Vascular presentation of cystathionine beta-synthase deficiency in adulthood

Several recent studies describing a solely vascular presentation of cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) deficiency in adulthood prompted us to analyze the frequency of patients manifesting with vascular complications in the Czech Republic. Between 1980 and 2009, a total of 20 Czech patients with CBS deficiency have been diagnosed yielding an incidence of 1:311,000. These patients were divided into three groups based on symptoms leading to diagnosis: those with vascular complications, with connective tissue manifestation and with neurological presentation. A vascular event such as a clinical feature leading to diagnosis of homocystinuria was present in five patients, while two of them had no other symptoms typical for CBS deficiency at the time of diagnosis. All patients with the vascular manifestation were diagnosed only during the past decade. The median age of diagnosis was 29 years in the vascular, 11.5 years in the connective tissue and 4.5 years in the neurological group. The ratio of pyridoxine responsive to nonresponsive patients was higher in the vascular (4 of 5 patients) and connective tissue groups (6 of 7 patients) than in the neurological group (2 of 8 patients). Mutation c.833T>C (p.I278T) was frequent in patients with vascular (6/10 alleles) and connective tissue presentation (8/14 alleles), while it was not present in patients with neurological involvement (0/16 alleles). During the last decade, we have observed patients with homocystinuria diagnosed solely due to vascular events; this milder form of homocystinuria usually manifests at greater ages, has a high ratio of pyridoxine responsiveness/nonresponsiveness, and the mutation c.833T>C (p.I278T) is often present

The Five Eras of Chiropractic & the future of chiropractic as seen through the eyes of a participant observer

Chiropractic has endured a turbulent history, marked by tremendous advances in areas such as education and licensing while marred by interprofessional conflict and a poor public image. The prolonged interprofessional conflict was instrumental in shaping the culture of chiropractic. These obstacles have long-since been removed although there are lingering effects from them

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Význam laktátu v diagnostice mitochondriálních onemocnění u dětí

The lactate level assesment in various body fluids plays an important role in the diagnostics of mitochondrial disorders in children. However, the interpretation of lactate level is often difficult due to its unspecificity and variability even in particular mitochondrial disorders. Three specific aims have been stated in this PhD Thesis: 1. To analyse the role of lactate examination in the differential diagnosis between children with mitochondrial disorders and children with other diseases. 2. To study the lactate level differences in various mitochondrial syndromes. 3. To characterise the clinical and laboratory data of neonates with mitochondrial disorders and to suggest new diagnostic algorhytms. Clinical and laboratory data from patients hospitalized in the Department of Pediatrics were collected. Laboratory methods were provided in the cooperation with the Mitochondrial laboratory of the Department of Pediatrics and Institute of Inherited Metabolic Disorders. The study with lactate levels in 107 patients documented that brief seizures lasting less than 2 minutes did not increase lactate concentration in the CSF. CSF-lactate was a relialable marker in differential diagnosis in the children with mitochondrial disorders against children with epilepsy. 2. The severity of particular phenotype is more..

Význam laktátu v diagnostice mitochondriálních onemocnění u dětí

The lactate level assesment in various body fluids plays an important role in the diagnostics of mitochondrial disorders in children. However, the interpretation of lactate level is often difficult due to its unspecificity and variability even in particular mitochondrial disorders. Three specific aims have been stated in this PhD Thesis: 1. To analyse the role of lactate examination in the differential diagnosis between children with mitochondrial disorders and children with other diseases. 2. To study the lactate level differences in various mitochondrial syndromes. 3. To characterise the clinical and laboratory data of neonates with mitochondrial disorders and to suggest new diagnostic algorhytms. Clinical and laboratory data from patients hospitalized in the Department of Pediatrics were collected. Laboratory methods were provided in the cooperation with the Mitochondrial laboratory of the Department of Pediatrics and Institute of Inherited Metabolic Disorders. The study with lactate levels in 107 patients documented that brief seizures lasting less than 2 minutes did not increase lactate concentration in the CSF. CSF-lactate was a relialable marker in differential diagnosis in the children with mitochondrial disorders against children with epilepsy. 2. The severity of particular phenotype is more..

Reply to Curtis, L. Comment on “Magner et al. Sulforaphane Treatment in Children with Autism: A Prospective Randomized Double-Blind Study. <i>Nutrients</i> 2023, <i>15</i>, 718”

We thank Dr. Curtis for his interest and feedback [...

Chemical monitoring of Swedish coastal waters indicates common exceedances of environmental thresholds, both for individual substances as well as their mixtures

Chemical pollution was monitored and assessed along the Swedish west coast. 62 of 172 analyzed organic chemicals were detected in the water phase of at least one of five monitored sites. A Concentration Addition based screening-level risk assessment indicates that all sites are put at risk from chemical contamination, with total risk quotients between 2 and 9. Only at one site did none of the individual chemicals exceeded its corresponding environmental threshold (PNEC, EQS). The monitoring data thus demonstrate a widespread blanket of diffuse pollution, with no clear trends among sites. Further issues critical for the environmental chemical risk assessment include the challenges to achieve sufficiently low levels of detection, especially for hormones and cypermethrin (a pyrethroid insecticide), the appropriate consideration of non-detects and the limited availability of reliable PNECs and EQS values