A biosensing array for multiplex clinical evaluation of glucose, creatinine, and uric acid

The multiplex and simultaneous determination of blood glucose, creatinine and uric acid is essential for the early screening of chronic diseases or regular disease monitoring. Here, we report for the first time a biosensing array for the multiplex and simultaneous determination of plasma glucose, creatinine and uric acid. The sensing electrodes are fabricated on a PET surface, including three working electrodes, one reference electrode, and one counter electrode. Each specific enzyme is immobilized on its corresponding working electrode. The biosensing array can exhibit high sensitivity and selectivity for the simultaneous determination of blood glucose, creatinine and uric acid in real blood samples, and the measurement results are accurate and consistent with those from the clinical biochemistry analyzer in the hospital. It is expected that this work could provide new avenues for the fundamental study of biosensing device construction, as well as practical applications of the detection of biomarkers in chronic diseases.

Prevalence and Clinical Significance of Occult Pulmonary Infection in Elderly Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

The occult pulmonary infection is the most common complications in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Since its etiological characteristics has not been clarified, infection control remains a serious problem for public health. To investigate the prevalence and clinical significance of occult pulmonary infection in elderly T2DM patients, in this study, 573 elderly patients cochallenged with T2DM and community-acquired pulmonary infection from January 2018 to December 2020 were selected in the hospitals and divided into occult pneumonia group (OP, n = 249) and nonoccult pneumonia group (NOP, n = 324) according to the nature of infection. Clinical medical records were analyzed retrospectively to summarize the infection characteristics of elderly diabetics with occult pneumonia. The prevalence of the cases (278/324, 85.8%) in NOP group was not higher than that in OP group (206/249, 82.7%; P > 0.05). Also, there was not significant difference in the distribution of isolated pathogens among the positive patients. The length of hospitalization and mortality of OP patients were significantly higher than those NOP patients. Multivariate logistic regression showed that advanced age, comorbidities, hypothyroidism, senile dementia, and prolonged bed rest were independent risk factors for occult pneumonia in elderly diabetic patients. Therefore, the results demonstrated that the pulmonary infection in elderly patients with diabetes mellitus is often occult. Gram-negative bacteria are the predominant pathogens and cause poor prognosis. Advanced age, comorbidities (senile dementia, hypothyroidism), and prolonged bed rest are the independent risk factors for occult pneumonia.

Tumor necrosis factor-α and diabetic retinopathy: Review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) is produced by multinuclear giant cells and acts as local intensification signals in pathological processes associated with chronic eye inflammation. This meta-analysis was performed to provide a better understanding of the relationship between TNF-α and diabetic retinopathy (DR).

METHOD

Online electric databases were searched to retrieve all relevant articles published before October 2017. The standard mean difference (SMD) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were included and then pooled with a random effects model.

RESULTS

A total of 16 articles with 1286 participants were included in this meta-analysis. No difference in the level of TNF-α was found between DR patients and healthy controls (SMD = 0.39, 95% CI = -0.09 to 0.68, P = 0.01). Subgroup analysis showed that with respect to the level of TNF-α, the association was significant for studies conducted in Europe (SMD: 0.57, 95% CI: 0.11-1.02, P = 0.01), patients with type 1 DM (SMD: 1.06, 95% CI: 0.09-2.04, P = 0.03), studies based on serum samples (SMD: 0.57, 95% CI: 0.12-1.02, P = 0.01) and studies with a sample size >50 (SMD: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.03-0.75, P = 0.04).

CONCLUSION

The results this meta-analysis indicated that the level of TNF-α in DR patients was significantly different from that in the healthy controls, so TNF-α represents a candidate biomarker for DR.

Th17 cell frequency and IL-17A concentrations in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and vitreous fluid from patients with diabetic retinopathy

Objective To quantify T helper (Th)17 cells and determine interleukin (IL)-17A levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) culture and vitreous fluid from patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with diabetic retinopathy (DR). Methods Th17 cell frequency and IL-17A concentrations in PBMCs from 60 patients with T2DM with DR, 30 without DR and 30 sex- and age-matched healthy individuals were measured by flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. IL-17A levels in vitreous fluid from 31 eyes with proliferative DR and diabetic macular oedema (DR group) and 32 eyes with an epiretinal membrane and macular hole (control group) that underwent vitrectomy were also examined by ELISA. Results Compared with the control group, the proportion of Th17 cells and IL-17A concentrations in PBMCs were significantly increased in patients without DR but decreased in those with DR. IL-17A concentrations and Th17 cell frequency in PBMCs tended to decrease with DR severity and were negatively correlated with body mass index, T2DM duration and glycated haemoglobin. Additionally, vitreous fluid IL-17A levels were significantly elevated in patients with DR compared with those of the control group. Conclusions We conclude that disturbances in Th17 cells and IL-17A levels are possibly associated with DR.

Proteomic analysis of NK92-MI cells activated by neuropeptide substance P

Substance P (SP) has been well known by its immunoregulatory properties on the functions of NK cells. However, the changes of molecules involved in the signaling pathways and effects of these molecules of NK92-MI cells activated by SP remain unclear. In this study, we explored the global changes in cellular protein expression of NK92-MI cells activated by SP by 2D-PAGE analysis. Subsequently, we demonstrated that 40 protein spots showed more than 2-fold changes, which displayed marked alterations with statistic significance (p<0.05) between the testing group and control group. Compared with the control we also found that 16 proteins were up-regulated and 24 proteins were down-regulated among the 40 differentially expressed protein spots in the NK92-MI cells activated by SP. In addition 21 differentially expressed proteins were identified by MS/MS, suggesting that those proteins may play important roles in the process of activation of NK92-MI cells by SP. Moreover, the protein Rho GDI-2, Protein DJ-1 and alpha-enolase were reconfirmed by western blotting. Taken together, these findings may provide a new insight into better understanding at the molecular mechanisms of activation of NK92-MI cells by SP.