Medicine
-
Microplastics have the characteristics of small size, high specific area, strong ability to adsorb pollutants, and difficult to degrade. They have become a major global environmental problem that humans urgently need to address. A balanced microecosystem is essential to human health. ⋯ To find out the potential predictors and to access the difference between the groups, statistical analysis will be performed in the end. The study will be the first observational cross-sectional study focusing on the effects of microplastics on nasal and gut microbiota of high-exposure population. The study is expected to provide reliable evidence to fill the gaps in the impact of microplastics on human health.
-
To clarify the risk factors for frailty to help doctors prevent diseases that cause weakness, through early interventions. ⋯ Characteristics, comorbidities, and lifestyle factors can impact the occurrence of frailty, and relevant influencing factors should be considered.
-
Liver failure (LF) is a life-threatening clinical syndrome characterized by intense systemic inflammation and organ failure(s), leading to a high mortality rate. The pathogenesis of LF is multifactorial, immune response, and gut bacterial translocation are thought to be major contributing factors. Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells play a critical role in immune response and gut bacterial translocation. We aimed to investigate changes of the MAIT cell ratio in patients with LF and to explore the predictive value for long-term prognosis in patients with LF. ⋯ The proportion of MAIT cells in PBMC is an outstanding predictor for the long-term prognosis in patients with LF.
-
The objective of this study is to identify useful prognostic factors of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) by evaluating the changes of periostin (POSTN) expression activity and immune cell infiltration using public data repositories. The gene and protein expressions of POSTN in LUAD were collected and analyzed from Ualcan and Human Protein Atlas online database. The cell infiltration data of immune cells in LUAD patients were retrieved and processed using the TIMER tool. ⋯ Together, our investigation suggested that the POSTN expression activity and B-cell infiltration were the prognostic factors of LUAD. In addition, the 1-year negative predictive value of the POSTN expression activity for overall survival, disease-free survival, and progression-free interval was 0.902, 0.926, and 0.838, respectively. Along with decreased B-cell infiltration, the elevated expression of POSTN is an important factor of LUAD prognosis.
-
Recently, the prevalence of colorectal cancer has been increasing in Korea. Several studies have reported that adenomatous polyps, known as precancerous lesions, are associated with increased blood insulin levels. The principal objective of the present study was to examine the correlation between insulin levels and colon polyps in subjects without a history of diabetes or colorectal cancer. ⋯ The mean values of insulin, HbA1c, and fasting blood glucose were significantly increased in the adenomatous and nonadenomatous polyp groups compared to the normal group. Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of adenoma (odds ratio [OR] 1.483; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.170-1.878) and nonadenomatous polyps (OR 1.415; 95% CI, 1.038-1.929) were increased in the high insulin level group (≥7.36 uIU/mL), and only the risk of adenoma (OR 1.312; 95% CI, 1.003-1.718) was significantly higher after adjustment for disturbance variables. This study suggests that an increase in insulin levels is a significant risk factor for colon adenoma.