Anti-cancer effects and mechanism of actions of aspirin analogues in the treatment of glioma cancer

INTRODUCTION: In the past 25 years only modest advancements in glioma treatment have been made, with patient prognosis and median survival time following diagnosis only increasing from 3 to 7 months. A substantial body of clinical and preclinical evidence has suggested a role for aspirin in the treatment of cancer with multiple mechanisms of action proposed including COX 2 inhibition, down regulation of EGFR expression, and NF-κB signaling affecting Bcl-2 expression. However, with serious side effects such as stroke and gastrointestinal bleeding, aspirin analogues with improved potency and side effect profiles are being developed. METHOD: Effects on cell viability following 24 hr incubation of four aspirin derivatives (PN508, 517, 526 and 529) were compared to cisplatin, aspirin and di-aspirin in four glioma cell lines (U87 MG, SVG P12, GOS – 3, and 1321N1), using the PrestoBlue assay, establishing IC50 and examining the time course of drug effects. RESULTS: All compounds were found to decrease cell viability in a concentration and time dependant manner. Significantly, the analogue PN517 (IC50 2mM) showed approximately a twofold increase in potency when compared to aspirin (3.7mM) and cisplatin (4.3mM) in U87 cells, with similar increased potency in SVG P12 cells. Other analogues demonstrated similar potency to aspirin and cisplatin. CONCLUSION: These results support the further development and characterization of novel NSAID derivatives for the treatment of glioma

Regional variation and socio-economic determinants of suicide mortality in Greece before and during economic crisis

Background. Suicide mortality increased in Greece after the 2008 financial crisis. This study aimed to explore the regional variation of suicide mortality before and after the economic crisis, and its correlation with socio-economic and mental health-related variables factors. Methods. This is a quasi-experimental ecological study. Data from the national mortality statistics were analyzed, and standardized death rates and age-specific mortality rates were calculated. The effect of economic crisis was explored by comparing mortality rates before and after crisis onset. Pearson's and Spearman's correlation coefficients and multiple linear regression were used to assess the impact of socioeconomic and mental health-related factors on suicide mortality. Results. Trends of suicide mortality showed a rise during 2011-2014, followed by a decline during 2015-2016. Significant differences were observed between regions, ranging from 27.6% lower to 54% higher than the national average. Unemployment, income, and change of gross domestic product were significantly correlated with regional variation. No association was found with mental disorder mortality rates and psychotropic drug consumption. Conclusions. Socio-economic factors explained only a part of the suicide mortality variation. Mental health-related factors were not significantly correlated with suicide mortality. More research is needed to investigate other possible determinants of suicides. © 2020 by the authors

Vaccination practices and influenza in professional football players in Greece

Background There is limited data on vaccination practices for professional footballers globally. Aims To record vaccination practices employed by medical staff of individual football teams of the Super League Greece, and absenteeism of footballers related to influenza illness. Methods A brief questionnaire was distributed to chief medical officers (CMOs) of the sixteen teams of the Super League Greece. Participants were asked to report vaccines they recommended for footballers. In addition, the questionnaire included questions on new cases of influenza and absenteeism due to influenza. Descriptive statistics (absolute and relative frequencies) were used for the presentation of the results. Results Overall, 87% of the CMOs recommended seasonal influenza vaccine, 62% hepatitis B vaccine and 50% pneumococcal vaccine. Fourteen CMOs (87%) reported that the occurrence of seasonal influenza in the 2016-17 northern hemisphere season ranged from one to five cases, while two medical officers (12%) reported zero workdays lost due to influenza. Conclusions Our survey shows considerable variation in vaccination practices of CMOs of the Super League Greece. The results of this survey should stimulate further evaluation of vaccination policy and influenza-related absenteeism in footballers. © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine

Blood donation knowledge and attitudes among undergraduate health science students: A cross-sectional study

Awareness towards blood donation can be empowered by health professionals' role-modelling. We aimed to assess knowledge and attitudes among Greek undergraduate medical laboratory students. A questionnaire was distributed to 330 students (response rate: 88.7%). Overall, 24% had donated blood at least once, with males 4.62 times more likely to be donors. Voluntary, non-remunerated blood donors were more likely to be repeaters. A quarter of all students were inclined to offer blood for monetary reward, with men more prone to accept payment. There is a need to campaign health science students during formal education through need-based as well as altruistic 'smart' messages. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd

Comparison of PD BLADE with fat saturation (FS), PD FS and T2 3D DESS with water excitation (WE) in detecting articular knee cartilage defects

The purpose of this study, is to compare the sequences: 1) proton density (PD) BLADE (BLADE is a PROPELLER-equivalent implementation of the Siemens Medical System) with fat saturation (FS) coronal (COR), 2) PD FS COR, 3) multi-planar reconstruction (MPR) with 3 mm slice thickness and 4) multi-planar reconstruction (MPR) with 1.5 mm slice thickness, both from the T2 3D-double-echo steady state (DESS) with water excitation (WE) sagittal (SAG), regarding their abilities to identify changes in the femorotibial condyle cartilage in knee MRI examinations. Thirty three consecutive patients with osteoarthritis (18 females, 15 males; mean age 56 years, range 37-71 years), who had been routinely scanned for knee examination using the previously mentioned image acquisition techniques, participated in the study. A quantitative analysis was performed based on the relative contrast (ReCON) measurements, which were taken both on normal tissues as well as on pathologies. Additionally, a qualitative analysis was performed by two radiologists. Motion and pulsatile flow artifacts were evaluated. The PD BLADE FS COR sequence produced images of higher contrast between Menisci and Cartilage, Fluid and Cartilage, Pathologies and Cartilage as well as of the Conspicuousness Superficial Cartilage and it was found to be superior to the other sequences (p < 0.001). The sequences T2 3D DESS 1.5 mm and T2 3D DESS 3 mm were significantly superior to the PD BLADE FS COR and the PD FS COR sequences in the visualization of Bone and Cartilage and the Conspicuousness Deep Surface Cartilage. This pattern of results is also confirmed by the quantitative analysis. PD FS BLADE sequences are ideal for the depiction of the cartilage pathologies compared to the conventional PD FS and 12 3D DESS sequences. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved