91 research outputs found
Newborn patients exhibit an unusual pattern of interleukin 10 and interferon Îł serum levels in response to cardiac surgery
AbstractObjective: The aim of this study was to determine the clinical significance of serum levels of interleukin 10 and interferon Îł in pediatric patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass. Methods: We divided the patients into 2 groups: 8 neonates and 19 nonnewborn children. Interleukin 10 and interferon Îł serum levels were quantified before sternotomy, at admission to the pediatric intensive care unit (30 minutes postoperatively), 24 hours after the onset of the operation, and 3 days after the operation. Results: Newborn patients displayed significantly greater amounts of serum interleukin 10 than older children, not only in regard to the peak level achieved but also at every postoperative time point analyzed. In contrast, no significant changes in interferon Îł serum levels were observed in neonates at any time point, whereas nonnewborn pediatric patients showed a significant increase in interferon Îł serum concentrations immediately after the operation. This unusual pattern of cytokine response in newborn patients was not associated with modifications in cortisol serum levels. Furthermore, although neonates had significantly different surgical and clinical variables than did the nonnewborn pediatric patients, the variation in interleukin 10 production in neonates could not be accounted for by differences in the magnitude of surgical injury. In the group of neonates, there were significant positive correlations between peak interleukin 10 serum levels and both partial pressure of arterial oxygen/fraction of inspired oxygen ratio and postoperative body weight gain. Conclusions: Newborn patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass exhibit a distinctive biologic response pattern characterized by high levels of serum interleukin 10 without changes in serum interferon Îł. This cytokine imbalance could have potential clinical implications.J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2002;123:451-
Tissue remodelling and increased DNA damage in patients with incompetent valves in chronic venous insufficiency
Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), in which blood return to the heart is impaired, is a prevalent condition worldwide. Valve incompetence is a complication of CVI that results in blood reflux, thereby aggravating venous hypertension. While CVI has a complex course and is known to produce alterations in the vein wall, the underlying pathological mechanisms remain unclear. This study examined the presence of DNA damage, pro-inflammatory cytokines and extracellular matrix remodelling in CVI-related valve incompetence. One hundred and ten patients with CVI were reviewed and divided into four groups according to age (<50 and â„50 years) and a clinical diagnosis of venous reflux indicating venous system valve incompetence (R) (n = 81) or no reflux (NR) (n = 29). In vein specimens (greater saphenous vein) from each group, PARP, IL-17, COL-I, COL-III, MMP-2 and TIMP-2 expression levels were determined by RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry. The younger patients with valve incompetence showed significantly higher PARP, IL-17, COL-I, COL-III, MMP-2 and reduced TIMP-2 expression levels and a higher COL-I/III ratio. Young CVI patients with venous reflux suffer chronic DNA damage, with consequences at both the local tissue and systemic levels, possibly associated with ageing.This study (FIS-PI18/00912) was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Plan Estatal de I + D+i 2013-2016) and co-financed by the European Development Regional Fund âA way to achieve Europeâ (ERDF) and B2017/BMD-3804 MITIC-CM
Women with psychotic episodes during pregnancy show increased markers of placental damage with Tenney-Parker changes
y. Psychosis is a hazardous and functionally
disruptive psychiatric condition which may affect
women in pregnancy, entailing negative consequences
for maternofetal well-being. The precise pathophysiological basis and consequences of a psychotic episode in
pregnancy remain to be further elucidated. The placenta
is a pivotal tissue with many functions in the gestational
period, critically influencing the fate and development of
pregnancy. Although detrimental alterations have been
observed in women undergoing severe psychiatric
disorders in pregnancy, there are little studies evaluating
the consequences of suffering from a psychotic episode
in the placental tissue In this work, we have evaluated
the histopathological consequences of a first episode of
psychosis in pregnancy (FE-PW; N=22) and compare
them with healthy pregnant women (HC-PW; N=20) by
using histological, immunohistochemical and gene
expression techniques. Our results define that the
placental tissue of FE-PW display an increase in the
number of placental villi, bridges, syncytial knots and
syncytial knots/villi. Besides, we have also observed an
enhanced gene and protein expression in FE-PW of the
hypoxic marker HIF-1α, together with the apoptotic
markers BAX and Bcl-2. To our knowledge, this is the
first study demonstrating significant histopathological
changes in the placenta of women suffering a new-onset
psychotic episode in pregnancy. Further studies should
be aimed at deepening the knowledge about the
pernicious effects of psychosis in the maternofetal
tissues, as well as the potential implications of these
alterations
Vortex dynamics for two-dimensional XY models
Two-dimensional XY models with resistively shunted junction (RSJ) dynamics
and time dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) dynamics are simulated and it is
verified that the vortex response is well described by the Minnhagen
phenomenology for both types of dynamics. Evidence is presented supporting that
the dynamical critical exponent in the low-temperature phase is given by
the scaling prediction (expressed in terms of the Coulomb gas temperature
and the vortex renormalization given by the dielectric constant
) both for RSJ and TDGL
and that the nonlinear IV exponent a is given by a=z+1 in the low-temperature
phase. The results are discussed and compared with the results of other recent
