibition of TLR4 protects rat islets against lipopolysaccharide-induced dysfunction.

Oxidative stress leads to dysfunction in pancreatic cells, causing a reduction in insulin secretion following exposure to glucose. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) may be activated by exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stress. TLR4 may mediate the initiation of inflammatory and immune defense responses; however, the importance of the LPS/TLR4 interaction in apoptosis induced by oxidative stress in pancreatic β cells remains to be elucidated.

Serum uric acid is neuroprotective in Chinese patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator.

Background: Exogenous uric acid (UA) is a neuroprotective antioxidant that reinforces the benefits of intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator thrombolysis in animal thromboembolic stroke. However, whether serum uric acid (SUA) also increases the benefits of thrombolysis in Chinese patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) has yet to be fully defined.

Methods: A total of 216 consecutive AIS patients of Chinese origin treated with intravenous thrombolysis were enrolled in a prospective stroke registry.

Effects of intermittent high glucose on oxidative stress in endothelial cells.

The objective of this study is to explore the mechanism of oxidative stress induced by intermittent high glucose in porcine iliac endothelial cells (PIECs). The PIECs were exposed to intermittent or constant high glucose for 3 or 6 days, and the mean fluorescent intensity (MFI) was measured via intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) captured by flow cytometry. The NADPH oxidase activity was measured by chemiluminescence with lucigenin.