Biomedicines

ObjectiveTo explore the application value of dual-staining for specific AT sequence binding protein 2 (SATB2) immunohistochemistry and elastic lamina in detecting elastic lamina invasion (ELI) in pT3 colon cancer, and to assess its association with clinicopathological characteristics, staging, and prognosis. MethodsThis retrospective cohort study enrolled 176 pT3 colon cancer patients who underwent radical resection at Affiliated Jinhua Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine. The deepe...

BackgroundInflammatory responses and nutritional status are critical determinants of colorectal cancer (CRC) progression and clinical outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of a novel albumin-neutrophil composite grading (ANPG) system and to develop a nomogram for predicting overall survival (OS) in CRC patients following curative resection. MethodsA retrospective analysis was conducted on 660 consecutive patients with primary CRC who underwent R0 resection between December...

Introduction and ObjectivesMetabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) affects about one-quarter of adults worldwide, and liver fibrosis is its strongest predictor of liver-related morbidity and mortality. Using combined in-silico screening and clinical validation, we aimed to identify circulating biomarkers associated with fibrosis progression. Fibulin-3 was identified, and its diagnostic performance was evaluated in biopsy-proven MASLD cohorts. Materials and MethodsThe GS...

Background/ObjectivesMetabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) is a global health crisis, but current diagnostics are limited. Liver biopsy is invasive, magnetic resonance imaging-proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) is expensive, and quantitative ultrasound methods are low-accuracy, especially in patients with a high body mass index (BMI). This study introduces a novel thermo-acoustic (TA) method that generates ultrasound signals based on tissue electrical conductivity,...

Background & AimsThe increasing global prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) creates an urgent need for objective methods of histopathological assessment. Conventional histological approaches are time-consuming and rely on interpreters experience. Therefore, the results obtained may suffer from high variability and only offer coarse categorisation. In this study, we propose a fully automate...

BackgroundMetabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is a prevalent and progressive liver disease with limited pharmacologic treatment options. Pemvidutide, a GLP-1-glucagon dual receptor agonist, has shown promise in targeting both hepatic steatosis and fibrosis. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pemvidutide in adults with MASH. MethodsWe systematically searched PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane CENTRAL through Decembe...

AimsThis study aimed to examine the prevalence of malnutrition and its associations with functional capacity and quality of life (QoL) in AL and ATTR cardiac amyloidosis patients. Methods and ResultsThis cross-sectional pilot study included 29 patients with confirmed CA (14 AL, 15 ATTR). Data were collected between January 2020 and September 2021. Nutritional status was assessed using body mass index (BMI), anthropometric measures, and the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA). Functional capacity...

BackgroundColorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer mortality. While early detection improves outcomes, current non-invasive tests often lack sensitivity for early-stage CRC and advanced precancerous lesions (APL). Stool-based host messenger RNA (mRNA) biomarkers offer a promising approach, though the most clinically useful candidates remain undefined. MethodsWe screened for mRNA biomarkers by first using bioinformatic analysis of tissue RNA-seq datasets to identify candidate genes w...

ObjectTransdermal biosensors may provide an alternative to conventional blood-based biomarker measurement. Our purpose was to determine the binary correlation between transdermal (Infrasensor; RCE, Inc, Carlsbad, CA) and conventional blood-based measurements. MethodsThis was a secondary analysis from a previously published observational cardiac troponin I (cTnI) study performed to establish the upper reference level of cTnI, at 10 US hospitals. After obtaining informed consent, 2 cohorts of pat...

This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of quantitative analysis of {superscript 1}F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) metabolic parameters in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical and imaging data of 44 patients with pathologically confirmed PDAC who received NACT. All patients completed standard chemotherapy regimens and underwent {superscript 1}...

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is an acute inflammatory liver disease caused not only by prescription and over-the-counter medications but also by health foods and dietary supplements. Typically, DILI patients recover once the causative substance is identified and discontinued. In contrast, autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) results from the immune-mediated destruction of hepatocytes due to a breakdown of self-tolerance mechanisms. Patients presenting with acute-onset AIH often lack characteristic cli...

