Burden of Parkinsonism and Parkinson\u27s Disease on Health Service Use and Outcomes in Latin America

\ua9 2023 - The authors. Published by IOS Press.Background: Little is known about the burden of parkinsonism and Parkinson\u27s disease (PD) in Latin America. Better understanding of health service use and clinical outcomes in PD is needed to improve its prognosis. Objective: The aim of the study was to estimate the burden of parkinsonism and PD in six Latin American countries. Methods: 12,865 participants aged 65 years and older from the 10/66 population-based cohort study were analysed. Baseline assessments were conducted in 2003-2007 and followed-up 4 years later. Parkinsonism and PD were defined using current clinical criteria or self-reported diagnosis. Logistic regression models assessed the association between parkinsonism/PD with baseline health service use (community-based care or hospitalisation in the last 3 months) and Cox proportional hazards regression models with incident dependency (subjective assessment by interviewer based on informant interview) and mortality. Separate analyses for each country were combined via fixed effect meta-analysis. Results: At baseline, the prevalence of parkinsonism and PD was 7.9% (n = 934) and 2.6% (n = 317), respectively. Only parkinsonism was associated with hospital admission at baseline (OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.30-2.74). Among 7,296 participants without dependency at baseline, parkinsonism (HR 2.34, 95% CI 1.81-3.03) and PD (2.10, 1.37-3.24) were associated with incident dependency. Among 10,315 participants with vital status, parkinsonism (1.73, 1.50-1.99) and PD (1.38, 1.07-1.78) were associated with mortality. The Higgins I2 tests showed low to moderate levels of heterogeneity across countries. Conclusions: Our findings show that older people with parkinsonism or PD living in Latin America have higher risks of developing dependency and mortality but may have limited access to health services

Label-free protein detection based on the heat-transfer method-a case study with the peanut allergen Ara h 1 and aptamer-based synthetic receptors

© 2015 American Chemical Society. Aptamers are an emerging class of molecules that, because of the development of the systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) process, can recognize virtually every target ranging from ions, to proteins, and even whole cells. Although there are many techniques capable of detecting template molecules with aptamer-based systems with high specificity and selectivity, they lack the possibility of integrating them into a compact and portable biosensor setup. Therefore, we will present the heat-transfer method (HTM) as an interesting alternative because this offers detection in a fast and low-cost manner and has the possibility of performing experiments with a fully integrated device. This concept has been demonstrated for a variety of applications including DNA mutation analysis and screening of cancer cells. To the best our knowledge, this is the first report on HTM-based detection of proteins, in this case specifically with aptamer-type receptors. For proof-of-principle purposes, measurements will be performed with the peanut allergen Ara h 1 and results indicate detection limits in the lower nanomolar regime in buffer liquid. As a first proof-of-application, spiked Ara h 1 solutions will be studied in a food matrix of dissolved peanut butter. Reference experiments with the quartz-crystal microbalance will allow for an estimate of the areal density of aptamer molecules on the sensor-chip surface

Advances in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: management of exacerbations

Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are important events to people living with this condition and a common cause of emergency hospital admission. In the absence of a confirmatory biomarker, an exacerbation remains a clinical diagnosis of exclusion and clinicians must be alert to alternative diagnoses. Most exacerbations are caused by airway infection, particularly with respiratory viruses. The mainstay of exacerbation treatment is an increase in the dose and/or frequency of short-acting beta-agonists, with short-course oral corticosteroids and/or antibiotics. Although there have been no new interventions to treat exacerbations in many years, there is still much variation in care and opportunity to improve outcomes. There has been a new focus on both the management of comorbidities and the optimisation of future care to reduce the risk of further events. This review summarises advances in managing exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, focusing on hospitalised patients

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF MORINDA CITRIFOLIA L.

