scholarly journals MON-188 The Diagnostic Value of DHEAS in Subtyping Patients with Cushing Syndrome

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengsi Liu ◽  
keying Zhu ◽  
Huan Chen ◽  
Wenhuan Feng ◽  
Dalong Zhu ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: Serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) can be used to assess the integrity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical value of DHEAS in differentiating adrenal Cushing syndrome (ACS) from Cushing’ disease (CD). Methods: We recruited 100 patients with Cushing syndrome, 36 with CD and 64 with ACS. 72 sex-, age- and BMI-matched nonfunctional adrenal adenomas (NFAAs) were served as controls. Clinical and laboratory data were collected. DHEAS levels were measured and DHEAS ratio was calculated by dividing the measured DHEAS by the lower limit of the respective reference range (age- and sex-matched). Results: 1) No significant differences in age, sex, or BMI were detected among the NFAAs, ACS and CD groups. Compared to NFAAs group, ACS patients had lower plasma ACTH levels [1.11(1.11,1.74) vs 5.0 ± 2.9 pmol/L, P<0.01], lower DHEAS levels (24.00 ± 20.72 vs 189.05 ± 82.03 ug/dL, P < 0.01) and lower DHEAS ratio [0.58(0.27,0.98) vs 5.34 ± 3.0]; Plasma ACTH (22.12 ± 14.22 pmol/L), DHEAS (309.4 ± 201.1 ug/dL) and DHEAS ratio (10.51 ± 7.65) in CD patients were significantly higher compared to those in NFAAs and ACS patients (all P<0.01). 2) In ACS patients, there were 53 patients with suppressed ACTH level of <2.0 pmol/L, 11 patients without plasma ACTH suppression (≥2.0pmol/L). Compared to NFAAs, lower DHEAS and DHEAS ratio were detected in these two groups, and no significant differences were found in the DHEAS [15(15, 23.5) vs 23.8 ± 14.4 ug/dL, P=0.86] and DHEAS ratio [0.58(0.27, 0.80) vs 1.0(0.25,2.09) ug/dL, P=0.40] between the two groups. 3) ROC analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of plasma ACTH, serum DHEAS and DHEAS ratio in diagnosing 0.954, 0.997 and 0.990 respectively. The optimal cut-off values for DHEAS and its ratio were 79.1ug/dL, and 2.09, respectively. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of plasma ACTH (<2.0pmol/L) were 84.1 and 100%, those of DHEAS were 97.5% and 100%, and those of DHEAS ratio were 95% and 100%, respectively. Conclusions: Patients with different subtype of Cushing syndrome showed distinctive DHEAS levels and DHEAS ratio. DHEAS and DHEAS ratio are useful in differential diagnosis of Cushing syndrome. Especially, when the plasma ACTH level is not conclusive. The measurement of DHEAS may offer a supplementary test to diagnosis ACS from CD. Keywords: Adrenal Cushing syndrome; Cushing disease; Adrenocorticotropic hormone; Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Wu ◽  
◽  
Lixia Guo ◽  
Kaikai Zhen ◽  
Chao Sun

Review question / Objective: Background and aim: Increasing evidence has revealed the valuable diagnostic and prognostic applications of dysregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) in hepatoblastoma (HB), the most common hepatic malignancy during childhood. However, these results are inconsistent and remain to be elucidated. In the present study, we aimed to systematically compile up-to-date information regarding the clinical value of miRNAs in HB. Methods: Articles concerning the diagnostic and prognostic value of single miRNAs for HB were searched from databases. The sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SPE), positive and negative likelihood ratios (PLR and NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), area under the curve (AUC), and hazard ratios (HRs) were separately pooled to explore the diagnostic and prognostic performance of miRNA. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses were further carried out only in the event of heterogeneity. Results: In all, 20 studies, involving 264 HB patients and 206 healthy individuals, met the inclusion criteria in the six included literature articles. For the diagnostic analysis of miRNAs in HB, the pooled SEN and SPE were 0.76 (95% CI: 0.72–0.80) and 0.75 (95% CI: 0.70–0.80), respectively. Moreover, the pooled PLR was 2.79 (95% CI: 2.12–3.66), NLR was 0.34 (95% CI: 0.26–0.45), DOR was 10.24 (95% CI: 6.55–16.00), and AUC was 0.83, indicating that miRNAs had moderate diagnostic value in HB. For the prognostic analysis of miRNAs in HB, the abnormal expressions of miR-21, miR-34a, miR-34b, miR-34c, miR-492, miR-193, miR-222, and miR-224 in patients were confirmed to be associated with a worse prognosis. The pooled HR was 1.74 (95% CI: 1.20–2.29) for overall survival (OS) and 1.74 (95% CI: 1.31–2.18) for event-free survival (EFS), suggesting its potential as a prognostic indicator for HB. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis that examines the diagnostic and prognostic role of dysregulated miRNAs in HB patients. The combined meta-analysis results supported the previous individual finds that miRNAs might provide a new, noninvasive method for the diagnostic and prognostic analyses ofHB.


