Serum sTREM-1 in adult-onset Still's disease: a novel biomarker of disease activity and a potential predictor of the chronic course

sTREM-1 as promising prognostic biomarker for acute-on-chronic liver failure and mortality in patients with acute decompensation of cirrhosis

BACKGROUND

Acute decompensation (AD) of cirrhosis is associated with high short-term mortality, mainly due to the development of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). Thus, there is a need for biomarkers for early and accurate identification of AD patients with high risk of development of ACLF and mortality. Soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1) is released from activated innate immune cells and correlated with various inflammatory processes.

AIM

To explore the prognostic value of sTREM-1 in patients with AD of cirrhosis.

METHODS

A multicenter prospective cohort of 442 patients with cirrhosis hospitalized for AD was divided into a study cohort (n = 309) and validation cohort (n = 133). Demographic and clinical data were collected, and serum sTREM-1 was measured at admission. All enrolled patients were followed-up for at least 1 year.

RESULTS

In patients with AD and cirrhosis, serum sTREM-1 was an independent prognosis predictor for 1-year survival and correlated with liver, coagulation, cerebral and kidney failure. A new prognostic model of AD (P-AD) incorporating sTREM-1, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), total bilirubin (TBil), international normalized ratio (INR) and hepatic encephalopathy grades was established and performed better than the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD), MELD-sodium (MELD-Na), chronic liver failure-consortium (CLIF-C) ACLF and CLIF-C AD scores. Additionally, sTREM-1 was increased in ACLF and predicted the development of ACLF during first 28-d follow-up. The ACLF risk score incorporating serum sTREM-1, BUN, INR, TBil and aspartate aminotransferase levels was established and significantly superior to MELD, MELD-Na, CLIF-C ACLF, CLIF-C AD and P-AD in predicting risk of ACLF development.

CONCLUSION

Serum sTREM-1 is a promising prognostic biomarker for ACLF development and mortality in patients with AD of cirrhosis.

Adult-Onset Still's Disease (AOSD): Advances in Understanding Pathophysiology, Genetics and Emerging Treatment Options

Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is a multisystemic complex disorder clinically characterised by episodes of spiking fever, evanescent rash, polyarthritis or diffuse arthralgias; multiorgan involvement may develop according to the hyper-inflammatory extent. The pathogenesis of AOSD is not completely recognised. The central role of macrophage activation, which results in T helper 1 (Th1) cell cytokine activation, is well established. Pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6 and IL-18 play a fundamental role in disease onset and progression. The disease may develop in both children and adults with overlapping clinical features, and although several subsets depending on the clinical manifestations and the cytokines expressed have been identified, the dichotomy between systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) and AOSD nowadays has been overcome, and the pathology is considered a disease continuum between ages. Various therapeutic approaches have been evaluated thus far, and different compounds are under assessment for AOSD treatment. Historically, glucocorticoids have been employed for treating systemic manifestations of Still's disease, while conventional synthetic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) demonstrated efficacy in controlling the articular manifestations. Currently, biological (b) DMARDs are widely employed; IL-1 inhibitors such as anakinra and canakinumab have proven to have high efficacy and an excellent safety profile and the anti-IL-6 tocilizumab is approved for sJIA, with several trials and longitudinal studies confirming its efficacy and safety. Moreover, in the light of the 'window of opportunity', new evidence showed that the earlier these treatments are initiated, the sooner clinical inactivity can be achieved. Other treatment options are being considered since several molecules involved in the disease pathophysiology can be targeted through various mechanisms. This review will provide a broad overview of AOSD pathophysiology, insights into specific organ manifestations and the currently available treatments with the identification of potential therapeutic targets involved in AOSD pathogenesis will be outlined.

Diagnosing and Treating Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and Adult-Onset Still's Disease as Part of the Still's Disease Continuum

Aim

We have summarised the existing evidence supporting the concept that systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) and adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) are part of the same Still's disease spectrum.

Methods

A PubMed/Embase database search was conducted using specific search strings and free text words to screen for relevant articles. The search was limited to studies in humans, published up to June 2023, in English-language.

