Exploratory Evaluation of Neopterin and Chitotriosidase as Potential Circulating Biomarkers for Colorectal Cancer

Chronic inflammation is demonstrated to play a direct role in carcinogenesis. Our exploratory study aimed to assess the potential added value of two inflammation biomarkers, chitotriosidase and neopterin, in follow-up evaluation of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). An observational exploratory study was conducted. Patients with CRC and matched controls (1:1, age, sex, and living environment) were evaluated. The patients with CRC (CRC group) and controls were assessed at baseline (before surgical intervention for patients with CRC). Patients with CRC were also evaluated at 1-year follow-up. Significantly more patients with blood group A (54.5% vs. 25.0%) and smokers (50.0% vs. 22.7%) were in the CRC group. The serum values of chitotriosidase and neopterin were higher in CRC patients than in controls, but only neopterin reached the conventional level of statistical significance (p-value = 0.015). The circulating chitotriosidase and neopterin values decreased significantly at 1-year follow-up (p-value < 0.0001). Patients with higher N- and M-stage showed statistically significant higher levels of chitotriosidase and neopterin at baseline and 1-year follow-up (p-values < 0.03). Circulating chitotriosidase levels also showed statistically significant differences regarding baseline and 1-year follow-up on patients with CRC and different differentiation grades (p-values < 0.02). The circulating levels of neopterin significantly decreased at 1-year follow-up, indicating its potential as a prognostic marker. The circulating values of chitotriosidase and neopterin exhibit significant differences in patients with than without recurrences. Our results support further evaluation of chitotriosidase and neopterin as prognostic markers in patients with CRC.

The Pattern of Calculated Inflammation Ratios as Prognostic Values in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

AIM

In this study, we evaluated the prognostic value of four calculated inflammatory ratios in patients with colorectal cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A six-year retrospective study was conducted on subjects admitted for colorectal cancer at "Prof. Dr. Octavian Fodor" Regional Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Cluj-Napoca, Romania, from January 2014 until September 2019. The medical charts of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer were used as the source of raw data and for the calculation of four ratios (neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio-NLR, derived neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio-dNLR, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio-PLR, and systemic immune-inflammation index-SII), considered as prognostic markers related to mortality in colorectal cancer.

RESULTS

One thousand six hundred and eighty-eight patients, with ages ranging from 17 to 98 years, were evaluated. NLR and dNLR displayed significantly higher values among patients who died (NLR: 4.2 for deceased vs. 3.4 for alive, P-value=0.0224; dNLR: 2.7 for deceased vs. 2.3 for alive, P-value=0.0566). Ischemic cardiomyopathy (odds ratio (OR)=2.70), liver cirrhosis (OR=7.84), post-operative complications (OR=2.39), and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (OR=1.08) proved to be significant prognostic factors for the primary outcome, independent of age and gender.

CONCLUSION

Patients with high NLR, post-operative complications, ischemic cardiomyopathy, and/or liver cirrhosis are the candidates to a less favorable outcome among subjects with colorectal cancer regardless the age and gender.

Abilities of Pre-Treatment Inflammation Ratios as Classification or Prediction Models for Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Background: Systemic inflammatory status is known as an important factor of colorectal cancer prognosis. Our study aimed to evaluate the performances of inflammation biomarker ratios as classification models of seven outcomes in patients with colorectal cancer. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on subjects with colorectal cancer over five years at a single center in Transylvania, Romania. Seven derived ratios were calculated based on laboratory data: neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NLR), derived neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (dNLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte (PLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte (LMR) and albumin-to-globulin (AGR) ratios, Systemic Immune Inflammation Index (SII) and Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI). The utility of these ratios as predictors for seven outcomes was further evaluated in multivariable regression models. Results: Our study shows that the evaluated ratios exhibit specific performances for individual outcomes, proving a fair ability as screening tools (NLR and dNLR for survival, T stage and M stage; NLR and SII for T stage; and PLR for M stage). A dNLR over 3.1 (OR = 2.48, 95% CI (1.421 to 4.331)) shows predictive value for survival. A value of NLR over 3.10 (OR = 1.389, 95% CI (1.061 to 1.817)) is positively associated with an advanced T stage, while LMR is negatively related to the T stage (OR = 0.919, 95% CI (0.867 to 0.975)). NLR over 4.25 (OR = 2.647, 95% CI (2.128 to 3.360)) is positively associated with, while PNI is negatively related (OR = 0.970, 95% CI (0.947 to 0.993)) to, the M stage. Conclusion: Each of the evaluated ratios possesses prognostic value for certain outcomes considered, but the reported models need external validation to recommend their clinical practice utilization.

