Effect of levosimendan in experimental verapamil- induced myocardial depression

Background: Calcium antagonist overdose can cause severe deterioration of hemodynamics unresponsible to treatment with beta adrenergic inotropes. The aim of the study was to evaluate in an experimental model the effects of levosimendan during severe calcium antagonist intoxication. Methods: Twelve landrace-pigs were intoxicated with intravenous verapamil at escalating infusion rates. The infusion containing 2.5 mg/ml verapamil was used aiming to a reduction of cardiac output by 40 % from the baseline value. Intoxicated pigs were randomized into two groups: control (saline) and levosimendan (intravenous bolus). Inotropic effect was measured as a change in a maximum of the positive slope of the left ventricular pressure (LV dP/dt). The survival and hemodynamics of the animals were followed for 120 min after the targeted reduction of cardiac output. Results: In the control group, five out of six pigs died during the experiment. In the levosimendan group, one pig died before completion of the experiment (p = 0.04). In the levosimendan group a change in LV dP/dt was positive in four out of six pigs compared to one out of six pigs in the control group (p = ns). Conclusions: In this experimental model, the use of levosimendan was associated with improved survival. Background In the year 2004 more than 10000 toxic exposures to calciu

Alcohol use in the prehospital setting: a diagnostic challenge in patients treated by a physician staffed mobile intensive care unit

BACKGROUND: Alcohol use among emergency patients has been studied earlier, but the data regarding alcohol use especially among critically ill and injured patients treated in the prehospital setting is scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of alcohol use and the characteristics of cases attended by a physician staffed mobile intensive care unit (MICU). FINDINGS: During a 2 month period, exhaled air alcohol concentration-measured as a part of routine patient examination in all adolescent and adult patients treated by the MICU-was recorded. The MICU encountered 258 patients, of which 82 could be tested for alcohol use. Of the tested patients 43 % gave a positive breath test result. Proportion of male patients providing a positive result in the breath test did not differ significantly those of women. The primary reason for not to test the patient was a decreased level of consciousness in one-fifth of the initial 258 patients. CONCLUSIONS: A significant proportion (47 %) of the encountered patients could not be tested due to their critical condition. Alcohol use was observed in 43 % of those capable of providing a breath test sample. The rate of positive tests seemed to be higher than those reported from emergency departments. Novel diagnostic methods to detect alcohol consumption in non-cooperative patients are warranted

Motivoiko joulunumero?

Teema : motivaati

Bioengineered Porous Silicon Nanoparticles@Macrophages Cell Membrane as Composite Platforms for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Biohybrid nanosystems are at the center of personalized medicine, affording prolonged circulation time and targeting to the disease site, and serving as antigenic sources of vaccines. The optimization and functionality parameters of these nanosystems vary depending on the properties of the core particles. In this work, the effects of the core particles’ surface charge and hydrophobicity are evaluated on the nanosystem coating with vesicles derived from plasma membrane. The measured parameters are the dimensions, surface charge, shape, and stability of the biohybrid nanosystems, both in buffer and in biologically relevant media (plasma and simulated synovial fluid). Moreover, the cytocompatibility properties of the developed nanosystems are evaluated in different cell lines mimicking the target cell populations and other districts of the body involved in the distribution and elimination of the nanoparticles. Finally, the immunological profile of the particles is investigated, highlighting the absence of immune activation promoted by the nanoplatforms.Peer reviewe

Lääkärien pariutumisen motiivit

Teema : motivaati

Rintakehän yläaukeaman oireyhtymä - toiminnallinen yläraajavaiva

English summary: Thoracic outlet syndromePeer reviewe

Programmed death-ligand 1 and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) – low TIL density may predict poorer long-term prognosis in T1 laryngeal cancer