Summary

sJIA and AOSD are rare autoinflammatory disorders that have similar pathophysiological and clinical features. The clinical presentations of sJIA and AOSD are highly variable, with differential diagnoses that include a broad range of malignancies, infectious diseases, and autoimmune disorders, which contribute to delays in diagnosis. Several sets of classification exist to help diagnose patients in clinical practice; the International League of Associations for Rheumatology criteria for sJIA and the Yamaguchi and Fautrel criteria for AOSD are the most-used criteria. The therapeutic strategy for Still's disease aims to relieve signs and symptoms, prevent irreversible joint damage and potentially life-threatening complications, and avoid deleterious side effects of treatment. Recently, targeted therapies such as interleukin (IL)-1 and IL-6 inhibitors have become available for the treatment of sJIA and AOSD. While these biologics were originally largely reserved for patients in whom non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids and conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs had failed, they are increasingly used earlier in the treatment paradigm. Among IL-1 inhibitors, canakinumab is the only biologic approved in the US for the treatment of both sJIA and AOSD.

Pyroptosis: the potential eye of the storm in adult-onset Still's disease

Pyroptosis, a form of programmed cell death with a high pro-inflammatory effect, causes cell lysis and leads to the secretion of countless interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-18 cytokines, resulting in a subsequent extreme inflammatory response through the caspase-1-dependent pathway or caspase-1-independent pathway. Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is a systemic inflammatory disease with extensive disease manifestations and severe complications such as macrophage activation syndrome, which is characterized by high-grade inflammation and cytokine storms regulated by IL-1β and IL-18. To date, the pathogenesis of AOSD is unclear, and the available therapy is unsatisfactory. As such, AOSD is still a challenging disease. In addition, the high inflammatory states and the increased expression of multiple pyroptosis markers in AOSD indicate that pyroptosis plays an important role in the pathogenesis of AOSD. Accordingly, this review summarizes the molecular mechanisms of pyroptosis and describes the potential role of pyroptosis in AOSD, the therapeutic practicalities of pyroptosis target drugs in AOSD, and the therapeutic blueprint of other pyroptosis target drugs.

Performance of the modified Systemic Manifestation Score for systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis in Adult-onset Still's disease

OBJECTIVES

To compare the ability of the modified Systemic Manifestation Score (mSMS) and the mPouchot score to distinguish adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) with high disease severity in a large cohort.

METHODS

We scored the disease severity of 174 patients and categorized them into high and low disease severity states. The correlation of mSMS and mPouchot score with ESR, CRP, ferritin, liver function tests, and serum cytokines was investigated. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve and logistic regression analysis were performed to compare the ability of mSMS and mPouchot to distinguish patients with severe AOSD.

RESULTS

Both mSMS and mPouchot score were positively correlated with ESR (both P < 0.001), CRP (both P < 0.0001), and serum ferritin (both P < 0.0001). Moreover, both mSMS and mPouchot score are significantly associated with liver dysfunction and high IL-18 (both P < 0.0001) and IL-6 (both P < 0.01) levels in AOSD patients. Furthermore, the area under curve (AUC) value of mSMS was significantly less than of mPouchot score (0.71 for mSMS, 0.81 for mPouchot score, P < 0.0001). Compared with mPouchot score, mSMS had higher sensitivity (75.64% vs 74.36%) and lower specificity (55.06% vs 76.40%). And mSMS had a worse performance in assessing high disease severity than mPouchot score in logistic analysis.

CONCLUSION

Both scores are proven as effective to assess disease severity of AOSD. By contrast, mSMS perform worse in assessing high disease severity of AOSD patients than mPouchot score. Key Points • Both modified Systemic Manifestation Score (mSMS) and modified Pouchot score (mPouchot score) positively correlated with ESR, CRP, and serum ferritin of AOSD patients. • Both scores are significantly associated with impaired liver function and high serum cytokine levels. • mSMS had lower discriminative ability than mPouchot score to distinguish high disease severity of AOSD patients.

