Qualitative and quantitative assessment of nailfold capillaries by capillaroscopy in healthy volunteers

VASA ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoerth ◽  
Kundi ◽  
Katzenschlager ◽  
Hirschl
Keyword(s):  
Scoring System ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Connective Tissue Diseases ◽  
Capillary Density ◽  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Extreme Position ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Diffuse Loss ◽  
Density Results

Background: Nailfold capillaroscopy (NVC) is a diagnostic tool particularly useful in the differential diagnosis of rheumatic and connective tissue diseases. Although successfully applied since many years, little is known about prevalence and distribution of NVC changes in healthy individuals. Probands and methods: NVC was performed in 120 individuals (57 men and 63 women; age 18 to 70 years) randomly selected according to predefined age and sex strata. Diseases associated with NVC changes were excluded. The nailfolds of eight fingers were assessed according to standardized procedures. A scoring system was developed based on the distribution of the number of morphologically deviating capillaries, microhaemorrhages, and capillary density. Results: Only 18 individuals (15 %) had no deviation in morphology, haemorrhages, or capillary density on any finger. Overall 67 % had morphological changes, 48 % had microhaemorrhages, and 40 % of volunteers below 40 years of age and 18 % above age 40 had less than 8 capillaries/mm. Among morphological changes tortous (43 %), ramified (47 %), and bushy capillaries (27 %) were the most frequently altered capillary types. A semiquantitative scoring system was developed in such a way that a score above 1 indicates an extreme position (above the 90th percentile) in the distribution of scores among healthy individuals. Conclusions: Altered capillaries occur frequently among healthy individuals and should be interpreted as normal unless a suspicious increase in their frequency is determined by reference to the scoring system. Megacapillaries and diffuse loss of capillaries were not found and seem to be of specific diagnostic value.

scholarly journals Arginase 1 (Arg1) as an Up-Regulated Gene in COVID-19 Patients: A Promising Marker in COVID-19 Immunopathy

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Afshin Derakhshani ◽  
Nima Hemmat ◽  
Zahra Asadzadeh ◽  
Moslem Ghaseminia ◽  
Mahdi Abdoli Shadbad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Responses ◽  
Whole Blood ◽  
Roc Analysis ◽  
Operating Characteristic ◽  
Rna Extraction ◽  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Cdna Synthesis ◽  
Arginase 1 ◽  
Global Pandemic

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been declared a global pandemic. It is well-established that SARS-CoV-2 infection can lead to dysregulated immune responses. Arginase-1 (Arg1), which has a pivotal role in immune cells, can be expressed in most of the myeloid cells, e.g., neutrophils and macrophages. Arg1 has been associated with the suppression of antiviral immune responses. Methods: Whole blood was taken from 21 COVID-19 patients and 21 healthy individuals, and after RNA extraction and complementary DNA (cDNA) synthesis, gene expression of Arg1 was measured by real-time PCR. Results: The qPCR results showed that the expression of Arg1 was significantly increased in COVID-19 patients compared to healthy individuals (p < 0.01). The relative expression analysis demonstrated there were approximately 2.3 times increased Arg1 expression in the whole blood of COVID-19 patients. Furthermore, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed a considerable diagnostic value for Arg1 expression in COVID-19 (p = 0.0002 and AUC = 0.8401). Conclusion: Arg1 might be a promising marker in the pathogenesis of the disease, and it could be a valuable diagnostic tool.

scholarly journals Can Serum Glypican-3 Be a Biomarker for Effective Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma? A Meta-Analysis of the Literature

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheng-Li Yang ◽  
Xiefan Fang ◽  
Zao-Zao Huang ◽  
Xiang-Jie Liu ◽  
Zhi-Fan Xiong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Liver Cirrhosis ◽  
Sensitivity And Specificity ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Subgroup Analyses ◽  
Effective Diagnosis ◽  
Diagnostic Index

Objective. This review is to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum GPC3 for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) due to conflicting results reported.Methods. NCBI PubMed and Embase were comprehensively searched for studies that have used serum GPC3 level as a diagnostic index for HCC. The quality of the included studies was assessed. Subgroup analyses were conducted to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of GPC3 as a HCC marker. Statistical analysis was performed with the software STATA version 12.0.Results. A total of 22 studies were included. The qualities of included studies were relatively poor. Among them, 18 studies have shown that serum GPC3 is a specific biomarker for HCC, and the pooled sensitivity and specificity of these studies were 69 and 93%, respectively. The other 4 studies have reported conflicting results, which were not caused by races, infection status of HBV and HCV, or assay reagents but due to one common experimental design of enrolling liver cirrhosis patients as control subjects.Conclusions. This meta-analysis indicates that serum GPC3 is elevated in HCC patients compared with healthy individuals, but more studies are needed to evaluate its effectiveness to differentially diagnose HCC and liver cirrhosis.

