Engineered glove to evaluate hand disability in rheumatoid arthritis: A pilot-study

ObjectiveThe Hand Test System (HTS) is an engineered-sensorized glove that has been originally developed in the neuroscientific field for the evaluation of hand fingers’ speed movement. This pilot-study aimed to evaluate the reproducibility of HTS analysis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), correlating glove-derived parameters with clinical disease activity indexes, self-reported disability-related questionnaires and hand strength.MethodsFifty-five RA patients and fifty age and sex matched healthy controls (HCs) performed HTS analysis. The glove recognized the touch speed between the finger tips during standard sequences of movements, providing three quantitative parameters: touch duration (TD), inter-tapping interval (ITI) and movement rate (MR). These variables were correlated with Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disease Index (HAQ-DI), Hand Disability Index (HDI), Hand Grip Strength (HGS), DAS28-CRP, CDAI and SDAI.ResultsIntraclass correlation coefficient was 0.93 (CI: 0.92, 0.95). RA patients showed significantly slower TD, ITI and MR than HCs, for all classes of disease activity (P < 0.001). All HTS parameters correlated significantly with HAQ, HAQ-DI, HDI, HGS, DAS28-CRP, SDAI, CDAI (between P < 0.05 and P < 0.001). Of note, also RA patients in clinical remission showed a significantly higher TD compared with HCs (P < 0.001).ConclusionHTS seems a new safe and fast tool to evaluate rheumatoid hand's functionality, measuring the speed of finger movements. Furthermore, the HTS parameters significantly correlate with quality of life, disease activity, hand strength and perceived hand disability, evaluating also potential hand motor impairment in RA clinical remission.     

The third-generation retinoid adapalene triggered DNA damage to induce S-phase arrest in HaCat cells

Epidermal proliferative diseases consisted of a series of common skin diseases, most of which were recurrent chronic skin diseases, and had greatly negative influence on the life quality of patient. Retinoids exhibited vital roles in the treatment of many skin diseases. Our recent study demonstrated that adapalene significantly inhibited the growth of HaCat cells, and the inhibitory activity was stronger than other retinoids, such as all-trans-retinoic acid, acitretin, isotretinoin, tazarotene, and bexarotene. Further study showed that adapalene suppressed the colony formation of HaCat cells, and it dramatically triggered S-phase arrest and apoptosis, rather than G1 phase arrest which was reported in other retinoids in several studies. Additionally, adapalene treatment greatly upregulated the protein expression of DNA damage marker γ-H2AX, which was in accord with the results of the elongation of tail moment by comet electrophoresis analysis. Moreover, DNA damage was triggered and DNA repair was suppressed synchronously with adapalene treatment, which accounted for the mechanism of S-phase arrest induced by adapalene. In summary, our recent work demonstrated that adapalene showed strong anti-proliferation activity in HaCat cells and could be an alternative agent for the epidermal proliferative disease.     

50 years of Hepatology: The Royal Free Hospital School of Hepatology

Writing about the history of Hepatology would necessarily imply writing about the history of the Liver Unit and the School of Hepatology created by Dr. Sheila Scherlock at the Royal Free Hospital (London). On the 70th anniversary of the creation of the first liver unit (Hammersmith Hospital) this article presents a brief account of the history, organization, structure, educational program and contributions of perhaps the first and the most influential medical research models created for the study of liver diseases: the Royal Free Hospital Liver Unit.     

四川省首例COVID-19婴儿病例分析及文献复习

目的探讨1例输入性、家庭聚集性严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2(SARS-CoV-2)感染的2^＋个月龄新型冠状病毒疾病(COVID-19)婴儿的临床流行病学资料及影像学资料特点，并进行文献复习。 方法选择2020年2月7日，四川省金堂县第一人民医院收治的2^＋个月龄COVID-19婴儿为研究对象。采用回顾性分析方法，收集该例婴儿的临床病例资料，对其临床流行病学特点、影像学资料、诊断、治疗方案及预后进行分析。本研究对报道COVID-19婴儿的相关文献进行复习，设定检索策略为：以"婴儿""新型冠状病毒肺炎""新型冠状病毒疾病""2019-nCoV""NCP""SARS-CoV-2""COVID-19""infant"等为关键词，在PubMed、Medline、中国知网、维普中文科技期刊数据库、万方数据知识服务平台，以及"医学界儿科频道"等公众平台及新闻网站中，检索相关文献，检索时间设定为2019年12月1日至2020年2月21日。总结符合本研究纳入、排除标准的文献中报道的COVID-19婴儿临床特点及其诊断、治疗方案与预后。本研究遵循的程序符合2013年修订的《世界医学协会赫尔辛基宣言》要求。 结果①病史采集、诊断、治疗结果：患儿，男性，生后2个月＋29 d；2020年1月18日，患儿姨妈自武汉返蓉，密切接触后，患儿出现气促、轻微咳嗽、腹泻等症状。入院后，患儿检查结果显示，肺炎支原体及衣原体、甲型及乙型流感病毒抗原均呈阴性。胸部CT检查结果显示，患儿双肺胸膜下多发性浅淡磨玻璃病灶。2次鼻咽拭子SARS-CoV-2核酸检测均呈阳性。根据流行病学史、临床与影像学表现及核酸检测结果，确诊为普通型COVID-19患儿。经过对症治疗后，患儿气促、咳嗽临床症状消失，胸部影像学检查结果显示，肺部炎症病灶吸收，SARS-CoV-2核酸检测呈阴性。目前，患儿继续观察中，等候出院。②文献复习结果：按照本研究设定的文献检索策略，共计检索出5篇国内有关婴儿COVID-19文献及2篇婴儿COVID-19新闻报道，涉及18例COVID-19婴儿的临床特点、诊断、治疗方案及预后等研究。这18例COVID-19婴儿，均具有家庭聚集性、输入性感染特点(武汉COVID-19患者接触史)。其中，3例新生儿及其母亲均为SARS-CoV-2感染者。出生后，对2例新生儿进行有效隔离，无感染者接触史。这18例COVID-19婴儿的首发症状为：发热5例(27.8%)、咳嗽及下呼吸道症状3例(16.7%)、打喷嚏及吐奶1例(5.6%)、无症状3例(16.7%)、病史不详6例(33.3%)。其中，7例婴儿文献报道胸部CT检查结果，并且均存在异常，表现为双肺或单侧肺纹理增粗、磨玻璃影和(或)实变影。除2例婴儿未报道预后情况外，其余16例婴儿均预后良好，无死亡病例报道。 结论文献报道的COVID-19婴儿及纳入本研究的1例婴儿，均具有输入性、家庭聚集性感染特点，而且对新生儿患者，目前尚不能排除母婴垂直传播可能性。对于临床症状相对较轻，肺部病变范围相对较小且局限的COVID-19婴儿，一般预后较好。在COVID-19暴发流行期，应尽可能加强儿童，特别是婴儿的防护，避免输入性、家庭聚集性SARS-CoV-2感染。     

Clinical and Multimodal Imaging Findings and Risk Factors for Ocular Involvement in a Presumed Waterborne Toxoplasmosis Outbreak,Brazil

In 2015, an outbreak of presumed waterborne toxoplasmosis occurred in Gouveia, Brazil. We conducted a 3-year prospective study on a cohort of 52 patients from this outbreak, collected clinical and multimodal imaging findings, and determined risk factors for ocular involvement. At baseline examination, 12 (23%) patients had retinochoroiditis; 4 patients had bilateral and 2 had macular lesions. Multimodal imaging revealed 2 distinct retinochoroiditis patterns: necrotizing focal retinochoroiditis and punctate retinochoroiditis. Older age, worse visual acuity, self-reported recent reduction of visual acuity, and presence of floaters were associated with retinochoroiditis. Among patients, persons >40 years of age had 5 times the risk for ocular involvement. Five patients had recurrences during follow-up, a rate of 22% per person-year. Recurrences were associated with binocular involvement. Two patients had late ocular involvement that occurred >34 months after initial diagnosis. Patients with acquired toxoplasmosis should have long-term ophthalmic follow-up, regardless of initial ocular involvement.     

Fibromatosis ovárica: “signo de la guirnalda negra”

The main objective in the imaging differential diagnosis of an ovarian mass is to establish whether it is cystic or solid; solid lesions are less common. Ovarian fibromatosis is a benign disease of the ovary that is rarely included in the differential diagnosis of solid ovarian lesions. Characteristic features of masses that have a fibrous component are low signal in T1-weighted MRI sequences and especially in T2-weighted MRI sequences. The presence of peripheral fibrotic tissue around the residual ovarian tissue is specific to ovarian fibromatosis; on MRI, this results in marked hypointensity on T2-weighted images that has been dubbed the “black garland sign”. This sign, together with slight peripheral enhancement after the administration of contrast material and the preservation of the ovarian architecture, facilitates the diagnosis, making it possible to avoid unnecessary surgical interventions.     

Baastrup病的诊断与治疗研究进展

Baastrup病,又名吻合棘病(kissing spine),最早于1933年由丹麦放射科医生Baastrup发现并以自己的名字命名,是一种相邻棘突附着面及其间软组织发生病理改变的疾病[1]。本病通常累及腰椎,颈椎Baastrup病也有少数报道[2-3],最常见于L4~5节段[4-6],临床上常表现为下腰痛[7-9],是由于腰椎相邻棘突不断接近并撞击而导致,疼痛常与体位变化相关,在脊柱伸展时加剧,屈曲时可缓解[10],临床上可通过触诊相应的棘突间隙而引起疼痛。     

Deciphering the roles of caveolin in neurodegenerative diseases: The good,the bad and the importance of context

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs), which contribute to progressive and irreversible impairments of both the structure and function of the nervous system, pose a substantial socioeconomic burden on society. Mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, membrane damage, DNA damage, and abnormal protein degradation pathways play pivotal roles in the etiology of NDDs. Recently, growing evidence has demonstrated that caveolins are important in the pathology of NDDs due to their cellular functions in signal transduction, endocytosis, transcytosis, cholesterol transport, and lipid homeostasis. Given the significance of caveolins, here we review the literature to clarify their molecular mechanisms and roles in NDDs. We first briefly introduce the general background on caveolins. Next, we focus on the various important functions of caveolins in the brain. Finally, we emphasize recent progress regarding caveolins, especially Cav-1, which exert both benefit and unfavorable effects in NDDs such as AD and PD. Collectively, the data presented here should advance the investigation of caveolins for the future development of innovative strategies for the treatment of NDDs.