Tissue hemostasis is shifted toward thrombogenesis in the psoriatic plaques

Prognostic value of E‑26 transformation‑specific‑related gene in prostate cancer based on immunohistochemistry analysis

E-26 transformation-specific-related gene (ERG) has been implicated in prostate cancer; however, its prognostic role remains unclear. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the association of ERG with the prognosis after radical prostatectomy in patients with prostate cancer. Patient data were collected at the Huadong Hospital, affiliated with Fudan University, between January 2016 and March 2020. ERG protein expression was detected using immunohistochemistry. Independent-sample t-tests and χ² tests were used to evaluate prostate cancer prognosis depending on ERG levels. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate biochemical failure-free survival (BFFS) and the log-rank test was used to test the distribution. Prognostic factors were determined using Cox regression analysis. The median patient age was 69 years (range, 47-82 years). The median prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and free-PSA levels before treatment were 9.58 ng/ml (range, 0.003-187.400 ng/ml) and 1.13 ng/ml (range, 0.0059-30.6100 ng/ml), respectively. ERG protein expression was positive in 43 (16.6%) and negative in 216 (83.4%) cases. The median follow-up period and BFFS were 30 and 28 months, respectively. There was a significant difference in biochemical recurrence (P=0.017) between patients with positive and negative ERG expression. Patients with positive ERG expression had significantly worse BFFS curves compared with those with negative ERG expression (P=0.0038). In the multivariate Cox regression analysis, positive ERG expression was found to be an independent prognostic factor in patients with prostate cancer who underwent radical prostatectomy (hazard ratio, 4.08; 95% confidence interval, 2.03-8.17; P=0.000074). In conclusion, positive ERG expression is an independent prognostic risk factor for prostate cancer. These findings may be valuable for improvements in the clinical application of ERG immunohistochemistry.

Study of serum level and immunohistochemical expression of von Willebrand factor in psoriasis

Von Willebrand factor (vWF) is angiogenic, hypercoagulable, and inflammatory marker that increases inflammation and vasculitis and reflects endothelial cells dysfunction. vWF could play a role in psoriasis pathogenesis and prognosis. To assess the serum and immunohistochemical expression of vWF in psoriasis to evaluate its possible role in disease pathogenesis and prognosis. This case-control study included 30 cases of psoriasis vulgaris with different degrees of severity and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Serum level of vWF was measured by ELISA. Immunohistochemical staining of skin biopsies for von Willebrand factor (vVF) antibody was done. Significantly higher vWF serum level in cases (24.3 ± 14.0) vs (15.7 ± 6.85) for controls (p = .002) and significantly higher epidermal expression intensity in patients than in controls (P value = .001). There was also significant difference between cases and control regarding the dermal expression of vWF in inflammatory cells, adenexa, and endothelial cell (P value = .001, 0.065, 0.004, respectively,). Von Willebrand factor could be used as an indicator of the hypercoaguable state which may develop in patients with psoriasis and may serve as a new therapeutic target in psoriasis treatment protocols. Patients with psoriasis especially those with high PASI score are more prone to develop vascular complication. Serum vWF could be used as a better marker for psoriasis severity than PASI which is considered the gold-standard noninvasive assessment but it only measures skin involvement, while psoriasis is considered a systemic disease.