scholarly journals Expression Analysis of Circulating miR-22, miR-122, miR-217 and miR-367 as Promising Biomarkers of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh hosseinpour-soleimani ◽  
Gholamreza Khamisipour ◽  
Zahra Derakhshan ◽  
Bahram Ahmadi
Keyword(s):  
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia ◽  
Roc Analysis ◽  
Operating Characteristic ◽  
Lymphoblastic Leukemia ◽  
Area Under The Curve ◽  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Quantitative Real Time Pcr ◽  
Expression Levels

Abstract Background Currently, the role of serum-based biomarkers such as microRNAs in cancer diagnosis has been extensively established. This study aimed to determine expression levels of bioinformatically selected miRNAs and whether they can be used as biomarkers or a new therapeutic target in patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Materials and Methods The expression levels of serum miR-22, miR-122, miR-217, and miR-367 in 21 ALL patients and 21 healthy controls were measured using quantitative real-time PCR. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the associated area under the curve (AUC) was used to assess candidate miRNAs' diagnostic value as a biomarker. Results The results showed that miR-217 was markedly decreased in patients with ALL compared to controls. Moreover, miR-22, miR-122, and miR-367 were found to be upregulated. Furthermore, ROC analysis showed that serum miR-217 and miR-367 could differentiate ALL patients from the healthy individuals, while miR-22 has approximate discriminatory power that requires further investigation. Conclusion Collectively, the results suggested that miR-217 may play a tumor suppressor role in ALL, whereas miR-22, miR-122, and miR-367 could function as an oncogene. Overall, miR-22, miR-217, and miR-367 could be considered possible biomarkers for the early diagnosis of ALL.

scholarly journals DIAGNOSTIC VALUE OF MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN GASTROESOPHAGEAL REFLUX DISEASE IN BIOPSY MATERIAL OF THE DISTAL ESOPHAGUS IN ADOLESCENTS SICKLY WITH ACUTE RESPIRATORY DISEASES

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 15-23
Author(s):  
Olena Zhuravel ◽  
Tetyana Pochinok ◽  
Tamara Zadorozhna ◽  
Tetyana Archakova ◽  
Valentyna Zamula
Keyword(s):  
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease ◽  
Gastroesophageal Reflux ◽  
Mucous Membrane ◽  
Reflux Disease ◽  
Respiratory Diseases ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Distal Esophagus ◽  
Biopsy Material ◽  
Acute Respiratory Diseases

The article dedicated to the problem of the diagnostic value of morphological changes in gastroesophageal reflux disease in the biopsy of the distal esophagus in pubertal children of childbearing age. Aim of the research is to investigate the diagnostic value of morphological changes in gastroesophageal reflux disease in esophageal biopsy material in adolescents sickly with acute respiratory diseases. Methodology. The objective of the study was achieved through examination of 90 adolescents (10 to 16 years old, average age 13.1±3.54 years) kept under observation at the Children’s Clinical Hospital No. 9 of Kyiv and on the basis of the Department of Pediatrics No. 1 Center of Primary Health Care No. 4 of the Desnianskyi district of Kyiv. All adolescents belonged to the group of sickly with a number of respiratory diseases averaging 6-8 times a year, lasting from 8 to 18 days (on average 12.8±5.41 days). All children have undergone endoscopic examination of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum with the esophagus mucosa biopsy using the OLYMPUS GIF-P3 flexible fiberscope. Results. It was found that the least valuable diagnostic feature in the morphological examination of the mucous membrane of the distal esophagus in the pain-causing children with GERD was thickening of the epithelium with a sensitivity of 13,0 %, a specificity of 96.0 %, and total value of 65.0 %. It has been proved that hyperplasia of cells of the basal layer of the mucous membrane of the distal esophagus at the GERD in the infected children is 46.7 % (specificity – 93.3 %, the total value is 75.6 %). Increase in the number of papillae and their prolongation in 33.3 % cases (sensitivity – 33.3 %, specificity – 93.3 %, overall diagnostic value – 70.8 %). Conclusion. The peculiarity of the morphological manifestations of GERD in childbearing children is dystrophic changes in keratocytes in the superficial parts of the multilayer squamous epithelium, which are detected at 100.0 % of patients (specificity is 93.3 %, total value is 96.8 %), with parakeratosis centers at 13.3 % of cases. It has been shown that a frequent and diagnostically valuable indication is inflammatory infiltration of the esophageal mucosa, which are verified in all cases (100.0 %, with dilatation and hyperemia in 46.7 % of patients (specificity – 40.0 %, total value – 81.3 %).

