Comparative functional genomic analysis of Alzheimer’s affected and naturally aging brains

Background Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a prevalent progressive neurodegenerative human disease whose cause remains unclear. Numerous initially highly hopeful anti-AD drugs based on the amyloid-β (Aβ) hypothesis of AD have failed recent late-phase tests. Natural aging (AG) is a high-risk factor for AD. Here, we aim to gain insights in AD that may lead to its novel therapeutic treatment through conducting meta-analyses of gene expression microarray data from AG and AD-affected brain. Methods Five sets of gene expression microarray data from different regions of AD (hereafter, ALZ when referring to data)-affected brain, and one set from AG, were analyzed by means of the application of the methods of differentially expressed genes and differentially co-expressed gene pairs for the identification of putatively disrupted biological pathways and associated abnormal molecular contents. Results Brain-region specificity among ALZ cases and AG-ALZ differences in gene expression and in KEGG pathway disruption were identified. Strong heterogeneity in AD signatures among the five brain regions was observed: HC/PC/SFG showed clear and pronounced AD signatures, MTG moderately so, and EC showed essentially none. There were stark differences between ALZ and AG. OXPHOS and Proteasome were the most disrupted pathways in HC/PC/SFG, while AG showed no OXPHOS disruption and relatively weak Proteasome disruption in AG. Metabolic related pathways including TCA cycle and Pyruvate metabolism were disrupted in ALZ but not in AG. Three pathogenic infection related pathways were disrupted in ALZ. Many cancer and signaling related pathways were shown to be disrupted AG but far less so in ALZ, and not at all in HC. We identified 54 “ALZ-only” differentially expressed genes, all down-regulated and which, when used to augment the gene list of the KEGG AD pathway, made it significantly more AD-specific

Improvement of Entrepreneurship Education Program using AR : An Actual Practice of Local Revitalization at Nishichiba Kodomo Kigyo juku

Surgical procedures. (A) Pneumoperitoneum was simulated with Surgineedle™ for 10 min after xenograft procedure and pressure setting was 4 mmHg. (B) Procedure of ovariectomy (OVX) of SCID mice. (TIF 470 kb

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities

Response to comment on “Oestrogen-induced angiogenesis and implantation contribute to the development of parasitic myomas after laparoscopic morcellation”

Abstract According to the literature review, CO2 insufflation on parasitic myoma implantation is not well studied, and we concur that our study is related to “Morcellation-induced parasitic myomas.” We did not compare CO2 insufflation to non-insufflation in our study. The reason is the efficacy of gasless laparoscopic myomectomy and morcellation is not well established and this modality is seldom performed. Moreover, the effects of pneumoperitoneum on mesothelial cells and the role of the entire peritoneal cavity as a cofactor in adhesion formation have become well established, the role of CO2 insufflation in the establishment of parasitic myomas has not yet been studied. As such, more in-depth and well-designed studies for the role of CO2 insufflation are needed

Unexplained entry dyspareunia secondary to metallic needle

Chronic and persistent dyspareunia is always challenging for the selection of adequate diagnostic management and therapeutic decision-making. A 72-year-old woman had a 53-year history of chronic and persistent entry dyspareunia. After appropriate diagnostic measures, including ultrasonography, plain film, and computed tomography, the patient underwent removal of a detected metallic needle from the perineum

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in the development of adenomyosis

