UNASSIGNED: Gastric cancer (GC) is a typical malignant tumor and the main cause of cancer-related deaths. Its pathogenesis involves multiple steps, including pyroptosis, although these steps are still uncertain. Pyroptosis, also known as gasdermin-mediated programmed necrosis, participates in various pathological processes in tumors, including GC. ELANE, which encodes neutrophil elastase, is closely associated with GC. Additionally, ELANE has been implicated in GC cell pyroptosis, but this has not been confirmed. Therefore, investigating the link between ELANE and pyroptosis in GC is warranted. This research uses bioinformatics and experiments to examine the relationship between ELANE, pyroptosis, and GC prognosis.
UNASSIGNED: The GEO and TCGA databases, along with pyroptosis-related genes, were applied to identify pyroptosis-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs). ELANE was selected via primary screening. Using the median expression level of ELANE as the threshold, pyroptosis-related DEGs were divided into low- and high-ELANE groups. Based on the DEGs in these two groups, GO, KEGG and GSEA analyses were conducted to elucidate the mechanisms of ELANE in GC. Furthermore, we plotted ROC and Kaplan-Meier curves to analyze the clinical and pathological features of ELANE expression. The Nomograms tool was applied to calculate the predictive value of ELANE for the clinical outcomes of GC cases. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed to detect the level of ELANE in GC tissues and to validate whether ELANE was involved in pyroptosis in GC cells through cell experiments. Finally, the immune infiltration of ELANE was investigated, and interaction networks (proteins-ELANE, microRNA-ELANE, and small-molecule drug-ELANE) were constructed.
UNASSIGNED: We aimed to investigate the expression of the ELANE gene in GC and study the relationship among ELANE, pyroptosis, and the prognosis of patients with GC. Differential expression analysis of gene-expression datasets from TCGA-STAD and GSE49051 revealed that the expression of the ELANE gene was significantly up-regulated in GC. Using STRING network analysis, we identified multiple proteins involved in the occurrence and development of GC, including interactions between ELANE and GSDMC, a member of the gasdermin protein family. Survival analysis showed that ELANE expression levels significantly affected overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with GC. Additionally, ROC analysis demonstrated that ELANE was effective in distinguishing GC patients from normal controls (AUC = 0.812). Immunohistochemical analysis showed that ELANE was highly expressed in gastric cancer tissues and was closely related to age, tumor grade, and stage. The cell experiments further confirmed that the high expression of ELANE in gastric cancer cells was associated with pyroptosis. Comprehensive analysis indicated that ELANE could be used as a potential prognostic marker for GC and plays an important role in pyroptosis.
UNASSIGNED: High ELANE expression is related to poor survival and prognosis of patients with GC. It participates in pyroptosis and immune infiltration in GC. Therefore, ELANE is a promising prognostic biomarker for pyroptosis in GC.

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is acknowledged as a disease continuum. Despite catheter ablation being recommended as a primary therapy for AF, the high recurrence rates have tempered the initial enthusiasm. Insulin resistance (IR) has been established as an independent predictor for the onset of AF. However, the correlation between non-insulin-based IR indices and late AF recurrence in patients undergoing radiofrequency catheter ablation remains unknown.
METHODS: A retrospective cohort of 910 AF patients who underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation was included in the analysis. The primary endpoint was late AF recurrence during the follow-up period after a defined blank period. The relationship between non-insulin-based IR indices and the primary endpoint was assessed using multivariate Cox hazards regression models and restricted cubic splines (RCS). Additionally, the net reclassification improvement and integrated discrimination improvement index were calculated to further evaluate the additional predictive value of the four IR indices beyond established risk factors for the primary outcome.
RESULTS: During a median follow-up period of 12.00 months, 189 patients (20.77%) experienced late AF recurrence, which was more prevalent among patients with higher levels of IR. The multivariate Cox hazards regression analysis revealed a significant association between these IR indices and late AF recurrence. Among the four indices, METS-IR provided the most significant incremental effect on the basic model for predicting late AF recurrence. Multivariable-adjusted RCS curves illustrated a nonlinear correlation between METS-IR and late AF recurrence. In subgroup analysis, METS-IR exhibited a significant correlation with late AF recurrence in patients with diabetes mellitus (HR: 1.697, 95% CI 1.397 - 2.063, P < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: All the four non-insulin-based IR indices were significantly associated with late AF recurrence in patients undergoing radiofrequency catheter ablation. Addressing IR could potentially serve as a viable strategy for reducing the late AF recurrence rate.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) occurs due to the evolution, virulence, and adaptation of Leishmania, vector biology, host immune system evasion, and reservoir hosts. Parasitemia can be involved as a warning regarding the clinical severity of VL The present study aims to evaluate the relationship between parasitemia and the prognosis of individuals with VL. Blood and bone marrow samples from individuals with VL were analyzed to identify parasite and quantify or measure parasite burden. Individuals were classified in the clinical score model of risk of death by disease proposed by Coura-Vital et al. (PLoS Negl Trop Dis 8(12): e33742014, 2014). 39/74 individuals presented a better prognosis, and 35/74 individuals presented a worse prognosis. HIV + VL co-infection was present in 32 individuals, of which 12 were considered severe. The group aged 51 to 64 was classified as severe, with a decrease in leukocytes (p-value 0.0295) and neutrophils (p-value 0.0476). L. infantum DNA was identified in blood and bone marrow, in 69 individuals, and not detected in 5 individuals. The quantification of the parasite showed greater parasitemia in bone marrow (P = 0.0003) with an average of 4.70 × 104 Leishmanias/mL about blood, with 0.29 × 104 Leishmanias/mL. Individuals in the age group aged 51 to 64 co-infected with HIV + VL had higher parasitemia (p-value 0.0150) with 2.44 × 104 Leishmanias/mL in blood and bone marrow than in the group aged 20 to 50. Parasitemia, measured by molecular biology in blood and bone marrow, was related to the worst clinical prognosis of VL in the age group aged 51 to 64.