2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 428-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jining Fu ◽  
Yongyuan Cui

Background ZEB1-AS1 acts as an oncogene in hepatocellular carcinoma, accelerating tumor growth and promoting metastasis. However, its roles in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain unclear. Methods In this study, we determined the expression of ZEB1-AS1 in CRC tissues by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Additionally, we investigated the relationship between various clinicopathological features of CRC patients and ZEB1-AS1 expression, and evaluated the diagnostic and prognostic value of ZEB1-AS1 in CRC. Results We found that ZEB1-AS1 expression was significantly higher in CRC tissues than in adjacent normal colorectal tissues. Moreover, its expression was significantly correlated with tumor size, differentiation degree, TNM grade, metastasis, depth of invasion and Dukes' classification, but not with sex, age, location and organization. In addition, at the optimal cutoff value of 2.340, the values of diagnostic sensitivity and specificity amounted to 63.0% and 90.7%, respectively, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.846 (95% CI, 0.797-0.895). Finally, CRC patients of the high ZEB1-AS1 expression group had a poorer prognosis and a significantly lower survival rate than those of the low expression group, and Cox regression analysis indicated that ZEB1-AS1 expression and metastasis were independent predictors of poor prognosis. Conclusions Our data suggest that ZEB1-AS1 has no obvious early diagnostic value, but it may be utilized as a new prognostic biomarker for CRC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zubo Wu ◽  
Suyuan Wu ◽  
Tao Liang ◽  
Lin Wang

ObjectiveTo explore the association between lipoprotein-related phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) and the risk of Parkinson’s disease (PD).MethodsA case-control study involving 58 hospitalized PD patients and 60 healthy controls was carried out. Serum Lp-PLA2 level was detected. According to the disease course and severity, PD patients were subdivided to analyze the clinical value of Lp-PLA2. Relationship between Lp-PLA2 and PD risk was analyzed by logistic regression. Diagnostic value of Lp-PLA2 in PD patients was investigated using receiver’s operator characteristic curves.ResultsLp-PLA2 level was significantly higher in the PD patients compared with the controls, and was significantly and positively correlated with the Hoehn-Yahr (H&Y) stage. The serum Lp-PLA2 level and H&Y stage of PD patients with a longer disease course were significantly higher than those with a shorter disease course. PD patients with milder conditions had significantly lower serum Lp-PLA2 levels than patients with severe conditions. Multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated higher Lp-PLA2 level was an independent risk factor of PD patients. Moreover, the area under the curve for Lp-PLA2 was 0.703, which was between those of homocysteine and serum amylase A.ConclusionTo our knowledge, this is the first study to show that increased level of Lp-PLA2 is associated with the risk of PD. Lp-PLA2 may be used for early detection of PD, and provides an effective intervention target for clinical treatment of PD.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 107602962110472
Author(s):  
Jingchao Xuan ◽  
Junyu Wang ◽  
Bing Wei

In this study, we want to investigate the clinical value of each index of thromboelastography (TEG) on the prognosis of infected patients. The clinical baseline data and TEG test results of 431 infected patients in our hospital’s emergency department between January 2018 and December 2018 were selected. And the patients were divided into death and survival groups to analyze the predictive value of each index of TEG and the joint model on the death of infected patients. In the correlation study of C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) with each TEG parameter, CRP was positively correlated with maximum amplitude (MA, r  =  0.145, P  =  .003) and elasticity constants (E, r  =  0.098, P  =  .043), respectively. PCT was positively correlated with coagulation reaction time (R, r  =  0.124, P  =  .010) and time to MA (TMA) ( r  =  0.165, P  =  .001), respectively; PCT was negatively correlated with α-Angle ( r  =  0.124, P  =  .010) and coagulation index (CI, r  =  −0.108, P  =  .026), respectively. Multifactorial regression analysis showed that granulocytes, thrombocytes, platelet distribution width (PDW), and infection site were independent influences on infected patients’ death. Diagnostic data showed that all eight TEG indicators had good specificity for predicting death, but all had poor sensitivity; thrombodynamic potential index (TPI) had the best diagnostic value (area under the curve, AUC  =  0.609, P  =  .002). The eight-indicator modeling of TEG showed that the TEG model combined with PCT and CRP, respectively, had lower diagnostic efficacy than PCT (AUC  =  0.756, P < .001); however, TEG had better specificity (82.73%) when diagnosed independently. The granulocytes, thrombocytes, PDW, and infection site are independent influencing factors of death in infected patients. Each index of TEG has better specificity in the diagnosis of death in infected patients.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margriet R. Timmer ◽  
Chiu T. Lau ◽  
Sybren L. Meijer ◽  
Paul Fockens ◽  
Erik A. J. Rauws ◽  
...  