Adenomyosis is a hormone-related disease that affects 10–66% of women, and women with this disorder suffer from menorrhagia, dysmenorrhea, pelvic pain, abnormal uterine bleeding, and/or infertility. Regarding the etiology of the disease, the current trend of thought is that adenomyosis or adenomyoma results as a down-growth and invagination of the endometrial basalis into the adjacent myometrium after disruption of the normally intact boundary between the two. The eutopic endometrium of adenomyosis presents invasive characteristics, including increased angiogenesis and proliferation, decreased apoptosis, induction of the local production of estrogens, induction of progesterone resistance, and impaired cytokine expression, and these changes enhance the ability of the endometrium to infiltrate the junctional zone myometrium and the growth of ectopic tissue. Hysterectomy is the major strategy to relieve secondary dysmenorrhea caused by adenomyosis. However, fertility and uterine preservation are compromised by such treatment. The traditional pharmacological therapies for adenomyosis are primarily aimed at the suppression of endogenous estrogen production, but the results are not satisfactory. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop novel treatment strategies for adenomyosis. There has been evidence that indicates that the estrogen-induced epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) may play a role in the development of adenomyosis. In this article, we will concentrate on the estrogen-induced EMT in the pathogenesis of adenomyosis

Postoperative maintenance levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system for symptomatic uterine adenomyoma

Objective: To evaluate whether a maintenance levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system is effective for preventing the recurrence of postoperative adenomyosis-related symptoms. Materials and methods: From January 2005 through December 2014, a retrospective study including 133 patients with symptomatic adenomyosis undergoing conservative uterine-sparing surgery followed by gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist treatment was conducted. We excluded the 18 patients who did not meet the inclusion criteria. The patients of intervention group (n = 54) received a levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS), which was inserted after surgery. The patients without LNG-IUS insertion were enrolled in the control group (n = 61). The primary outcome was improvement of adenomyosis-related dysmenorrhea, which was evaluated by the visual analog scale (VAS) and by hemoglobin (Hgb) and CA-125 levels. Results: Over a 12-month follow-up, the intervention group exhibited a greater reduction in dysmenorrhea as assessed with a VAS score (mean ± SD: 6.5 ± 2.5 vs 4.1 ± 3.6, p = 0.001) and a greater elevation in the Hgb level (2.1 ± 1.9 vs 1.0 ± 1.7, p = 0.008) than the control group. At the end of the 24-month follow-up period, the intervention group also exhibited a greater reduction in dysmenorrhea as assessed with a VAS score (mean ± SD 6.1 ± 2.7 vs 3.7 ± 3.7, p = 0.002) and a greater elevation in the Hgb level (1.9 ± 2.1 vs 0.7 ± 1.8, p = 0.022) than the control group. The CA-125 level was significantly lower in the intervention group during the postoperative follow up (12th month follow-up, intervention vs control, 24.5 ± 28.8 vs 50.1 ± 44.0, p = 0.005; 24th month follow-up, 28.6 ± 26.2 vs 75.4 ± 68.5, p = 0.002). Conclusion: The maintenance therapy of LNG-IUS is effective and well accepted for long-term therapy after conservative surgery for patients with adenomyosis

Effect of semisimultaneous morcellation in situ during laparoscopic myomectomy

Objective: The conventional technique of laparoscopic myomectomy (LM) was performed by complete enucleation of the myoma followed by morcellation as described previously. However, the conventional technique of LM presented some inherent problems in the management of larger myomas. Our objective was to compare the surgical outcome of the semisimultaneous morcellation in situ (SSMI group) technique and conventional morcellation (Control group). Materials and methods: In this prospective case–control study 122 patients with symptomatic uterine myomas treated with LM were recruited and divided into two groups. Patients in the Control group underwent LM using the conventional technique of completely enucleating the myoma followed by morcellation. In the SSMI group, morcellation was initiated from the upper half of the myoma and then the lower half was completely enucleated. Results: Fifty-four women underwent SSMI, and 68 women served as controls. There was no difference in the baseline characteristics between the two groups. The SSMI technique significantly reduced surgical time (163.2 ± 46.8 minutes vs. 189.4 ± 56.7 minutes; p = 0.007), although the difference in the mean blood loss was not significant (178 ± 147 mL vs. 203 ± 185 mL; p = 0.417), compared with the control. Furthermore, SSMI technique and myoma weight contributed to longer surgical times in multivariate analysis. Conclusion: The SSMI technique could shorten surgical time when a laparoscopic myomectomy is performed, but uterine size is also important