Adult-onset Still’s disease: A disease at the crossroad of innate immunity and autoimmunity

Adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) is a rare disease affecting multiple systems and organs with unknown etiology, and the clinical symptoms are usually described as spiking fever, arthritis, evanescent salmon-pink eruptions, lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, and other manifestations. The laboratory indicators are not specific, often presenting as increased leukocyte counts and neutrophil percentage, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP), hyperferritinemia, and increased inflammatory factors. ANA, ENA, and RF are negative. According to those unspecific clinical presentations and laboratory findings, infection, tumor, connective tissue disease, and other diseases must be ruled out before diagnosis. The diagnosis of AOSD is a great challenge for clinicians. The mechanism of AOSD pathogenesis is complicated and still being studied. There is a new opinion that atypical persistent skin eruptions (APSEs) with specific histological manifestations are unique for AOSD, and APSEs might be on a spectrum with classical evanescent eruptions. Studies on APSEs showed that IL-1β and IFN-γ are strongly correlated with the pathogenesis of necrosis keratinocytes in APSEs. IL-1β is strongly involved in inflammatory disease when it is abnormal, and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of neutrophil dermatosis. In the early stage of AOSD, skin lesions appear to be evanescent urticaria-like eruptions accompanied by fever, and only neutrophils infiltrate around the blood vessels in the dermis pathologically. As the course of the disease progresses, IL-1β is gradually released. Through the stimulation of other inflammatory factors and the influence of unknown factors, IL-1β gradually infiltrates into the stratum corneum and finally accumulates around the necrotic keratinocytes of the stratum corneum. However, the detailed mechanism is still unknown. IFN-γ could play a pro-inflammatory or regulatory role in some disorders. IL-1β can enhance the expression of IFN-γ, and IFN-γ can cause keratinocyte apoptosis by activating the autocrine of caspase. Also, several pieces of evidence indicate that adaptive immunity is also involved in the pathogenesis of AOSD. Increased α-soluble receptors of IL-2 may suggest T-cell activation and proliferation in AOSD patients. Increased IL-4- and IFN-γ-producing T cells were found in active AOSD and related to disease severity. Frequencies of Treg cells in AOSD were significantly lower and were inversely correlated with disease severity. According to these, more and more researchers have reached a consensus that AOSD is a disease at the crossroads of innate immunity and autoimmunity. In this review, we will provide a comprehensive insight into AOSD, describing research progress and the immunological mechanism contribution to the disease. In the meantime, different treatment options and the efficacy and safety of various biologic agents are also discussed. A further understanding of AOSD requires closer cooperation among doctors from different departments, and this review will provide a new idea for diagnosis and therapeutic options.

Clinical Value of sTREM-1, PCT, and 1,3-β-D Glucan in Diagnosis of Immune-Associated Pulmonary Interstitial Disease with Fungal Infection

Background

Fungal infection in the lungs can cause fungal infectious diseases. This disease develops rapidly and involves a wide range. Pathogenic fungi are also more serious types of pathogenic bacteria. If it invades deep organs and tissues, it will endanger life, so it needs timely diagnosis.

Aim

To investigate the diagnostic value of serum soluble myeloid cell triggering receptor-1 (sTREM-1), procalcitonin (PCT), and 1,3-β-D glucan detection in immune related lung disease complicated with fungal infection.

Methods

In this study, a case-control study was conducted. 50 patients with immune-related pulmonary disease complicated with fungal infection (infection group) diagnosed by sputum culture in our hospital from January 2017 to December 2021 were selected as the control group, and 50 patients with immune-related pulmonary disease without fungal infection were selected as the control group. The levels of sTREM-1, PCT, and 1,3-β-D glucan were compared in the two groups. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was used to analyze the value of the three indicators in the diagnosis of immune-related pulmonary disease complicated with fungal infection, and the changes of the three indicators before and after treatment were compared.

Results

The levels of sTREM-1, PCT, and 1,3-β-D glucan in the infection group were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The levels of sTREM-1, PCT, and 1,3-β-D glucan in the infection group after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment (P < 0.05). The AUC value of sTREM-1 in the diagnosis of immune-related pulmonary diseases complicated with fungal infection was 0.980, the sensitivity was 97.11%, and the specificity was 83.06%. The AUC value of PCT in the diagnosis of immune-related pulmonary diseases complicated with fungal infection was 0.860, the sensitivity was 80.00%, and the specificity was 72.41%. The AUC value of 1,3-β-D glucan in the diagnosis of immune-related pulmonary diseases complicated with fungal infection was 0.993, the sensitivity was 98.74%, and the specificity was 99.16%. The levels of sTREM-1, PCT, and 1,3-β-D glucan in the infection group after treatment were considerably lower than those before treatment, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

The detection of sTREM-1, PCT, and 1,3-β-D glucan levels has high clinical value for the diagnosis of immune-related pulmonary diseases complicated with fungal infection.

Bibliometrics analysis on the research status and trends of adult-onset Still’s disease: 1921-2021

Objectives

The aim of this research is to discuss the research status, hotspots, frontiers and development trends in the field of adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) based on bibliometrics and visual analysis by CiteSpace software.

Methods

The relevant research articles on AOSD from 1921 to 2021 were retrieved from the Scopus database. CiteSpace software was used to form a visual knowledge map and conduct analysis for the countries/regions, journals, authors, keywords, clusters, research hotspots and frontiers of the included articles.

Results

There were 2,373 articles included, and the number of articles published during 1921-2021 is increasing. The country with the highest number of articles published was Japan (355, 14.96%), followed by the United States (329, 13.86%) and France (215, 9.06%). The author with the highest number of publications is Ansell, Barbara M. (30, 1.26%), and the author with the highest co-citation frequency is Yamaguchi, Masaya (703). Clinical Rheumatology is the journal with the highest publication frequency. The top five cluster groups were “joint”, “differential diagnosis”, “prednisolone”, “methotrexate” and “macrophage activation syndrome”. The diagnosis, treatment and pathogenesis of AOSD form the main research fields, and prognosis and complications are the research hotspots and trends.

Conclusions

The global research field in AOSD has expanded in the past 100 years. The complications and new pathogenesis of AOSD are hotspots in this field and need further study in the future.

Expanding the spectrum of the hyperferritinemic syndrome, from pathogenic mechanisms to clinical observations, and therapeutic implications

From the introduction of hyperferritinemic syndrome concept, a growing body of evidence has suggested the role of ferritin as a pathogenic mediator and a relevant clinical feature in the management of patients with inflammatory diseases. From a pathogenic point of view, ferritin may directly stimulate the aberrant immune response by triggering the production of pro-inflammatory mediators in inducing a vicious pathogenic loop and contributing to the occurrence of cytokine storm syndrome. The latter has been recently defined as a clinical picture characterised by elevated circulating cytokine levels, acute systemic inflammatory symptoms, and secondary organ dysfunction beyond that which could be attributed to a normal response to a pathogen It is noteworthy that the occurrence of hyperferritinemia may be correlated with the development of the cytokine storm syndrome in the context of an inflammatory disease. In addition to adult onset Still's disease, macrophage activation syndrome, catastrophic anti-phospholipids syndrome, and septic shock, recent evidence has suggested this association between ferritin and life-threatening evolution in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, with anti-MDA5 antibodies in the context of poly-dermatomyositis, with severe COVID-19, and with multisystem inflammatory syndrome. The possible underlying common inflammatory mechanisms, associated with hyperferritinemia, may led to the similar clinical picture observed in these patients. Furthermore, similar therapeutic strategies could be suggested inhibiting pro-inflammatory cytokines and improving long-term outcomes in these disorders. Thus, it could be possible to expand the spectrum of the hyperferritinemic syndrome to those diseases burdened by a dreadful clinical picture correlated with hyperferritinemia and the occurrence of the cytokine storm syndrome. In addition, the assessment of ferritin may provide useful information to the physicians in clinical practice to manage these patients. Therefore, ferritin may be considered a relevant clinical feature to be used as biomarker in dissecting the unmet needs in the management of these disorders. Novel evidence may thus support an expansion of the spectrum of the hyperferritinemic syndrome to these diseases burdened by a life-threatening clinical picture correlated with hyperferritinemia and the occurrence of the cytokine storm syndrome.

Adult-Onset Still's Disease: Novel Biomarkers of Specific Subsets, Disease Activity, and Relapsing Forms

Adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) is a systemic inflammatory disease of unknown etiology. Recent studies have demonstrated that the hallmark of AOSD is a cytokine storm, which is characterized by the excessive production of interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interferon-γ (IFN-γ), suggesting how pro-inflammatory cytokines play an important role in the pathogenesis of this disease. Actually, a certain proportion of patients (around 17–32%) with severe clinical symptoms achieves only partial remission or is resistant to both first-line corticosteroids and second-line DMARDs. These patients are defined as refractory AOSD patients, requiring higher dosage glucocorticoids, longer treatment duration, or the simultaneous introduction of immunosuppressive drugs, further leading to AOSD relapses. In this narrative review, we will analyze the latest literature data to unravel potential pathogenetic factors associated with specific patterns of AOSD disease or relapses in order to identify biomarkers that may guide clinical decisions, eventually leading to new therapeutic options.

