BACKGROUND YKL-40, a chitinase-like glycoprotein has been identified as a candidate tumor marker. The current study evaluated the clinical significance of plasma YKL-40 in esophageal cancer patients. METHODS We enrolled 127 esophageal cancer patients, 29 healthy controls. Plasma YKL-40 levels were measured through enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of plasma YKL-40 in esophageal cancer patients. The correlations between plasma YKL-40 and clinicopathological characteristics of esophageal were analyzed. RESULTS Plasma YKL-40 levels were significantly higher in patients with lymph node metastasis than those that were non-metastatic (p = 0.005). Patients with tumor thrombus formation presented with significantly higher YKL-40 levels than those without thrombus formation (160.3 vs. 74.7 ng/mL, p = 0.012). YKL-40 levels in patients with advanced stage (III and IV) were significantly higher than those in the early stages (I and II, p = 0.016). ROC curve analysis showed that the area under curve was 0.909, and the best diagnostic threshold of YKL-40 for esophageal cancer was 80.6 ng/mL with 68.9% sensitivity and 96.6% specificity. CONCLUSIONS This study indicated that YKL-40 may be a biomarker for esophageal cancer and potential biomarker for identification of invasive esophageal cancer.BACKGROUND The emergence of the New Dehli metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM) gene in Enterobacteriaceae is responsible for multidrug resistance responsible for severe infections and serious morbidity in patients. Our study aimed to define the molecular characteristics and antibiogram of the NDM-1 producing Enterobacteriaceae. METHODS We isolated 370 individual enterobacteria from the clinical specimens collected from the two tertiary hospitals in Sakaka, Saudi Arabia. Bacterial isolation was performed using standard microbiological techniques and the Phoenix and Microscan WalkAway Plus automated analyzers. Bacterial strains were characterized by phenotypic methods and PCR, and DNA sequencing was used for the molecular characterization of NDM genes. RESULTS The blaNDM gene was detected among the 68 members of the Enterobacteriaceae including a single case of rarely reported Cedecea lapagei. Of these 68, 43 isolates (63.2%) were blaNDM-1 and 25 (36.8%) were blaNDM variants. A statistically significant relationship between the NDM-1 and Klebsiella pneumoniae (p = 0.004) was seen, and the relationship between the NDM variants was significantly associated with Citrobacter freundii (p = 0.02) and Escherichia coli (p = 0.03). The in vitro minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of NDM-producing Enterobacteriaceae revealed a very high rate of antibiotic resistance against several groups of antibiotics. These bacterial strains were less resistant to two aminoglycosides, gentamicin (39; 57.3%) and amikacin (27; 39.7%), and showed minimum resistance to tigecycline (25; 36.8%). CONCLUSIONS The emergence of a large number of NDM-1 enterobacteria in our study identifies a substantial public concern, both within hospitals and the wider community, and leaves us a narrow choice of therapeutic options the aminoglycosides, co-trimoxazole, and tigecycline.BACKGROUND Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated decompensated cirrhosis (HBV-DeCi) has a high mortality rate if liver transplantation is not performed. The study aimed to evaluate the association between the mean platelet volume to platelet count ratio (MPR) and outcomes of HBV-DeCi patients. METHODS This was a retrospective study of 109 patients newly diagnosed with HBV-DeCi. Univariate and multivariate regression models were used to determine risk factors for 90-day mortality. RESULTS The MPR was observed to be higher in nonsurvivors than in survivors. Multivariate analysis suggested that the model for end-stage liver disease score and MPR were independent predictors in HBV-DeCi patients. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that the MPR can serve as a potential predictor of 3-month mortality in HBV-DeCi patients.BACKGROUND The score of Dyspnea, Eosinopenia, Consolidation, Acidemia and Atrial Fibrillation (DECAF) can be used to predict the in-hospital mortality of patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). It is worth noting that the DECAF score is the first scoring standard combining biomarkers and clinical variables. The application of biomarkers is helpful for improving the accuracy of the scoring system. In recent years, more and more reports and studies paid attentions to procalcitonin (PCT) in respiratory infectious diseases and its clinical value has attracted increasing attention. The study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of the DECAF score combined with PCT in predicting admission of AECOPD patients to intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS We conducted a retrospective study.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/tpen.html  We analyzed data from 171 non-immune individuals over the age of 40 in this study. All patients received blood routine measurement and DECAF score calculation on admission. The primary outcomres were 0.61, 0.61, 0.56, and 0.91, respectively. The specificities of PCT, WBC, creatinine, and DECAF scores were 0.76, 0.67, 0.88 and 0.74, respectively. The AUC of Combination 1 (PCT&DECAF scores), Combination 2 (WBC&DECAF scores), and Combination 3 (creatinine&DECAF scores) for predicting AECOPD patients entering the ICU was 0.92 (95% CI 0.86 - 0.97), 0.89 (95% CI 0.84 - 0.94), and 0.91 (95% CI 0.85 - 0.96), respectively, with statistically significant differences (p = 0.00); the sensitivities were 0.92, 0.86, and 0.94, respectively, and the specificities were 0.97, 0.78, and 0.74, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Procalcitonin improves the accuracy and sensitivity of the DECAF score in predicting the probability of AECOPD patients entering the ICU, and PCT was superior to other indexes to improve the sensitivity and specificity of the DECAF score.BACKGROUND Programmed cell death is critical to maintain tissue homeostasis. Necroptosis, as well as apoptosis, has been considered as another form of regulated cell death which can be used as an effective way to overcome apoptosis-resistant tumor tissue growth. The aim of present study was to test whether or not ripk1, ripk3, or mlkl expression levels, as the key necroptotic modulators in different stages of prostate tumor growth. METHODS Sixty-seven prostate tissues representing histologically confirmed cancer were selected. The cancer samples were categorized into 4 different stages based on cellular differentiation, tumor growth rate, and extra tissue expansion to regional lymph nodes, average PSA levels, and tumor volume. RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis and quantitative real time PCR were done based on standard guidelines. RESULTS No statistically significant changes in ripk1 expression showed in all three stages (stage II to IV). The expression pattern of ripk3 represented a remarkable elevation in early stage, while, predominantly repressed in final cancer stage (IV).