S100A12 protein as a porcine health status biomarker when quantified in saliva samples

The S100A12 protein was validated as a biomarker of health status in porcine saliva samples using a semi-quantitative approach based on Western blotting in four healthy and sixteen diseased animals, and in four animals with severe respiratory disease during three days of antibiotic therapy. Afterwards, a non-competitive sandwich immunoassay was then developed, validated, and used to quantify S100A12 in clinical porcine samples, using 14 healthy and 25 diseased pigs. Finally, the S100A12 concentrations in the saliva of ten pigs with respiratory disease were monitored during antibiotic therapy. Diseased animals showed higher concentrations of S100A12 than healthy animals, and the high concentrations of S100A12 in pigs with respiratory distress were reduced after antimicrobial therapy. The assay developed showed good precision and accuracy, as well as a low limit of detection of 3.19 ng/mL. It was possible to store saliva samples at -20 °C, or even at 4 °C, for two weeks before analysis without losing the validity of the results. The concentrations of S100A12 observed in serum and saliva samples showed a moderately positive association with a correlation coefficient of 0.48. The concentrations of the new validated biomarker S100A12 are highly associated with the novel salivary biomarker of inflammation, adenosine deaminase, and moderately to highly associated with the total oxidant status. The results reported in this study provide a new way of evaluating inflammatory diseases in pigs using saliva samples, which should be further explored for disease prevention and monitoring in the field.

Performance of fecal S100A12 as a novel non-invasive diagnostic biomarker for pediatric inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

The incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in pediatric patients are increasing. Currently, the diagnostic method for IBD is inconvenient, expensive, and difficult. S100A12, a type of calcium-binding protein, detected in the feces of patients with IBD has recently been suggested as a promising diagnostic tool. Hence, the authors aimed to evaluate the accuracy of fecal S100A12 in diagnosing IBD in pediatric patients by performing a meta-analysis.

METHODS

The authors performed a systematic literature search in five electronic databases for eligible studies up to July 15, 2021. Pooled diagnostic accuracies of fecal S100A12 were analyzed as the primary outcomes. Secondary outcomes were standardized mean difference (SMD) of fecal S100A12 levels between IBD and non-IBD groups and a comparison of diagnostic accuracies between fecal S100A12 and fecal calprotectin.

RESULTS

Seven studies comprising 712 children and adolescents (474 non-IBD controls and 238 IBD cases) were included. Fecal S100A12 levels were higher in the IBD group than in the non-IBD group (SMD = 1.88; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.19-2.58; p < 0.0001). Fecal S100A12 could diagnose IBD in pediatric patients with a pooled sensitivity of 95% (95% CI = 88%-98%), specificity of 97% (95% CI = 95%-98%), and area under the receiver operating summary characteristics (AUSROC) curve of 0.99 (95% CI = 0.97-0.99). Fecal S100A12 specificity and AUSROC curve values were higher than those of fecal calprotectin (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Fecal S100A12 may serve as an accurate and non-invasive tool for diagnosing pediatric IBD.

Extracellular vesicle-mediated endothelial apoptosis and EV-associated proteins correlate with COVID-19 disease severity

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has lead to a global pandemic with a rising toll in infections and deaths. Better understanding of its pathogenesis will greatly improve the outcomes and treatment of affected patients. Here we compared the inflammatory and cardiovascular disease-related protein cargo of circulating large and small extracellular vesicles (EVs) from 84 hospitalized patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 with different stages of disease severity. Our findings reveal significant enrichment of proinflammatory, procoagulation, immunoregulatory and tissue-remodelling protein signatures in EVs, which remarkably distinguished symptomatic COVID-19 patients from uninfected controls with matched comorbidities and delineated those with moderate disease from those who were critically ill. Specifically, EN-RAGE, followed by TF and IL-18R1, showed the strongest correlation with disease severity and length of hospitalization. Importantly, EVs from COVID-19 patients induced apoptosis of pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells in the order of disease severity. In conclusion, our findings support a role for EVs in the pathogenesis of COVID-19 disease and underpin the development of EV-based approaches to predicting disease severity, determining need for patient hospitalization and identifying new therapeutic targets.

Mucosal expression of S100A12 (calgranulin C) and S100A8/A9 (calprotectin) and correlation with serum and fecal concentrations in dogs with chronic inflammatory enteropathy

S100A12 and S100A8/A9 (calprotectin) are released from activated mononuclear cells and belong to the group of damage associated molecular patterns. Fecal S100A12 and S100A8/A9 concentrations have been suggested as biomarkers of intestinal inflammation in dogs with chronic inflammatory enteropathies (CIE). However, the mucosal cellular infiltrate in dogs with CIE is primarily lymphocytic-plasmacytic. Whether fecal S100A12 and S100A8/A9 levels reflect the number and/or activity of intestinal mucosal mononuclear cells, or whether these proteins are also produced by other cells has not been investigated. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate intestinal mucosal S100A12 and S100A8/A9 positivity and a potential relationship with the respective protein concentrations in serum and fecal samples in dogs with CIE. Serum (single sample), fecal samples (from 3 consecutive days), and gastrointestinal tissue biopsies (i.e., stomach, duodenum, ileum, and colon) were evaluated from 21 dogs with CIE. Serum and fecal S100A12 and S100A8/A9 concentrations were measured by analytically validated in-house ELISAs. Tissue biopsies underwent routine histopathology and immunohistochemical evaluation for S100A12 and S100A8/A9 positivity (S100A12⁺ and S100A8/A9⁺, each recorded as positive cells/mm²). S100A12⁺ and S100A8/A9⁺ cells were identified in all segments of the gastrointestinal tract, but were predominantly localized in the lamina propria (LP). Duodenal LP S100A12 positivity correlated statistically significantly with that in the stomach and ileum (ρ = 0.66 and 0.69, both p < 0.01), but was inversely correlated with the severity of macrophage infiltration in the duodenum (ρ=-0.47, p = 0.042). Ileal LP S100A8/A9 positivity correlated positively with the extent of ileal neutrophil and macrophage infiltration (ρ=0.61, p = 0.047). Fecal S100A12 concentrations strongly correlated with the number of S100A12⁺ cells along the entire gastrointestinal tract (ρ = 0.76, p = 0.028), whereas serum S100A12 concentrations were inversely correlated to colonic S100A12⁺ cell counts (ρ=-0.50, p = 0.043). Mucosal S100A8/A9⁺ cell counts were not associated with the corresponding fecal or serum S100A8/A9 concentrations. These results suggest that the intestinal mucosa in dogs with CIE contains an increased number of activated (pro-inflammatory) phagocytes expressing and secreting the S100A12 protein, but the macrophage population seen on routine histopathology is predominantly mature (anti-inflammatory) with a reduced or absent expression of S100A12 and a normal or increased expression of S100A8/A9. However, the distribution of intestinal S100A8/A9 expression requires further study.

Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay to Measure S100A12 in Fecal Samples of Children and Adults

In recent years there have been numerous attempts to establish reliable and consistent noninvasive biomarkers of gut inflammation. Here we describe the development of an enzyme-linked immunoassay for the measurement of the pro-inflammatory, calcium-binding protein S100A12 in fecal samples.

Association of fecal calprotectin concentrations with disease severity, response to treatment, and other biomarkers in dogs with chronic inflammatory enteropathies

BACKGROUND

Calprotectin is a marker of inflammation, but its clinical utility in dogs with chronic inflammatory enteropathies (CIE) is unknown.

OBJECTIVE

Evaluation of fecal calprotectin in dogs with biopsy-confirmed CIE.

ANIMALS

127 dogs.

METHODS

Prospective case-control study. Dogs were assigned a canine chronic enteropathy clinical activity index (CCECAI) score, and histologic lesions severity was assessed. Fecal calprotectin, fecal S100A12, and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured. Food- or antibiotic-responsive cases (FRE/ARE, n = 13) were distinguished from steroid-/immunosuppressant-responsive or -refractory cases (SRE/IRE, n = 20). Clinical response to treatment in SRE/IRE dogs was classified as complete remission (CR), partial response (PR), or no response (NR).

RESULTS

Fecal calprotectin correlated with CCECAI (ρ = 0.27, P = .0065) and fecal S100A12 (ρ = 0.90, P < .0001), some inflammatory criteria, and cumulative inflammation scores, but not serum CRP (ρ = 0.16, P = .12). Dogs with SRE/IRE had higher fecal calprotectin concentrations (median: 2.0 μg/g) than FRE/ARE dogs (median: 1.4 μg/g), and within the SRE/IRE group, dogs with PR/NR had higher fecal calprotectin (median: 37.0 μg/g) than dogs with CR (median: 1.6 μg/g). However, both differences did not reach statistical significance (both P = .10). A fecal calprotectin ≥15.2 μg/g separated both groups with 80% sensitivity (95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 28%-100%) and 75% specificity (95%CI: 43%-95%).

