334 research outputs found
Dietary polyphenols and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is emerging as a major public health issue worldwide, is characterized by a wide spectrum of liver disorders, ranging from simple fat accumulation in hepatocytes, also known as steatosis, to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and cirrhosis. At present, the pharmacological treatment of NAFLD is still debated and dietary strategies for the prevention and the treatment of this condition are strongly considered. Polyphenols are a group of plant-derived compounds whose anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties are associated with a low prevalence of metabolic diseases, including obesity, hypertension, and insulin resistance. Since inflammation and oxidative stress are the main risk factors involved in the pathogenesis of NAFLD, recent studies suggest that the consumption of polyphenol-rich diets is involved in the prevention and treatment of NAFLD. However, few clinical trials are available on human subjects with NAFLD. Here, we reviewed the emerging existing evidence on the potential use of polyphenols to treat NAFLD. After introducing the physiopathology of NAFLD, we focused on the most investigated phenolic compounds in the setting of NAFLD and described their potential benefits, starting from basic science studies to animal models and human trials
Univentricular repair for complex congenital heart defect
Al XIII-lea Congres al Asociației Chirurgilor „Nicolae Anestiadi” și al III-lea Congres al Societății de Endoscopie, Chirurgie miniminvazivă și Ultrasonografie ”V.M.Guțu” din Republica Moldova, Departamentul Chirurgie Cardiovasculară și Toracică, IMSP Spitalul Clinic Republican ”Timofei Moșneaga”, Chișinău, Republica MoldovaIntroducere: Aprecierea rezultatelor corecției viciilor cardiace complexe poate sugera noi interpretări ale conduitei chirurgicale .
Material şi metode: 99 pacienţi, cu vârsta 1 zi - 30 ani, au urmat corecţia univentriculară în următoarele patologii: atrezia valvei
tricuspide - 36, atrezia valvei mitrale - 16, ventricul cu cale dublă de intrare - 23, canal A-V cu ventricule nebalansate - 17, calea dublă
de ieșire din VD cu “struddling valve”, “noncommited” DSV - 2, atrezia AP cu SIV intact - 5, anomalia Ebstein (tip D) – 2, transpoziția
vaselor magistrale cu stenoza AP si DSV tip canal A-V - 1, transpoziția corijată a vaselor magistrale cu stenoza AP si DSV - 2.
Rezultate: Din 132 operaţii efectuate 49 au fost paliative: în hipertensiune pulmonară – îngustarea AP; În stenoză/atrezie AP –
anastomoză intersistemică (14 - anastomoză modificată Blelock-Taussing din stânga, 3 – şunt central); în DSA restrictiv – 8
atrioseptostomii din care 7 cu CEC. 38 pacienţii după operaţia Glenn şi Fontan au dezvoltat transudare pleurală, care a necesitat
drenarea cavităţii pleurale timp de 3-5 zile (32 pacienți), sau până la 30 zile (6 pacienţi). Într-un caz transudarea pleurală s-a observat
peste 2 luni după operaţie. Hilotorax au avut imediat după intervenţie 2 pacienti, iar spontan peste o lună – 1 pacient.
Concluzie: Corecţia univentriculară asigura îmbunătățirea stării funcționale a pacienților. Rezultatele nu sunt direct legate de operaţia
în sine, ci de severitatea modificărilor morfologice cardiace.Introduction: Assessment of the results of surgical repair in patients with complex heart defects may suggest election of new surgical
approaches.
Material and methods: 99 patients aged 1 day - 30 years underwent univentricular correction in the following pathologies: the
tricuspid valve atresia - 36, mitral atresia – 16, double inlet ventricles – 23, AV channel with unbalanced ventricles - 17, double outlet
RV with "straddling valve» or "noncommited" VSD – 2, PA atresia with intact IVS – 5, Ebstein anomaly (Type D) – 2, TGA with PA
stenosis and VSD type AV- canal - 1, congenitally corrected TGA with PA stenosis and VSD – 2.
