IntroductionLimited studies have suggested that calprotectin may take part in the pathophysiology of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Nevertheless, there is no clinical study analysing the role of S100A8 in CAP patients. The objective of this study was to analyse the association of serum S100A8 with the severity of CAP and determine the cut-off values of S100A8 for predictive power based on a cross-sectional study.Material and methodsA total of 200 CAP patients and 100 normal subjects were recruited. Demographic data, clinical information, and serum were collected on admission. S100A8 and inflammatory cytokines were detected using ELISA and RT-PCR. All statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 19.0.ResultsSerum S100A8 was increased in CAP patients on admission. Serum S100A8 was gradually increased in parallel with CAP severity scores. Serum S100A8 was positively correlated with CAP severity scores, blood routine parameters, and inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, univariate and multivariate logistical regression revealed that there were positive associations between serum S100A8 with CRB-65, PSI, and CURXO. Moreover, the predictive capacity of serum S100A8 was determined by ROC curve analysis. The area under the curves of S100A8 for CAP and CAP severity were 0.855 and 0.893, respectively. Mechanistic analysis found that S100A8 knockdown alleviated streptococcus pneumoniae-evoked inflammatory cytokines in A549 cells.ConclusionsSerum S100A8 on admission was positively associated with the severity of CAP. S100A8 knockdown alleviates streptococcus pneumoniae-evoked inflammatory cytokines in A549 cells, indicating that S100A8 may exert a significant effect on the pathophysiology of CAP and could be an early serum diagnostic biomarker for CAP.

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BackgroundThe T classification of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was upgraded from T1 to T2 when accompanied by visceral pleural invasion (VPI). However, the association between VPI and prognostic outcomes was obscure in NSCLC patients with ≤3 cm tumor size (TS), which leaded the controversy of selection of T classification. The goal was to evaluate the effect of VPI on the prognosis of NSCLC with ≤ 3cm TS and present a modified T classification.MethodsA total of 14,934 NSCLC patients without distant metastasis were recruited through a retrospective study in the SEER database. The effect of VPI on lung cancer specific survival (LCSS) was evaluated using survival curve and COX regression analysis in NSCLC patients with ≤3 cm TS.ResultsAlthough there was no difference of the LCSS of PL0 and PL1 patients with ≤2 cm TS in patients without lymph node (LN) metastasis, the LCSS was lower in PL2 patients than those in PL0 (T1a: p < 0.001; T1b: p = 0.001). Moreover, the LCSS was decreased in PL1 and PL2 patients with 2–3 cm TS compared with PL0 (T1c: PL1, p < 0.001; PL2, p = 0.009) of patients without LN metastasis. No difference of LCSS was observed in patients with LN metastasis between PL0 with PL1 and PL2.ConclusionIn NSCLC patients without LN metastasis and TS ≤ 2 cm, tumor with PL1 should remain defined as T1, tumor with PL2 should be defined as T2. However, 2–3 cm TS patients with PL1 or PL2 should both defined as T2. Meanwhile, ≤3 cm TS patients with LN metastasis can be regarded as T1, whether NSCLC patients accompanied with PL1 or PL2.

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