Benefits and Harms of Electrical Neuromodulation for Chronic Pelvic Pain: A Systematic Review

Context: Patients with chronic pelvic pain (CPP) may have pain refractory to conventional pain management strategies. Neuromodulation could provide relief of pain. / Objective: To evaluate the benefits and harms of neuromodulation for CPP. / Evidence acquisition:: A comprehensive search of EMBASE, PUBMED, and SCOPUS was performed for the entire database to January 2018. Studies were selected, data were extracted, and quality was assessed by two independent reviewers. A meta-analysis was used to combine randomized controlled trials (RCTs); otherwise, a narrative analysis was used. / Evidence synthesis: After screening 1311 abstracts, 36 studies including eight RCTs were identified, enrolling 1099 patients. Studies covered a broad range in terms of phenotypes of CPP and methods of neuromodulation. A meta-analysis was possible for percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, which showed improvement in pain. Only narrative synthesis was possible for other modalities (sacral nerve stimulation, spinal cord stimulation, intravaginal electrical stimulation, and pudendal nerve stimulation) which appeared to reduce pain in patients with CPP. Treatments generally improved quality of life but with variable reporting of adverse events. Many studies showed high risks of bias and confounding. / Conclusions: While electrical neuromodulation may improve symptoms in CPP, further work is needed with high-quality studies to confirm it. / Patient summary: Neuromodulation may be useful in reducing pain and improving quality of life in patients with chronic pelvic pain, but more research is needed

For whom and under what circumstances do school-based energy balance behavior interventions work? Systematic review on moderators

The aim of this review was to systematically review the results and quality of studies investigating the moderators of school-based interventions aimed at energy balance-related behaviors. We systematically searched the electronic databases of Pubmed, EMBASE, Cochrane, PsycInfo, ERIC and Sportdiscus. In total 61 articles were included. Gender, ethnicity, age, baseline values of outcomes, initial weight status and socioeconomic status were the most frequently studied potential moderators. The moderator with the most convincing evidence was gender. School-based interventions appear to work better for girls than for boys. Due to the inconsistent results, many studies reporting non-significant moderating effects, and the moderate methodological quality of most studies, no further consistent results were found. Consequently, there is lack of insight into what interventions work for whom. Future studies should apply stronger methodology to test moderating effects of important potential target group segmentations

Protein and folic acid content in the maternal diet determine lipid metabolism and response to high-fat feeding in rat progeny in an age-dependent manner

Maternal diet during gestation can exert a long-term effect on the progeny’s health by programming their developmental scheme and metabolism. The aim of this study is to analyze the influence of maternal diet on lipid metabolism in 10- and 16-week-old rats. Pregnant dams were fed one of four diets: a normal protein and normal folic acid diet (NP-NF), a protein-restricted and normal folic acid diet (PR-NF), a protein-restricted and folic-acid-supplemented diet (PR-FS), or a normal protein and folic-acid-supplemented diet (NP-FS). We also tested whether prenatal nutrition determines the reaction of an organism to a postweaning high-fat diet. Blood biochemistry and biometrical parameters were evaluated. The expression patterns of PPARα, PPARγ, and LXRα in the liver and adipose tissue were examined by real-time PCR. In the 10-week-old, rats folic acid supplementation of the maternal diet was associated with reduced circulating glucose and total cholesterol concentrations (P < 0.01 and P < 0.001, respectively). Neither prenatal diets nor postnatal feeding affected blood insulin concentrations. In the 16-week-old rats, body weight, abdominal fat mass and central adiposity were reduced in the progeny of the folic acid–supplemented dams (P < 0.01, P < 0.001 and P < 0.01, respectively). Maternal protein restriction had no effect on biometry or blood biochemical parameters. Folic acid supplementation of the maternal diet was associated with reduced expression of PPARα, PPARγ, and LXRα in the liver (P < 0.001). Reduced protein content in the maternal diet was associated with increased PPARα mRNA level in the liver (P < 0.001) and reduced LXRα in adipose tissue (P < 0.01). PPARα and PPARγ transcription in the liver, as well as LXRα transcription in adipose tissue, was also dependent on interaction effects between prenatal and postnatal diet compositions. PPARγ transcription in the liver was correlated with the abdominal fat mass, body weight, and calorie intake, while PPARγ transcription in adipose tissue was correlated with reduced body weight and calorie intake. Total serum cholesterol concentration was correlated with LXRα transcription in the liver. Folic acid supplementation of the maternal diet may have favorable effects for lipid metabolism in the progeny, but these effects are modified by the postnatal diet and age. Furthermore, the expression of LXRα, PPARα, and PPARγ in the liver and adipose tissue largely depends on the protein and folic acid content in the maternal diet during gestation. However, the altered transcription profile of these key regulators of lipid metabolism does not straightforwardly explain the observed phenotype

Impact of volatile phenols and their precursors on wine quality and control measures of Brettanomyces/Dekkera yeasts

Volatile phenols are aromatic compounds and one of the key molecules responsible for olfactory defects in wine. The yeast genus Brettanomyces is the only major microorganism that has the ability to covert hydroxycinnamic acids into important levels of these compounds, especially 4-ethylphenol and 4-ethylguaiacol, in red wine. When 4-ethylphenols reach concentrations greater than the sensory threshold, all wine’s organoleptic characteristics might be influenced or damaged. The aim of this literature review is to provide a better understanding of the physicochemical, biochemical, and metabolic factors that are related to the levels of p-coumaric acid and volatile phenols in wine. Then, this work summarizes the different methods used for controlling the presence of Brettanomyces in wine and the production of ethylphenols