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ObjectiveSerum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) level, which is a biomarker indicative of neuroaxonal damage and cognitive impairment, has been reported in several neurological diseases. There has been a lack of studies on the association between sNfL levels and prediabetes in adolescents. This study investigated whether sNfL levels were higher in adolescents with prediabetes undergoing elective orthopedic surgery.MethodsThe sNfL level was measured in 149 adolescents aged from 12 to 18 years who underwent elective orthopedic surgery at the Hunan Children’s Hospital (18 with and 131 without prediabetes). We evaluated the association between prediabetes and sNfL level after adjusting for age, sex, and triglycerides using a multivariable linear regression model.ResultsThe prevalence of prediabetes in adolescents was 12.08%. Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that prediabetes was related to sNfL. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, the association between prediabetes with sNfL levels remained significant after adjustment for age, sex, and triglyceride. The relationship between the two was further visualized by a smoothed curve.ConclusionsPrediabetes is associated with a higher sNfL. Further large-scale and prospective studies are needed to verify the clinical application of sNfL as a monitoring biomarker for adolescent prediabetes in adolescents and to evaluate the performance of sNfL in predicting the incidence of neuropathy and cognitive dysfunction in adolescents with prediabetes.

Abstract: Endothelin-1 (ET-1) may be involved in driving pain in patients with advanced cancer. However, a few studies focus on the role of ET-1 in breakthrough pain (BP). The aim of this pivotal study was to explore the correlation between the plasma (ET-1) level and BP intensity. A total of 40 patients were enrolled in the study, and they were divided into two groups: BP group and non-BP group. Moreover, 20 healthy adults were used as the normal control group. Pain intensity was measured using visual analog scale (VAS) scores of 1–10. Plasma ET-1 levels were detected by an ET radioimmunoassay kit. Subsequently, the correlation of ET-1 level with the VAS score and cancer types was analyzed by Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The plasma ET-1 level in the BP group (35.31±8.02 pg/mL) was higher than that in the non-BP group (29.51±6.78 pg/mL) and the normal control group (24.77±10.10 pg/mL, P,0.05). In addition, the VAS score in the BP group (7.45±0.82) was higher than that in the non-BP group (2.80±1.23, P,0.05). The plasma ET-1 level was positively correlated with the VAS score of the BP group (Pearson’s r=0.42). There was no significant correlation between the plasma ET-1 level and VAS score of the non-BP group (Pearson’s r=−0.22) or/and cancer types (P.0.05). The elevated plasma ET-1 levels were positively related to BP, and targeting ET-1 may provide a novel pain-reducing therapeutic treatment in BP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]