Explore the vast range of titles available.

Inflammation and oxidative stress are central in many disease states. The major anti-oxidative enzymes contain selenium. The selenium intake in Europe is low, and supplementation with selenium and coenzyme Q10, important anti-oxidants, was evaluated in a previous study. The aim of this study was to evaluate response on the inflammatory biomarkers C-reactive protein, and sP-selectin, and their possible impact on cardiovascular mortality. 437 elderly individuals were included in the study. Clinical examination, echocardiography, electrocardiography and blood samples were drawn. The intervention time was 48 months, and median follow-up was 5.2 years. The effects on inflammation/atherosclerosis were evaluated through analyses of CRP and sP-selectin. Evaluations of the effect of the intervention was performed using repeated measures of variance. All mortality was registered, and endpoints of mortality were assessed by Kaplan-Meier plots. The placebo group showed a CRP level of 4.8 ng/mL at the start, and 5.1 ng/mL at the study end. The active supplementation group showed a CRP level of 4.1 ng/mL at the start, and 2.1 ng/mL at the study end. SP-selectin exhibited a level of 56.6 mg/mL at the start in the placebo group and 72.3 mg/mL at the study end, and in the active group the corresponding figures were 55.9 mg/mL and 58.0 mg/mL. A significantly smaller increase was demonstrated through repeated measurements of the two biomarkers in those on active supplementation. Active supplementation showed an effect on the CRP and sP-selectin levels, irrespective of the biomarker levels. Reduced cardiovascular mortality was demonstrated in both those with high and low levels of CRP and sP-selectin in the active supplementation group. CRP and sP-selectin showed significant changes reflecting effects on inflammation and atherosclerosis in those given selenium and coenzyme Q10 combined. A reduced cardiovascular mortality could be demonstrated in the active group, irrespective of biomarker level. This result should be regarded as hypothesis-generating, and it is hoped it will stimulate more research in the area.

Background.Despite the use of potent antimalarial drugs, the fatality rate associated with severe malaria remains high. Adjunctive therapies that target the immunopathological responses to infection may decrease mortality associated with severe malaria. We hypothesized that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ agonists (eg, rosiglitazone) would modulate the host's innate immune response to malaria and improve outcome. Methods.In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase I/II trial of treatment for malaria acquired in Thailand, we investigated the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of rosiglitazone use for parasite clearance and for reducing malaria-induced inflammation. Sequential patients with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: 70 patients received rosiglitazone 4 mg twice daily for 4 days, and 70 patients received a placebo twice daily for 4 days. Both groups also received standard antimalarial therapy (ie, a fixed combination of 1000 mg of atovaquone per day for 3 days and 400 mg of proguanil per day for 3 days). Primary efficacy outcomes were 50% and 90% parasite clearance times (PCTs). Secondary outcomes were fever clearance time, levels of inflammatory mediators, blood glucose measurements, aminotransferase levels, admission to intensive care, and subjective tolerability of study drug. Results.For the 70 patients who received rosiglitazone, parasite clearance from peripheral blood was significantly enhanced, compared with the 70 patients who received a placebo (mean 50% PCT, 19.0 h vs. 24.6 h [P=.029]; mean 90% PCT, 30.9 h vs. 40.4 h [P=.004]). Also, the patients who received rosiglitazone had reduced inflammatory responses to infection, compared with the patients who received a placebo (ie, interleukin-6 levels at 24 h [P<.005] and at 48 h [P=.013] and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 level at 48 h [P=.05]). There were no significant differences between the 2 groups with regard to safety and tolerability of treatment, and there were no admissions the intensive care unit or deaths. Conclusions.The use of rosiglitazone is a well-tolerated adjunct to standard therapy for nonsevere P. falciparum malaria. Treatment with rosiglitazone increased parasite clearance and decreased inflammatory biomarkers associated with adverse malaria outcomes. Trial registration.ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00149383.

