The impact of diabetes on periodontal diseases

The susceptibility and severity of periodontal diseases is made more severe by diabetes, with the impact on the disease process inversely proportional to the level of glycemic control. Although type 1 diabetes mellitus and type 2 diabetes mellitus have different etiologies, and their impact on bone is not identical, they share many of the same complications. Studies in animals and humans agree that both forms of diabetes increase inflammatory events in periodontal tissue, impair new bone formation, and increase expression of RANKL in response to bacterial challenge. High levels of glucose, reactive oxygen species, and advanced glycation end-products are found in the periodontium of diabetic individuals and lead to increased activation of nuclear factor-kappa B and expression of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-1. Studies in animals, moreover, suggest that there are multiple cell types in periodontal tissues that are affected by diabetes, including leukocytes, vascular cells, mesenchymal stem cells, periodontal ligament fibroblasts, osteoblasts, and osteocytes. The etiology of periodontal disease involves the host response to bacterial challenge that is affected by diabetes, which increases the expression of RANKL and reduces coupled bone formation. In addition, the inflammatory response also modifies the oral microbiota to render it more pathogenic, as demonstrated by increased inflammation and bone loss in animals where bacteria are transferred from diabetic donors to germ-free hosts compared with transfer from normoglycemic donors. This approach has the advantage of not relying upon limited knowledge of the specific bacterial taxa to determine pathogenicity, and examines the overall impact of the microbiota rather than the presumed pathogenicity of a few bacterial groups. Thus, animal studies have provided new insights into pathogenic mechanisms that identify cause-and-effect relationships that are difficult to perform in human studies.     

Effect of corneal stromal pocket irrigation in small-incision lenticule extraction

ObjectivesTo investigate the effect of corneal stromal pocket irrigation after small-incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) on visual acuity, intraocular pressure (IOP), corneal parameters and complications after surgery.MethodsA total of 242 eyes of 121 patients undergoing SMILE were enrolled in this prospective controlled study, and it was designed for one eye to randomly undergo SMILE with balanced salt solution irrigation of the corneal stromal pocket, while the other eye was not. The uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) and slit lamp examination were recorded at 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month. Postoperative corneal density, corneal biomechanical, corneal endothelial cell number, and anterior OCT images were compared at 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month.ResultsCompared with the nonirrigation group, the irrigation group showed significantly higher UDVA at 1 day postoperatively (P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference during the rest of the postoperative period (1 hour, 1 week, and 1 month). In addition, no significant differences were found in IOP, corneal density, corneal biomechanics, corneal endothelial cells, and corneal morphology. No visual decline or severe postoperative complications were found in the patients in this study.ConclusionsInterlamellar irrigation did not affect IOP, corneal parameters, morphology, complications, or UDVA at 1 hour, 1 week, and 1 month after the operation, but it may promote UDVA 1 day after the operation.Subject terms: Refractive errors, Outcomes research, Surgery     

自身免疫性胶质纤维酸性蛋白星形胶质细胞病

自身免疫性胶质纤维酸性蛋白星形胶质细胞病是一种可治的中枢神经系统自身免疫性炎性疾病,以脑膜、脑、脊髓和视神经等受累为主要表现,磁共振成像可见脑室旁线样放射状强化和(或)脊髓长节段受累伴中央强化病灶,脑活体组织检查提示小血管周围炎症伴小胶质细胞活化,对类固醇激素治疗敏感.胶质纤维酸性蛋白抗体被认为是本病的特异性生物标志物.     

磁共振成像阴性颞叶癫痫的临床特点分析

目的探讨磁共振成像(MRI)阴性颞叶癫痫(nonlesional temporal lobe epilepsy,TLE-NL)患者的临床特征、记忆水平和影像学特点。方法纳入2012年9月1日至2017年8月31日在浙江大学医学院附属第二医院确诊的44例单侧TLE-NL患者和53例同期就诊单侧颞叶癫痫伴海马硬化(temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis,TLE-HS)患者,对TLE-NL和TLE-HS的临床特点进行对比。同时纳入20名健康志愿者作为正常对照组。采用韦氏记忆量表评估患者和对照组记忆功能,并通过高分辨率MRI定量分析海马体积及形态,评估TLE-NL和TLE-HS患者记忆水平和海马体积的改变。结果TLE-NL患者比TLE-HS患者发病年龄更晚[(24.3±12.6)岁与(15.8±10.3)岁;t=3.684,P<0.01],癫痫病程更短[4.00(2.00,8.75)年与14.00(7.50,22.00)年;Z=-4.675,P<0.01],热性惊厥史比例[4.5%(2/44)与62.3%(33/53);χ2=32.270,P<0.01)和药物难治性比例更低[47.7%(21/44)与84.9%(45/53);χ2=15.282,P<0.01)。TLE-NL患者在性别比例、癫痫家族史、致痫灶侧别、先兆发生率、症状学类型及发作频率上与TLE-HS患者类似。TLE-NL患者与正常对照组相比无明显记忆损害(记忆商数:105.2±17.4与103.8±16.2;P=1.000),而TLE-HS患者与正常对照组相比存在明显记忆损害(记忆商数:84.5±20.3与103.8±16.2;P<0.01)。TLE-NL患者海马体积和形态与正常对照组相比无明显改变,而TLE-HS患者存在明显致痫灶同侧海马萎缩[(2953±481)mm3与(4431±505)mm3;P<0.01),形态分析结果提示萎缩以海马头及海马体部明显。结论TLE-NL是一类有别于TLE-HS的颞叶癫痫综合征,具有发病年龄晚、病程短、热性惊厥史少、药物难治性癫痫发生率较低、无明显记忆损害及海马萎缩的临床特点。     

34例变异型吉兰-巴雷综合征的临床特点分析

目的 分析变异型吉兰-巴雷综合征(GBS)的临床特点。方法 回顾性分析2012年10月-2019年3月变异型GBS患者的临床表现、电生理及脑脊液特点。结果 共34例患者,包括Miller-Fisher综合征(MFS)及MFS变异亚型共12例,脑神经变异型(CNV)12例,急性感觉神经病(ASN)1例,急性泛自主神经病(APN)1例,咽-颈-臂(PCB)2例以及不能明确分型6例。34例变异型GBS患者中男20例、女14例(P=0.392); 发病年龄17～80岁,平均年龄(53.38±14.99)岁,中年(41～65岁)组所占比例最多(P=0.000); 20例有前驱事件,上呼吸道感染占65%; 首发症状以肢体麻木(38.2%)、吞咽困难(29.4%)、吐词不清(23.5%)多见; 97.1%的患者发病4周内达高峰; 需机械通气者5.9%; 疾病开始恢复的中位时间13 d,住院中位时长13.5 d; 64.7%的患者腱反射减弱或消失; 在完成腰椎穿刺检查的患者中脑脊液蛋白-细胞分离者58.6%; 发病到完善神经电生理检查的平均时间(10.70±7.32)d,85.2%神经电生理检查表现异常; 50%患者给予静脉注射免疫球蛋白(IVIg)治疗,14.7%患者给予激素治疗,8.8%患者给予免疫球蛋白联合激素治疗,除外1例患者主动要求出院,其余治疗均有效。结论 变异型GBS临床表现多样,常无典型急性四肢对称性迟缓性麻痹等症状,临床诊断需要综合判断,出现一些少见的临床表现并不能除外GBS的诊断,脑脊液和神经电生理检查可以帮助提高诊断,详尽的病史及神经系统查体尤为重要,免疫球蛋白和激素治疗有效。     

