Lipoblastoma/lipoblastomatosis is an uncommon benign lipomatous tumor affecting mainly infants and children. It presents as a painless mass located frequently in upper and lower extremities. The present study was conducted to characterize the clinicopathologic features of lipoblastoma/lipoblastomatosis in a Chinese population. A retrospective survey of 16 cases of pathologically confirmed lipoblastoma/lipoblastomatosis from 1988 to 2002 was performed. The available clinical information and histological sections were reviewed. The study involved 10 males and 6 females ranging in age from 5 to 49 months (median, 11.5 months). The patients presented with mass involving neck (n = 5), inguina (n = 3), feet (n = 2), arm (n = 1), leg (n = 1), thorax (n = 1), mesentery (n = 1), buttock (n = 1), and presacral region (n = 1). The lesions were removed surgically. Histologically, the majority (11/16) of primary tumors were of diffuse type. Follow-up ranging from 5 to 125 months was available in 13 patients. Four patients experienced a recurrence of tumors in the neck (n = 2) and lower extremities (n = 2) 11-84 months after operation. The most common site of involvement of lipoblastoma/lipoblastomatosis in our series was the neck. A follow-up period of more than 3 years is recommended for patients with this condition.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD), is characterized by relapse and remission alternately. It remains a great challenge to diagnose and assess disease activity during IBD due to the lack of specific markers. While traditional biomarkers from plasma and stool, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), fecal calprotectin (FC), and S100A12, can be used to measure inflammation, they are not specific to IBD and difficult to determine an effective cut-off value. There is consensus that gut microbiota is crucial for intestinal dysbiosis is closely associated with IBD etiopathology and pathogenesis. Multiple studies have documented differences in the composition of gut microbiota between patients with IBD and healthy individuals, particularly regarding microbial diversity and relative abundance of specific bacteria. Patients with IBD have higher levels of Proteobacteria and lower amounts of Bacteroides, Eubacterium, and Faecalibacterium than healthy individuals. This review summarizes the pros and cons of using traditional and microbiota biomarkers to assess disease severity and treatment outcomes and addresses the possibility of using microbiota-focused interventions during IBD treatment. Understanding the role of microbial biomarkers in the assessment of disease activity and treatment outcomes has the potential to change clinical practice and lead to the development of more personalized therapies.

Regarding individual biomarkers, IL-1β, MMP-8, and MMP-9 showed potential for identifying patients with periodontitis. The combination of IL-1β, IL-1ra, and MMP-9 might be feasible for developing a future point-of-care device for diagnosing periodontitis.