Effect of Pumpkin Seed Oil on Hair Growth in Men with Androgenetic Alopecia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Pumpkin seed oil (PSO) has been shown to block the action of 5-alpha reductase and to have antiandrogenic effects on rats. This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study was designed to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of PSO for treatment of hair growth in male patients with mild to moderate androgenetic alopecia (AGA). 76 male patients with AGA received 400 mg of PSO per day or a placebo for 24 weeks. Change over time in scalp hair growth was evaluated by four outcomes: assessment of standardized clinical photographs by a blinded investigator; patient self-assessment scores; scalp hair thickness; and scalp hair counts. Reports of adverse events were collected throughout the study. After 24 weeks of treatment, self-rated improvement score and self-rated satisfaction scores in the PSO-treated group were higher than in the placebo group ( = 0.013, 0.003). The PSOtreated group had more hair after treatment than at baseline, compared to the placebo group ( < 0.001). Mean hair count increases of 40% were observed in PSO-treated men at 24 weeks, whereas increases of 10% were observed in placebo-treated men ( < 0.001). Adverse effects were not different in the two groups

Predictive value of progression-related gene classifier in primary non-muscle invasive bladder cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>While several molecular markers of bladder cancer prognosis have been identified, the limited value of current prognostic markers has created the need for new molecular indicators of bladder cancer outcomes. The aim of this study was to identify genetic signatures associated with disease prognosis in bladder cancer.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We used 272 primary bladder cancer specimens for microarray analysis and real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. Microarray gene expression analysis of randomly selected 165 primary bladder cancer specimens as an original cohort was carried out. Risk scores were applied to stratify prognosis-related gene classifiers. Prognosis-related gene classifiers were individually analyzed with tumor invasiveness (non-muscle invasive bladder cancer [NMIBC] and muscle invasive bladder cancer [MIBC]) and prognosis. We validated selected gene classifiers using RT-PCR in the original (165) and independent (107) cohorts. Ninety-seven genes related to disease progression among NMIBC patients were identified by microarray data analysis. Eight genes, a progression-related gene classifier in NMIBC, were selected for RT-PCR. The progression-related gene classifier in patients with NMIBC was closely correlated with progression in both original and independent cohorts. Furthermore, no patient with NMIBC in the good-prognosis signature group experienced cancer progression.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We identified progression-related gene classifier that has strong predictive value for determining disease outcome in NMIBC. This gene classifier could assist in selecting NMIBC patients who might benefit from more aggressive therapeutic intervention or surveillance.</p

Dichotomous role of Shp2 for naïve and primed pluripotency maintenance in embryonic stem cells

Background : The requirement of the Mek1 inhibitor (iMek1) during naïve pluripotency maintenance results from the activation of the Mek1-Erk1/2 (Mek/Erk) signaling pathway upon leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) stimulation. Methods : Through a meta-analysis of previous genome-wide screening for negative regulators of naïve pluripotency, Ptpn11 (encoding the Shp2 protein, which serves both as a tyrosine phosphatase and putative adapter), was predicted as one of the key factors for the negative modulation of naïve pluripotency through LIF-dependent Jak/Stat3 signaling. Using an isogenic pair of naïve and primed mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs), we demonstrated the differential role of Shp2 in naïve and primed pluripotency. Results : Loss of Shp2 increased naïve pluripotency by promoting Jak/Stat3 signaling and disturbed in vivo differentiation potential. In sharp contrast, Shp2 depletion significantly impeded the self-renewal of ESCs under primed culture conditions, which was concurrent with a reduction in Mek/Erk signaling. Similarly, upon treatment with an allosteric Shp2 inhibitor (iShp2), the cells sustained Stat3 phosphorylation and decoupled Mek/Erk signaling, thus iShp2 can replace the use of iMek1 for maintenance of naïve ESCs. Conclusions : Taken together, our findings highlight the differential roles of Shp2 in naïve and primed pluripotency and propose the usage of iShp2 instead of iMek1 for the efficient maintenance and establishment of naïve pluripotency.This work was supported by a grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2020R1A2C2005914). This work was also supported by the Creative-Pioneering Researchers Program through Seoul National University (SNU)

Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of cardiac symptoms assessed by emergency medical services providers in the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction: a multi-center observational study

Objective For patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), symptoms assessed by emergency medical services (EMS) providers have a critical role in prehospital treatment decisions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of EMS provider-assessed cardiac symptoms of AMI. Methods Patients transported by EMS to 4 study hospitals from 2008 to 2012 were included. Using EMS and administrative emergency department databases, patients were stratified according to the presence of EMS-assessed cardiac symptoms and emergency department diagnosis of AMI. Cardiac symptoms were defined as chest pain, dyspnea, palpitations, and syncope. Disproportionate stratified sampling was used, and medical records of sampled patients were reviewed to identify an actual diagnosis of AMI. Using inverse probability weighting, verification bias-corrected diagnostic performance was estimated. Results Overall, 92,353 patients were enrolled in the study. Of these, 13,971 (15.1%) complained of cardiac symptoms to EMS providers. A total of 775 patients were sampled for hospital record review. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of EMS provider-assessed cardiac symptoms for the final diagnosis of AMI was 73.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 70.8 to 75.7), 85.3% (95% CI, 85.3 to 85.4), 3.9% (95% CI, 3.6 to 4.2), and 99.7% (95% CI, 99.7 to 99.8), respectively. Conclusion We found that EMS provider-assessed cardiac symptoms had moderate sensitivity and high specificity for diagnosis of AMI. EMS policymakers can use these data to evaluate the pertinence of specific prehospital treatment of AMI

Effects of Dietary Supplementation of Barodon, an Anionic Alkali Mineral Complex, on Growth Performance, Feed Utilization, Innate Immunity, Goblet Cell and Digestibility in Olive Flounder ()

A 15-wk feeding trial was conducted to examine the supplemental effects of Barodon on growth performance, gastrointestinal histology, feed digestibility and innate immunity in olive founder. A basal commercial diet was used as a control and two other diets were prepared by spraying 0.1% or 0.2% of Barodon. Triplicate groups of fish (BW, 145 g) were fed one of the test diets to apparent satiation twice daily. At the end of the feeding trial, fish growth performance was not significantly affected by dietary treatments; however, feed utilization was significantly improved (linear and quadratic, p<0.05) by Barodon supplementation. Significantly higher (p<0.05) survival rates were obtained in fish fed Barodon containing diets. Hepatosomatic index increased significantly in Barodon treated groups. Also, the use of Barodon resulted in significant increase (linear and quadratic, p<0.05) of intestine length and number of goblet cells. Significantly higher (Quadratic, p<0.05) apparent digestibility coefficient of DM was obtained by supplementation of Barodon. Lysozyme and myeloperoxidase activities increased quadratically and linearly, respectively, in Barodon treated fish. Also, significantly higher (linear and quadratic, p<0.05) superoxide dismutase activity was found in Barodon fed fish. The findings in this study show that inclusion of Barodon in diets for olive flounder improves feed utilization and digestibility, and positively affects digestive tract histology and innate immunity