Red cell distribution width-to-albumin ratio is a simple promising prognostic marker in acute cholangitis requiring biliary drainage

Background: It is crucial to assess the severity of acute cholangitis(AC). There are currently several prognostic markers. However, the accuracies of these markers are not satisfied. The present study aimed to investigate the predictive value of the red cell distribution width(RDW)-to-albumin ratio(RAR) for the prognosis of AC. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated consecutive patients diagnosed with AC between May 2019 and March 2022. RAR was calculated, and its predictive ability for in-hospital mortality, intensive care unit(ICU) admission, bacteremia, and the length of hospitalization were analyzed. Results: Out of 438 patients, 34(7.8%) died. Multivariate analysis showed that malignant etiology [odds ratio(OR) = 4.816, 95% confidence interval(CI): 1.936-11.980], creatinine(OR = 1.649, 95% CI: 1.095-2.484), and RAR(OR = 2.064, 95% CI: 1.494-2.851) were independent risk factors for mortality. When adjusted for relevant covariates, including age, sex, malignant etiology, Tokyo severity grading(TSG), Charlson comorbidity index, and creatinine, RAR significantly predicted mortality(adjusted OR = 1.833, 95% CI: 1.280-2.624). When the cut-off of RAR was set to 3.8, its sensitivity and specificity for mortality were 94.1% and 56.7%, respectively. Patients with an RAR of > 3.8 had a 20.9-fold(OR = 20.9, 95% CI: 4.9-88.6) greater risk of mortality than the remaining patients. The area under the curve value of RAR for mortality was 0.835(95% CI: 0.770-0.901), which was significantly higher than that of TSG and the other prognostic markers, such as C-reactive protein-to-albumin ratio, and procalcitonin-to-albumin ratio. Lastly, RAR was not inferior to TSG in predicting ICU admission, bacteremia, and the length of hospitalization. Conclusions: RAR successfully predicted the in-hospital mortality, ICU admission, bacteremia, and the length of hospitalization of patients with AC, especially in-hospital mortality. RAR is a promising marker that is more convenient than TSG and other prognostic markers for predicting the prognosis of patients with AC.

Predictive value of C-reactive protein/albumin ratio in acute pancreatitis

BACKGROUND:Serum C-reactive protein(CRP) increases and albumin decreases in patients with inflammation and infection.However,their role in patients with acute pancreatitis is not clear.The present study was to investigate the predictive significance of the CRP/albumin ratio for the prognosis and mortality in acute pancreatitis patients.METHODS:This study was performed retrospectively with 192 acute pancreatitis patients between January 2002 and June 2015.Ranson scores,Atlanta classification and CRP/albumin ratios of the patients were calculated.RESULTS:The CRP/albumin ratio was higher in deceased patients compared to survivors.The CRP/albumin ratio was positively correlated with Ranson score and Atlanta classification in particular and with important prognostic markers such as hospitalization time,CRP and erythrocyte sedimentation rate.In addition to the CRP/albumin ratio,necrotizing pancreatitis type,moderately severe and severe Atlanta classification,and total Ranson score were independent risk factors of mortality.It was found that an increase of 1 unit in the CRP/albumin ratio resulted in an increase of 1.52 times in mortality risk.A prediction value about CRP/albumin ratio >16.28 was found to be a significant marker in predicting mortality with 92.1% sensitivity and 58.0% specificity.It was seen that Ranson and Atlanta classification were higher in patients with CRP/albumin ratio >16.28 compared with those with CRP/albumin ratio ≤16.28.Patients with CRP/albumin ratio >16.28 had a 19.3 times higher chance of death.CONCLUSION:The CRP/albumin ratio is a novel but promising,easy-to-measure,repeatable,non-invasive inflammationbased prognostic score in acute pancreatitis.

Thiol/disulphide homeostasis in celiac disease

AIM To determine dynamic thiol/disulphide homeostasis in celiac disease and to examine the associate with celiac autoantibodies and gluten-free diet.METHODS Seventy three patients with celiac disease and 73 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study. In both groups, thiol/disulphide homeostasis was examined with a new colorimetric method recently developed by Erel and Neselioglu. RESULTS In patients with celiac disease, native thiol(P = 0.027) and total thiol(P = 0.031) levels were lower, while disulphide(P < 0.001) level, disulphide/native thiol(P < 0.001) and disulphide/total thiol(P < 0.001) ratios were higher compared to the control group. In patients who do not comply with a gluten-free diet, disulphide/native thiol ratio was found higher compared to the patients who comply with the diet(P < 0.001). In patients withany autoantibody-positive, disulphide/native thiol ratio was observed higher compared to the patients with autoantibody-negative(P < 0.05). It is found that there is a negative correlation between celiac autoantibodies, and native thiol, total thiol levels and native thiol/total thiol ratio, while a positive correlation is observed between disulphide, disulphide/native thiol and disulphide/total thiol levels.CONCLUSION This study is first in the literature which found that the patients with celiac disease the dynamic thiol/disulphide balance shifts through disulphide form compared to the control group.