The present application concerns a method for identifying the nature of a bacterial infection from a peritoneal sample, in particular, whether it is a Gram-negative or Gram-positive infection, based upon the determination of one or more cellular and/or humoral markers in a sample.

The present invention relates to a method for diagnosing and/or prognosing renal dysfunction. The method comprises the steps of: (a) determining the level of an anti-inflammatory cytokine present in a urine sample from a subject prior to physical trauma, prior to a hypotensive event, prior to sepsis, and/or prior to septic shock syndrome; (b) determining the level of the anti-inflammatory cytokine present in a urine sample from the subject following physical trauma, following or during a hypotensive event, following or during sepsis, and/or following or during septic shock syndrome; (c) calculating the difference between the level of the anti-inflammatory cytokine determined in step a) from the level of the anti-inflammatory cytokine determined in step b), and (d) providing a diagnosis and/or prognosis on the basis of a comparison between the difference calculated in step c) and the difference calculated in step c) when steps a) and b) are practiced on a control group.

A marker for predicting pressure ulcer development, selected from the group consisting of interleukin (IL)-1, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C, plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1, and heat-shock protein (HSP) 90.

Disclosed is an in vitro method for assessing whether a human patient suffering from periodontitis has mild periodontitis or advanced periodontitis. The method is based on the insight to determine a selection of three biomarker proteins. Accordingly, in a sample of saliva a patient suffering from periodontitis, the concentrations are measured of the proteins Interleukin-1? (IL-1?), Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and at least one of the proteins: Interleukin-6 (IL-6), and Matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3). Based on the concentrations as measured, a value is determined reflecting the joint concentrations for said proteins. This value is compared with a threshold value reflecting in the same manner the joint concentrations associated with advanced periodontitis. The comparison allows assessing whether the testing value is indicative of the presence of advanced periodontitis or of mild periodontitis in said patient. Thereby, typically, a testing value reflecting a joint concentration below the joint concentration reflected by the threshold value is indicative for mild periodontitis in said patient, and a testing value reflecting a joint concentration at or above the joint concentration reflected by the threshold value, is indicative for advanced periodontitis in said patient.

The invention provides methods and systems for detecting a biomarker in a synovial fluid wherein the system also includes a control to ensure that the test sample is indeed synovial fluid. The biomarkers and the control for synovial fluid can be identified using proteomic methods, including but not limited to antibody based methods, such as an enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA), a radioimmunoassay (RIA), or a lateral flow immunoassay.

Diagnostic screening tests that can be used to identify if a patient is a good candidates for an implantable vagus nerve stimulation device. One or more analyte, such as a cytokine or inflammatory molecule, can be measured from a blood sample taken prior to implantation of a vagus nerve stimulator to determine the patient's responsiveness to VNS for treatment of an inflammatory disorder.

In one embodiment, the invention provides a method of treating a subject suffering from a Mycobacterium infection by administering to the subject a therapeutically-effective amount of a degradative autophagy agonist or a secretory autophagy antagonist. In another embodiment, the invention provides a method of treating a subject suffering from one or more diseases selected from the group consisting of a Mycobacterium infection, an inflammatory disorder, an immune disorder, a cancer and a neurodegenerative disorder by administering to the subject a therapeutically-effective amount of a TBK-1 antagonist (e.g. BX795 or amlexanox). Related pharmaceutical compositions, diagnostic and screening assays and kits are also provided.

In various embodiments, provided are methods for selecting and formulating compositions for treating and maintaining the quality of skin in a select population, wherein a composition is selected for use in a personal care product based on its demonstrated biological effect to improve skin quality in the population as evidenced by one or more biomarker changes that correlate with improvement as evidenced by one or more objective measurements of skin health in the population.

The present invention provides a method and a solid state device for identifying the presence of urothelial cancer in a patient comprising assigning the subject to a sub-population according to smoking habits, measuring the level of each biomarker of a panel of biomarkers in one or more samples obtained from the subject; and correlating the measured levels of the panel of biomarkers with the likelihood of the subject having urothelial cancer such that the subject can be classified as having urothelial cancer or as being a control.

The invention relates to a method for prognostic evaluation of the disease progression of rheumatoid arthritis, in particular prognostic evaluation of the disease progression during treatment, and for the diagnosis and/or activity determination of rheumatoid arthritis by analysing cytokines from a human full blood sample. In the method according to the invention, a volume of a full blood sample of a human is transferred into at least one test tube containing a stimulating agent. As control samples, the same volume of a full blood sample of the human in each case is transferred into an empty test tube as a negative control and a test tube containing lipopolysaccharide as a positive control respectively. After incubation, the concentration of at least one proinflammatory cytokine is determined from the cell-free residue of each test tube. By way of an altered concentration of the at least one cytokine in the at least one test tube comprising the stimulating agent, the prognostic evaluation of the disease progression or the diagnosis is subsequently made. The invention further relates to an associated diagnostic kit and to the use thereof. The invention is applied in medical diagnostics and medical research.