Predicting transitions between longitudinal classes of post-traumatic stress disorder, adjustment disorder and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: protocol of a latent transition model in a general Dutch sample

Stress and Psychopatholog

Effects of iloprost (a prostacyclin analogue) on the endothelial dysfunction and foot ulcers in diabetic patients with peripheral arterial disease

Objectives: To asses the efficiency of iloprost (an analogue of prostacyclin) infusion on endothelial functions and amputation rate in diabetic foot ulcers with complicated macroangiopathy. Material and Methods: Sixty (36 men/24 women) type 2 diabetic patients (61.8 ± 9.7 years, mean ±SD) with diabetic foot ulcer and peripheral arterial occlusive disease, stage III or more by Wagner classification, and 15 (9 male/6 female) healthy controls (60.7 ± 9.1 years, mean ±SD) were enrolled in the study. Thirty patients (group I) had iloprost infusion (0.5-2 ng/kg/min for 6 h) for 10 consecutive days. Endothelial functions were determined by brachial arterial flow mediated dilation (FMD) method at stage 0 (basal), 10th and 30th days. Group II patients (n=30) were treated in the same manner as group I except iloprost treatment constituting a patient control group. Results: Group I patients showed a significant improvement in the endothelial functions at 10th day, and 30th day (p=0.002) in respect to group II. There were no differences between group I and group II regarding the hospitalization period and amputation rates. Iloprost was well tolerated. Three patients had adverse reactions such as maculo-papular skin eruptions, itching, hypotension and dyspnea due to iloprost infusion; one completed the treatment and 2 had to discontinue the iloprost infusion. Conclusion: Ten-day iloprost infusion therapy to patients with diabetic foot ulcers seems to be efficient in the improvement of endothelial function, but, despite our positive clinical observation, this improvement does not affect the outcome of the amputation rates at 30 days follow up period

The protective effects of metformin in an in vitro model of aging 3T3 fibroblast under the high glucose conditions

Metformin is the most widely used anti-diabetic drug in the world. It reduces advanced glycation end product (AGEs)-induced ROS generation in high glucose condition. Protein glycation contributes to skin aging as it deteriorates the existing collagen by crosslinking. The progressive increase of AGE during aging not only causes oxidative damage to cellular macromolecules but also modulates the activation of transcription factors nuclear factor kappa-B(NF-kB). However, it is still unclear whether metformin can change collagen production and NF-kB activity induced by high glucose conditions in 3T3 fibroblast. The effects of metformin on proliferation, apoptosis, and collagen levels and NF-kB activity of in vitro cell aging model of 3T3 fibroblast cells in high glucose conditions. At first, we investigated the effects of 50 mM high glucose concentration, with or without metformin, on 3T3 fibroblast proliferation, by BrdU immunostaining for cell proliferation. Apoptotic levels were analyzed by flow cytometric assay. NF-kB(p65) activity was measured by transcription factor assay kit and collagen I and III levels by Collagen Estimation Assay through ELISA. We observed that metformin exposure leads to decreased apoptosis levels and increased proliferation of 3T3 fibroblast in high glucose media. We also determined that metformin exposure leads to increased production of collagen I-III and decreased activation of NF-kB(p65) activity. The data are consistent with the observation that metformin has a protective effect in this in vitro model of aging 3T3 fibroblasts under high glucose conditions inducing cell proliferation, collagen I and III production, protection from apoptosis, and reducing NF-kB(p65) activity

The Correlation of Increased CRP Levels with NFKB1 and TLR2 Polymorphisms in the Case of Morbid Obesity

Morbid obesity (MO) is associated with an increase in circulating levels of systemic acute phase proteins such as C-reactive protein (CRP). Toll-like receptor is possible candidate for inflammatory responses which is mainly mediated by NFKB1. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between NFKB1 and Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 polymorphisms and the risk of MO in a Turkish population in the context of CRP serum levels which may contribute to susceptibility to the disease. We analysed the distribution of NFKB1-94 ins/del ATTG rs28362491 and TLR2 Arg753Gln rs5743708 polymorphisms using PCR-RFLP method and CRP serum levels using ELISA method in 213 MO and 200 healthy controls. The frequency of the ins/ins genotype and ins allele of rs28362491 was significantly higher in the patients compared to control group (P: 0.0309; P: 0.0421, respectively). Additionally, the frequency of GG genotype and G allele of rs5743708 was found to be statistically higher in the patient group (P: 0.0421; P20mg/l) in MO patients with ins/ins genotype were significantly higher than in patients with del/ins genotype (P: 0.0309). Serum CRP levels were also higher in MO patients with GG genotype and G allele (P: 0.0001). According to combined analysis, the wild type of rs28362491 and rs5743708 polymorphisms (ins/ins/GG genotype) was also significantly higher in the patient group versus the control group when compared with the combined ins/ins/GA and del/ins/GA genotype (P<0.0001). Therefore, our findings suggest that rs28362491 and rs5743708 polymorphisms were significantly associated with MO disease through acting by modulating serum CRP levels

Influence of zeolite crystal expansion/contraction on NaA zeolite membrane separations

In situ powder XRD measurements showed that adsorption causes the NaA zeolite unit cell to contract or expand, and these changes depend on adsorbate loading. Changes in zeolite crystal size correlated with permeation changes through NaA zeolite membranes. These membranes had high water/alcohol pervaporation selectivities, even though gas permeation was mainly through defects, as indicated by Knudsen selectivities for single gas permeation. At 300 K and a thermodynamic activity of 0.03, water contracted the NaA crystals by 0.22 vol%, and this contraction increased the helium flux through two NaA membranes by approximately 80%. Crystal contraction also increased the fluxes of i-butane during vapor permeation and i-propanol (IPA) during pervaporation (similar to 0.03 wt% water). At activities above 0.07, water expanded NaA crystals and correspondingly decreased the fluxes of helium, i-butane, and IPA through NaA zeolite membranes. Methanol also contracted NaA crystals, but by only 0.05 vol% at an activity of 0.02, and this contraction slightly increased the helium and i-butane fluxes through a NaA membrane. Above an activity of 0.06, methanol expanded the NaA crystals, and the fluxes of helium and i-butane through a NaA membrane decreased. These adsorbate-induced changes explain some pervaporation behavior reported by others, and they indicate that crystal expansion and contraction may increase or decrease zeolite NaA membrane selectivity by changing the defect sizes