Results: From 132 operations, 49 were palliative: in unobstructed pulmonary blood flow - PA banding; in case of inadequate pulmonary
blood flow - systemic pulmonary shunt (14 - modified B-T shunt and 3 – central shunt); in 4 restrictive ASD - atrioseptostomy (3 - on
pump, 1 – off pump). In 32 patients with Glenn and Fontan operation was observed pleural effusion which required pleural drainage for
3-5 days, another 6 patients – up to 30 days after surgery. In one case pleural effusion occurred 2 months after surgery. Chylothorax
evolved in 2 patients after surgery, and in 1 case - spontaneously after 1 month.
Conclusion: Univentricular correction provides improved functional status of patients. The result is not directly related to the surgery
itself, but depends of cardiac morphology and functional status
Prediction of early recurrent thromboembolic event and major bleeding in patients with acute stroke and atrial fibrillation by a risk stratification schema: the ALESSA score study
Background and Purposes—This study was designed to derive and validate a score to predict early ischemic events and major bleedings after an acute ischemic stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation.
Methods—The derivation cohort consisted of 854 patients with acute ischemic stroke and atrial fibrillation included in prospective series between January 2012 and March 2014. Older age (hazard ratio 1.06 for each additional year; 95% confidence interval, 1.00–1.11) and severe atrial enlargement (hazard ratio, 2.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.08–2.87) were predictors for ischemic outcome events (stroke, transient ischemic attack, and systemic embolism) at 90 days from acute stroke. Small lesions (≤1.5 cm) were inversely correlated with both major bleeding (hazard ratio, 0.39; P=0.03) and ischemic outcome events (hazard ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.30–1.00). We assigned to age ≥80 years 2 points and between 70 and 79 years 1 point; ischemic index lesion >1.5 cm, 1 point; severe atrial enlargement, 1 point (ALESSA score). A logistic regression with the receiver-operating characteristic graph procedure (C statistic) showed an area under the curve of 0.697 (0.632–0.763; P=0.0001) for ischemic outcome events and 0.585 (0.493–0.678; P=0.10) for major bleedings.
Results—The validation cohort consisted of 994 patients included in prospective series between April 2014 and June 2016. Logistic regression with the receiver-operating characteristic graph procedure showed an area under the curve of 0.646 (0.529–0.763; P=0.009) for ischemic outcome events and 0.407 (0.275–0.540; P=0.14) for hemorrhagic outcome events.
Conclusions—In acute stroke patients with atrial fibrillation, high ALESSA scores were associated with a high risk of ischemic events but not of major bleedings
A&P : Revista de Arquitectura y Planeamiento Nº5-6/65
Contiene artículos de diferentes áreas temáticas (Arquitectura – Diseño – Historia – Urbanismo entre otros) Autores: Mario Luis Corea, Héctor H. Elena, Mario E. Bonilla, Mauro Kunst, Jorge Vila Ortiz, Fernando Chueca Goitia, Mario C. Robirosa, Constantinos A. Doxiadis, YujnovskyUniversidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Matemáticas. Escuela de Arquitectura y Planeamient
Playing in the dark with online games for girls
Pregnant Rapunzel Emergency is part of a series of online free games aimed at young girls (forhergames.com or babygirlgames.com), where dozens of characters from fairy tales, children’s toys and media feature in recovery settings, such as ‘Barbie flu’. The range of games available to choose from includes not only dressing, varnishing nails or tidying messy rooms, but also rather more troubling options such as extreme makeovers, losing weight, or a plethora of baby showers, cravings, hospital pregnancy checks, births (including caesarean), postnatal ironing, washing and baby care. Taking the online game Pregnant Rapunzel Emergency as an exemplar of a current digital trend, the authors explore the workings of ‘dark digital play’ from a number of perspectives – one by each named author. The game selected has (what may appear to adults) several disturbing features in that the player is invited to treat wounds of the kind of harm that might usually be associated with domestic violence towards women