UNASSIGNED: Kidney Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma (KIRC) is a malignant tumor that seriously threatens human health. Rho GTPase-activating protein 4 (ARHGAP4) plays an important role in the occurrence and development of tumors.
UNASSIGNED: The purpose of this study was to explore the role of ARHGAP4 in the progression of KIRC and its diagnostic and prognostic value.
UNASSIGNED: Multiple analytical methods and in vitro cell assays were used to explore the expression of ARHGAP4 and its value in the progression, diagnosis and prognosis of KIRC. The biological function of ARHGAP4 was studied by GO analysis and KEGG pathway analysis, and then the relationship between ARHGAP4 and immune infiltration was analyzed.
UNASSIGNED: The expression of ARHGAP4 was significantly up-regulated in KIRC. We found that the high expression of ARHGAP4 was related to the progression of KIRC and suggested a poor prognosis. Compared with normal tissues, ARHGAP4 had a better diagnostic value in KIRC. The biological function of ARHGAP4 was related to immunity, and its expression was also closely related to tumor immune infiltration and immune checkpoints.
UNASSIGNED: Our study demonstrated that ARHGAP4 may be a biomarker, which is related to the progression, diagnosis and prognosis of KIRC. Its biological functions are related to tumor immune infiltration.

BACKGROUND: This paper attempted to clarify the role and mechanism of vacuolar protein sorting-associated protein 72 homolog (VPS72) in the progression of prostate cancer (PCa).
METHODS: Clinical information and gene expression profiles of patients with prostate cancer were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). VPS72 expression in PCa and the potential mechanism by which VPS72 affects PCa progression was investigated. Next, we performed COX regression analysis to identify the independent prognostic factors of PCa, and constructed a nomogram. The sensitivity of chemotherapeutic medications was anticipated using \"pRRophetic\". Subsequently, in vitro assays to validate the effect of VPS72 on PCa cell proliferation, migration and susceptibility to anti-androgen therapy.
RESULTS: The expression of VPS72 was considerably higher in PCa tissues compared to normal tissues. Significant correlations were found between high VPS72 expression and a poor prognosis and adverse clinicopathological factors. The nomogram model constructed based on VPS72 expression has good predictive performance. According to GSEA, VPS72-related genes were enriched in the NF-kB pathways, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and chemokine signaling pathway in PCa. Although PCa with low VPS72 expression was more adaptable to chemotherapeutic medications, our in vitro experiment showed that VPS72 knockdown significantly decreased the PCa cell migration, proliferation, and resistance to anti-androgen therapy.
CONCLUSIONS: In summary our findings suggests that VPS72 could play a crucial role in the malignant progression of PCa, and its expression level can be employed as a possible biomarker of PCa prognosis.

The comorbidity with anxiety disorders has profound adverse implications on the evolution, prognosis and therapeutic responsiveness of depression, it will prolong the time required to achieve remission of the depressive episode, and patients under treatment will tend to drop out of their therapeutic regimens faster than those with depression but without anxious comorbidity. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the importance of the clinical, etiopathogenetic, prognostic and especially therapeutic connotations given by the presence of psychiatric comorbidities in depression. Articles evaluating the presence of psychiatric comorbidities in depression were analyzed using PubMed, Medline, Scopus, Google Academics and WoS databases. To select the articles, we used keywords: psychiatric comorbidity, depression with anxiety disorders, depression with dysthymia, depression with psychoactive substances, depression with personality disorders. From a psychiatric perspective, the comorbidity of mental disorders can be divided into psychiatric comorbidity, when two or more distinct psychiatric conditions are present in the same individual, and medical comorbidity, when a medical-surgical illness is associated with a mental disorder. The presence of major depression is in itself a predictive factor for a later onset of generalized anxiety disorder. The comorbidity of depression in those with substance abuse or addiction has profound implications on their clinical prognosis. The association of personality disorder has a significant impact on the suicidal behavior of patients with major depression.

Lower-grade gliomas (GBMLGG) are common, fatal, and difficult-to-treat cancers. The current treatment choices have impressive efficacy constraints. As a result, the development of effective treatments and the identification of new therapeutic targets are urgent requirements. Disulfide metabolism is the cause of the non-apoptotic programmed cell death known as disulfideptosis, which was only recently discovered. The mRNA expression data and related clinical information of GBMLGG patients downloaded from public databases were used in this study to investigate the prognostic significance of genes involved in disulfideptosis. In the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) cohort, our findings showed that many disulfidptosis-related genes were expressed differently in normal and GBMLGG tissues. It was discovered that IQ motif-containing GTPase-activating protein 1 (IQGAP1) is a key gene that influences the outcome of GBMLGG. Besides, a nomogram model was built to foresee the visualization of GBMLGG patients. In addition, in vivo and in vitro validation of IQGAP1\'s cancer-promoting function was done. In conclusion, we discovered a gene signature associated with disulfideptosis that can effectively predict OS in GBMLGG patients. As a result, treating disulfideptosis may be a viable alternative for GBMLGG patients.

UNASSIGNED: According to many previous studies, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) and hypersensitive C-reactive protein (CRP) are commonly used as important indicators to assess the prognosis of intravenous thrombolysis in AIS patients. Based on this, we used two novel biomarkers C-NLR (CRP/neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio) and C-LMR (CRP×lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio) to investigate their correlation with 90-day outcomes in AIS patients after intravenous thrombolysis.
UNASSIGNED: A total of 204 AIS patients who received intravenous thrombolysis at the Stroke Center of Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine from January 2021 to December 2022 were retrospectively included. All patients were followed up 90 days after thrombolysis to assess their prognosis. Patients with a modified Rankin scale score (mRS) of 3-6 were included in the unfavorable outcome group, and those with a score of 0-2 were included in the favorable outcome group. Logistic regression analysis, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and Kaplan-Meier survival curve were used to investigate the association between C-NLR, C-LMR, and 90-day prognosis in AIS patients treated with early intravenous thrombolysis.
UNASSIGNED: C-NLR (OR=1.586, 95% CI=1.098~2.291, P=0.014) and C-LMR (OR=1.099, 95% CI=1.025~1.179, P=0.008) were independent risk factors for 90-day prognosis of AIS patients treated with early intravenous thrombolysis. The higher C-NLR and C-LMR were associated with unfavorable prognosis.
UNASSIGNED: C-NLR and C-LMR can be used as biomarkers to predict prognosis of AIS patients treated with early intravenous thrombolysis.

