Effect of Palmitic Acid on B2 Receptor Expression In Airway Smooth Muscle Cells

Introduction: People with asthma and obesity struggle to control asthma flares. B2 agonists are often the acute treatment of choice during these flares, so the decreased asthma control in this population may be due to a decrease in B2 receptor activity. We tested the hypothesis that B2 receptor expression will decrease in airway smooth muscle cells exposed to Palmitic Acid, a saturated fatty acid, compared to Oleic Acid and untreated cells. Methods: Airway smooth muscle cells were plated and treated with Palmitic Acid and Oleic Acid at 100uM and 200uM concentrations while other untreated cells served as controls. Cells were lysed at 24 and 48 hours and their RNA was harvested for expansion using PCR with B2 and GAPDH primers. RT-PCR was used to quantify RNA expression. GAPDH was used as an expression control to normalize B2 values for each condition and the resulting dCq values for each condition were compared. Results: The Palmitic Acid group did not show significant decrease in B2 expression compared to the control or Oleic Acid groups. This was consistent across all concentrations and time points. There was no significant change in receptor expression for any condition. Discussion: These results did not support our hypothesis that B2 expression would decrease in cells treated with Palmitic Acid. The expression of this receptor and its activity is not regulated as we hypothesized illustrating need to explore other factors that may contribute to the difference of the B2 receptor agonist response in obese people with asthma

Obesity and Obstructive Airways Disease: Clinical Correlates and Therapeutic Considerations

Obese patients are more likely to suffer from severe asthma symptoms and less likely to be able to control them. In obese patients, there is evidence that shows decreased efficacy of inhaled corticosteroids and beta-2 adrenergic agonists, the core treatment options for achieving and maintaining asthma control. This may be due to mechanical reasons like decreased ventilation and medication delivery, but there are many more pathologies of obesity that interact with pathways of both asthma pathology and asthma control. This review explores the epidemiological significance of obesity, many physiological changes in patients with obesity, the physiological interactions of asthma and obesity in patients with both issues, and the therapeutic impacts of these interactions with asthma to find appropriate areas where new research is needed. More research to understand the mechanism of decreased inhaled corticosteroid and beta-2 adrenergic agonist efficacy is necessary to improve treatment efficacy and decrease morbidity and mortality in this population of patients with asthma

A Comprehensive Review on the Use of Herbal Dietary Supplements in the USA, Reasons for Their Use, and Review of Potential Hepatotoxicity

Herbal and dietary supplement (HDS) use has grown exponentially in the United States. Unfortunately, the incidence of HDS-related liver injury has proportionally increased. Despite the potential for certain HDSs to cause clinically significant liver injury, they are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Recent efforts have been made to regulate HDSs but are far removed from the scrutiny of prescription medications. Scant literature exists on HDSs and their risks of causing liver injury. In this comprehensive review, we examine trends of HDS use in the United States and the pathophysiologic mechanisms of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) of certain HDSs. Finally, we review usage rates; benefits, if any; purported pathophysiology of DILI; and propensity for progression to fulminant hepatic failure of nine HDSs linked to clinically significant DIL

Risk Prevention and Health Promotion for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Diseases (NAFLD)

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a serious clinicopathological condition that is recognized as the most frequent chronic liver disease, affecting 14%-30% of the world’s population. The prevalence of NAFLD has rapidly grown and is correlated with the growth in obesity and type 2 diabetes, among other factors. NAFLD often results in long-term complications including cardiovascular disease, liver cirrhosis, and liver fibrosis. This paper provides an updated overview of NAFLD with a focus on epidemiology, etiology, pathophysiology, screening, complications, and pharmacological therapies to identify effective risk prevention and health promotion

Content Template Review

May 10, 2021 Review of Project Content Template and vocab with Erik, Barbara and Jeroen

M4M.17 (ZonMw ID/AMR Program)

Review and Reuse M4M. ZonMw COVID Program's vocabularies and templates (M4M.7-16) is being considered for ruse by Infectious Disease and Antimicrobial Resistance (M4M.17

Outcomes of Intentionally Suspending Treatment in Eyes with Advanced Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration

PURPOSE: To report outcomes of intentionally suspending anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections in eyes with advanced neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. METHODS: Ninety-three patients with nAMD and best available Snellen visual acuity (VA) ≤20/400 in which anti-VEGF treatment was suspended by the treating physician. VA and optical coherence tomography (OCT) characteristics were evaluated to determine visual and anatomical outcomes up to 24 months after treatment suspension. RESULTS: A total of 93 eyes from 93 patients that had received a mean of 16 anti-VEGF injections over a mean (standard deviation, SD) of 962 (562) days were included. Comparing the treatment suspension visit to 24 months later, no significant change in mean (SD) CFT [163 (118, range 19-704) μm vs. 164 (217, range 19-1468), p=0.97], greatest lesion diameter [2547 (1294, range 134-5707) μm vs. 2442 (1158, range 421-5305) μm, p=0.43], greatest lesion thickness [194 (136, 0-618) μm vs. 205 (131, range 0-573) μm, p=0.40], or VA [1.87 (0.37), 20/1482 vs. 1.94 (0.28), 20/1741, p=0.16] was found. In total, 7 (7.5%) eyes restarted treatment after a mean (SD) of 977 (450) days after treatment suspension. CONCLUSIONS: Suspension of anti-VEGF injections in eyes with advanced nAMD and VA ≤20/400 may be reasonable in cases where the treating physician deems additional treatment is unlikely to provide benefit. While the visual and anatomical findings remained stable after treatment suspension in most, a small number restarted anti-VEGF therapy suggesting that eyes should still be monitored for disease progression