Circulating inflammatory markers may more strongly relate to risk of fatal versus nonfatal cardiovascular disease (CVD) events, but robust prospective evidence is lacking. We tested whether interleukin (IL)-6, C-reactive protein (CRP), and fibrinogen more strongly associate with fatal compared to nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke. In the Prospective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER), baseline inflammatory markers in up to 5,680 men and women aged 70-82 y were related to risk for endpoints; nonfatal CVD (i.e., nonfatal MI and nonfatal stroke [n = 672]), fatal CVD (n = 190), death from other CV causes (n = 38), and non-CVD mortality (n = 300), over 3.2-y follow-up. Elevations in baseline IL-6 levels were significantly (p = 0.0009; competing risks model analysis) more strongly associated with fatal CVD (hazard ratio [HR] for 1 log unit increase in IL-6 1.75, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.44-2.12) than with risk of nonfatal CVD (1.17, 95% CI 1.04-1.31), in analyses adjusted for treatment allocation. The findings were consistent in a fully adjusted model. These broad trends were similar for CRP and, to a lesser extent, for fibrinogen. The results were also similar in placebo and statin recipients (i.e., no interaction). The C-statistic for fatal CVD using traditional risk factors was significantly (+0.017; p<0.0001) improved by inclusion of IL-6 but not so for nonfatal CVD events (p = 0.20). In PROSPER, inflammatory markers, in particular IL-6 and CRP, are more strongly associated with risk of fatal vascular events than nonfatal vascular events. These novel observations may have important implications for better understanding aetiology of CVD mortality, and have potential clinical relevance.

IntroductionSepsis is a leading global cause of morbidity and mortality, and is more common at the extremes of age. Moreover, the cost of in-hospital care for elderly patients with sepsis is significant. There are indications from experimental and observational studies that aspirin may reduce inflammation associated with infection. This paper describes the rationale and design of the AspiriN To Inhibit SEPSIS (ANTISEPSIS) trial, a substudy of ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE). ANTISEPSIS primarily aims to determine whether low-dose aspirin reduces sepsis-related deaths in older people. Additionally, it will assess whether low-dose aspirin reduces sepsis-related hospitalisations and sepsis-related Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions.Methods and analysisASPREE is a double-blinded, randomised, placebo-controlled primary prevention trial that will determine whether daily low-dose aspirin extends disability-free longevity in 19 000 healthy older people recruited in Australia and the USA. The ANTISEPSIS substudy involves additional ASPREE trial data collection to assess the impact of daily low-dose aspirin on sepsis-related events in the 16 703 ASPREE participants aged 70 years and over, recruited in Australia. The intervention is a daily 100 mg dose of enteric-coated aspirin versus matching placebo, with 1:1 randomisation. The primary outcome for the ANTISEPSIS substudy is the incidence of sepsis-related death in eligible patients. The incidence of sepsis-related hospital and ICU admissions are secondary outcomes. ANTISEPSIS is to be conducted between 2012 and 2018.DiscussionThis substudy will determine whether aspirin, an inexpensive and accessible therapy, safely reduces sepsis-related deaths and hospitalisations in older Australians. If shown to be the case, this would have profound effects on the health of older Australians.Trial registration numberPre-results, ACTRN12613000349741.

Background: The objective of this study was to investigate whether altering the fatty acid (FA) profile by ω-3 FA supplementation affects inflammatory response and systemic disease sequelae in severe acute pancreatitis. Methods: Forty severe acute pancreatitis patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive parenteral nutrition (PN) for 5 days in a double-blind manner. Patients received PN with identical amounts of amino acids (1.25 g/kg/d), glucose (3 g/kg/d), and fat (1 g/kg/d) but different lipid compositions: the control group received a soybean oil (SO; Lipovenos 20%; Fresenius, Germany)–based fat solution and the ω-3 FA group was supplemented with 0.15 - 0.2 g/kg/d fish oil (FO; Omegaven 10%; Fresenius, Germany). Serum concentrations of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), interleukin-6, C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell count, and routine respiratory and renal parameters were measured before PN, and again on day 6 after starting PN. Outcomes such as infection morbidity, mortality, intensive care unit time, and length of hospital stay were recorded. Results: Patients treated with FO had a significantly higher EPA concentration (P < .01), lower CRP level (P < .05), and better oxygenation index (P < .05) after 5 days of PN. Moreover, the number of days of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) in the ω-3 FAs group was significantly less than that in the control group (P < .05). Conclusions: PN supplemented with ω-3 FAs diminishes the hyperinflammatory response by the EPA increase and the proinflammatory cytokine decrease in severe acute pancreatitis. This, together with improved respiratory function and shortened CRRT time, suggests that the systemic response to pancreatic and organ injury is attenuated.