Background. Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic inflammatory liver disease and is strongly associated with cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). The lack of efficient diagnostic methods for CCA is a major problem. Testing for genetic abnormalities may increase the diagnostic value of cytology.Methods.We assessed genetic abnormalities forCDKN2A,TP53,ERBB2,20q,MYC, and chromosomes 7 and 17 and measures of genetic clonal diversity in brush samples from 29 PSC patients with benign biliary strictures and 12 patients with sporadic CCA or PSC-associated CCA. Diagnostic performance of cytology alone and in combination with genetic markers was evaluated by sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve analysis.Results. The presence ofMYCgain andCDKN2Aloss as well as a higher clonal diversity was significantly associated with malignancy.MYCgain increased the sensitivity of cytology from 50% to 83%. However, the specificity decreased from 97% to 76%. The diagnostic accuracy of the best performing measures of clonal diversity was similar to the combination of cytology andMYC. AddingCDKN2Aloss to the panel had no additional benefit.Conclusion. Evaluation ofMYCabnormalities and measures of clonal diversity in brush cytology specimens may be of clinical value in distinguishing CCA from benign biliary strictures in PSC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Fei Xu ◽  
Lulu Zhang ◽  
Wenting He ◽  
Di Song ◽  
Xiaomeng Ji ◽  
...  

Background. At present, the diagnostic accuracy of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) surveillance is insufficient. It remains controversial whether prothrombin induced by vitamin K absence II (PIVKA-II) has a better diagnostic value than AFP for HCC patients. Objective. To investigate the diagnostic role of PIVKA-II alone or in combination with AFP in Chinese HCC patients. Methods. Serum AFP and PIVKA-II levels were detected and analyzed in 308 HCC afflicted patients and 120 unafflicted controls. The receiver operator curve (ROC) and area under the curve (AUC) were conducted to evaluate the clinical value of AFP and PIVKA-II for diagnosing HCC and early HCC. Results. In the whole HCC cohort, the diagnostic values of PIVKA-II were better than that of AFP. The AUC of PIVKA-II and AFP was 0.90 (95% CI 0.87-0.94) and 0.79 (95% CI 0.74-0.84), respectively. “AFP + PIVKA-II” yielded a high sensitivity of 95.1% and a specificity of 83.3%, with the AUC 0.89 (95% CI 0.85-0.93). In the early stage HCC group, the diagnostic accuracy of PIVKA-II was also better than that of AFP. The AUC of PIVKA-II and AFP was 0.83 (95% CI 0.77-0.89) and 0.75 (95% CI 0.68-0.81), respectively. “AFP + PIVKA-II” achieved the sensitivity of 83.3% and specificity of 89.1%, with an AUC of 0.86 (95% CI 0.81-0.91). Moreover, for AFP-negative HCC patients, serum PIVKA-II showed good diagnostic performance, with an AUC of 0.804 (95% CI 0.720-0.887). Besides, elevated PIVKA-II level was a strong independent risk factor for HCC patients with portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) ( OR = 4.890 , P = 0.020 ). Conclusion. PIVKA-II is superior to AFP in HCC screening, and AFP in combination with PIVKA-II significantly improves the diagnostic value for Chinese HCC patients. PIVKA-II could effectively indicate HCC accompanied by PVTT and help to optimize the therapeutic strategy.


Biomolecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1083
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Filimoniuk ◽  
Agnieszka Blachnio-Zabielska ◽  
Monika Imierska ◽  
Dariusz Marek Lebensztejn ◽  
Urszula Daniluk

An altered ceramide composition in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been reported recently. The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentrations of sphingolipids in the serum of treatment-naive children with newly diagnosed IBD and to determine the diagnostic value of the tested lipids in pediatric IBD. The concentrations of sphingolipids in serum samples were evaluated using a quantitative method, an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in children with Crohn’s disease (CD) (n=34), ulcerative colitis (UC) (n = 39), and controls (Ctr) (n = 24). Among the study groups, the most significant differences in concentrations were noted for C16:0-LacCer, especially in children with CD compared to Ctr or even to UC. Additionally, the relevant increase in C20:0-Cer and C18:1-Cer concentrations were detected in both IBD groups compared to Ctr. The enhanced C24:0-Cer level was observed only in UC, while C18:0-Cer only in the CD group. The highest area under the curve (AUC), specificity, and sensitivity were determined for C16:0-LacCer in CD diagnosis. Our results suggest that the serum LacC16-Cer may be a potential biomarker that distinguishes children with IBD from healthy controls and differentiates IBD subtypes. In addition, C20:0-Cer and C18:0-Cer levels also seem to be closely connected with IBD.


Author(s):  
Yi Dong ◽  
Yijie Qiu ◽  
Daohui Yang ◽  
Lingyun Yu ◽  
Dan Zuo ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical value of dynamic contrast enhanced ultrasound (D-CEUS) in predicting the microvascular invasion (MVI) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, 16 patients with surgery and histopathologically proved HCC lesions were included. Patients were classified according to the presence of MVI: MVI positive group (n = 6) and MVI negative group (n = 10). Contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) examinations were performed within a week before surgery. Dynamic analysis was performed by VueBox ® software (Bracco, Italy). Three regions of interests (ROIs) were set in the center of HCC lesions, at the margin of HCC lesions and in the surrounding liver parenchyma accordingly. Time intensity curves (TICs) were generated and quantitative perfusion parameters including WiR (wash-in rate), WoR (wash-out rate), WiAUC (wash-in area under the curve), WoAUC (wash-out area under the curve) and WiPi (wash-in perfusion index) were obtained and analyzed. RESULTS: All of HCC lesions showed arterial hyperenhancement (100 %) and at the late phase as hypoenhancement (75 %) in CEUS. Among all CEUS quantitative parameters, the WiAUC and WoAUC were higher in MVI positive group than in MVI negative group in the center HCC lesions (P <  0.05), WiAUC, WoAUC and WiPI were higher in MVI positive group than in MVI negative group at the margin of HCC lesions. WiR and WoR were significant higher in MVI positive group. CONCLUSIONS: D-CEUS with quantitative perfusion analysis has potential clinical value in predicting the existence of MVI in HCC lesions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Meiser ◽  
Lale Kayikci ◽  
Matthias Orth

AbstractObjectivesDiagnosing disturbances in iron metabolism can be challenging when accompanied by inflammation. New diagnostic tools such as the “Thomas-plot” (TP) (relation of soluble transferrin receptor [sTfR]/log ferritin to reticulocyte hemoglobin content [RET-He]) were established to improve classification of anemias. Aim of this retrospective study was to assess the added diagnostic value of the TP in anemia work up.MethodsPatients from December 2016 to September 2018 with a complete blood count, iron status, RET-He and sTfR were manually classified into the four quadrants of the TP on basis of conventional iron markers. Manual and algorithm-based classifications were compared using cross tabulations, Box–Whisker-Plots as well as Receiver-Operating-Characteristics (ROC) to calculate the diagnostic accuracy using Area under the Curve (AUC) analysis.ResultsA total of 3,745 patients with a conventional iron status, including 1,721 TPs, could be evaluated. In 70% of the cases the manual classification was identical to the TP, in 10% it was deviant. 20% could not clearly be classified, mostly due to inflammatory conditions. In the absence of an inflammatory condition, ferritin was a reliable parameter to define iron deficiency (ID) (AUC 0.958). In the presence of inflammation, the significance of the ferritin index (AUC 0.917) and of the RET-He (AUC 0.957) increased.ConclusionsThe TP can be useful for narrowing down the causes of anemia in complex cases. Further studies with focus on special patient groups, e.g., oncological or rheumatic patients, are desirable.


2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Xi ◽  
Chunqing Yang

AbstractObjectivesThe main aim of the present study was to assess the diagnostic value of alpha-l-fucosidase (AFU) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).MethodsStudies that explored the diagnostic value of AFU in HCC were searched in EMBASE, SCI, and PUBMED. The sensitivity, specificity, and DOR about the accuracy of serum AFU in the diagnosis of HCC were pooled. The methodological quality of each article was evaluated with QUADAS-2 (quality assessment for studies of diagnostic accuracy 2). Receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) analysis was performed. Statistical analysis was conducted by using Review Manager 5 and Open Meta-analyst.ResultsEighteen studies were selected in this study. The pooled estimates for AFU vs. α-fetoprotein (AFP) in the diagnosis of HCC in 18 studies were as follows: sensitivity of 0.7352 (0.6827, 0.7818) vs. 0.7501 (0.6725, 0.8144), and specificity of 0.7681 (0.6946, 0.8283) vs. 0.8208 (0.7586, 0.8697), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of 7.974(5.302, 11.993) vs. 13.401 (8.359, 21.483), area under the curve (AUC) of 0.7968 vs. 0.8451, respectively.ConclusionsAFU is comparable to AFP for the diagnosis of HCC.


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