scholarly journals Diagnostic Value of sST2 in Cardiovascular Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianyi Zhang ◽  
Chengyang Xu ◽  
Rui Zhao ◽  
Zhipeng Cao
Keyword(s):  
Myocardial Infarction ◽  
Cardiac Troponin ◽  
Weighted Mean Difference ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Mean Difference ◽  
Diagnostic Biomarker ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Weighted Mean ◽  
Standard Mean Difference

Biomarkers such as B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), N-terminal pro-BNP (NT-proBNP), cardiac troponin (cTn), and CK-MB contribute significantly to the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Recent studies have demonstrated that suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (ST2) is associated with CVD, but a meta-analysis of ST2 levels in different CVDs has yet to be conducted. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate soluble ST2 (sST2) levels in patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD), myocardial infarction (MI), and heart failure (HF). A total of 1,425 studies were searched across four databases, of which 16 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS) values of all 16 studies were ≥7. The meta-analysis results indicated that the sST2 level was not correlated with IHD (standard mean difference [SMD] = 0.58, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 0.00 to 1.16, p = 0.05) or MI (weighted mean difference [WMD] = 0.17, 95% CI = −0.22 to 0.55, p = 0.40) but was significantly associated with HF (WMD = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.04 to 0.38, p = 0.02; I2 = 99%, p &lt; 0.00001). sST2 levels did not differ significantly between patients with IHD or MI and healthy individuals; however, we believe that ST2 could be used as an auxiliary diagnostic biomarker of HF.

scholarly journals Phenotyping of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Using the Modified Bhalla Scoring System for High-Resolution Computed Tomography

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baykal Tulek ◽  
Ali Sami Kivrak ◽  
Seda Ozbek ◽  
Fikret Kanat ◽  
Mecit Suerdem
Keyword(s):  
Computed Tomography ◽  
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Scoring System ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Forced Expiratory Volume ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
High Resolution Computed Tomography ◽  
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

BACKGROUND: Identifying different phenotypes of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is important for both therapeutic options and clinical outcome of the disease.OBJECTIVE: To characterize the phenotypes of COPD according to high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings; and to correlate HRCT scores obtained using the modified Bhalla scoring system with clinical and physiological indicators of systemic inflammation.METHODS: The present study included 80 consecutive patients with stable COPD. HRCT scans were evaluated by two independent radiologists according to the modified Bhalla scoring system.RESULTS: Fifty-four patients exhibited morphological changes on HRCT examination while 26 had no pathological findings. Patients with HRCT findings had lower spirometric measurements and higher levels of inflammation, and reported more exacerbations in the previous year compared with patients with no findings on HRCT. Patients with morphological changes were classified into one of three groups according to their HRCT phenotype(s): emphysema (E) only, E + bronchiectasis (B)/peribronchial thickening (PBT) or B/PBT only. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), FEV1/FVC ratio, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and the number of exacerbations among the groups were significantly different. Pairwise comparisons between the E only and E+B/PBT groups showed significantly lower FVC, FEV1and FEV1/FVC values, and higher CRP levels and number of exacerbations compared with the B/PBT group. No significant differences were found between the E+B/PBT and the B/PBT groups. An inverse correlation was found between the total HRCT score and FVC, FEV1and FEV1/FVC; the correlation was positive with CRP level, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and number of exacerbations.CONCLUSION: The present study exposed the intimate relationship between phenotype(s) characterized by HRCT and scoring for morphological abnormalities; and clinical and functional parameters and inflammatory markers. The inclusion of HRCT among routine examinations for COPD may provide significant benefits both in the management and prognosis of COPD patients.

scholarly journals How I use molecular genetic tests to evaluate patients who have or may have myelodysplastic syndromes

Blood ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 132 (16) ◽  
pp. 1657-1663 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. Steensma
Keyword(s):  
Myelodysplastic Syndromes ◽  
Somatic Mutations ◽  
Confounding Factor ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Provisional Diagnosis ◽  
Driver Genes ◽  
Diagnostic Uncertainty ◽  
Morphological Findings

