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Background and objectives: Evidence has shown that inflammatory mediators play an important role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate effects of eight weeks of continuous and intermittent aerobic exercise on some inflammatory indices in men with heart failure.
Methods: The effects of continuous aerobic exercise (at 45-70% maximum heart rate) and intermittent aerobic exercise (at 45-80% of maximum heart rate) on the level of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) were evaluated in 42 men with heart failure using commercial ELISA kits. Blood samples were taken after 12 hours of fasting one hour before the first session and 48 hours after the last exercise session. The subjects performed exercises three sessions a week, for eight weeks. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA at significance of 0.05.
Results: After the exercise program, serum hs-CRP (P=0.023), IL-6 (P=0.018) and TNF-α (P=0.048) differed significantly between the exercise groups and the control group. In addition, serum levels of IL-6 and hs-CRP decreased slightly in the intermittent aerobic group, but there was no significant difference between the two exercise groups. Intermittent aerobic exercise significantly reduced serum TNF-α level compared to the control group.
Conclusion: Probably aerobic exercise can have positive effects on the level of hs-CRP, IL-6 and TNF-α in patients with heart failure.

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Background & objectives: Sepsis is one of the most common cause of mortality among patients who are critically ill and in Intensive Care Units(ICU). Bacterial infection or sepsis leads to an increase in Neutrophilic CD64(nCD64) expression on activated polymorphonuclear leukocytes(PMNs). Early diagnosing of sepsis is very important in order to start timely and specific treatment. The availability of a rapid laboratory test with high specificity for sepsis in adult patients could aid in therapeutic decision making and reduce unnecessary antibiotic use.
Methods: Sepsis patients diagnosed as per sepsis-3 definition were included in this study. 2 ml blood sample was collected in EDTA & plain vial each for evaluation of nCD64, Procalcitonin(PCT) & high sensitivity C-reactive protein(hS-CRP). The samples were run on Flow cytometer, Nephelometer and Chemiluminescence for nCD64, hS-CRP and PCT respectively.
Result:  The Positive Predictive Value(PPV) of nCD64 for prediction of sepsis was 92.68% and the Negative Predictive value(NPV) was 94.87%. Receiver operating curve(ROC) was plotted for indicating the diagnostic accuracy of nCD64(≥1.8), hS-CRP(≥3 mg/L) and PCT(≥0.4 ng/mL). Area under the curve(AUC) for nCD64 was highest[0.938(95%CI=0.876-0.999)] followed by hS-CRP[0.888(95%CI=0.807-0.968)] and PCT [0.850(95%CI =0.759-0.941)].
Conclusion: These findings are suggestive of the possibility that nCD64 determination was a useful tool for diagnosing infection in patients with septic syndrome, with a performance superior to that of hS-CRP and PCT.