Current views on the treatment of portal hypertension

There is no established treatment protocol for bleeding esophageal varices on which there is universal agreement between surgeons and physicians with special interest in the subject of portal hypertension. In general, the outlook for these patients is poor irrespective of treatment and the single most important factor in determining the prognosis in the individual case, is the nature and progress of the underlying liver disease with the attendant overall hepatocyte function. This article attempts to review current views on the subject of therapy for portal hypertension and proposes a rational programme of management for these patients which is influenced by the author's personal experience.peer-reviewe

Measuring disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to low back pain in Malta

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a public health concern and a leading cause of ill health. A high prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints has been reported for Malta, a small European state. The aim was to estimate for the first time the burden of LBP at population level in Malta in terms of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and compare to estimates obtained by the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. Method: The Maltese European Health Interview Survey dataset for 2015 provided the LBP prevalence data through representative self-reported history of chronic LBP within the past 12 months in combination with limitations to daily activities. Proportions of LBP severity (with and without leg pain – mild, moderate, severe and most severe) and their corresponding disability weights followed values reported in the GBD study. Years lived with disability (YLD) for LBP were estimated for the whole population by age and sex. Since LBP does not carry any mortality, YLD reflected DALYs. The estimated local DALYs per 100,000 were compared to the GBD 2017 study results for Malta for the same year. Results: LBP with activity limitation gave a point prevalence of 6.4% (95% Uncertainty Interval [UI] 5.7–7.2%) (5.6% males [95% UI 4.6–6.6%]; 7.3% females [95% UI 6.2–8.4%]), contributing to a total of 23,649 (95% UI 20,974–26,463) Maltese suffering from LBP. The LBP DALYs were of 716 (95% UI 558–896) per 100,000. Females experienced higher LBP burden (739 [95% UI 575–927] DALYs per 100,000) than males (693 [95% UI 541–867] DALYs per 100,000). Our DALY estimates were lower than those reported by the GBD 2017 study (i.e., 1829 [95% UI 1300–2466] per 100,000). Conclusions: LBP imposes a substantial burden on the Maltese population. Differences observed between national estimates and those of the GBD study suggest the integration of updated locally sourced data into the model and encouraging local contributors in order to improve the DALY estimates of each country. Keywords: Low back pain, Epidemiology, Burden, Outcome research, Malta, Burden of disease, YLL, YLD, DALYs, GBD, European burden of disease networkpeer-reviewe

BNNT- Mediated Irreversible Electroporation: It\u27s Potential on Cancer Cells

Irreversible lethal electroporation (IRE) is a new non-thermal ablation modality that uses short pulses of high amplitude static electric fields (up 1000V/cm) to create irreversible pores in the cell membrane, thus, causing cell death. Recently, IRE has emerged as a promising clinical modality for cancer disease treatment. Here, we investigated the responses of tumour human He La cells when subjected to IRE in the presence of BNNTs. These consist of tiny tubes of B and N atoms (arranged in hexagons) with diameters ranging from a 1 to 3 nanometres and lengths \u3c2 μm. BNNTs have attracted wide attention because of their unique electrical properties. We speculate that BNNTs, when interacting with cells exposed to static electrical fields, amplify locally the electric field, leading to cell death. In this work, electroporation assays were performed with a commercial electroporator using the cell-specific protocol suggested by the supplier (exponential decay wave, time constant 20ms) with the specific aim to compare IRE in absence and in presence of BNNTs. We observed that BNNTs have the capacity to decrease substantially the voltage required for IRE. When cells were pulsed at 800V/cm, we observed a 2,2-fold reduction in cell survival in the presence of BNNTs compared to controls. We conclude that the death of the tumour cells exposed to IRE is strongly enhanced in the presence of BNNTs, indicating their potential therapeutic application

Reduction of low- and high-grade cervical abnormalities associated with high uptake of the HPV bivalent vaccine in Scotland

In Scotland, a national HPV immunisation programme began in 2008 for 12-13 year olds, with a catch-up campaign from 2008-2011 for those under the age of 18. To monitor the impact of HPV immunisation on cervical disease at the population level, a programme of national surveillance was established.  We analysed colposcopy data from a cohort of women born between 1988-1992 who entered the Scottish Cervical Screening Programme (SCSP) and were aged 20-21 in 2008-2012.  By linking datasets from the SCSP and colposcopy services, we observed a significant reduction in diagnoses of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 1 (CIN 1) (RR 0.71, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.87, p=0.0008), CIN 2 (RR 0.5, 95% CI 0.4, 0.63, p<0.0001) and CIN 3 (RR 0.45, 95% CI 0.35 to 0.58, p< 0.0001) for women who received 3 doses of vaccine compared with unvaccinated women.  To our knowledge, this is one of the first studies to show a reduction of low and high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia associated with high uptake of the HPV bivalent vaccine at the population level. These data are very encouraging for countries that have achieved high HPV vaccine uptake

Magnetic carbon nanotubes: a new tool for shepherding mesenchymal stem cells by magnetic fields

We investigated the interaction between magnetic carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and their ability to guide these intravenously injected cells in living rats by using an external magnetic field. MATERIALS & METHODS: Multiwalled CNTs were used to treat MSCs derived from rat bone marrow. Cytotoxicity induced by nanotubes was studied using the WST-1 proliferation and Hoechest 33258 apoptosis assays. The effects of nanotubes on MSCs were evaluated by monitoring the effects on cellular growth rates, immunophenotyping and differentiation, and on the arrangement of cytoskeletal actin. MSCs loaded with nanotubes were injected in vivo in the portal vein of rats driving their localization in the liver by magnetic field. An histological analysis was performed on the liver, lungs and kidneys of all animals. RESULTS: CNTs did not affect cell viability and their ability to differentiate in osteocytes and adipocytes. Both the CNTs and the magnetic field did not alter the cell growth rate, phenotype and cytoskeletal conformation. CNTs, when exposed to magnetic fields, are able to shepherd MSCs towards the magnetic source in vitro. Moreover, the application of a magnetic field alters the biodistribution of CNT-labelled MSCs after intravenous injection into rats, increasing the accumulation of cells into the target organ (liver). CONCLUSION: Multiwalled CNTs hold the potential for use as nanodevices to improve therapeutic protocols for transplantation and homing of stem cells in vivo. This could pave the way for the development of new strategies for the manipulation/guidance of MSCs in regenerative medicine and cell transplantation