Diagnostic and prognostic predictive values of circulating sTREM-1 in sepsis: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

With the increasing studies regarding the diagnostic value of soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (sTREM)-1 in sepsis in recent years, it is essential to make an updated meta-analysis to explore the sepsis differentiation value of circulating sTREM-1 from systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). Recently, no meta-analysis was made to explore the prognostic predictive value of circulating sTREM-1 in sepsis. Thus, the present aimed to make meta-analyses to explore the diagnostic and prognostic predictive values of circulating sTREM-1 in sepsis.

METHODS

Articles published before March 2021 were searched in databases: PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Medline and Google Scholar. After a summary of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratios (PLR), negative likelihood ratios (NLR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), the receive-operating characteristics (SROC) curve were performed to summarize true positive (TP) and false positive (FP) rates. Q test and I² were used to explore heterogeneity between studies.

RESULTS

Circulating sTREM-1 showed a high sensitivity (0.85 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.76-0.91)) and moderate specificity (0.79 (95% CI: 0.70-0.86)) to differentiate sepsis from SIRS. The study showed a high sensitivity (0.80 (95% CI: 0.66-0.89)) and moderate specificity (0.75 (95% CI: 0.69-0.81)) to predict 28-day mortality in sepsis.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the present study suggested that circulating sTREM-1 showed diagnostic and prognostic predictive values in sepsis.

Clinical relevance for circulating cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (CIRP) in patients with adult-onset Still's disease

Background

Adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) is a systemic autoinflammatory disease in which danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs)-mediated inflammasome activation seems to be involved in the disease pathogenesis. Cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (CIRP) belongs to a family of cold-shock proteins that respond to cellular stress and has been identified as a DAMP that triggers the inflammatory response. The aim of this study is to investigate the clinical significance of serum CIRP levels in AOSD.

Methods

Serum samples were obtained from 44 patients with active AOSD or 50 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 20 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and 15 healthy control patients (HCs). Serum levels of CIRP and IL-18 were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results were compared among AOSD patients, RA patients, SLE patients and HCs. Results were also analyzed according to the clinical features of AOSD.

Results

Serum CIRP levels were significantly higher in AOSD patients compared with RA patients (median: 9.6 ng/mL, IQR [5.7–14.4] versus 3.2 ng/mL, IQR [1.9–3.8]; p < 0.001) and with HCs (2.8 ng/mL, [IQR; 1.4–4.9], p < 0.001). There was a significant positive correlation between serum CIRP levels and AOSD disease activity score (Pouchot’s score r = 0.45, p = 0.003) as well as between AOSD-specific biomarkers ferritin and IL-18. However, there was no significant difference in the serum CIRP levels among AOSD patients with three different disease phenotypes.

Conclusions

These results suggest that CIRP may play a significant role in the pathophysiology of AOSD and could be a potential biomarker for monitoring the disease activity of AOSD.

Serum Heparin-Binding Protein as a Potential Biomarker to Distinguish Adult-Onset Still's Disease From Sepsis

Adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) is a systemic, multifactorial, autoinflammatory disease for which the etiopathogenesis is not well understood. Given the similarities in clinical and laboratory features between this disease and sepsis, and the differences in treatment strategies for these two diseases, specific diagnostic markers are crucial for the correct diagnosis and management of AOSD. Previous studies have shown plasma heparin-binding protein (HBP) is a promising potential biomarker for AOSD; thus, this study aimed to detect serum HBP levels in patients with AOSD or sepsis to assess its potential as a biomarker for differential diagnosis. We found that serum HBP levels were significantly higher in patients with active AOSD than that in those with inactive AOSD. Patients with sepsis had higher serum HBP levels compared with those who had active or inactive AOSD. We calculated the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve to assess whether HBP could be used to differentiate active from inactive AOSD; this was 0.811 with sensitivity 0.650, specificity 0.811, and cutoff HBP value of 35.59 ng/ml. The area under the ROC curve for HBP as a biomarker to differentiate AOSD from sepsis was 0.653, with sensitivity 0.759, and specificity 0.552, and cutoff HBP value of 65.1 ng/ml. Taken together, the results of our study suggest that serum HBP could be a useful diagnostic biomarker to evaluate disease activity in patients with AOSD, and to differentiate AOSD from sepsis.