The psychological impact of overactive bladder: a systematic review

This review aimed to provide an overview of the current research on the psychological impact of overactive bladder. A systematic search yielded 32 papers. It was found that people with overactive bladder tended to have greater levels of depression, anxiety and embarrassment/shame; difficulties with social life; impact on sleep and sexual relationships; and a lower quality of life than people without overactive bladder. A psychological impact on family members was also found. Psychological health should be considered an important aspect of managing overactive bladder and further research is required to determine how best to provide psychological care and support in this area

When is better really better? Individuals' experiences of treatment for OAB with anticholinergic medication

Overactive bladder (OAB) has been found to have a number of psychological consequences, including anxiety, depression and shame. However, there is little research on how drug treatment, which has been found to be effective at reducing physical symptoms, impacts on these psychological effects. This study aimed to examine patients’ experiences of anticholinergic treatment for OAB, and the impact of both OAB and its treatment on psychological well-being. A cross-sectional, qualitative interview design with a secondary care outpatient sample was used. The approach was idiographic and sought to understand the detailed complexities and nuances of patient experiences. This small-scale qualitative study found that, even where there had been symptom reduction, patients did not feel ‘better’, and found it difficult to let go of worries and fears around OAB. These findings suggest that a person with OAB may need support even after a ‘successful’ treatment, as OAB continues to be at the centre of patients’ lives

Gut microbiota crosstalk mechanisms are key in pulmonary hypertension: The involvement of melatonin is instrumental too

The microbiota refers to a plethora of microorganisms with a gene pool of approximately three million, which inhabits the human gastrointestinal tract or gut. The latter, not only promotes the transport of nutrients, ions, and fluids from the lumen to the internal environment but is linked with the development of diseases including coronary artery disease, heart failure, and lung diseases. The exact mechanism of how the microbiota achieves crosstalk between itself and distant organs/tissues is not clear, but factors released to other organs may play a role, like inflammatory and genetic factors, and now we highlight melatonin as a novel mediator of the gut-lung crosstalk. Melatonin is present in high concentrations in the gut and the lung and has recently been linked to the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension (PH). In this comprehensive review of the literature, we suggest that melatonin is an important link between the gut microbiota and the development of PH (where suppressed melatonin-crosstalk between the gut and lungs could promote the development of PH). More studies are needed to investigate the link between the gut microbiota, melatonin and PH. Studies could also investigate whether microbiota genes play a role in the epigenetic aspects of PH. This is relevant because, for example, dysbiosis (caused by epigenetic factors) could reduce melatonin signaling between the gut and lungs, reduce subcellular melatonin concentrations in the gut/lungs, or reduce melatonin serum levels secondary to epigenetic factors. This area of research is largely unexplored and further studies are warranted

Molecular and enological characterization of a natural Saccharomyces uvarum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae hybrid

Saccharomyces cerevisiae plays a main role in the winemaking process, although other species, like Saccharomyces uvarum or Saccharomyces paradoxus, have been associated with must fermentations. It has been reported in recent years, that yeast hybrids of different Saccharomyces species might be responsible for wine productions. Although S. cerevisiae × Saccharomyces kudriavzevii hybrids have been well studied, very little attention has been paid to S. cerevisiae × S. uvarum hybrids. In this work we characterized the genomic composition of S6U, a widely used commercial S. cerevisiae × S. uvarum yeast hybrid isolated in wine fermentations containing one copy of the genome of each parental species, which suggests a relatively recent hybridization event. We also studied its performance under diverse enological conditions. The results show enhanced performance under low temperature enological conditions, increased glycerol production, lower acetic acid production and increased production of interesting aroma compounds. We also examined the transcriptomic response of the S6U hybrid strain compared with the reference species under enological conditions. The results show that although the hybrid strain transcriptome is more similar to S. uvarum than to S. cerevisiae, it presents specifically regulated genes involved in stress response, lipids and amino acid metabolism. The enological performance and aroma profile of this S. cerevisiae × S. uvarum hybrid makes it a good candidate for participating in winemaking, especially at low temperatures

The mediating role of illness perceptions in psychological outcomes in overactive bladder

Overactive bladder (OAB) is condition, characterized by urinary urgency, frequency and incontinence, which has the potential to disrupt everyday life considerably. Although there is evidence that antimuscarinic treatment is effective at treating physical symptoms, there is currently no systematic exploration of psychological factors associated with OAB after treatment. This study aimed to examine the quality of life, relationships, sexual functioning, psychological wellbeing and illness perceptions of individuals with OAB after they have received treatment. And to determine whether an individual's psychological wellbeing is directly related to the severity of their symptoms, or whether their illness perceptions mediate this relationship. This study used a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based quantitative design with a secondary care outpatient sample who were diagnosed with OAB and had been either previously or currently prescribed drug treatment. Patients reported moderately severe OAB symptoms, with approximately a third reporting moderate/severe anxiety and 12% reporting severe depression. There was no direct relationship between symptom severity and psychological wellbeing (β=-0·03, t(31)=-0·96, p=0·34; β=-0·02, t(31)=-0·41, p=0·68) - this relationship was mediated by the patient's sense of personal control over their OAB (β=0·03 (SE = 0·02), 95% CI [0·004, 0·09]; β=0·02 (SE = 0·02), 95% CI [0·0008, 0·08]). Including interventions to improve personal control alongside drug treatment may improve treatment adherence and outcomes

Effects of a β-glucanase enzymatic preparation on yeast lysis during aging of traditional sparkling wines

Scientific researches on characterization of the commercial enological preparation of Lallzyme MMX® containing β-glucanase and its influence on autolysis of different yeast strains typically employed in the production of sparkling wine are lacking. The aim of the present work was to plug a gap in this field, studying the β-glucanase activity of Lallzyme MMX® and its interactions with BCS103® and EC1118® yeast strains. The results showed that β-glucanase was slightly inhibited by ethanol, but its residual activity at wine pH was sufficient for the purposes. Kinetic parameters showed a better enzyme-substrate complex formation for the EC1118® strain. The influence on yeast lysis during 12. months of bottle-aging was monitored, demonstrating that enzyme addition did not substantially influence either the content and progression of total proteins, or foam characteristics. However, scanning and transmission electron microscopy images and free amino acid analysis indicated β-glucanase improved cell wall degradation of both selected yeasts, evidencing a lower autolytic capacity of the BCS103® strain. Our study demonstrated that addition of β-glucanase catalyzed cell disorganization and promoted release of yeast components into sparkling wine, with strain-dependent effects. Therefore, employment of β-glucanase rich Lallzyme MMX® might effectively accelerate some aging characteristics of traditional sparkling wines. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd