Assessment of calcinosis in Portuguese patients with systemic sclerosis — a multicenter study

Clinical Rheumatology - The study aims to define the clinical and subclinical calcinosis prevalence, the sensitivity of radiographed site and clinical method for its diagnosis, and the phenotype of...     

Influence of temperature on the subcritical water extraction of Actinidia arguta leaves: A screening of pro-healthy compounds

Actinidia arguta is a species disseminated in Europe and classified by the Chinese Herbal Medicine as a medicinal plant. The fruit (kiwiberry) has been extensively exploited for multiple purposes, while leaves where discarded. The objective of this study was to evaluate the optimal Subcritical Water Extraction (SWE) temperature (110 °C - 160 °C) of antioxidants and polyphenols from A. arguta leaves. The optimal temperature of extraction was 123 °C, revealing the highest phenolic and flavonoid contents and good scavenging efficiencies against HOCl (IC₅₀ = 17.06 μg/mL) and O₂^●- (IC₅₀ = 335.2 μg/mL), without toxicity on intestinal cells. The phenolic profile was characterized by high amounts of phenolic acids (e.g., gallic acids), flavanols (catechin) and flavonols (e.g., quercetin-3-O-galactoside). This work allows to conclude that SWE can be a useful extraction technique for the recovery of polyphenolics from A. arguta leaves.     

Efficacy and Safety of Anticoagulants in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation and History of Falls or Risk of Falls: A Systematic Review and Multilevel Meta-Analysis

Drug Safety - Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major cause of stroke. Anticoagulants substantially reduce risk of stroke but are also associated with an increased risk of bleeding. Because of that,...     

Role of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (TREM-1) in COVID-19 and other viral pneumonias: a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical studies

Inflammopharmacology - Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (TREM-1) has emerged as an important inflammatory marker of immune response associated with severity and mortality outcomes...     

Mebendazole disrupts stromal desmoplasia and tumorigenesis in two models of pancreatic cancer

The five-year survival rate for metastatic pancreatic cancer is currently only 3%, which increases to 13% with local invasion only and to 39% with localized disease at diagnosis. Here we evaluated repurposed mebendazole, an approved anthelminthic drug, to determine how mebendazole might work at the different stages of pancreatic cancer formation and progression. We asked if mebendazole could prevent initiation of pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia precursor lesions, interfere with stromal desmoplasia, or suppress tumor growth and liver metastasis. In both the Kras^LSL.G12D/+; Pdx1-Cre (KC) mouse model of caerulein-induced inflammatory pancreatitis and the Kras^LSL.G12D/+; Tp53^R172H/+; Pdx1-Cre (KPC) mouse model of advanced pancreatic cancer, mebendazole significantly reduced pancreas weight, dysplasia and intraepithelial neoplasia formation, compared to controls. Mebendazole significantly reduced trichrome-positive fibrotic connective tissue and α-SMA-positive activated pancreatic stellate cells that heralds fibrogenesis. In the aggressive KPC model, mebendazole significantly suppressed pancreatic tumor growth, both as an early and late intervention. Mebendazole reduced the overall incidence of pancreatic cancer and severity of liver metastasis in KPC mice. Using early models of pancreatic cancer, treatment with mebendazole resulted in less inflammation, decreased dysplasia, with the later stage model additionally showing a decreased tumor burden, less advanced tumors, and a reduction of metastasis. We conclude that mebendazole should be investigated further as a component of adjuvant therapy to slow progression and prevent metastasis, and well as for primary prevention in the highest risk patients.     

Clinical aspects of epileptic psychosis in Brazil

We investigated a series of patients with epileptic psychosis in Brazil and compared our findings with those of other authors. We evaluated 38 outpatients with epileptic psychosis with a semistructured clinical interview, Annett inventory for hand dominance, international classifications for seizures and syndromes, and DSM-IV for psychosis diagnoses. We studied course and outcome for epilepsy and psychosis. Gender distribution was approximately even. Epilepsy and psychiatric disorders among relatives and early CNS insults in personal histories were frequent findings. Mean age of epilepsy onset was 9.3 years. Epilepsy started before psychosis in all cases, and evolved to clinical refractoriness. There was a predominance of temporal lobe epilepsy. Mean age of psychosis onset was 27.4 years, after a mean duration of epilepsy of 18.1 years, with predominance of schizophrenic presentations with interictal onset, frequent psychiatric admissions, suicide attempts, and postpsychosis functional decline. Tumors or lesions of an embryologic nature were uncommon, but mesial temporal sclerosis was frequent.     

ISCEV 2022 Symposium Author Index

Documenta Ophthalmologica - Multifocal simultaneous imaging challenges the visual system to process the multiple overlaps of focused and defocused images. Retinal image processing may be an...     

Retinal microvasculature and vasoreactivity changes in hypertension using optical coherence tomography-angiography

Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology - To evaluate the retinal vasculature and vasoreactivity of patients with hypertension (HTN) using spectral domain optical coherence...