Activation of blood coagulation contributes to cancer progression. Tissue factor pathway inhibitor-1 (TFPI-1) is the main inhibitor of extrinsic coagulation pathway. The aim of this study is to assess the predicting significance of TFPI-1 for thrombotic complication and metastasis in lung cancer patients. Total of 188 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients were included in this study. Plasma TFPI-1, D-dimer (D-D), antithrombin (AT), Fibrinogen (Fbg), and coagulating factor VIII activity (FVIII:C) were measured. In NSCLC patients, significantly decreased TFPI-1 and AT and increased D-D, Fbg, and FVIII:C levels were observed, and there was a significant correlation between TFPI-1 and other hemostatic parameters (P < 0.001, resp.). NSCLC patients with deep venous thrombosis (DVT) or metastasis had significantly lower TFPI-1 levels than those without DVT or metastasis (P < 0.01, resp.). Multivariate regression revealed that TFPI-1 acted as a predictor for DVT or tumor metastasis in NSCLC patients [OR: 4.15 or 3.28, P < 0.05, resp.]. The area under ROC curve of TFPI-1 was 0.905 (95% CI, 0.842~0.967) or 0.828 (95% CI, 0.742~0.915) for predicting DVT or metastasis (P < 0.001, resp.). The optimal point of TFPI-1 was 57.7 or 54.3 ng/mL for predicting DVT or metastasis, respectively. Combination of TFPI-1 and D-D measurements can improve the predicting power for DVT or metastasis in NSCLC patients. Our findings suggested that TFPI-1 was a valuable predictor of DVT and tumor metastasis in NSCLC patients.

It would be important to predict type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and diabetic nephropathy (DN). This study was aimed at evaluating the predicting significance of hemostatic parameters for T2DM and DN. Plasma coagulation and hematologic parameters before treatment were measured in 297 T2DM patients. The risk factors and their predicting power were evaluated. T2DM patients without complications exhibited significantly different activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), platelet (PLT), and D-dimer (D-D) levels compared with controls (P < 0.01). Fibrinogen (FIB), PLT, and D-D increased in DN patients compared with those without complications (P < 0.001). Both aPTT and PLT were the independent risk factors for T2DM (OR: 1.320 and 1.211, P < 0.01, resp.), and FIB and PLT were the independent risk factors for DN (OR: 1.611 and 1.194, P < 0.01, resp.). The area under ROC curve (AUC) of aPTT and PLT was 0.592 and 0.647, respectively, with low sensitivity in predicting T2DM. AUC of FIB was 0.874 with high sensitivity (85%) and specificity (76%) for DN, and that of PLT was 0.564, with sensitivity (60%) and specificity (89%) based on the cutoff values of 3.15 g/L and 245 × 109/L, respectively. This study suggests that hemostatic parameters have a low predicting value for T2DM, whereas fibrinogen is a powerful predictor for DN.

Our findings suggest that TSH and FT3 are useful predictors for DN in patients with T2DM.

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is serious threat to human health. Therefore, early prediction of its occurrence is important. This study aimed to assess the predictive significance of monocyte–lymphocyte ratio (MLR) for DN. A total of 301 patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), including 212 T2D patients without diabetic-related complications and 99 DN patients, were enrolled. Peripheral white blood cells were measured before treatment to calculate MLR, and the risk factors and predictive significance for T2D and DN were assessed. T2D patients without diabetic-related complications had higher MLR than control patients (P < .01). However, MLR was significantly higher in DN patients than in T2D patients without diabetic-related complications (P < .001). According to MLR quartiles, higher MLR in DN patients was correlated with higher serum creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and urinary albumin excretion (UAE) levels (P < .01 or P < .001). Furthermore, MLR was positively correlated with UAE level (R 2 = 0.5973; P < .01) and an independent predictor for DN (odds ratio: 7.667; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.689–21.312; P < .001). The area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve for MLR was 0.874 (95%CI: 0.830–0.918, P < .001). When the optimal cutoff value was 0.23, the sensitivity and specificity of MLR for DN prediction were 0.85 and 0.74, respectively. The present findings suggest that MLR is a powerful independent predictor for DN.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the most common causes of blindness and visual impairment. Therefore, early prediction of its occurrence and progression is important. This study aimed to assess the clinical and predictive significance of plasma fibrinogen concentrations combined monocyte-lymphocyte ratio (FC-MLR) in patients with DR. A total of 307 patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) were enrolled. Plasma fibrinogen concentrations and peripheral white blood cells were measured, and MLR was calculated, and the associations of FC-MLR with DR and severity of disease were assessed. Regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were performed to evaluate the risk factors and predictive power of FC-MLR for DR and severity of disease, respectively. DR patients showed higher fibrinogen concentrations and a higher MLR than did T2D patients without complications (P<0.01); Moreover, DR patients in proliferative stage also showed higher fibrinogen concentrations and a higher MLR than did those in non-proliferative stage (P<0.01). FC-MLR was closely associated with occurrence and severity of DR (P<0.01), and was an independent risk factor for them ( OR =6.123, 95%CI: 3.122-17.102; and 7.932, 95%CI: 4.315-16.671, respectively; P<0.001). The predictive sensitivity and specificity for DR and severity of disease were 0.86 and 0.68, and 0.85 and 0.73, respectively. The study suggests that FC-MLR may be used as a predictor for the risk and progression of diabetic retinopathy.