Abstract Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) can be difficult to diagnose, especially when morphological changes in blood and marrow cells are minimal, myeloblast proportion is not increased, and the karyotype is normal. The discovery of &gt;40 genes that are recurrently somatically mutated in MDS patients raised hope that molecular genetic testing for these mutations might help clarify the diagnosis in ambiguous cases where patients present with cytopenias and nondiagnostic marrow morphological findings. However, many older healthy individuals also harbor somatic mutations in leukemia-associated driver genes, especially in DNMT3A, TET2, and ASXL1, and detection of common aging-associated mutations in a cytopenic patient can cause diagnostic uncertainty. Despite this potential confounding factor, certain somatic mutation patterns when observed in cytopenic patients confer a high likelihood of disease progression and may allow a provisional diagnosis of MDS even if morphologic dysplasia and other diagnostic criteria are absent. A subset of acquired mutations also influences risk stratification of patients with an established MDS diagnosis and can inform treatment selection. Many unanswered questions remain about the implications of specific mutations, and clinicians also vary widely in their comfort with interpreting sequencing results. Here, I review the use of molecular genetic assays in patients with possible MDS or diagnosed MDS.

Increased serum nesfatin-1 levels in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases

2021 ◽  
pp. postgradmedj-2020-139227
Author(s):  
Şengül Beyaz ◽  
Erdem Akbal
Keyword(s):  
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ◽  
Inflammatory Diseases ◽  
Inflammatory Marker ◽  
White Cell Count ◽  
Characteristic Curve ◽  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Altered Expression ◽  
Bowel Diseases ◽  
Inflammatory Bowel

BackgroundAdipokines are adipose tissue–derived secreted molecules that can exert anti-inflammatory or proinflammatory activities. Altered expression of adipokines has been described in various inflammatory diseases, including inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) such as Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Little is known about nesfatin-1, a recently identified adipokine, in IBD. The aim of this study was to investigate serum nesfatin-1 levels in patients with IBD.MethodsThis study included a total of 52 adult individuals (17 patients with CD, 18 patients with UC and 17 healthy volunteers) with similar age and body mass index. Serum nesfatin-1 levels were measured by ELISA in healthy individuals and patients with IBD in their active and remission periods. Blood inflammation markers including C reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation (ESR) and white cell count (WCC) were also measured in patients.ResultsWe found significantly elevated levels of serum nesfatin-1 in the active disease period in both patients with CD (p=0.00003) and patients with UC (p=0.00001), compared with healthy individuals. Serum nesfatin-1 levels moderately decreased in the remission period; however, they were still significantly higher than that of healthy individuals. Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses indicated serum nesfatin-1 with an excellent diagnostic value for IBD. Finally, patients had significantly high CRP, ESR and WCC in the active IBD; however, we found the nesfatin-1 strongly correlated only with ESR in the active CD.ConclusionThis is the first study investigating the circulating levels of nesfatin-1 in patients with IBD. Serum nesfatin-1 may serve as an additional inflammatory marker for diagnosis of IBD in affected individuals.

The early diagnostic value of combined detection of plasma miR-181b, miR-196a and miR-210 in pancreatic cancer

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gongpan Liu ◽  
Cunhua Shao ◽  
Anyun Li ◽  
Xiaobin Zhang ◽  
Xingjun Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pancreatic Cancer ◽  
Early Diagnosis ◽  
Operating Characteristic ◽  
Clinical Stage ◽  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Carbohydrate Antigen ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Diagnostic Efficacy ◽  
Lymph Nodes Metastasis ◽  
Combined Detection

Abstract Background This study aimed to investigate the effect of combination of plasma miR-181b, miR-196a and miR-210 on early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer (PC).Methods In our study, the plasma was isolated from patients with PC and healthy individuals, respectively. The expressions of miR-181b, miR-196a and miR-210 were detected by qRT-PCR. Moreover, the level of carbohydrate antigen 199 (CA199) was measured by electrochemiluminescence (ECL) assay. Furthermore, the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) was used to analyze the diagnostic efficacy of miR-181b, miR-196a, miR-210 and CA199, as well as the combination of thses miRNAs in early PC patients and healthy individuals.Results The expressions of miR-181b, miR-196a and miR-210 were significantly upregulated in PC patients. In addition, the level of CA199 was also significantly upregulated in the plasma of PC patients. The expressions of miR-181b, miR-196a and miR-210 were closely associated with lymph nodes metastasis, clinical stage and vascular invasion, but had no correlation with the patient's age, gender and tumor size. Moreover, miR-181b, miR-196a and miR-210 have lower AUC than CA199 in PC patients. The combinations miR-181b + miR-196a, miR-181b + miR-210, miR-196a + miR-210 also have lower AUC than CA199 in PC patients. It is worth noting that the combinations miR-181b + miR-196a + miR-210 have higher AUC than CA199 in PC.Conclusions Our study demonstrated that the combination of plasma miR-181b, miR-196a and miR-210 had good value for PC early diagnosis.

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