papers and the importance of the boundary conditions is emphasized.Comment: 21 pages including 15 figures, final versio
Melting and transverse depinning of driven vortex lattices in the periodic pinning of Josephson junction arrays
We study the non-equilibrium dynamical regimes of a moving vortex lattice in
the periodic pinning of a Josephson junction array (JJA) for {\it finite
temperatures} in the case of a fractional or submatching field. We obtain a
phase diagram for the current driven JJA as a function of the driving current I
and temperature T. We find that when the vortex lattice is driven by a current,
the depinning transition at and the melting transition at
become separated even for a field for which they coincide in equilibrium. We
also distinguish between the depinning of the vortex lattice in the direction
of the current drive, and the {\it transverse depinning} in the direction
perpendicular to the drive. The transverse depinning corresponds to the onset
of transverse resistance in a moving vortex lattice at a given temperature
. For driving currents above the critical current we find that the
moving vortex lattice has first a transverse depinning transition at low T, and
later a melting transition at a higher temperature, .Comment: 17 pages, 19 figure
The association between CD2+ peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets and the relapse of bladder cancer in prophylactically BCG-treated patients
We investigated the potential existence of differences in the distribution of T-lymphocyte subsets and in the proliferative response of these CD2+ cells to polyclonal mitogens in patients with transitional cell bladder carcinoma (SBTCC) treated with prophylactic intracavitary instillations of bacillus CalmetteâGuĂ©rin (BCG) according to their clinical response to this treatment. Before BCG treatment, different subset distribution (CD8+ and CD3+ CD56+), activation antigen expression (CD3+ HLAâ DR+) and proliferative response to mitogenic signals were found in CD2+ cells from SBTCC patients prophylactically treated with BCG who remained free of disease or those who had recurrence of tumour. Otherwise, the prophylactic intracavitary BCG instillations in SBTCC patients are associated with a transitory variation of T-lymphocyte subset distribution (CD4 and CD8) and activation antigens expression (CD25). © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig
Relationship between IGF-1 and body weight in inflammatory bowel diseases: Cellular and molecular mechanisms involved
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), represented by ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn''s disease (CD), are characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, what leads to diarrhea, malnutrition, and weight loss. Depression of the growth hormone-insulin-like growth factor-1 axis (GH-IGF-1 axis) could be responsible of these symptoms. We demonstrate that long-term treatment (54 weeks) of adult CD patients with adalimumab (ADA) results in a decrease in serum IGF-1 without changes in serum IGF-1 binding protein (IGF1BP4). These results prompted us to conduct a preclinical study to test the efficiency of IGF-1 in the medication for experimental colitis. IGF-1 treatment of rats with DSS-induced colitis has a beneficial effect on the following circulating biochemical parameters: glucose, albumin, and total protein levels. In this experimental group we also observed healthy maintenance of colon size, body weight, and lean mass in comparison with the DSS-only group. Histological analysis revealed restoration of the mucosal barrier with the IGF-1 treatment, which was characterized by healthy quantities of mucin production, structural maintenance of adherers junctions (AJs), recuperation of E-cadherin and Ă-catenin levels and decrease in infiltrating immune cells and in metalloproteinase-2 levels. The experimentally induced colitis caused activation of apoptosis markers, including cleaved caspase 3, caspase 8, and PARP and decreases cell-cycle checkpoint activators including phosphorylated Rb, cyclin E, and E2F1. The IGF-1 treatment inhibited cyclin E depletion and partially protects PARP levels. The beneficial effects of IGF-1 in experimental colitis could be explained by a re-sensitization of the IGF-1/IRS-1/AKT cascade to exogenous IGF-1. Given these results, we postulate that IGF-1 treatment of IBD patients could prove to be successful in reducing disease pathology. © 2021 The Author
A systematic review of controlled trials on visual stress using Intuitive Overlays or the Intuitive Colorimeter
Claims that coloured filters aid reading date back 200 years and remain controversial.
Some claims, for example, that more than 10% of the general population and 50% of people with
dyslexia would benefit from coloured filters lack sound evidence and face validity. Publications
with such claims typically cite research using methods that have not been described in the
scientific literature and lack a sound aetiological framework.
Notwithstanding these criticisms, some researchers have used more rigorous selection criteria
and methods of prescribing coloured filters that were developed at a UK Medical Research
Council unit and which have been fully described in the scientific literature. We review this
research and disconfirm many of the more extreme claims surrounding this topic. This literature
indicates that a minority subset of dyslexics (circa 20%) may have a condition described as
visual stress which most likely results from a hyperexcitability of the visual cortex. Visual stress
is characterised by symptoms of visual perceptual distortions, headaches, and eyestrain when
viewing repetitive patterns, including lines of text. This review indicates that visual stress is distinct
from, although sometimes co-occurs with, dyslexia. Individually prescribed coloured filters
have been shown to improve reading performance in people with visual stress, but are unlikely
to influence the phonological and memory deficits associated with dyslexia and therefore are
not a treatment for dyslexia.
This review concludes that larger and rigorous randomised controlled trials of interventions
for visual stress are required. Improvements in the diagnosis of the condition are also a priority
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