Objective Serum albumin to globulin ratio (AGR) is a marker of inflammatory disease, but its role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains unknown. The primary purpose of the present research was to explore the relationship between serum AGR and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Methods A total of 179 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), 210 patients with Crohn’s disease (CD), and non-IBD controls (age- and gender-matched controls who have gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms) were enrolled in the research. Demographic data, endoscopic score, and serum biomarkers such as C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), white blood cell (WBC) count, and Ca 2+ were included. The Mayo score and the Harvey-Bradshaw Index (HBI) were applied to evaluate the disease activity of UC and CD, respectively. Results Serum AGR was significantly lower among IBD patients compared with non-IBD controls. There was a negative association between serum AGR and Mayo score in patients with UC (r = −0.413, p < 0.001), and serum AGR was also associated with HBI score in patients with CD (r = −0.471, p < 0.001). After adjusting other potential variables, low serum AGR (below-median) was independently associated with Mayo score ( β = −0.196, p = 0.026) and HBI score ( β = −0.162, p = 0.022), respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) for AGR to distinguish UC was 0.701, and the AUC of CD was 0.759. Based on the optimal cut-off value, multivariate logistic regression indicates that low AGR can differentiate UC from non-UC (OR = 2.564, 95% CI = 1.433–4.587, p = 0.002) and CD from non-CD (OR = 3.732, 95% CI = 1.640–8.492, p = 0.001). Conclusion AGR may become a promising candidate to help clinicians differentiate IBD and evaluate IBD disease activity. Inflammation and nutritional status might be the future directions to explore its mechanism.

Introduction Studies have shown that high levels of the fibrinogen (FIB) are related to cognitive deficits. However, the relationship between fibrinogen and cognitive deficit after stroke remains unclear. Therefore, we explored the relationship between plasma fibrinogen and post‐stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI). Methods This study is carried out in the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. A total of 210 patients with acute ischemic stroke were enrolled in this study. Ultimately, 134 patients completed 3‐month follow‐up. Blood samples were collected at hospital admission. Cognitive function was evaluated 3 months after stroke. All patients underwent the Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE) after 3 months. Results Higher levels of fibrinogen were observed in patients with post‐stroke cognitive impairment compared with the non‐PSCI group (p < .001). Additionally, elevated plasma fibrinogen levels were independently associated with PSCI (odds ratio [OR] = 2.000, 95% CI 1.062–3.770 p = .032). The plasma fibrinogen levels were negatively correlated with the 3‐month MMSE scores (r = −.171, p = .048). In a multivariate linear regression, FIB was negatively associated with the 3‐month MMSE scores after adjustment for the other variables (β = −0.782, p = .035). Conclusion High levels of plasma fibrinogen were associated with the presence and severity of PSCI.

Introduction: Accumulating evidence had demonstrated that females had a higher risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) than males, but the mechanism was still unknown. Vitamin D was found to play an essential role in DVT, and gender may influence the serum vitamin D levels. This study aimed to explore whether vitamin D played a role in the gender difference in DVT.Materials and Methods: A total of 444 patients with acute stroke were recruited, which were divided into the DVT group (n = 222) and the non-DVT group (n = 222). Serum vitamin D levels were measured after admission and were split into three categories, including deficiency (&lt;50 nmol/L), insufficiency (52.5–72.5 nmol/L), and sufficiency (more than 75 nmol/L). Hierarchical regression analysis was adopted to analyze the relationship between gender and DVT, controlling the confounding factors.Results: Females showed a higher proportion of DVT than males (60.7 vs. 42.5%, p &lt; 0.001), and lower serum vitamin D levels than males (53.44 ± 16.45 vs. 69.43 ± 23.14, p &lt; 0.001). Moreover, serum vitamin D levels were lower in the DVT group than in the non-DVT group (59.44 ± 19.61 vs. 66.24 ± 23.86, p &lt; 0.001). Besides, the DVT group showed a lower proportion of vitamin D sufficiency than the non-DVT group (21.2 vs. 32.9%, p &lt; 0.05). Hierarchical regression analysis showed that females had 2.083-fold (p &lt; 0.001, unadjusted model) and 1.413-fold (p = 0.155, adjusted model) risk to develop DVT. In addition, the sufficiency status of vitamin D showed an independent protective effect on DVT (unadjusted model OR, 0.504, p = 0.004; adjusted model OR, 0.686, p = 0.011).Conclusion: Females had a higher risk of DVT than males, and vitamin D may play an essential role in this relationship. Further studies are needed to explore whether vitamin D supplementation could reduce DVT risk in stroke patients, especially females.

BackgroundSleep disorders are prevalent after stroke, resulting in high recurrence rates and mortality. But the biomarkers of sleep disorders in stroke patients remain to be elucidated. This study aimed to explore the relationship between total bilirubin‐to‐uric acid ratio (TUR) and sleep quality after acute ischemic stroke (AIS).MethodsThree hundred twenty‐six AIS patients were recruited and followed up 1 month after stroke in our study. Serum total bilirubin and uric acid levels were obtained within 24 h after admission. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to evaluate sleep quality 1 month after stroke. We conducted receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and screened the optimal biomarker to differentiate sleep disorders after stroke. Then the TUR was stratified according to the best cut‐off value (0.036) of the ROC and further analysed by binary logistic regression analysis. Additionally, the interaction was used to explore the difference in its effect on post‐stroke sleep quality in different subgroups.ResultsThree hundred thirty‐one patients (40.2%) were considered as having poor sleep quality during the one‐month follow‐up. Compared to patients with good sleep, patients with poor sleep were more likely to have higher TUR (IQR), 0.05 (0.03–0.06) versus 0.03 (0.02–0.04), P < 0.001. After adjusting for confounding factors, binary regression analysis demonstrated that a high TUR (≥0.036) was independently related to post‐stroke poor sleep quality (OR = 3.75, 95% CI = 2.02–6.96, P < 0.001).ConclusionsHigh TUR is associated with an increased risk of poor sleep quality in AIS patients, especially in females, diabetics, and patients with hyperlipidaemia.