Genetic Algorithms to Simplify Prognosis of Endocarditis

This ongoing interdisciplinary research is based on the application of genetic algorithms to simplify the process of predicting the mortality of a critical illness called endocarditis. The goal is to determine the most relevant features (symptoms) of patients (samples) observed by doctors to predict the possible mortality once the patient is in treatment of bacterial endocarditis. This can help doctors to prognose the illness in early stages; by helping them to identify in advance possible solutions in order to aid the patient recover faster. The results obtained using a real data set, show that using only the features selected by employing a genetic algorithm from each patient’s case can predict with a quite high accuracy the most probable evolution of the patient

Riociguat treatment in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: Final safety data from the EXPERT registry

Objective: The soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator riociguat is approved for the treatment of adult patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and inoperable or persistent/recurrent chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) following Phase

Differential expression of laminin isoform (a2), integrins (a3B1 and a6B4) and cytokeratin 20 in H. pylori gastritis

The expression of laminin-l chains (131 and yl), laminin-2 (merosin), integrin receptors to laminin (a3131 and a6134) and cytokeratin (CK20) were studied by immunohistochemical methods in gastric biopsies from antrum of 25 patients. H. pylori gastritis was found in 19 cases and intestinal metaplasia (IM) in four from these 19. Another 13 biopsies, all with IM were immunostained to laminin-2. Laminin-l chains in normal and gastritis areas without 1M were expressed as a strong, linear and continuous deposit in the basement membranes of the superficial and glandular epithelium. In metaplastic glands the reactivity to laminin-l chains was decreased. Merosin was discontinuous when a moderate to accentuated H. pylori glandular colonization was present. Samples with IM were negative to laminin- 2. The a3131 and a6134 integrins were negative only in IM gastric biopsies. The CK20 immunoreactivity was strong and homogeneous in the cells at the tip and the upper portion of foveolae in normal areas and in gastritis with IM the reactivity to CK 20 was heterogeneous. A differential expression of laminin isoforms is related to inflammation and subsequent IM caused by H, pylori. The alterations of a3131 and a6D4 parallel both modifications in merosin and CK20 expression in H. py10r.i chronic gastritis

Associations Between Major Psychiatric Disorder Polygenic Risk Scores and Blood-Based Markers in UK Biobank

Major depressive disorder (MDD), schizophrenia (SCZ), and bipolar disorder (BD) have both shared and discrete genetic risk factors, and are associated with peripheral abnormalities. The relationships between such genetic architectures and blood-based markers are, however, unclear. We investigated relationships between polygenic risk scores (PRS) for these disorders and peripheral markers in the UK Biobank cohort. We calculated polygenic risk scores for n = 367,329 (MDD PRS), n = 366,465 (SCZ PRS), and n = 366,383 (BD PRS) UK Biobank cohort subjects. We then examined associations between disorder PRS and 58 inflammatory/immune, hematological, bone, cardiovascular, hormone, liver, renal and diabetes-associated blood markers using two generalized linear regression models: ‘minimally adjusted’ controlling for variables such as age and sex, and ‘fully adjusted’ including additional lifestyle covariates: BMI, alcohol and smoking status, and medication intake. There were 38/58 MDD PRS, 32/58 SCZ PRS, and 20/58 BD PRS-blood marker associations detected for our minimally adjusted model. Of these, 13/38 (MDD PRS), 14/32 (SCZ PRS), and 10/20 (BD PRS) associations remained significant after controlling for lifestyle factors. Many were disorder-specific, with 8/13 unique MDD PRS associations identified. Several disorder-specific associations for MDD and SCZ were immune-related, with mostly positive and negative associations identified for MDD and SCZ PRS respectively. This study suggests that MDD, SCZ and BD have both shared and distinct peripheral markers associated with disorder-specific genetic risk. The results also implicate inflammatory dysfunction in MDD and SCZ, albeit with differences in patterns between the two conditions, and enrich our understanding of potential underlying pathophysiological mechanisms in major psychiatric disorders