Acute toxicity, brine shrimp cytotoxicity and relaxant activity of fruits of callistemon citrinus curtis
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Callistemon citrinus </it>Curtis belongs to family Myrtaceae that has a great medicinal importance. In our previous work, fruits of <it>Callistemon citrinus </it>were reported to have relaxant (antispasmodic) activity. The current work describes the screening of fractions of the crude methanol extract for tracing spasmolytic constituents so that it shall help us for isolation of bioactive compounds. Acute toxicity and brine shrimp cytotoxicity of crude methanol extract are also performed to standardize it.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The crude methanol extract was obtained by maceration with distilled water (500 ml) three times and fractionated successively with <it>n-</it>hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and <it>n-</it>butanol (300 ml of each solvent). Phytochemical analysis for crude methanol extract was performed. Acute toxicity studies were performed in mice. Brine shrimp cytotoxicity studies were performed to determine its cytotoxicity and standardize it. In other series of experiments, rabbits' jejunum preparations were used in screening for possible relaxant activities of various fractions. They were applied in concentrations of 0.01, 0.03, 0.1, 0.3, 1.0, 3.0, 5.0 and 10.0 mg/ml on spontaneous rabbits' jejunum preparations. In similar fashion, fractions were also tested on KCl (80 mM) -induced contractions. Calcium chloride curves were constructed in K-rich Tyrode's solution. The effects of various fractions were tested on calcium chloride curves at concentrations 1.0, 3.0, 5.0 and 10.0 mg/ml. Curves of verapamil used as reference drug at concentration 0.1 μM and 0.3 μM were also constructed. The curves were compared with their respective controls for possible right shift.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Methanol extract tested strongly positive for saponins and tannins. However, it tested mild positive for presence of proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates and phenolic compounds. LD<sub>50 </sub>value for crude methanol extract is 476.25 ± 10.3 (470-481, n = 4) mg/ml. Similarly, EC<sub>50 </sub>value for brine shrimp cytotoxicity is 65.5 ± 7.28 (60.8- 69.4, n = 4) mg/ml. All the fractions relaxed the spontaneous and KCl-induced contractions. EC<sub>50 </sub>values (mg/ml) for effects of ethyl acetate fraction on spontaneous and KCl induced contractions are 2.62 ± 0.78 (2.15-3.0, n = 4) and 3.72 ± 0.86 (3.38-4.28, n = 4) respectively. Respective EC<sub>50 </sub>values (mg/ml) for <it>n-</it>butanol fraction are 3.59 ± 0.2(3.07-3.9, n = 4) for spontaneous, and 5.57 ± 0.2 (5.07-6.11, n = 4) for KCl- induced contractions. EC<sub>50 </sub>value for control calcium chloride curve (without extract) is -2.73 ± 0.19 (-2.6 - -2.81, n = 4) while EC<sub>50 </sub>for curves treated with 5.0 mg/ml of chloroform is -2.22 ± 0.02 (-2.16 - -2.3, n = 4). EC<sub>50 </sub>value for ethyl acetate treated (1.0 mg/ml) tissues is -1.95 ± 0.10 (-1.88 - -2.0, n = 4) <it>vs</it>. control EC<sub>50 </sub>= -2.71 ± 0.08 (-2.66 - -2.76, n = 4). All the fractions, except <it>n-</it>hexane, showed a right shift like that of verapamil (EC<sub>50 </sub>= -1.72 ± 0.15 (-1.62 - -1.8, n = 4) vs. Control EC<sub>50 </sub>= -2.41 ± 0.06 (-2.38 - - 2.44, n = 4), a standard drug that blocks voltage operated calcium channels.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Relaxant constituents were more concentrated in ethylacetate fraction followed by chloroform, <it>n -</it>butanol and aqueous fractions that warrant for its isolation. The crude methanol extract is safe at concentration 250 mg/ml or below and results of brine shrimp cytotoxicity assay imply the plant specie may be a source of cytotoxic agents.</p
Disease-Modifying Therapies and Coronavirus Disease 2019 Severity in Multiple Sclerosis
