Elevated Fecal Biomarkers of Colo-Rectal Epithelial Cell Activity in Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional gastro-intestinal disorder characterized by discomfort with constipation and/or diarrhea with unclear pathophysiology. We aimed to determine the activities of colorectal eosinophils, neutrophils and epithelial cells by biomarkers in feces reflecting these activities.

Methods: Fecal samples were collected from 185 patients with IBS before and after 8 weeks of placebo or mesalazine treatment and from 40 healthy subjects.

HNL Dimer in plasma is a unique and useful biomarker for the monitoring of antibiotic treatment in sepsis.

Introduction: Sepsis is a growing problem worldwide and associated with high mortality and morbidity. The early and accurate diagnosis and effective supportive therapy are critical for combating mortality. The aim of the study was to compare the kinetics of four biomarkers in plasma in patients admitted to ICU including sepsis and during antibiotics treatment.

The Human Phospholipase B-II Precursor (HPLBII-P) in Urine as a Novel Biomarker of Increased Glomerular Production or Permeability in Diabetes Mellitus?

A previous report showed that the urine output of HPLBII-P in patients with diabetes mellitus and SARS-CoV-2 infection was increased as a sign of glomerular dysfunction. The aim of this report was to investigate the relation of the urine output of HPLBII-P to diabetes mellitus in two large community-based elderly populations, i.e.

The Human Phospholipase B-II Precursor (HPLBII-P) in Urine as a Novel Biomarker of Glomerular Activity in COVID-19 and Diabetes Mellitus.

The human phospholipase B-II precursor (HPLBII-P) was originally purified from white blood cells but is also found in other cellular structures, such as kidney glomeruli and tubuli. The objective of this report was to investigate the relationship of HPLBII-P in urine to acute kidney injury in patients with COVID-19. Urine was collected at admission from 132 patients with COVID-19 admitted to the intensive care units (ICUs) because of respiratory failure.

Fecal Biomarkers of Neutrophil and Eosinophil Origin Reflect the Response to Biological Therapy and Corticosteroids in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Introduction: Fecal calprotectin (FC) is a noninvasive tool for examining response to biologics in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but its performance in relation to other novel fecal markers of various cellular origins is unknown.

Methods: We performed a prospective multicenter cohort study and included patients with active IBD who provided a fecal sample at initiation of biological therapy. Levels of FC, myeloperoxidase (MPO), human neutrophil lipocalin (HNL), and eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN) were analyzed and related to clinical remission status at 3 months.

Randomised clinical trial and meta-analysis: mesalazine treatment in irritable bowel syndrome-effects on gastrointestinal symptoms and rectal biomarkers of immune activity.

Background: Low-grade immune activation in the gut is a potential treatment target in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Aims: To determine improvement in IBS symptoms after mesalazine treatment, and the utility of measures of immune activity in the rectal mucosa METHODS: This was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-arm, multicentre trial in subjects with IBS (Rome III criteria), with an eight-week treatment period of mesalazine 2400 mg or plcebo once-daily. The primary endpoint was the global assessment of satisfactory relief of IBS symptoms in ≥50% of weeks during intervention.

Systemic Human Neutrophil Lipocalin Associates with Severe Acute Kidney Injury in SARS-CoV-2 Pneumonia.

Neutrophils have been suggested mediators of organ dysfunction in COVID-19. The current study investigated if systemic neutrophil activity, estimated by human neutrophil lipocalin (HNL) concentration in peripheral blood, is associated with acute kidney injury (AKI) development. A total of 103 adult patients admitted to intensive care, with PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, were prospectively included (Clinical Trials ID: NCT04316884).

Serum concentrations of Thymidine kinase 1 measured using a novel antibody-based assay in patients with Hodgkin Lymphoma.

Background: Thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) is an intracellular protein associated with DNA synthesis, expressed during the G1 phase and remained elevated through the M phase, with a potential as a biomarker for cell proliferation. In this study, we explore the possible use of TK1 in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL).

Methods: Serum concentrations of TK1 (S-TK1) were measured in 46 newly diagnosed HL patients using prospectively collected biobanked serum samples.

A cross-sectional cohort study of the activity and turnover of neutrophil granulocytes in juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Background: The inflammatory process in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) involves both the innate and the adaptive immune system. The turnover and activity of neutrophil granulocytes may be reflected by proteins secreted from primary or secondary granules and from the cytoplasm of sequestered cells. Our primary aim was to compare the levels of the secondary neutrophil granule protein human neutrophil lipocalin (HNL), in JIA patients and controls, and to explore a possible priming of neutrophils through parallel analyses in plasma and serum.

Gender specific airway gene expression in COPD sub-phenotypes supports a role of mitochondria and of different types of leukocytes.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a destructive inflammatory disease and the genes expressed within the lung are crucial to its pathophysiology. We have determined the RNAseq transcriptome of bronchial brush cells from 312 stringently defined ex-smoker patients. Compared to healthy controls there were for males 40 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 73 DEGs for females with only 26 genes shared.

Estimation of numbers of mature and immature neutrophils in blood by a novel, rapid and simple technology.

Counting numbers of blood neutrophils is one of the most common laboratory tests in modern clinical medicine. In this report, we have tested the idea that immunoassay of major constituents of mature neutrophils might serve as proxy of cell counting and allow the development of rapid and simple point-of-care tests. The procedure may also allow for the estimate of the state of maturity of the circulating blood cells.

Blood biomarker algorithms for the diagnosis of mycoplasma pneumoniae respiratory infections.

