Trifon Chervenkov

Serum expression levels of miR-17, miR-21, and miR-92 as potential biomarkers for recurrence after adjuvant chemotherapy in colon cancer patients

The present study examined whether miR-17, miR-21, miR-29a, and miR-92 that are dysregulated in colon cancer (CC) can serve as potential predictive markers for relapse of disease after radical surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. Real-time reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to measure the expression levels of the miRNAs in serum samples from 37 patients with CC and 7 healthy individuals, tested as a control group. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was then used to evaluate the predictive performance of the four miRNAs alone or in combination and compare it with carcinoembryonic antigen. The expression of miR-17, miR-21 and miR-92 were significantly higher in serum of patients with disease relapse. The AUCs for miR-17, miR-21, miR-92 for Nx patients were 0.844, 0.948, and 0.935, respectively (p < 0.05). Combining the four miRNAs for stage III patients increased the diagnostic performance, yielding an AUC of 0.881, with a sensitivity of 83.3% and a specificity of 85.7% (p < 0.05). Our study suggests that the expression levels of serum miR-21, miR-17, and miR-92 in patients with CC who underwent radical surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy may have diagnostic value for differentiating between recurred and non-recurred patients.

Serum level of the human antimicrobial cathelicidin (hCAP18/LL-37) in patients with psoriasis vulgaris

Introduction : Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated inflammatory disease. Human cathelicidin (hCAP18/LL37) has been elucidated recently as a modulator of inflammation in the affected skin. Vitamin D may induce expression of this antimicrobial peptide. Our trial aimed to study the circulating level of hCAP18/LL-37 and to explore its relationship with the severity of psoriasis. Material and Methods : 79 patients with moderate to severe psoriasis (PASI >10) were included in a retrospective analysis. Stored serum samples were used for assessment of 25-hydroxyvitamin D - 25(OH)D and to measure the circulating human cathelicidin (LL-37). Results : In a study group of 79 patients we assessed mean level of 25(OH)D of 30.25 nmol/l (95% CI 25.87 – 34.62 nmol/l). Mean circulating cathelicidin was 27.17 ng/ml (95% CI 21.52 – 32.83 ng/ml). Only 8.9% of patients had LL-37 level > 54 ng/ml. Although circulating LL-37 was lower in severe psoriasis than in moderate psoriasis (24.33 ng/ml vs. 31.14 ng/ml), the variation is nonsignificant. We further evaluated the association of LL-37 with both PASI score and 25(OH)D concentration in the subgroup of patients with vitamin D deficiency (n=39). It was interesting to find a significant correlation between the level of LL-37 and 25(OH)D (r=0.38, p=0.017) and inverse association between the level of LL-37 and PASI (r= -0.30, p=0.06). Conclusion : In this pilot trial we assessed low serum levels of cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide in the patients with psoriasis. LL-37 may be discussed as related to PASI and 25(OH)D in a subgroup of psoriatic patients with vitamin D deficiency.