Aims Genetic polymorphisms may contribute to platelet reactivity in diabetic patients; however, the information on their influence on long-term antiplatelet therapy is lacking. Our aim was to evaluate the role of previously described genetic variants and platelet reactivity on risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events. Methods Blood samples were obtained from 303 Caucasian patients. Genome-wide genotyping was performed using Illumina Human Omni 2.5-Quad microarrays, and individual genotyping of selected SNPs was performed using a custom Sequenom iPLEX assay in conjunction with the Mass ARRAY platform. Platelet reactivity was measured with VerifyNow Aspirin Assay and PFA-100 Assay. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to determine the impact of genetic variants and platelets reactivity on risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events. Results Among the 237 patients included in the follow-up, death from any cause occurred in 34 (14.3%) patients and cardiovascular events occurred in 51 (21.5%) patients within a median observation time of 71 months (5.9 years). In univariate analyses, significant association in the presence of minor alleles in TXBA2R (rs1131882) with primary (HR 2.54, 95% CI 1.15–5.60, p  = 0.021) and secondary endpoint (HR 2.06, 95% CI 1.06–4.04, p  = 0.034) was observed. In addition, multivariate analyses revealed the impact of this polymorphism on primary (HR 2.34, 95% CI 1.09–5.00, p  = 0.029) and secondary endpoint (HR 1.89, 95% CI 1.00–3.57, p  = 0.048). Conclusions Results of the study demonstrate for the first time an association between genetic polymorphism within TXBA2R gene encoding platelet’s surface receptor and long-term survival of diabetic patients treated with ASA.

Background Multipeptide vaccines for melanoma may cause inflammatory adverse events (IAE). We hypothesize that IAE are associated with a higher rate of immune response (IR) to vaccination and improved clinical outcomes. Methods Adult patients with resected, high-risk (stage IIB to IV) melanoma were vaccinated with a combination of 12 class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-restricted melanoma epitopes, and IAE were recorded. A separate category for hypopigmentation (vitiligo) was also assessed. CD8 + T cell IR was assessed by direct interferon gamma ELISpot analysis. Overall survival and disease-free survival were analyzed by Cox proportional hazard modeling. Results Out of 332 patients, 57 developed IAE, the majority of which were dermatologic (minimum Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events [CTCAE] grade 3). Most nondermatologic IAE were CTCAE grade 1 and 2. Vitiligo developed in 23 patients (7 %). A total of 174 patients (53 %) developed a CD8 + response. Presence of IAE was significantly associated with development of IR (70 vs. 49 %, p  = 0.005) and with disease-free survival (hazard ratio 0.54, p  = 0.043). There were no significant associations relating vitiligo or IR alone with clinical outcomes. Conclusions IAE are associated with a higher rate of CD8 + T cell response after vaccination therapy for high-risk melanoma. Our findings suggest either that antitumor activity induced by class I MHC-restricted peptide vaccines may depend on immunologic effects beyond simple expansion of CD8 + T cells or that the intrinsic inflammatory response of patients contributes to clinical outcome in melanoma.