Objective: This study was undertaken to assess the impact of immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory therapies on the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Methods: We retrospectively collected data of PwMS with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. All the patients had complete follow-up to death or recovery. Severe COVID-19 was defined by a 3-level variable: mild disease not requiring hospitalization versus pneumonia or hospitalization versus intensive care unit (ICU) admission or death. We evaluated baseline characteristics and MS therapies associated with severe COVID-19 by multivariate and propensity score (PS)-weighted ordinal logistic models. Sensitivity analyses were run to confirm the results. Results: Of 844 PwMS with suspected (n = 565) or confirmed (n = 279) COVID-19, 13 (1.54%) died; 11 of them were in a progressive MS phase, and 8 were without any therapy. Thirty-eight (4.5%) were admitted to an ICU; 99 (11.7%) had radiologically documented pneumonia; 96 (11.4%) were hospitalized. After adjusting for region, age, sex, progressive MS course, Expanded Disability Status Scale, disease duration, body mass index, comorbidities, and recent methylprednisolone use, therapy with an anti-CD20 agent (ocrelizumab or rituximab) was significantly associated (odds ratio [OR] = 2.37, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.18\u20134.74, p = 0.015) with increased risk of severe COVID-19. Recent use (<1 month) of methylprednisolone was also associated with a worse outcome (OR = 5.24, 95% CI = 2.20\u201312.53, p = 0.001). Results were confirmed by the PS-weighted analysis and by all the sensitivity analyses. Interpretation: This study showed an acceptable level of safety of therapies with a broad array of mechanisms of action. However, some specific elements of risk emerged. These will need to be considered while the COVID-19 pandemic persists. ANN NEUROL 2021;89:780\u2013789
The Italian multiple sclerosis register
The past decade has seen extraordinary increase in worldwide availability of and access to several large multiple sclerosis (MS) databases and registries. MS registries represent powerful tools to provide meaningful information on the burden, natural history, and long-term safety and effectiveness of treatments. Moreover, patients, physicians, industry, and policy makers have an active interest in real-world observational studies based on register data, as they have the potential to answer the questions that are most relevant to daily treatment decision-making. In 2014, the Italian MS Foundation, in collaboration with the Italian MS clinical centers, promoted and funded the creation of the Italian MS Register, a project in continuity with the existing Italian MS Database Network set up from 2001. Main objective of the Italian MS Register is to create an organized multicenter structure to collect data of all MS patients for better defining the disease epidemiology, improving quality of care, and promoting research projects in high-priority areas. The aim of this article is to present the current framework and network of the Italian MS register, including the methodology used to improve the quality of data collection and to facilitate the exchange of data and the collaboration among national and international groups
The Italian multiple sclerosis register
The past decade has seen extraordinary increase in worldwide availability of and access to several large multiple sclerosis (MS)
databases and registries. MS registries represent powerful tools to provide meaningful information on the burden, natural history,
and long-term safety and effectiveness of treatments. Moreover, patients, physicians, industry, and policy makers have an active
interest in real-world observational studies based on register data, as they have the potential to answer the questions that are most
relevant to daily treatment decision-making. In 2014, the Italian MS Foundation, in collaboration with the Italian MS clinical
centers, promoted and funded the creation of the Italian MS Register, a project in continuity with the existing Italian MS Database
Network set up from 2001. Main objective of the Italian MS Register is to create an organized multicenter structure to collect data
of all MS patients for better defining the disease epidemiology, improving quality of care, and promoting research projects in
high-priority areas. The aim of this article is to present the current framework and network of the Italian MS register, including the
methodology used to improve the quality of data collection and to facilitate the exchange of data and the collaboration among
national and international groups
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