Receiver Operating Characteristic Prediction for Classification: Performances in Cross-Validation by Example

The stability of receiver operating characteristic in context of random split used in development and validation sets, as compared to the full models for three inflammatory ratios (neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NLR), derived neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (dNLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte (PLR) ratio) evaluated as predictors for metastasis in patients with colorectal cancer, was investigated. Data belonging to patients admitted with the diagnosis of colorectal cancer from January 2014 until September 2019 in a single hospital were used. There were 1688 patients eligible for the study, 418 in the metastatic stage. All investigated inflammatory ratios proved to be significant classification models on both the full models and on cross-validations (AUCs > 0.05). High variability of the cut-off values was observed in the unrestricted and restricted split (full models: 4.255 for NLR, 2.745 for dNLR and 255.56 for PLR; random splits: cut-off from 3.215 to 5.905 for NLR, from 2.625 to 3.575 for dNLR and from 134.67 to 335.9 for PLR), but with no effect on the models characteristics or performances. The investigated biomarkes proved limited value as predictors for metastasis (AUCs < 0.8), with largely sensitivity and specificity (from 33.3% to 79.2% for the full model and 29.1% to 82.7% in the restricted splits). Our results showed that a simple random split of observations, weighting or not the patients with and whithout metastasis, in a ROC analysis assures the performances similar to the full model, if at least 70% of the available population is included in the study.

Relation between serum cotinine levels and trophic lesions in patients with critical limb ischemia: a pilot study

Aim: To evaluate if smoking, quantified by the serum cotinine levels, is related to the evolution of patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI).Method: A pilot study was conducted on CLI patients who addressed at the Second Surgery Clinic of the Emergency County Hospital, Cluj-Napoca, Romania between November 2015 and December 2016. The sample of patients was split into two groups using the threshold of 15 ng/mL for the serum level of cotinine (low cotinine level - LCL vs. high cotinine level - HCL). Furthermore, the ROC analysis was conducted to identify the threshold of cotinine level able to discriminate between CLI patients with and without trophic lesions.Results: The mean age of patients was 60.7 ± 10.5 years with a significantly higher percentage of male patients (84%). A significant association was identified between urban origin and serum cotinine level, which is related to the increased number of cigarettes smoked per day among urban participants. Excepting necrectomy and toe disarticulation, no differences were found between LCL and HCL group regarding symptoms, signs or comorbidities. In smokers with CLI (38/43), a serum cotinine cut-off of 9.765 ng/mL was observed on eight out of 10 CLI patients with necrectomy and five out of 28 patients without necrectomy.Conclusion: Our study showed higher serum cotinine levels associated with a higher number of smoked cigarettes and necrectomy in patients with CLI. The serum cotinine could be a fair screening test for necrectomy in smokers CLI patients.

Evaluation of Chitotriosidase as a Marker of Inflammatory Status in Critical Limb Ischemia

BACKGROUND

Chitotriosidase is an enzyme secreted by activated macrophages. This study aims to investigate the usefulness of circulating chitotriosidase activity as a marker of inflammatory status in patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An observational gender-matched case-control study was conducted on patients hospitalized with the primary diagnosis of CLI, as well as a control group. The control group consisted of healthy volunteers.

RESULTS

Forty-three patients were included in each group. Similar demographic characteristics (median age of 60-62 years and overweight) were observed in both groups. Chitotriosidase activity ranged from 110 nmol/ml/hr to 1530 nmol/ml/hr in the CLI group and from 30 nmol/ml/hr to 440 nmol/ml/hr in the control group; demonstrating significantly elevated values in the CLI group (p<0.001). Median plasma chitotriosidase activity was significantly elevated in smokers compared with non-smokers in both groups (p<0.05). However, this activity had higher values in CLI than in control subjects. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was then performed in order to verify the diagnostic accuracy of chitotriosidase as an inflammatory biomarker in CLI.

CONCLUSION

Circulating chitotriosidase is a test which can potentially be used for the monitoring of CLI patients without other inflammatory conditions. However, the interpretation of elevated values must take into account the inflammatory response induced by tobacco exposure.

Demographic and Comorbidity Pattern of Patients with Critical Limb Ischemia

Aim: The present study aimed at identifying the pattern of patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI) compared with those with peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD).

Materials and methods: A four-year retrospective study was conducted with patients hospitalized in the Second Surgical Clinic at the Emergency County Hospital Cluj-Napoca. The medical charts of patients with PAOD (n=466) and CLI (n=223) were reviewed and data were collected.

Results: The study included 689 patients; mean age 67 years for PAOD patients and 65 years for CLI patients. A significantly higher percentage of patients were male in both groups (79.25%, P < 0.0001). Most of the patients in both groups had received at least a secondary education (P < 0.0001). Most of the subjects in both groups were smokers (>71.30%) with no difference between groups (P = 0.566). No significant differences were found between the groups in comorbidities (diabetes, arterial blood hypertension, cardiac ischemia, rhythm disorders, P > 0.05). There were more CLI patients that were overweight than overweight patients with PAOD (P = 0.0004). High serum cholesterol (>200 mg/dL) and triglycerides (>150 mg/dL) levels were found in the CLI group (P < 0.05). Age was identified as a risk factors for amputation (OR = 1.03, 95%Cl [1.01−1.05], P = 0.0012).

Conclusions: The profile of a patient with critical limb ischemia and peripheral arterial occlusive disease is a 65-67-year-old male smoker with at least a secondary education. The CLI patient is overweight with pathological serum levels of cholesterol and triglycerides.