Early Detection of Aspergillus Species in Lower Respiratory Tract is Associated with Higher Mortality in Viral Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study in China.

Purpose: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a leading cause of adult mortality worldwide and poses a significant global burden. Previous studies have indicated a tendency for viral pneumonia, particularly severe influenza virus pneumonia, to be complicated by Aspergillus superinfection. However, the clinical features and prognostic implications of Aspergillus detection in early-onset viral CAP remain unclear.

Decreased plasma fetuin-A level as a novel bioindicator of poor prognosis in community-acquired pneumonia: A multi-center cohort study.

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a respiratory disease that frequently requires hospital admission, and is a significant cause of death worldwide. Plasma fetuin-A levels were significantly lower in patients with sepsis, but data regarding CAP are scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of fetuin-A as a prognostic biomarker of CAP.

Prognostic Value of Histidine-Rich Glycoprotein for Community-Acquired Pneumonia.

Purpose: Histidine-rich glycoprotein (HRG) is abundant in serum and has been implicated in several processes including blood coagulation and immune response. This prospective study is aimed at exploring HRG as a biomarker in patients hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

Methods: A total of 160 patients (73 severe CAP, 57 nonsevere CAP), and 30 healthy controls were enrolled in 2019.

Shared and Specific Lung Microbiota with Metabolic Profiles in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid Between Infectious and Inflammatory Respiratory Diseases.

Background: Infiltration of the lower respiratory tract (LRT) microenvironment could be significantly associated with respiratory diseases. However, alterations in the LRT microbiome and metabolome in infectious and inflammatory respiratory diseases and their correlation with inflammation still need to be explored.

Methods: Bronchoalveolar lavage samples from 44 community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) patients, 29 connective tissue disease-associated interstitial disease (CTD-ILD) patients, and 30 healthy volunteers were used to detect microbiota and metabolites through 16S rRNA gene sequencing and untargeted high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry.

Specific Cytokine Profiles Predict the Severity of Influenza A Pneumonia: A Prospectively Multicenter Pilot Study.

Purpose: Studying the cytokine profiles in influenza A pneumonia could be helpful to better understand the pathogenesis of the disease and predict its prognosis. . Patients with influenza A pneumonia (including 2009H1N1, H1N1, H3N1, and H7N1) hospitalized in six hospitals from January 2017 to October 2018 were enrolled (ClinicalTrials.

Predictive and Prognostic Utility of the Serum Level of Resistin-Like Molecule Beta for Risk Stratification in Patients with Community-Acquired Pneumonia.

Despite progress in intensive care, the morbidity and mortality of patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains high. Furthermore, the predictive and prognostic utility of resistin-like molecule beta (RELM-β) in patients with CAP is uncertain. This study investigated the role of RELM-β in patients with CAP and evaluated its correlation with disease severity and the risk of death.

Elevated progranulin as a novel biomarker to predict poor prognosis in community-acquired pneumonia.

Purpose: Prognostic biomarkers help triage initial patients and inform targeted therapy selection. Here, we explored the role of progranulin (PGRN)-implicated in processes ranging from inflammation to neurodegeneration-in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

Methods: A prospective observational cohort study was conducted during 2017.

Blood circRNAs as biomarkers for the diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been reported as effective diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers in many diseases, but the potential of using this easy-to-monitor and highly stable materials for diagnosing Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains unexplored. Here, aiming to identify potential CAP-related circRNAs in peripheral blood and seeking to deepen the understanding of how circRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks may contribute to CAP, we applied microarrays profiling analysis and identified 8296 differentially expressed (DE) circRNAs between patients with CAP (n = 6) and healthy controls (n = 6). Subsequently, we validated the accumulation trends for the top 100 DE circRNAs based on qPCR in an independent validation cohort (30 patients vs 30 controls), and ultimately identified a panel of four circRNAs that perform extremely well as sensitive and specific biomarkers for diagnosing CAP: hsa_circ_0018429 (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.

Inflammatory responses relate to distinct bronchoalveolar lavage lipidome in community-acquired pneumonia patients: a pilot study.

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Antibiotics are losing their effectiveness due to the emerging infectious diseases, the scarcity of novel antibiotics, and the contributions of antibiotic misuse and overuse to resistance. Characterization of the lipidomic response to pneumonia and exploring the "lipidomic phenotype" can provide new insight into the underlying mechanisms of pathogenesis and potential avenues for diagnostic and therapeutic treatments.

Admission Pentraxin-3 Level Predicts Severity of Community-Acquired Pneumonia Independently of Etiology.

Purpose: Pentraxin-3 (PTX3) is a nonspecific marker of disease severity; however, PTX3 data from community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) patients are lacking.

Experimental Design: An observational, prospective study of CAP patients was conducted in 2016. Plasma PTX3 levels are determined with quantitative ELISA.

Metabolic profiles in community-acquired pneumonia: developing assessment tools for disease severity.

Background: This study aimed to determine whether community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) had a metabolic profile and whether this profile can be used for disease severity assessment.

Methods: A total of 175 individuals including 119 CAP patients and 56 controls were enrolled and divided into two cohorts. Serum samples from a discovery cohort (n = 102, including 38 non-severe CAP, 30 severe CAP, and 34 age and sex-matched controls) were determined by untargeted ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based metabolomics.

Serum suPAR and syndecan-4 levels predict severity of community-acquired pneumonia: a prospective, multi-centre study.

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a major cause of death worldwide and occurs with variable severity. There are few studies focused on the expression of soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) and syndecan-4 in patients with CAP.

Methods: A prospective, multi-centre study was conducted between January 2014 and December 2016.

The anti-malaria drug artesunate inhibits cigarette smoke and ovalbumin concurrent exposure-induced airway inflammation and might reverse glucocorticoid insensitivity.

Background: The anti-malaria drug artesunate has been shown to attenuate experimental allergic asthma via inhibition of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway. This study was to further determine the effects of artesunate on cigarette smoke and ovalbumin (OVA) concurrent exposure-induced airway inflammation, the related mechanism, and glucocorticoid insensitivity.

Methods And Results: In vivo: Female BALB/c mice concurrently exposed to cigarette smoke and OVA developed mixed eosinophilic and neutrophilic airway inflammation.

Clarithromycin might attenuate the airway inflammation of smoke-exposed asthmatic mice via affecting HDAC2.

Background: Smoke has been proved to be one of the most dangerous ingredients leading to the unsatisfying treatment response of asthmatics to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) therapy. Macrolides, a class of antibiotics, possess the traits of immunomodulation and anti-inflammation besides antimicrobial activity. Given that studies on the efficacy of macrolides on the refractory asthma patient have diverting conclusions, this article was carried on to investigate the effects of macrolide on the airway inflammation of smoke-exposed asthmatic mice.

Establishment of a novel volume-loaded heterotopic heart transplantation model in rats.

Background: Non-volume-loaded (NL) donor hearts in the heterotopic heart transplantation model in rats undergo atrophy and thrombus formation in graft cavities after transplantation. The present study aimed to establish a novel model with volume-loaded donor hearts.

Methods: We used Sprague-Dawley rats as donors and recipients.

Piwil2 modulates the proliferation and metastasis of colon cancer via regulation of matrix metallopeptidase 9 transcriptional activity.

Piwi-like protein 2 (Piwil2) has recently emerged as a putative oncogene which is amplified in several human malignancies. However, the role of Piwil2 in colon cancer remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical and pathological significance of Piwil2, and the possible role in the proliferation and metastasis of colon cancer.