Identification of gene expression biomarkers to predict clinical response to methotrexate in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objectives: To identify biomarkers at the gene expression level to predict response to methotrexate (MTX) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: MTX-naïve patients with RA were started on MTX and followed up over three months. The disease activity score 28 (DAS28) was used to classify patients into responders and non-responders.

Use of gene expression profiling to identify candidate genes for pretherapeutic patient classification in acute appendicitis.

Background: Phlegmonous and gangrenous appendicitis represent independent pathophysiological entities with different clinical courses ranging from spontaneous resolution to septic disease. However, reliable predictive methods for these clinical phenotypes have not yet been established. In an attempt to provide pathophysiological insights into the matter, a genomewide gene expression analysis was undertaken in patients with acute appendicitis.

A 3-gene biomarker signature to predict response to taxane-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, affecting one in eight women in their lifetime. Taxane-based chemotherapy is routinely used in the treatment of breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a predictive biomarker to improve the benefit/risk ratio for that cytotoxic chemotherapy.

Diagnosis and classification of pediatric acute appendicitis by artificial intelligence methods: An investigator-independent approach.

Acute appendicitis is one of the major causes for emergency surgery in childhood and adolescence. Appendectomy is still the therapy of choice, but conservative strategies are increasingly being studied for uncomplicated inflammation. Diagnosis of acute appendicitis remains challenging, especially due to the frequently unspecific clinical picture.

Definition and quantification of six immune- and neuroregulatory serum proteins in healthy and demented elderly.

Blood-based biomarkers related to immune- and neuroregulatory processes may be indicative of dementia but lack standardization and proof-of-principle studies. The blood serum collection protocol as well as the analytic procedure to quantify the markers BDNF, IGF-1, VEGF, TGF-β 1, MCP-1 and IL-18 in blood serum were standardized and their concentrations were compared between groups of 81 Alzheimer's disease patients and 79 healthy controls. Applying standardized methods, results for the quantification of the six markers in blood serum are stable and their concentrations significantly differ for all analytes except VEGF between patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and healthy controls.