Chronic periodontitis (CP) and diabetes mellitus (DM) involve several aspects of immune functions, including neutrophil activity and cytokine biology. Considering the critical function of chemokine interleukin-8 (IL-8) in the inflammatory process, the aims of this study were to determine: (i) IL-8 plasma levels; (ii) IL-8 (−251A/T, rs4073) and its receptor 2 (CXCR2, +1208C/T, rs1126579) polymorphisms, and (iii) the presence of the selected periodontal bacteria in types 1 and 2 DM patients (T1DM and T2DM) and systemically healthy controls (HC) with known periodontal status. This case–control study comprises of 153 unrelated individuals: 36/44 patients suffering from T1DM+CP/T2DM+CP and 32/41 from HC+CP/non-periodontitis HC. Both the clinical and biochemical parameters were monitored. The genotypes were determined using qPCR, IL-8 plasma levels were measured using an ELISA kit. Subgingival bacterial colonization was analyzed with a DNA microarray detection kit. The IL-8 plasma levels differed significantly between non-periodontitis HC and T1DM+CP/T2DM+CP patients (P < 0.01). Even in HC+CP, IL-8 concentrations were significantly lower than in T1DM+CP/T2DM+CP patients (P ≤ 0.05). No significant associations between the IL-8 plasma levels and the studied IL-8 and CXCR2 polymorphisms or the occurrence of selected periodontal bacteria (P > 0.05) were found. CP does not influence the circulating IL-8 levels. Patients with T1DM+CP/T2DM+CP had higher circulating IL-8 levels than HC+CP/non-periodontitis HC.

Septic shock is a major cause of mortality in ICU patients, its pathophysiology is complex and not properly understood. Oxidative stress seems to be one of the most important mechanisms of shock progression to multiple organ failure. In the present pilot study, we have analysed eight oxidative-stress-related biomarkers in seven consecutive time points (i.e., the first seven days) in 21 septic shock patients admitted to the ICU. Our objective was to describe the kinetics of four biomarkers related to pro-oxidative processes (nitrite/nitrate, malondialdehyde, 8-oxo-2′-deoxyguanosine, soluble endoglin) compared to four biomarkers of antioxidant processes (the ferric reducing ability of plasma, superoxide dismutase, asymmetric dimethylarginine, mid-regional pro-adrenomedullin) and four inflammatory biomarkers (CRP, IL-6, IL-10 and neopterin). Furthermore, we analysed each biomarker’s ability to predict mortality at the time of admission and 12 h after admission. Although a small number of study subjects were recruited, we have identified four promising molecules for further investigation: soluble endoglin, superoxide dismutase, asymmetric dimethylarginine and neopterin.

Background: Neurotrophins, especially brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) have gained significant therapeutic interest particularly in neurologic and psychiatric disorders and they have been found in human breast milk of mothers who suffered from adverse outcomes in pregnancy. This study tested the hypothesis that oral administration of BDNF/GDNF (glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor) can exert a biological effect in a rat model of severe neuropathology induced by olfactory bulbectomy (OBX), which exhibits dysregulation of and impaired blood-brain barrier. Methods: Adult male albino Sprague-Dawley rats underwent the OBX surgery and separate groups of OBX and sham-operated controls received one oral dose of vehicle, BDNF (0.005 mg/kg), GDNF (0.03 mg/kg) or their combination. One week after neurotrophin dosing the rats were sacrificed and BDNF level was assessed by ELISA in the blood serum. Results: A significant decrease of serum BDNF level was found in the OBX model. This alteration was normalized by all types of treatment BDNF, GDNF, or their combination. No influence of sham surgery or treatment was observed in the control rats. Conclusion: This study indicates that oral administration of neurotrophins is able to exert a biological effect in the OBX model. There is a number of potential mechanisms, which remain to be elucidated.

Myokines, important signalling molecules in regulation of homeostasis in a post-injury state, have not been studied in burn patients. Here, we aimed to analyse dynamic changes in systemic and local concentrations of myokines and evaluated their associations with the mode of physiotherapy in burn patients. In this pilot study, 20 burn patients underwent repeated functional proprioceptive stimulation and conventional physiotherapy. Plasma, skeletal muscle, and fatty tissue biopsies were obtained before and after physiotherapy and selected myokines were analysed by multiplex assays. There was no significant difference in myokine expression in relation to the mode of physiotherapy (p > 0.05); both modes were associated with a pattern of decreasing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plasma concentrations immediately after exercise. While BDNF plasma concentrations and follistatin-like 1 (FSTL1) muscle concentrations significantly increased over the 40-day post-injury hospitalization, plasma concentrations of FSTL1, fatty acid-binding protein 3 (FABP3), and interleukin 6 (IL6) decreased. In addition, FSTL1 in skeletal muscle increased during hospitalization in burn patients regardless of the physiotherapy mode. Significant positive correlations among FABP3, FSTL1, and IL6 in plasma were observed (r > 0.55); moreover, BDNF plasma concentrations significantly negatively correlated with those of FABP3 and FSTL1 (r = -0.53 and -0.45, respectively). In conclusion, we have identified a range of myokines potentially associated with rehabilitation and recovery in burn injury patients, which could help in further study of muscle wasting prevention in critically ill patients. We demonstrated the suitability of the panel for studying dynamic changes in concentrations of multiple myokines. BDNF, FABP3, and FSTL1 were shown to be the most promising myokines for further research in this area.