Unlabelled: The correct diagnosis of acute infections as to bacteria, mycoplasma or virus is a clinical challenge and has a great impact on the therapeutic decisions. Current diagnostic tests of mycoplasma pneumoniae infections of the respiratory tract such as PCR and serology are either somewhat unreliable or slow and do not entirely meet the clinical needs of accurate and fast diagnosis. The aim of this report was to examine a panel of candidate biomarkers and their capacity to distinguish mycoplasma pneumoniae respiratory infections from respiratory infections caused by either bacterial or virus.

Mortality and pathophysiology of acute kidney injury according to time of occurrence in acute heart failure.

Aims: Acute kidney injury (AKI) during acute heart failure (AHF) is common and associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The underlying pathophysiological mechanism appears to have prognostic relevance; however, the differentiation of true, structural AKI from hemodynamic pseudo-AKI remains a clinical challenge.

Methods And Results: The Basics in Acute Shortness of Breath Evaluation Study (NCT01831115) prospectively enrolled adult patients presenting with AHF to the emergency department.

AroCell TK 210 ELISA for determination of TK1 protein: age-related reference ranges and comparison with other TK1 assays.

Thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) is an enzyme involved in DNA precursor synthesis that has been used as a biomarker for prognosis and monitoring of different malignancies. In this study, we compared two immunoassays for measuring TK1 protein concentrations: the TK 210 ELISA (AroCell AB) and TK1 ELISA from Abcam. Overall, the TK 210 ELISA showed higher sensitivity than the Abcam TK1 ELISA for differentiating hematological malignancies (sensitivity of 0.

Calprotectin, a new biomarker for diagnosis of acute respiratory infections.

Respiratory tract infections require early diagnosis and adequate treatment. With the antibiotic overuse and increment in antibiotic resistance there is an increased need to accurately distinguish between bacterial and viral infections. We investigated the diagnostic performance of calprotectin in respiratory tract infections and compared it with the performance of heparin binding protein (HBP) and procalcitonin (PCT).

Concurrence of elevated FeNO and airway hyperresponsiveness in nonasthmatic adolescents.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate airway responsiveness and eosinophil and neutrophil inflammatory markers in clinically confirmed nonasthmatic adolescents with elevated fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), a marker of type-2 inflammation in the airways.

Methodology: A total of 959 subjects from a general population, aged 12 to 15 years, answered a standardised questionnaire and underwent FeNO measurements at a screening visit at school. Adolescents without asthma, who had elevated FeNO (FeNO  > 15 ppb) (n = 19), and control subjects, with low FeNO (FeNO  < 5 ppb) and without reported symptoms of asthma or allergy (n = 28), participated in a follow-up study where FeNO , airway responsiveness to methacholine (PD ), blood eosinophil counts, and serum neutrophil lipocalin (HNL) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels were measured.

Diagnosis and Monitoring of Acute Infections with Emphasis on the Novel Biomarker Human Neutrophil Lipocalin.

Background: Acute infections affect all of us at least once or twice a year. Sometimes the infection prompts a visit to our doctor, and the question asked by the patient and the doctor is whether the infection should be treated with antibiotics or not. This is an important question because unnecessary prescription of antibiotics adds to the increasing problem of antibiotics resistance.

Performance of plasma measurement of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin as a biomarker of bacterial infections in the intensive care unit.

Purpose: To assess the value of dimeric neutrophil-gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL) as an early marker of bacterial infection and its response to antibiotic therapy in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

Materials & Methods: We measured daily plasma dNGAL in 198 patients admitted to a mixed ICU. Likelihood of infection was determined with International Sepsis Forum criteria.

HNL (Human Neutrophil Lipocalin) and a multimarker approach to the distinction between bacterial and viral infections.

Objectives: The distinction between bacterial and viral causes of acute infections is a major clinical challenge. In this report we investigate the diagnostic performance in this regard of nine candidate biomarkers together with HNL (Human Neutrophil Lipocalin).

Methods: Blood was obtained from patients with symptoms of infectious (n = 581).

Fixed airflow obstruction relates to eosinophil activation in asthmatics.

Background: Some asthmatics develop irreversible chronic airflow obstruction, for example, fixed airflow obstruction (fixed-AO). This is probably a consequence of airway remodelling, but neither its relation to inflammation nor which asthma biomarkers can be clinically useful are elucidated. We hypothesized that the presence of type 2 inflammation relates to fixed-AO.

Prolyl carboxypeptidase activity in the circulation and its correlation with body weight and adipose tissue in lean and obese subjects.

Background: Prolyl carboxypeptidase (PRCP) is involved in the regulation of body weight, likely by hydrolysing alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone and apelin in the hypothalamus and in the periphery. A link between PRCP protein concentrations in plasma and metabolic disorders has been reported. In this study, we investigated the distribution of circulating PRCP activity and assessed its relation with body weight and adipose tissue in obese patients and patients who significantly lost weight.

Predictors of 10-year changes in levels of N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide and cardiac troponin I in the elderly.

Background: Measurement of N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and cardiac troponin I (cTnI) might be useful for monitoring of cardiovascular disease in the elderly. However, it is not clear whether changes in these biomarkers are associated with changes in the cardiovascular risk profile and if this pattern could be modified by changes in lifestyle habits or medications.

Methods: We measured levels of NT-proBNP and cTnI in community-dwelling subjects (PIVUS study) upon visits scheduled at age 70 (n=1007), 75 (n=825) and 80 (n=602).

Human neutrophil lipocalin (HNL) as a biomarker of acute infections.

The early and accurate discrimination between bacterial and viral causes of acute infections is the key to a better use of antibiotics and will help slow down the fast-growing resistance to commonly used antibiotics. This discrimination is in the vast majority of cases possible to achieve by blood assay of the biomarker human neutrophil lipocalin (HNL), which we showed to be uniquely increased in patients suffering from bacterial infections. In serum, sensitivities and specificities of >90% are achieved in both adults and children.