Systemic chronic inflammation (SCI) is persistent, health-damaging, low-grade inflammation that plays a major role in immunosenescence and in development and progression of many diseases. But currently, there are no recognized standard biomarkers to assess SCI levels alone, and SCI is typically measured by combining biomarkers of acute inflammation and infection, e.g., CRP, IL-6, and TNFα. In this review, we highlight 10 properties and characteristics that are shared by the blood protein soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) and SCI, supporting the argument that suPAR is a biomarker of SCI: (1) Expression and release of suPAR is upregulated by immune activation; (2) uPAR and suPAR exert pro-inflammatory functions; (3) suPAR is associated with the amount of circulating immune cells; (4) Blood suPAR levels correlate with the levels of established inflammatory biomarkers; (5) suPAR is minimally affected by acute changes and short-term influences, in contrast to many currently used markers of systemic inflammation; (6) Like SCI, suPAR is non-specifically associated with multiple diseases; (7) suPAR and SCI both predict morbidity and mortality; (8) suPAR and SCI share the same risk factors; (9) suPAR is associated with risk factors and outcomes of inflammation above and beyond other inflammatory biomarkers; (10) The suPAR level can be reduced by anti-inflammatory interventions and treatment of disease. Assessing SCI has the potential to inform risk for morbidity and mortality. Blood suPAR is a newer biomarker which may, in fact, be a biomarker of SCI since it is stably associated with inflammation and immune activation; shares the same risk factors as many age-related diseases; is both elevated by and predicts age-related diseases. There is strong evidence that suPAR is a prognostic marker of adverse events, morbidity, and mortality. It is associated with immune activity and prognosis across diverse conditions, including kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and inflammatory disorders. Thus, we think it likely represents a common underlying disease-process shared by many diseases; that is, SCI. We review the supporting literature and propose a research agenda that can help test the hypothesis that suPAR indexes SCI, with the potential of becoming the new gold standard for measuring SCI.

Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction syndrome caused by dysregulated host response to infection that leads to uncontrolled inflammatory response followed by immunosuppression. However, despite the high mortality rate, no specific treatment modality or drugs with high efficacy is available for sepsis to date. Although improved treatment strategies have increased the survival rate during the initial state of excessive inflammatory response, recent trends in sepsis show that mortality occurs at a period of continuous immunosuppressive state in which patients succumb to secondary infections within a few weeks or months due to post-sepsis “immune paralysis.” Immune cell alteration induced by uncontrolled apoptosis has been considered a major cause of significant immunosuppression. Particularly, apoptosis of lymphocytes, including innate immune cells and adaptive immune cells, is associated with a higher risk of secondary infections and poor outcomes. Multiple postmortem studies have confirmed that sepsis-induced immune cell apoptosis occurs in all age groups, including neonates, pediatric, and adult patients, and it is considered to be a primary contributing factor to the immunosuppressive pathophysiology of sepsis. Therapeutic perspectives targeting apoptosis through various strategies could improve survival in sepsis. In this review article, we will focus on describing the major apoptosis process of immune cells with respect to physiologic and molecular mechanisms. Further, advances in apoptosis-targeted treatment modalities for sepsis will also be discussed.

Background This study sought to elucidate the associations of cardiometabolic index (CMI), as a metabolism-related index, with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality among the older population. Utilizing data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), we further explored the potential mediating effect of inflammation within these associations. Methods A cohort of 3029 participants aged over 65 years old, spanning six NHANES cycles from 2005 to 2016, was enrolled and assessed. The primary endpoints of the study included all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality utilizing data from National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Cox regression model and subgroup analysis were conducted to assess the associations of CMI with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. The mediating effect of inflammation-related indicators including leukocyte, neutrophil, lymphocyte, systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were evaluated to investigate the potential mechanism of the associations between CMI and mortality through mediation package in R 4.2.2. Results The mean CMI among the enrolled participants was 0.74±0.66, with an average age of 73.28±5.50 years. After an average follow-up period of 89.20 months, there were 1,015 instances of all-cause deaths and 348 cardiovascular deaths documented. In the multivariable-adjusted model, CMI was positively related to all-cause mortality (Hazard Ratio (HR)=1.11, 95% CI=1.01-1.21). Mediation analysis indicated that leukocytes and neutrophils mediated 6.6% and 13.9% of the association of CMI with all-cause mortality. Conclusion Elevated CMI is positively associated with all-cause mortality in the older adults. The association appeared to be partially mediated through inflammatory pathways, indicating that CMI may serve as a valuable indicator for poor prognosis among the older population.