Physician–Patient Communication About Sexual Functioning in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Sexual dysfunction is quite common among individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS); however, severity of dysfunction alone does not account for the tremendous variation in sexual satisfaction across individuals living with MS. Individual characteristics, relationships with intimate partners, and environmental factors all likely contribute to the multidimensional experience of sexual satisfaction. Health care provider variables, including how one communicates with providers about sexual concerns, may also be influential. The purpose of this study was to examine factors that are associated with patients’ sex-related communications with their MS physicians and to overall patient sexual satisfaction. Individuals in an MS clinic (n = 73) completed a survey packet which included measures of physical and mental health, sexual dysfunction, sexual satisfaction, sex communication, health care provider relationships, and health care satisfaction. Findings suggest that while more than half of patients with MS reported experiencing sexual dysfunction, only a third of patients indicated addressing their sexual concerns with their physician during the past year. Interestingly, the frequency of communication about sexual concerns was associated with satisfaction with physician variables, whereas selfefficacy for these interactions was associated with emotional health variables. These results indicate that when considering interventions to increase confidence for communication and frequency of communication that differing factors may be taken into account

A dedicated flavin-dependent monooxygenase catalyzes the hydroxylation of demethoxyubiquinone into ubiquinone (coenzyme Q) in \u3ci\u3eArabidopsis\u3c/i\u3e

Ubiquinone (Coenzyme Q) is a vital respiratory cofactor and liposoluble antioxidant. In plants, it is not known how the C-6 hydroxylation of demethoxyubiquinone, the penultimate step in ubiquinone biosynthesis, is catalyzed. The combination of cross-species gene network modeling along with mining of embryo-defective mutant databases of Arabidopsis thaliana identified the embryo lethal locus EMB2421 (At1g24340) as a top candidate for the missing plant demethoxyubiquinone hydroxylase. In marked contrast with prototypical eukaryotic demethoxyubiquinone hydroxylases, the catalytic mechanism of which depends on a carboxylatebridged di-iron domain, At1g24340 is homologous to FADdependent oxidoreductases that instead use NAD(P)H as an electron donor. Complementation assays in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Escherichia coli demonstrated that At1g24340 encodes a functional demethoxyubiquinone hydroxylase and that the enzyme displays strict specificity for the C-6 position of the benzoquinone ring. Laser-scanning confocal microscopy also showed that GFP-tagged At1g24340 is targeted to mitochondria. Silencing of At1g24340 resulted in 40 to 74% decrease in ubiquinone content and de novo ubiquinone biosynthesis. Consistent with the role of At1g24340 as a benzenoid ring modification enzyme, this metabolic blockage could not be bypassed by supplementation with 4-hydroxybenzoate, the immediate precursor of ubiquinone’s ring. Unlike in yeast, in Arabidopsis overexpression of demethoxyubiquinone hydroxylase did not boost ubiquinone content. Phylogenetic reconstructions indicated that plant demethoxyubiquinone hydroxylase is most closely related to prokaryotic monooxygenases that act on halogenated aromatics and likely descends from an event of ho

Examination of Research Trends on Patient Factors in Patients With Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators

Background: The implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is the most effective treatment available for terminating potentially life-threatening ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation and reducing the risk of mortality. Despite its established health benefits, ICD therapy is accompanied by a unique array of patient and psychological factors meriting ample research attention. The purpose of this paper is to examine research trends and results regarding patient factors in cardiac and ICD research and to discuss key areas for future research. Hypothesis: An increase in articles associated with patient factors in cardiac and ICD research will be shown over time. Methods: The Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) system in PubMed was used to index articles under a range of psychosocial headings for both cardiovascular disease and ICDs to quantify the frequency of articles published across time, the journals most frequently utilized, the most productive institutions, and the most common areas of inquiry. Results: A significant positive relationship was revealed between patient factors in cardiac research (r = 0.96, p \u3c 0.01) and ICD research (r = 0.88, p \u3c 0.01) over time. Research is limited by the small number of investigations and institutions. Of the 178 articles on patient factors in ICD research, the most frequent areas of inquiry were psychosocial treatment (70.79%), anxiety (33.15%), quality of life (32.02%), and depression (29.78%). Conclusion: Future research examining positive adjustment is warranted, especially in light of increased prophylactic ICD implantation and possible decreased treatment burden associated with decreased shocks

Effects of a Proline Endopeptidase on the Detection and Quantitation of Gluten by Antibody-Based Methods during the Fermentation of a Model Sorghum Beer

The effectiveness of a proline endopeptidase (PEP) in hydrolyzing gluten and its putative immunopathogenic sequences was examined using antibody-based methods and mass spectrometry (MS). Based on the results of the antibody-based methods, fermentation of wheat gluten containing sorghum beer resulted in a reduction in the detectable gluten concentration. The addition of PEP further reduced the gluten concentration. Only one sandwich ELISA was able to detect the apparent low levels of gluten present in the beers. A competitive ELISA using a pepsin-trypsin hydrolysate calibrant was unreliable because the peptide profiles of the beers were inconsistent with that of the hydrolysate calibrant. Analysis by MS indicated that PEP enhanced the loss of a fragment of an immunopathogenic 33-mer peptide in the beer. However, Western blot results indicated partial resistance of the high molecular weight (HMW) glutenins to the action of PEP, questioning the ability of PEP in digesting all immunopathogenic sequences present in gluten