Background: Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) plays an important role in the monocyte-platelet aggregate (MPA)-medicated inflammatory response and possible coronary artery disease (CAD). This study aimed to assess the predicting significance of COX-2 expression in peripheral blood monocyte for CAD.Methods: A total of 66 patients with CAD including stable angina (SA) and unstable angina (UA) were enrolled. The inflammatory indexes including white blood cell (WBC) count, high-sensitive C reactive protein (hs-CRP), serum monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and MPA levels were measured.The western-blotting assay and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis were used to detect the COX-2 expression in peripheral blood monocytes. Furthermore, the correlation between COX-2 expression and MPA levels, and the association of COX-2 expression with CAD risk were assessed. Results:The UA patients demonstrated higher levels of inflammatory indexes than the SA patients (P<0.001). Simultaneously, higher MPA levels and enhanced COX-2 expression were observed in the UA patients (P<0.01). The patients with enhanced COX-2 expression exhibited higher MPA than those without (P<0.01), and patients with increased MPA also demonstrated enhanced COX-2 expression (P<0.001).Moreover, the levels of COX-2 protein expression was positively related to the MPA formation rates (R 2 =0.4933, P<0.01), and enhanced COX-2 expression was independently associated with CAD risk [odds ratio (OR): 6.322, 95% confidence interval (CI): 4.544-8.978 ]. Conclusions:The COX-2 expression of peripheral blood monocytes can be used as an independent predictor for CAD.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been implicated in the progression of malignant tumors, including in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). However, the function and the specific mechanism of lncRNA nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase antisense RNA 1 (NNT-AS1) in ccRCC remains unknown. Thus, this study explored the role of NNT-AS1 in ccRCC. We evaluated NNT-AS1 expression in ccRCC specimens. Next, CCK-8 and Transwell assays were used to evaluate cell proliferation and metastatic abilities. The interaction between miR-137 and NNT-AS1 or Y-box binding protein 1 (YBX-1) was confirmed using a dual luciferase reporter assay. The results showed that NNT-AS1 was significantly upregulated in ccRCC specimens compared with normal tissues. Inhibition of NNT-AS1 restrained ccRCC proliferation and metastasis. Mechanistically, NNT-AS1 acted as a competitive endogenous RNA to sponge miR-137, which depressed ccRCC cells proliferation and metastasis. Moreover, with the use of bioinformatics analysis, the famous oncogene YBX-1 was selected as the potential target of miR-137. Luciferase assay also confirmed the interaction between miR-137 and YBX-1. Further functional studies demonstrated that the inhibition effect of NNT-AS1 knockdown on ccRCC carcinogenesis could be partially reversed by overexpression of YBX-1, suggesting that NNT-AS1 promotes ccRCC progression through the miR-137/YBX-1 pathway. In summary, these findings indicate that NNT-AS1 promotes ccRCC progression via the miR-137/YBX-1 pathway, which may provide a promising therapeutic target for renal cell carcinoma.

Background Although many biomarkers have high diagnostic and predictive power for diabetic kidney disease (DKD), less studies were performed for the predictive assessment in DKD and its progression with combined blood and urinary biomarkers. This study aims to explore the predictive significance of joint plasma fibrinogen (FIB) concentration and urinary alpha-1 microglobulin-creatinine (α1-MG/CR) ratio in DKD. Methods A total of 234 patients with type 2 diabetes were enrolled, and their clinical and laboratory data were retrospectively assessed. A ROC curve analysis was performed to evaluate the power of plasma FIB and urinary α1-MG/CR ratio for identifying DKD and advanced DKD, respectively. The predictive power for DKD and advanced DKD was analyzed by regression analysis. Results Plasma FIB and urinary α1-MG/CR levels were higher in patients with DKD than with pure T2D (p<0.001). The multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were 5.047 (95%CI: 2.276–10.720) and 2.192 (95%CI: 1.539–3.122) (p<0.001) for FIB and α1-MG/CR as continuous variables for DKD prediction, respectively. The optimal cut-off values were 3.21 g/L and 2.11mg/mmol for identifying DKD, and 5.58 g/L and 11.07 mg/mmol for advanced DKD from ROC curves. At these cut-off values, the sensitivity and specificity of joint FIB and α1-MG/CR were 0.95 and 0.92 for identifying DKD, and 0.62 and 0.67 for identifying advanced DKD, respectively. The area under curve was 0.972 (95%CI: 0.948–0.995) (p<0.001) and 0.611, 95%CI: 0.488–0.734) (p>0.05). The multivariate-adjusted ORs for joint FIB and α1-MG/CR at the cut-off values were 214.500 (95%CI: 58.054–792.536) and 3.252 (95%CI: 1.040–10.175) (p<0.05), respectively. Conclusion The present study suggests that joint plasma FIB concentration and urinary α1-MG/CR ratio can be used as a powerful predictor for general DKD, but it is less predictive for advanced DKD.