1.
Causes and prognostic factors for early death in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia treated with single-agent arsenic trioxide.
Hou, J, Wang, S, Zhang, Y, Fan, D, Li, H, Yang, Y, Ge, F, Hou, W, Fu, J, Wang, P, et al
Annals of hematology. 2017;(12):2005-2013
Abstract
Early death (ED) is one of the most critical issues involved in the current care of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Factors identified as independent predictors of ED varied among published studies. We retrospectively analyzed the incidence, causes, and prognostic factors of ED in a series of 216 patients with newly diagnosed APL who received arsenic trioxide (ATO) as induction therapy. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association of clinical factors with overall ED, hemorrhagic ED, death within 7 days, and death within 8-30 days. In total, 35 EDs (16.2%) occurred that were caused by hemorrhage, differentiation syndrome (DS), infection, and other causes, in order of prevalence. The independent prognostic factors for overall ED and death within 8-30 days were the same and included serum creatinine level, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score, sex, and fibrinogen level. The risk factors for hemorrhagic ED and death within 7 days were similar and included serum creatinine level, ECOG score, and white blood cell count, while hemorrhagic ED was also associated with D-dimer. Our findings revealed a high rate of ED, and the causes of ED were similar to those among patients who received ATRA-based therapy. Increased creatinine level was the most powerful predictor, and an ECOG score greater than 2 was another strong prognostic factor for all four types of ED.
2.
Plasma ghrelin concentrations are negatively correlated with urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.
Ma, X, Zhao, Y, Wang, Q, Wu, L, Wang, Z, Ma, X, Ren, G, Zhang, Y, Li, Z, Lu, J, et al
The American journal of the medical sciences. 2014;(5):382-6
Abstract
BACKGROUND Aging is associated with a decrease in appetite, energy intake and glucose tolerance. Experimental studies have suggested that ghrelin and obestatin play a role in glucose homeostasis and in the regulation of energy metabolism. However, few studies have been performed on the role of ghrelin and obestatin in middle-aged and old adults. METHODS In the present study, we investigated the plasma concentrations of ghrelin and obestatin in middle-aged (41-64 years) and old (65-76 years) subjects with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (NDD) and normal glucose tolerance (NGT). We also characterized the relationship among plasma ghrelin and obestatin levels and glucose/lipid metabolism. The fasting plasma ghrelin and obestatin concentrations were analyzed using enzyme immunoassay method. RESULTS Plasma obestatin concentrations in diabetic subjects were significantly lower than those in NGT subjects. Plasma ghrelin were negatively associated with fasting glucose, hemoglobin A1c, urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) and positively correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. In addition, plasma obestatin level was correlated negatively with systolic blood pressure, triglycerides and total cholesterol. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis indicated that UACR was a significantly independent predictor of fasting plasma ghrelin levels. CONCLUSIONS Collectively, ghrelin and obestatin levels may be markers reflecting glucose and lipid conditions in NDD. The lower ghrelin levels may be a potential indicator for renal dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.