In multivariate analysis for overall survival, serum LOX-1 was an independent prognostic factor identified in liquid biopsy (hazard ratio = 1.729, p = 0.027). The prognosis of patients with high LOX-1 expression in tumor tissues was significantly poorer than that of individuals with low expression (p =0.047 ). Additionally, inflammatory factors such as white blood cell count, C-reactive protein level, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, and monocyte/lymphocyte ratio were significantly higher in the group with high serum LOX-1 levels. CONCLUSIONS Serum LOX-1 might be a useful biomarker of poor prognosis in colorectal cancer.BACKGROUND Nivolumab improves overall survival (OS) in patients with platinum-refractory recurrent and metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M HNSCC). In one study, however, Kaplan-Meier OS and progression-free survival (PFS) curves for the nivolumab and cytotoxic agent arms crossed at 3-6 months, suggesting that patients with initial resistance to immunotherapy might have better outcomes with cytotoxic treatment. Here, we explored the conditions and candidates which are predictive of nivolumab outcomes in R/M HNSCC. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of 27 consecutive R/M HNSCC patients treated with nivolumab from 2014 to 2018. Tumor size was evaluated by RECIST ver.1.1. Tumor growth rate (Gr) was defined as 3log(D0/Dpre)/t, where D0 and Dpre are the sum of the diameters of the target lesions (SumTLs) at baseline and pre-baseline, and t is time, with 1t defined as 4 weeks. RESULTS Twenty-five patients were enrolled. Survival was significantly worse in patients with disease progression within 3 months. Outcomes appeared poorer in patients with higher pre-treatment Gr and bigger SumTLs at baseline. We therefore explored the association between prognosis, Gr and SumTLs. Recursive partitioning analysis showed that the characteristics of patients with disease progression after 3 months were Gr  less then  0.76 and SumTLs  less then  31.0 mm. Further, Gr  less then  0.76 and SumTLs  less then  31.0 mm was associated with significantly longer PFS (p = 0.01) and OS (p  less then  0.01). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that Gr and SumTLs at baseline are significantly associated with OS and PFS in R/M HNSCC patients treated with nivolumab.BACKGROUND Glucocorticoid (GC) is the first-line therapy in acute attacks of multiple sclerosis (MS), but its efficacy is individually variable and may be associated with glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene. OBJECTIVE To establish the association between GR gene sequence and clinical GC sensitivity in Chinese MS patients.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/resatorvid.html  And to investigate the expression differences of serum GRα and FK506 binding protein 5 (FKBP5) in GC responders and non-responders. MATERIALS AND METHODS Coding exons 2-9 of the GR gene from 97 MS patients were sequenced. We performed ELISA to detect serum GRα and FKBP5 before the GC impulse therapy in patients with different GC sensitivities (according to the EDSS changes before and after the GC medication). RESULTS Seven new mutations were located in exon 2, but the presence or absence of mutations was not associated with the response to GC therapy (P = 0.416). The GC-sensitive patients had higher GRα (P = 0.011) but lower FKBP5 (P = 0.025) levels in the serum. CONCLUSIONS The GR mutations detected in our study were not associated with the response to GC in Chinese MS patients. Higher GRα and lower FKBP5 levels in the serum might predict the response to GC, which may provide potential therapeutic target for GC-resistant patients with acute MS attack.BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to determine important clinical and radiological features that aid in distinguishing presumed idiopathic optic perineuritis (OPN) from optic neuritis (ON) associated with antibody against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG-Ab). METHODS This retrospective, case-control study recruited patients with MOG-Ab-associated ON from 2011 through 2018 and idiopathic OPN from 2009 through 2011. The presence of MOG-Ab was not investigated in idiopathic OPN, because MOG-Ab testing was not available until 2011. The clinical and radiological features and the disease course were compared between the two patient groups. RESULTS A total of 48 patients with MOG-Ab-associated ON were identified. These included 15 patients showing optic nerve sheath enhancement (ONSE) and 33 with only optic nerve enhancement. Ocular pain with ocular movement and optic disc swelling were more common in patients with ONSE, who also exhibited a poorer initial visual acuity than did those without ONSE. However, the response to steroid treatment, incidence of relapse after steroid treatment, and visual outcome at the last visit were similar between subgroups. The clinical and radiological features and treatment outcome were similar between these patients with OPN and patients with MOG-Ab-associated ON with ONSE. On the other hand, the clinical features of MOG-Ab-associated ON without ONSE differed from those of idiopathic OPN. CONCLUSION Our findings showed a substantial proportion of ONSE in patients with MOG-Ab-associated ON. In view of the similarities between these patients and patients with OPN, MOG-Ab testing should be performed in all patients with idiopathic OPN.Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to attribute mental states to one self and others and to understand that others have beliefs different from one's own. Different subcomponents of ToM have also been identified cognitive and affective. Cognitive ToM refers to the capacity to infer others' beliefs and intentions, while affective ToM implies the ability to appreciate others' emotional states. The aim of this study was to explore ToM in drug-naïve Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and to investigate the effects of chronic dopaminergic therapy on different subcomponents of ToM during a 3 months and 1 year of follow-up. We examined 16 PD patients in three conditions before (un-medicated) and after dopaminergic therapy (medicated 3 months T1 and medicated 1 year T2). We also compared our PD's ToM abilities with 11 healthy individuals. ToM was explored with 5 different tasks Faux Pas Test, Picture Sequencing Task Capture Story, Emotion Attribution Task, Strange Stories Task, and Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces.