Disease Markers
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Acceptance rate6%
Submission to final decision131 days
Acceptance to publication42 days
CiteScore3.700
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Impact Factor-

Assessment of Antioxidant Enzyme Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) in Oral Cancer: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

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 Journal profile

Disease Markers publishes papers related to the identification of disease markers, the elucidation of their role and mechanism, as well as their application in the prognosis, diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

 Editor spotlight

Chief Editor Paola Gazzaniga is an Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Her core research focuses on liquid biopsies in patients with solid tumors.

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Do you think there is an emerging area of research that really needs to be highlighted? Or an existing research area that has been overlooked or would benefit from deeper investigation? Raise the profile of a research area by leading a Special Issue.

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Review Article

Circulating Nucleic Acids in Colorectal Cancer: Diagnostic and Prognostic Value

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent cancer in the world and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related mortality. DNA (cfDNA/ctDNA) and RNA (cfRNA/ctRNA) in the blood are promising noninvasive biomarkers for molecular profiling, screening, diagnosis, treatment management, and prognosis of CRC. Technological advancements that enable precise detection of both genetic and epigenetic abnormalities, even in minute quantities in circulation, can overcome some of these challenges. This review focuses on testing for circulating nucleic acids in the circulation as a noninvasive method for CRC detection, monitoring, detection of minimal residual disease, and patient management. In addition, the benefits and drawbacks of various diagnostic techniques and associated bioinformatics tools have been detailed.

Research Article

Neutrophil–Lymphocyte and Platelet–Lymphocyte Ratios in Distinguishing Lung Cancer in People with HIV

Objective. The neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet–lymphocyte ratio (PLR) demonstrate good diagnostic accuracy in distinguishing lung cancer patients from healthy individuals, primarily in HIV-negative populations. We determined the sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), and area under the curve (AUC) of the NLR and PLR in discriminating between people living with HIV (PLWH) with and without lung cancer. Methods. This is a comparative analysis of secondary data. Cases were PLWH with lung cancer from a retrospective cohort treated at the Uganda Cancer Institute. Controls were unmatched PLWH without lung cancer who were randomly selected from three HIV clinics in Uganda. Se, Sp, and AUC analysis and determination of optimal cutoffs were performed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results. Of 115 PLWH (18 cases and 97 controls), 83 (72.2%) were female, 110 (95.7) were on ART, and the median (IQR) age was 46 (38–51) years. The median (IQR) NLR was higher among cases than controls (3.53 (3.14–7.71) vs. 0.92 (0.67–1.09), ). Similarly, the PLR was higher among cases than controls (237.5 (177.8–361.6) vs. 123.6 (100.6–155.4), ). At a cutoff of 2.44, the respective Se, Sp, and AUC of the NLR were 87.5% (95% CI: 61.7%–98.4%), 100% (95% CI: 96.2%–100%), and 0.94 (95% CI: 0.85–1.00, ). Similarly, the respective Se, Sp, and AUC for the PLR were 75% (95% CI: 47.6%–92.7%), 87.2% (95% CI: 78.8%–93.2%), and 0.81 (95% CI: 0.70–0.93, ) at a cutoff of 196.3. Conclusion. The NLR and PLR discriminated PLWH with and without lung cancer and could be useful in PLWH with respiratory symptoms in whom lung cancer can easily be misdiagnosed as other lung pathology.

Research Article

Examining the Association of Rare Allelic Variants in Urate Transporters SLC22A11, SLC22A13, and SLC17A1 with Hyperuricemia and Gout

Genetic variations in urate transporters play a significant role in determining human urate levels and have been implicated in developing hyperuricemia or gout. Polymorphism in the key urate transporters, such as ABCG2, URAT1, or GLUT9 was well-documented in the literature. Therefore in this study, our objective was to determine the frequency and effect of rare nonsynonymous allelic variants of SLC22A11, SLC22A13, and SLC17A1 on urate transport. In a cohort of 150 Czech patients with primary hyperuricemia and gout, we examined all coding regions and exon–intron boundaries of SLC22A11, SLC22A13, and SLC17A1 using PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing. For comparison, we used a control group consisting of 115 normouricemic subjects. To examine the effects of the rare allelic nonsynonymous variants on the expression, intracellular processing, and urate transporter protein function, we performed a functional characterization using the HEK293A cell line, immunoblotting, fluorescent microscopy, and site directed mutagenesis for preparing variants in vitro. Variants p.V202M (rs201209258), p.R343L (rs75933978), and p.P519L (rs144573306) were identified in the SLC22A11 gene (OAT4 transporter); variants p.R16H (rs72542450), and p.R102H (rs113229654) in the SLC22A13 gene (OAT10 transporter); and the p.W75C variant in the SLC17A1 gene (NPT1 transporter). All variants minimally affected protein levels and cytoplasmic/plasma membrane localization. The functional in vitro assay revealed that contrary to the native proteins, variants p.P519L in OAT4 (), p.R16H in OAT10 (), and p.W75C in the NPT1 transporter () significantly limited urate transport activity. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of (1) the risk of urate transporter-related hyperuricemia/gout and (2) uric acid handling in the kidneys.