We evaluated the prognostic role of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in T1 glottic laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). T1 glottic LSCC patients (n = 174) treated at five Finnish university hospitals between 2003 and 2013 were included. Tissue microarray (TMA) blocks were used for PD-L1 immunohistochemistry. TILs were scored from intratumoral and stromal regions in whole tissue sections. Of 174 patients, 92 (53%) had negative, 66 (38%) intermediate, and 16 (9%) high PD-L1 levels. Of 80 patients whose TILs were analyzed, 50 (63%) had low and 30 (38%) high stromal TIL density. Patients with a local recurrence or a new primary tumor of the larynx had lower TIL density than had other patients (p = 0.047). High PD-L1 expression with low stromal TIL density was associated with inferior 5-year disease-specific survival (85% vs. 100%, p = 0.02). In conclusion, in patients treated for T1 glottic LSCC, low stromal TIL density was associated with local recurrences and new primary tumors of the larynx. High PD-L1 expression with low stromal TIL density may be associated with worse survival in T1 glottic LSCC.Peer reviewe

Genome-wide association study identifies a variant in HDAC9 associated with large vessel ischemic stroke

Genetic factors have been implicated in stroke risk but few replicated associations have been reported. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in ischemic stroke and its subtypes in 3,548 cases and 5,972 controls, all of European ancestry. Replication of potential signals was performed in 5,859 cases and 6,281 controls. We replicated reported associations between variants close to PITX2 and ZFHX3 with cardioembolic stroke, and a 9p21 locus with large vessel stroke. We identified a novel association for a SNP within the histone deacetylase 9(HDAC9) gene on chromosome 7p21.1 which was associated with large vessel stroke including additional replication in a further 735 cases and 28583 controls (rs11984041, combined P = 1.87×10−11, OR=1.42 (95% CI) 1.28-1.57). All four loci exhibit evidence for heterogeneity of effect across the stroke subtypes, with some, and possibly all, affecting risk for only one subtype. This suggests differing genetic architectures for different stroke subtypes

Hundreds of variants clustered in genomic loci and biological pathways affect human height

Most common human traits and diseases have a polygenic pattern of inheritance: DNA sequence variants at many genetic loci influence the phenotype. Genome-wide association (GWA) studies have identified more than 600 variants associated with human traits, but these typically explain small fractions of phenotypic variation, raising questions about the use of further studies. Here, using 183,727 individuals, we show that hundreds of genetic variants, in at least 180 loci, influence adult height, a highly heritable and classic polygenic trait. The large number of loci reveals patterns with important implications for genetic studies of common human diseases and traits. First, the 180 loci are not random, but instead are enriched for genes that are connected in biological pathways (P = 0.016) and that underlie skeletal growth defects (P < 0.001). Second, the likely causal gene is often located near the most strongly associated variant: in 13 of 21 loci containing a known skeletal growth gene, that gene was closest to the associated variant. Third, at least 19 loci have multiple independently associated variants, suggesting that allelic heterogeneity is a frequent feature of polygenic traits, that comprehensive explorations of already-discovered loci should discover additional variants and that an appreciable fraction of associated loci may have been identified. Fourth, associated variants are enriched for likely functional effects on genes, being over-represented among variants that alter amino-acid structure of proteins and expression levels of nearby genes. Our data explain approximately 10% of the phenotypic variation in height, and we estimate that unidentified common variants of similar effect sizes would increase this figure to approximately 16% of phenotypic variation (approximately 20% of heritable variation). Although additional approaches are needed to dissect the genetic architecture of polygenic human traits fully, our findings indicate that GWA studies can identify large numbers of loci that implicate biologically relevant genes and pathways.

Genetic fine mapping and genomic annotation defines causal mechanisms at type 2 diabetes susceptibility loci.

We performed fine mapping of 39 established type 2 diabetes (T2D) loci in 27,206 cases and 57,574 controls of European ancestry. We identified 49 distinct association signals at these loci, including five mapping in or near KCNQ1. 'Credible sets' of the variants most likely to drive each distinct signal mapped predominantly to noncoding sequence, implying that association with T2D is mediated through gene regulation. Credible set variants were enriched for overlap with FOXA2 chromatin immunoprecipitation binding sites in human islet and liver cells, including at MTNR1B, where fine mapping implicated rs10830963 as driving T2D association. We confirmed that the T2D risk allele for this SNP increases FOXA2-bound enhancer activity in islet- and liver-derived cells. We observed allele-specific differences in NEUROD1 binding in islet-derived cells, consistent with evidence that the T2D risk allele increases islet MTNR1B expression. Our study demonstrates how integration of genetic and genomic information can define molecular mechanisms through which variants underlying association signals exert their effects on disease