UNASSIGNED: Cerebral haemorrhage is a critical condition that often requires surgical treatment, and postoperative intracranial infection can significantly impact patient outcomes. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between the levels of lactic acid and glucose in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with cerebral haemorrhage and their postoperative intracranial infection and clinical prognosis.
UNASSIGNED: The study selected the clinical data of 324 patients with cerebral haemorrhage who underwent surgical treatment in our hospital from March 2020 to March 2022 for retrospective analysis and divided these patients into the intracranial infection group (Group A, n=22, leukocyte values in CSF>5×106/L) and the non-intracranial infection group (Group B, n=302, leukocyte values in CSF 5×106/L) according to the occurrence of postoperative intracranial infection in patients to detect the levels of lactic acid and glucose in CSF at different times in the two groups. Pearson method was adopted to analyze the correlation of the levels of lactic acid and glucose in CSF of patients with intracranial infection, and the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) was used to assess the clinical prognosis of patients. According to their scores, these patients were divided into the good prognosis group (GPG, scores of 4-5 points, n=178) and the poor prognosis group (PPG, scores of 1-3 points, n=146). The levels of lactic acid and glucose in the CSF of patients in the two groups were measured, and the Pearson method was adopted to analyze the relationship between these levels and clinical prognosis.
UNASSIGNED: Cerebralno krvarenje je kritično stanje koje često zahteva hirurško lečenje, a postoperativna intrakranijalna infekcija može značajno da utiče na ishod. Cilj studije je bio da se analizira korelacija nivoa mlečne kiseline i glukoze u cerebrospinalnoj tečnosti (CSF) pacijenata sa cerebralnim krvarenjem sa pojavom postoperativne intrakranijalne infekcije i kliničkom prognozom.
UNASSIGNED: U studiji su selektovani klinički podaci 324 pacijenta sa cerebralnom hemoragijom koji su podvrgnuti hirurškom lečenju u našoj bolnici od marta 2020. do marta 2022. godine radi retrospektivne analize. Pacijenti su podeljeni u grupu intrakranijalne infekcije (Grupa A, n=22, vrednosti leukocita u CSF>5×106/L) i grupu bez intra-kranijalne infekcije (Grupa B, n=302, vrednosti leukocita u CSF 5×106/L) prema pojavi postoperativne intrakranijalne infekcije kod pacijenata. U obe grupe su mereni nivoi mlečne kiseline i glukoze u CSF u različitim vremenima. Korišćena je Personova metoda za analizu korelacije nivoa mlečne kiseline i glukoze u CSF kod pacijenata sa intra-kranijalnom infekcijom, a za procenu kliničke prognoze pacijenata je korišćena Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS). Prema njihovim rezultatima, pacijenti su podeljeni u dve grupe: grupu sa dobrim ishodom (GPG, 4-5 poena, n=178) i grupu sa lošim ishodom (PPG, 1-3 poena, n=146). Mereni su nivoi mlečne kiseline i glukoze u CSF kod pacijenata u obe grupe, a Personova metoda je korišćena za analizu veze između tih nivoa i kliničke prognose.
UNASSIGNED: U poređenju sa Grupom B, Grupa A je imala značajno više nivoe mlečne kiseline u CSF pacijenata u vreme T1, T2 i T3 (P<0,001), i primetno niže nivoe glukoze (P<0.001). Pacijenti u PPG grupi su imali primetno više nivoe mlečne kiseline u CSF u vreme T1, T2 i T3 (P<0,001) i jasno niže nivoe glukoze u poređenju sa GPG (P<0,001). Rezultati Personove metode su pokazali da su nivoi mlečne kiseline u CSF pacijenata pozitivno korelisani sa vrednostima leukocita, ali negativno korelisani sa nivoima glukoze (P<0,05). Nivoi mlečne kiseline u CSF su u negativnoj korelaciji sa rezultatima GOS skale, ali u pozitivnoj korelaciji sa nivoima glukoze (P<0,05).
UNASSIGNED: Nivoi mlečne kiseline i glukoze u cerebrospinalnoj tečnosti (CSF) kod pacijenata sa cerebralnim krvarenjem su povezani sa postoperativnom intrakranijalnom infekcijom i kliničkom prognozom, a detekcija gore navedenih pokazatelja pomaže lekarima da bolje razumeju stanje pacijenata, pružajući naučnu osnovu za formulisanje kliničkih terapijskih planova.

Forkhead box P3 (FOXP3) has been identified as a novel molecular marker in various types of cancer. The present study assessed the expression of FOXP3 in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and its potential as a clinical prognostic indicator, and developed a radiomics model based on enhanced computed tomography (CT) imaging. Data from 483 patients with HNSCC were downloaded from the Cancer Genome Atlas for FOXP3 prognostic analysis and enhanced CT images from 139 patients included in the Cancer Imaging Archives, which were subjected to the maximum relevance and minimum redundancy and recursive feature elimination algorithms for radiomics feature extraction and processing. Logistic regression was used to build a model for predicting FOXP3 expression. A prognostic scoring system for radiomics score (RS), FOXP3, and patient clinicopathological factors was established to predict patient survival. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) and calibration curve and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to evaluate model performance. Furthermore, the relationship between FOXP3 and the immune microenvironment, as well as the association between RS and immune checkpoint-related genes, was analyzed. Results of analysis revealed that patients with HNSCC and high FOXP3 mRNA expression exhibited better overall survival. Immune infiltration analysis revealed that FOXP3 had a positive correlation with CD4 + and CD8 + T cells and other immune cells. The 8 best radiomics features were selected to construct the radiomics model. In the FOXP3 expression prediction model, the AUC values were 0.707 and 0.702 for the training and validation sets, respectively. Additionally, the calibration curve and DCA demonstrated the positive diagnostic utility of the model. RS was correlated with immune checkpoint-related genes such as ICOS, CTLA4, and PDCD1. A predictive nomogram was established, the AUCs were 0.87, 0.787, and 0.801 at 12, 24, and 36 months, respectively, and DCA demonstrated the high clinical applicability of the nomogram. The enhanced CT radiomics model can predict expression of FOXP3 and prognosis in patients with HNSCC. As such, FOXP3 may be used as a novel prognostic marker to improve individualized clinical diagnosis and treatment decisions.