Research Article

Arterial Hypertension and Its Consequences Are the Main Predictors of Embolic Stroke of Undetermined Source

Background and Purpose. Embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS) is a subcategory of cryptogenic stroke with high frequency of occurrence and insufficient understanding its risk factors leads to the lack of determined strategies for primary/secondary prevention. This study was aimed to identify the most prominent predictors of the ESUS and to generate the overall predictive model. Methods. We performed a hospital-based prospective cohort study with 1,317 enrolled participants. We compared patients and healthy volunteers according to the main demographic, anthropometric parameters, stroke risk factors, comorbidities, and data of clinical and instrumental examination. In order to balance the study and the control groups for age and sex, the propensity score matching was performed. In order to generate the overall predictive model, a multivariate analysis was performed using the binary logistic regression method. Results. The following predictors of ESUS were identified in current study: arterial hypertension (AH); increased heart rate and pulmonary arterial systolic pressure (PASP); the presence of conduction disturbance; the enlargement of left, right atrium, and left ventricle end-systolic length; increased intima–media thickness (IMT) in right and left common carotid artery (CCA); lowered Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoСA) cognitive scale score; the presence of subcortical microbleeds; central brain atrophy; the larger size of third ventricle; and the higher medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) score. The following risk factors were included in the final predictive model: the presence of AH (; OR = 12.98 (95% CI: 4.53–37.21)) and PASP (; OR = 1.13 (95% CI: 1.02–1.25)) and male sex (; OR = 2.771 (95% CI: 1.017–7.555)). The Nagelkerke’s pseudo-R-squared value was 0.404 and the significance of the Hosmer–Lemeshow test was 0.733, which indicate the goodness of the final logistic regression model. Conclusions. We propose that AH and its consequences are the main predictors of ESUS. The results of this study emphasize the importance of AH control for primary and secondary prevention of ESUS.

Research Article

Exploration of Metabolite Biomarkers to Predict the Efficacy of Dupilumab Treatment for Atopic Dermatitis

Dupilumab (DUP) is the first biological agent used treating atopic dermatitis (AD). Notwithstanding its high cost, the type of patient group for which the drug is effective remains unclear. In this retrospective study, we aimed to identify novel and reliable biomarkers which can be measured before DUP administration and to predict the efficacy of DUP. Serum samples from 19 patients with AD treated with DUP were analysed by metabolome analysis using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Total 148 metabolites were detected, and the relative values of the metabolites were compared between the patient group that achieved 75% improvement in Eczema Area and Severity Index 16 weeks after administration of DUP (high responders: HR; n = 11) and that did not (low responders: LR; n = 8). The HR and LR groups had significant differences in the relative values of the eight metabolites (lactic acid, alanine, glyceric acid, fumaric acid, nonanoic acid, ribose, sorbitol, and ornithine), with ribose emerging as the best. Furthermore, we evaluated the serum concentrations of ribose and found that ribose may be a useful metabolite biomarker for predicting the efficacy of DUP in AD.

Review Article

Meta-Analysis of Assessment of Total Oxidative Stress and Total Antioxidant Capacity in Patients with Periodontitis

Background. Periodontitis is intricately linked to oxidative stress-antioxidant (redox) imbalance. The antioxidant system scavenges the oxygen free radicals in biological fluids in patients with periodontitis. However, little is still known about the free radicals mediated oxidative stress and reductive ability of the antioxidant system. Thus, the present meta-analysis aims to quantitatively review the literature that assessed the oxidative stress marker total oxidative stress (TOS) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in various biological fluids of patients with periodontitis. Methodology. Electronic databases were searched for studies that assessed TOS and TAC levels in various biological samples of patients with periodontitis. Results. From the 1,812 articles identified, 1,754 were excluded based on title and abstract screening due to irrelevance to the topic of interest. A full-text assessment of the remaining 58 articles led to the selection of 42 articles that satisfied the inclusion criteria. Of these, only 24 studies had consistent data for quantitative analysis. The periodontitis group displayed significantly elevated TOS levels () in serum, gingival crevicular fluid (GCF), and saliva samples in the studies evaluated. In contrast, the periodontitis group exhibited significantly attenuated TAC levels () compared to healthy controls in plasma, serum, and GCF samples of the studies evaluated, which was insignificant in salivary samples (). At the same time, the periodontitis group displayed insignificantly elevated TAC levels after periodontal therapy (). Conclusions. The present meta-analysis showed significantly higher TOS and lower TAC in periodontitis, reflecting the elevated oxidative stress level than the control group. Clinical Relevance. Scientific rationale for the study: The imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants (oxidative stress (OS)) plays a critical role in the onset and progression of periodontitis; the assessment of the relationship between OS-related biomarkers in regional samples and systemic samples of patients with periodontitis helps us to evaluate the periodontal disease progression. The OS biomarker levels can be used to assess periodontal disease and therapeutic efficacy.

Disease Markers
 Journal metrics
See full report
Acceptance rate6%
Submission to final decision131 days
Acceptance to publication42 days
CiteScore3.700
Journal Citation Indicator-
Impact Factor-
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