PANC Study (Pancreatitis: A National Cohort Study): national cohort study examining the first 30 days from presentation of acute pancreatitis in the UK

Abstract Background Acute pancreatitis is a common, yet complex, emergency surgical presentation. Multiple guidelines exist and management can vary significantly. The aim of this first UK, multicentre, prospective cohort study was to assess the variation in management of acute pancreatitis to guide resource planning and optimize treatment. Methods All patients aged greater than or equal to 18 years presenting with acute pancreatitis, as per the Atlanta criteria, from March to April 2021 were eligible for inclusion and followed up for 30 days. Anonymized data were uploaded to a secure electronic database in line with local governance approvals. Results A total of 113 hospitals contributed data on 2580 patients, with an equal sex distribution and a mean age of 57 years. The aetiology was gallstones in 50.6 per cent, with idiopathic the next most common (22.4 per cent). In addition to the 7.6 per cent with a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis, 20.1 per cent of patients had a previous episode of acute pancreatitis. One in 20 patients were classed as having severe pancreatitis, as per the Atlanta criteria. The overall mortality rate was 2.3 per cent at 30 days, but rose to one in three in the severe group. Predictors of death included male sex, increased age, and frailty; previous acute pancreatitis and gallstones as aetiologies were protective. Smoking status and body mass index did not affect death. Conclusion Most patients presenting with acute pancreatitis have a mild, self-limiting disease. Rates of patients with idiopathic pancreatitis are high. Recurrent attacks of pancreatitis are common, but are likely to have reduced risk of death on subsequent admissions. </jats:sec

Retinoic acid is abundantly detected in different depots of adipose tissue by sers

Retinoic acid (RA) is essential for early developmental processes and stem cell differentiation, but less is known about its contributions to adult tissues and stem cells including adipose tissue. We previously demonstrated that many genes involved in RA synthesis and downstream pathway are differentially expressed in adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) from visceral fat compared to those from subcutaneous fat, leading to changes in their early adipogenic functions. In order to study potential contributions of RA in adipose tissue, we measured tissue RA levels using a technique based on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The data indicate heretofore underappreciated abundance of endogenous RA in mouse adipose tissue compared to other tissues and dynamic changes of RA concentrations after high fat diet feeding. Our results lay the foundation for further investigation on the functional role of RA in adipose tissue development and metabolism

Retinoic acid is abundantly detected in different depots of adipose tissue by sers

Retinoic acid (RA) is essential for early developmental processes and stem cell differentiation, but less is known about its contributions to adult tissues and stem cells including adipose tissue. We previously demonstrated that many genes involved in RA synthesis and downstream pathway are differentially expressed in adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) from visceral fat compared to those from subcutaneous fat, leading to changes in their early adipogenic functions. In order to study potential contributions of RA in adipose tissue, we measured tissue RA levels using a technique based on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The data indicate heretofore underappreciated abundance of endogenous RA in mouse adipose tissue compared to other tissues and dynamic changes of RA concentrations after high fat diet feeding. Our results lay the foundation for further investigation on the functional role of RA in adipose tissue development and metabolism

Retinoic acid is abundantly detected in different depots of adipose tissue by sers

Retinoic acid (RA) is essential for early developmental processes and stem cell differentiation, but less is known about its contributions to adult tissues and stem cells including adipose tissue. We previously demonstrated that many genes involved in RA synthesis and downstream pathway are differentially expressed in adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) from visceral fat compared to those from subcutaneous fat, leading to changes in their early adipogenic functions. In order to study potential contributions of RA in adipose tissue, we measured tissue RA levels using a technique based on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The data indicate heretofore underappreciated abundance of endogenous RA in mouse adipose tissue compared to other tissues and dynamic changes of RA concentrations after high fat diet feeding. Our results lay the foundation for further investigation on the functional role of RA in adipose tissue development and metabolism

Machine Learning Assisted Real-Time Label-Free SERS Diagnoses of Malignant Pleural Effusion due to Lung Cancer

More than half of all pleural effusions are due to malignancy of which lung cancer is the main cause. Pleural effusions can complicate the course of pneumonia, pulmonary tuberculosis, or underlying systemic disease. We explore the application of label-free surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) as a point of care (POC) diagnostic tool to identify if pleural effusions are due to lung cancer or to other causes (controls). Lung cancer samples showed specific SERS spectral signatures such as the position and intensity of the Raman band in different wave number region using a novel silver coated silicon nanopillar (SCSNP) as a SERS substrate. We report a classification accuracy of 85% along with a sensitivity and specificity of 87% and 83%, respectively, for the detection of lung cancer over control pleural fluid samples with a receiver operating characteristics (ROC) area under curve value of 0.93 using a PLS-DA binary classifier to distinguish between lung cancer over control subjects. We have also evaluated discriminative wavenumber bands responsible for the distinction between the two classes with the help of a variable importance in projection (VIP) score. We found that our label-free SERS platform was able to distinguish lung cancer from pleural effusions due to other causes (controls) with higher diagnostic accuracy

A Phase-Intensity Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensor for Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Detection

In this paper, we present a phase-intensity surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor and demonstrate its use for avian influenza A (H5N1) antibody biomarker detection. The sensor probes the intensity variation produced by the steep phase response at surface plasmon excitation. The prism sensor head is fixed between a pair of polarizers with a perpendicular orientation angle and a forbidden transmission path. At SPR, a steep phase change is introduced between the p- and s-polarized light, and this rotates the polarization ellipse of the transmission beam. This allows the light at resonance to be transmitted and a corresponding intensity change to be detected. Neither time-consuming interference fringe analysis nor a phase extraction process is required. In refractive index sensing experiments, the sensor resolution was determined to be 6.3 × 10−6 refractive index values (RIU). The sensor has been further applied for H5N1 antibody biomarker detection, and the sensor resolution was determined to be 193.3 ng mL−1, compared to 1 μg mL−1 and 0.5 μg mL−1, as reported in literature for influenza antibody detection using commercial Biacore systems. It represents a 517.3% and 258.7% improvement in detection limit, respectively. With the unique features of label-free, real-time, and sensitive detection, the phase-intensity SPR biosensor has promising potential applications in influenza detection

Circulating microRNA breast cancer biomarker detection in patient sera with surface plasmon resonance imaging biosensor

In this article, we report for the first time, the detection of circulating miRNA as a breast cancer biomarker in patient sera using surface plasmon resonance imaging biosensor. The advantage of this approach lies in the rapid, label-free and sensitive detection. The sensor excites plasmonic resonance on the gold sensor surface and specific DNA-miRNA molecular bindings elucidate responses in the plasmonic resonance image. Experiments of detecting synthetic miRNA molecules (miR-1249) were performed and the sensor resolution was found to be 63.5 nM. The sensor was further applied to screen 17 patient serum samples from National Cancer Centre Singapore and Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Sensor intensity response was found to differ by 20% between malignant and benign cases and thus forms, a potential and an important metric in distinguishing benignity and malignancy.Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)This work was supported by Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), under its Industry alignment fund prepositioning programme, Award H19H6a0025 , Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s (A*STAR) BMRC Central Research Fund (CRF, UIBR) Award and A*ccelerate under GAP funding (ETPL/14-R15GAP-0027). This project was partially funded by the NCC Research Fund