研析奥氮平治疗老年晚期癌症患者抑郁状态的血药浓度与临床疗效关系

目的：研析奥氮平治疗老年晚期癌症患者抑郁状态的血药浓度与临床疗效的关系，促进合理用药。方法：80例这类患者服用2.5 ~ 10 mg·d-1奥氮平，应用全自动二维液相色谱法（2D-LC/UV）检测患者用药后4周内每周奥氮平血药浓度（C奥氮平）；采用汉密尔顿抑郁量表（HAMD-24）于治疗前、治疗后4周内每周评估疗效，应用线性回归方程分析奥氮平剂量与血药浓度相关性，运用Logistic回归和受试者工作曲线（ROC）分析奥氮平血药浓度与临床疗效相关性；采用副反应量表（TESS）评估药物不良反应。结果：奥氮平日剂量（D日）和C奥氮平线性方程呈正相关（r=0.634，P<0.001）。治疗的第1、2、3、4周末，有效组与无效组患者D日、C奥氮平、HAMD-24量表减分率存在显著性差异（P<0.05）。经Logistic回归分析得出年龄大、奥氮平血药浓度低是导致奥氮平治疗效果不理想的影响因素。以C奥氮平作为疗效预测因子绘制治疗第1、2、3、4周末ROC曲线，得出约登指数最大时对应的最佳临界值切点分别11.18、13.89、11.55、12.44 ng·mL-1；未发现C奥氮平与TESS量表评分相关（P>0.05）。结论：奥氮平血药浓度与日剂量、临床疗效密切相关，治疗老年晚期癌症患者抑郁状态最低有效血药浓度范围为11~14 ng·mL-1。     

Evaluation of the sensitivity of Microhyla fissipes tadpoles to aqueous cadmium

Cadmium (Cd) exposure is harmful to amphibians in natural environments and the Cd concentration is a key parameter in water monitoring. Cd pollution has been a severe issue in the Yangtze River and its southern reaches in recent years. Acute toxicity assays were employed to determine the tolerance limits of Cd for Microhyla fissipes tadpoles and five different concentrations of Cd (0, 50, 100, 200 and 300 μg/L) were involved to detect its chronic effects on metamorphosis, growth, locomotion, genotoxicity and enzymatic activities of M. fissipes tadpoles. The results showed that the 24-h and 48-h LC₅₀ values of Cd on M. fissipes tadpoles were 2591.3 μg/L and 1567.9 μg/L, respectively, and the presumable non-lethal concentration obtained was 172.2 μg/L. During the 70-day chronic toxicity assays, Cd showed negative impacts on survival, growth, metamorphosis and the frequency of erythrocytes nuclear abnormality of M. fissipes tadpoles. However, the Cd exposure caused the increased body size and condition of tadpoles at complete metamorphosis (GS46). The tadpoles exposed to 200 μg/L of Cd exhibited degraded locomotor performance at GS46. Weight increments of tadpoles were inhibited at Day 14 and massive deaths were observed over the next 14 days. The enzymatic activities of tadpoles experienced a shock response stage (GS30-GS35) and a complete recovery stage (GS36-GS41) in all treatments. However, the enzymatic activities (except alkaline phosphatase) of tadpoles at GS46 increased after Cd exposure, especially at high concentrations. In summary, Cd is a threat to M. fissipes tadpoles as that causes reduced fitness.

     

Exact confidence intervals for the average causal effect on a binary outcome

Based on the physical randomization of completely randomized experiments, in a recent article in Statistics in Medicine, Rigdon and Hudgens propose two approaches to obtaining exact confidence intervals for the average causal effect on a binary outcome. They construct the first confidence interval by combining, with the Bonferroni adjustment, the prediction sets for treatment effects among treatment and control groups, and the second one by inverting a series of randomization tests. With sample size n, their second approach requires performing O(n⁴)randomization tests. We demonstrate that the physical randomization also justifies other ways to constructing exact confidence intervals that are more computationally efficient. By exploiting recent advances in hypergeometric confidence intervals and the stochastic order information of randomization tests, we propose approaches that either do not need to invoke Monte Carlo or require performing at most O(n²)randomization tests. We provide technical details and R code in the Supporting Information . Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Listeria rhombencephalitis mimicking acute disseminated encephalomyelitis in a patient without predisposing medical conditions

Journal of NeuroVirology - Listeria rhombencephalitis (L. rhombencephalitis) is an uncommon form of central nervous system infection caused by Listeria monocytogenes (LM). It often occurs to...