Morinda citrifolia L. (commonly known as Noni) has been used in folk remedies over the years and has a broad range of therapeutic effects, including antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antitumor, analgesic, hypotensive, anti-inflammatory, and immune enhancing effects. The effect of oral administration of the bioactive principles isolated from Morinda citrifolia. L was studied in streptozotocin induced diabetic nephropathy rats to assess the anti-diabetic nephropathy activity in terms of glucose, protein, urea, uric acid, creatinine in serum, potassium, sodium, alkaline phosphatase and urinary craetinine. Streptozotocin induced animals showed high level of protein compared to control group. The increased serum protein level is due to increased renal failure with progressive atrophy of the nephrons. Treatment of diabetic nephropathy rats with Morinda citrifolia fruit extract has been found to decrease the damage of kidney and has restored the level of glucose, protein, urea, uric acid, creatinine, potassium, sodium and kidney alkaline phosphatase to that of normal level. Noni is rich in proxeronine, which combines with enzymes in the body to form an essential substance known as xeronine. It activates the immune system at cellular level thereby repairing and protecting kidney from damage. The extract of noni is found to possess nephroprotective effects as revealed by the histopathological studies. The fruit extract of the plant has anti-diabetic nephropathy effects, and possesses both high antioxidant properties and immunomodulatory properties. Morinda is believed to fortify and maintain cell structures. This can be accomplished by acting as an adaptogen that can aid ”sick” cells in repairing themselves

Comparison of leptin levels in thin and obese type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with non diabetics in relation to basal metabolic rate

Background: Leptin is considered to have a role in regulation of body weight and energy metabolism. Increased level of serum Leptin is considered as a component of metabolic syndrome. Also resistance to Leptin in β-cells results in hyperinsulinemia due to the absence of inhibitory effect of Leptin on insulin secretion. This may lead to the exhaustion of β-cells in the pancreas leading to the progression of Type 2 DM. Our study was put forward to identify the Leptin levels among diabetic and non-diabetic individuals and its correlation with body mass index. Materials & Methods: In each group 40 subjects were recruited. Their samples were collected and Leptin was assayed using ELISA kit. Other parameters like Fasting and Post Prandial Glucose, HbA1c, Cholesterol, Triglycerides, High Density Lipoprotein and Low Density Lipoprotein were also analyzed as a supportive measure. Result & Conclusion: There was no significant difference in Leptin levels in both obese diabetic and obese control groups. Leptin level was confined to the lower side in thin groups. There is a significant positive correlation between Leptin and body mass index. Female subjects have got increased Leptin value than male subjects.&nbsp

(3aR,8bR)-3a,8b-Dihydroxy-2-methylsulfanyl-3-nitro-1-phenyl-1,8b-dihydroindeno[1,2-b]pyrrol-4(3aH)-one

In the title compound, C18H14N2O5, the pyrrolidine ring adopts a shallow envelope conformation, with the C atom bearing the OH group (and remote from the N atom) displaced by 0.257 (2) Å from the other atoms. The cyclopentane ring has a twisted conformation about the C—C bond bearing one =O and one —OH grouping. The dihedral angle between the five-membered rings (all atoms) is 65.54 (9)° and the OH groups lie to the same side of the ring-junction. The molecular structure features a weak intramolecular O—H...O bond and a possible C—H...π interaction. In the crystal, the molecules are linked into [010] chains by O—H...O hydrogen bonds. Weak C—H...O bonds connect the chains into (100) sheets

(3aR*,8bR*)-3a,8b-Dihydroxy-1-(4-methylphenyl)-2-methylsulfanyl-3-nitro-1,8b-dihydroindeno[1,2-b]pyrrol-4(3aH)-one

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C19H16N2O5S, contains four independent molecules (A, B, C and D), with two molecules (B and D) displaying disorder in their methylsulfanyl groups [occupancy ratios of 0.797 (11):0.203 (11) and 0.85 (2):0.15 (2)]. The nitro groups are twisted slightly out of the planes of the 2-pyrroline rings to which they are bonded with dihedral angles of 10.17 (1), 8.01 (1), 9.44 (1) and 8.87 (1)° in molecules A, B, C and D, respectively. The 2-pyrroline rings are almost orthogonal to the attached tolyl rings, forming dihedral angles of 73.44 (1), 81.21 (1), 88.18 (8) and 73.94 (1)° for molecules A, B, C and D, respectively. A weak intramolecular O—H...O interaction is observed in molecules B and C. The two hydroxy groups in each molecule are involved in intermolecular O—H...O hydrogen bonding. In the crystal, molecules are connected via O—H...O and C—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming a complex three-dimensional network