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE

Fecal calprotectin could be a useful surrogate marker of disease severity in dogs with CIE, but larger longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate its utility in predicting the response to treatment.

Selecting children with suspected inflammatory bowel disease for endoscopy with the calgranulin C or calprotectin stool test: protocol of the CACATU study

INTRODUCTION

The introduction of the faecal calprotectin (FC) test to screen children with chronic gastrointestinal complaints has helped the clinician to decide whether or not to subject the patient to endoscopy. In spite of this, a considerable number of patients without inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is still scoped. Faecal calgranulin C (S100A12) is a marker of intestinal inflammation that is potentially more specific for IBD than FC, as it is exclusively released by activated granulocytes.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether the specificity of S100A12 is superior to the specificity of FC without sacrificing sensitivity in patients with suspected IBD.

METHODS

An international prospective cohort of children with suspected IBD will be screened with the existing FC stool test and the new S100A12 stool test. The reference standard (endoscopy with biopsies) will be applied to patients at high risk of IBD, while a secondary reference (clinical follow-up) will be applied to those at low risk of IBD. The differences in specificity and sensitivity between the two markers will be calculated.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

This study is submitted to and approved by the Medical Ethics Review Committee of the University Medical Center Groningen (the Netherlands) and the Antwerp University Hospital (Belgium). The results will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication, conference presentation and incorporation in the upcoming National Guideline on Diagnosis and Therapy of IBD in Children.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02197780 .

Methods to decrease variability in histological scoring in placentas from a cohort of preterm infants

OBJECTIVE

Reliable semiquantitative assessment of histological placental acute inflammation is problematic, even among experts. Tissue samples in histology slides often show variability in the extent and location of neutrophil infiltrates. We sought to determine whether the variability in pathologists' scoring of neutrophil infiltrates in the placenta could be reduced by the use of 'regions of interest' (ROIs) that break the sample into smaller components.

DESIGN

ROIs were identified within stained H&E slides from a cohort of 56 women. ROIs were scored using a semiquantitative scale (0-4) for the average number of neutrophils by at least two independent raters.

SETTING

Preterm singleton births at Yale New Haven Hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

This study used stained H&E placental slides from a cohort of 56 women with singleton pregnancies who had a clinically indicated amniocentesis within 24 hours of delivery.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Interrater agreement was assessed with the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and log-linear regression. Predictive validity was assessed using amniotic fluid protein profile scores (neutrophil defensin-2, neutrophil defensin-1, calgranulin C and calgranulin A).

RESULTS

Excellent agreement by the ICC was found for the average neutrophil scores within a region of interest. Log-linear analyses suggest that even where there is disagreement, responses are positively associated along the diagonal. There was also strong evidence of predictive validity comparing pathologists' scores with amniotic fluid protein profile scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Agreement among observers of semiquantitative neutrophil scoring through the use of digitised ROIs was demonstrated to be feasible with high reliability and validity.

[Indicators of inflammatory process in stool in diagnostics and monitoring of inflammatory bowel diseases]

In the recent decades the rapid development of the studies on new methods used in diagnosis, differential diagnosis, and monitoring the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases has been observed. To the diagnostics of gastrointestinal disorders new methods such as endoscopic capsule and imaging methods including magnetic resonance have been introduced. Markers of inflammation detected in stool play significant role in the diagnostics. To the best known belong calprotectine and lactoferrin, which are produced by neutral granulocytes. In the present review we have presented the clinical usefulness of detection in the stool of calprotectin, lectoferrin, S100A12 protein and pyruvate kinase. Clinical usefulness of these markers were used in diagnosis, assessment of the treatment results, disease relapse and mucosal healing in inflammatory bowel disease. Determination of fecal calprotectin and lactoferrin in the process of mucosal healing in ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease are of particular value. Confirmation of these results in multicenter prospective trials will enable in the future to reduce the number of control colonoscopies, which in children are performer under general anesthesia.