Acellular Adipose Tissue (AAT) is an off-the-shelf, cadaveric adipose-derived ECM-based biomaterial for soft tissue reconstruction. AAT has been validated preclinically to promote angiogenesis and adipogenesis and demonstrated safety, biocompatibility, and tolerability in a Phase I study. In this study we report the findings for the first ten patients in the Phase II study for permanent reconstruction of modest soft tissue defects. AAT promoted macrophages, CD3+ T cells, and CD34+ progenitor act...

A role for substance P in promoting neurogenic inflammation and pain has been described in sickle cell disease (SCD). However its origin and contribution to SCD pathophysiology remain unclear. We measured substance P level in plasma from 225 patients with SCD and observed the highest concentrations during acute chest syndrome (ACS). Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that substance P may induce ACS. In transgenic sickle mice, unlike control mice, intravenous injection of substance P caused leth...

BackgroundPreventing Stage 1 pressure injuries (PIs) from worsening in the ICU is a key clinical challenge. Early prediction of high-risk patients enables targeted prevention. We aimed to develop a model for this progression using admission data. MethodsIn this retrospective cohort study, eligible ICU patients with Stage 1 pressure injuries were randomly allocated into training (70%) and validation (30%) sets. Predictors were selected using LASSO regression. A multivariable logistic regression ...

BackgroundSepsis is a major public health challenge, and reliable biomarkers are essential for distinguishing sepsis from other conditions. Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin (Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL)) has shown promise as a diagnostic marker due to its role in the immune response. This study evaluates plasma NGAL as a diagnostic tool at the time of ICU admission. MethodsWe analysed plasma NGAL and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in 4732 adult patients admitted ...

PurposeHirschsprung-associated enterocolitis remains a major postoperative complication of Hirschsprungs disease (HD), and impaired epithelial barrier integrity has been proposed as a contributing factor. In this study, we investigated whether 12-hydroxyheptadecatrienoic acid (12-HHT), an endogenous leukotriene B4 receptor 2 (BLT-2) agonist, enhances the epithelial barrier and exerts anti-inflammatory effects in patient-derived colonic organoids. MethodsNormoganglionic specimens from rectal/rec...

BackgroundPeople with Citrin Deficiency (CD), inactivated for both copies of SLC25A13, have lean metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and an aversion to sweets. The mouse model of CD, which inactivates Slc25a13 and Gpd2, has been shown to elevate hepatic glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P) and activate carbohydrate response element binding protein (ChREBP) thereby increasing lipogenic transcription, which could account for MASLD, and circulation of FGF21, which could account f...

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a progressive condition characterized by increased pulmonary arterial pressure. Endothelial cell dysfunction is one important characteristic of PH. Recently, capillary endothelial cells, including aerocytes (aCaps) and general capillary cell (gCaps), have been detected in developing lungs but their role and the regulatory mechanisms underlying PH remain poorly understood. The goal of this study was to identify changes in Caps and their effects on hypertensive pulm...

BackgroundDisc degeneration is the primary cause of low back pain, although the disc itself is not usually the source of the pain. Instead, it can lead to various clinically significant conditions that cause pain. However, there are no objective measures of the disc degeneration. PurposeLack of objective measures of disc degeneration may sometimes cause uncertainties in treatment decisions. Currently disc degeneration is graded by visual assessment of MRI, which often leads to uncertainty and d...

Metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains deadly, with minimal improvement in prognosis over the past 20 years despite expansion of our chemotherapeutic arsenal. The complex tumor microenvironment (TME) of PDAC in the advanced stage, which often accompany clinical diagnosis, likely contributes to the limited efficacy of current standard of care chemotherapy. Informed by mechanistic preclinical studies, we evaluated the impact of inhibition of Hedgehog (Hh) signaling to prime PDA...