Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40070835›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in immunology2025

Identification and validation of neutrophil-related biomarkers in acute-on-chronic liver failure.

Wei Lin, Yongping Chen, Mingqin Lu, Cheng Peng, Xiang Chen, Xiaoqin Liu, Yunyun Wang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in immunology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Wei LinDepartment of Orthopedics, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Yongping ChenDepartment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Mingqin LuDepartment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Cheng PengDepartment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Xiang ChenDepartment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Xiaoqin LiuDepartment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Yunyun WangDepartment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Dysfunction of peripheral blood neutrophils occurs in acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). However, the molecular mechanisms of neutrophils involved in the pathophysiology of the ACLF remains poorly understood. Data downloaded from the GEO database (GSE142255) was used to identify both ACLF and neutrophil-related genes with the help of the limma package and Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) algorithms. The analysis identified 288 ACLF-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the circulating blood cells. Among these, three genes were found to be related to neutrophils and were identified as diagnostic genes, exhibiting high diagnostic efficacy as evidenced by an area under the curve (AUC) value of 1. Among these, matrix metallopeptidase-9 (MMP9) and S100 calcium binding protein A12 (S100A12) were upregulated, whereas C-C chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5) was downregulated in circulating immune cells from patients with ACLF compared to those from healthy controls. These findings were corroborated using an additional GEO dataset, GSE156382. The expression levels of the three key genes demonstrated a correlation with both ferroptosis and cuprotosis. Among the three diagnostic genes, only MMP9 was validated as differentially expressed through both quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blot. Moreover, a significant elevation in plasma MMP9 levels was observed in patients with ACLF compared to those with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and acute decompensated cirrhosis (AD). Notably, ACLF patients exhibiting elevated MMP9 levels (>175.8 ng/mL) experienced higher short-term mortality rates within both 30 and 90 days (p<0.001). In addition, a total of 21 drugs targeting the three diagnostic genes were identified from the Drug Bank database. Finally, the Kinase-TF-mRNA-miRNA network was constructed utilizing Cytoscape software. This study represents the initial application of WGCNA algorithms to identify novel biomarkers related to neutrophils in ACLF. Our findings offer new perspectives on the role of neutrophil in the pathogenesis of ACLF. However, additional research is required to substantiate the effects of these key genes and therapeutic agents on ACLF.

Indexed as

Acute-On-Chronic Liver FailureBiomarkersNeutrophilsAdultChemokine CCL5FemaleGene Expression ProfilingGene Regulatory NetworksHumansMaleMatrix Metalloproteinase 9Middle AgedBiomarkersChemokine CCL5Matrix Metalloproteinase 9MMP9 protein, humanACLFbiomarker genesCIBERSORTneutrophilWGCNA

Identifiers

PMID40070835
PMCPMC11893565

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.