Prevalence and predictors associated with severe pulmonary hypertension in COPD

Background

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is one of the most common complications of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), but its severe form is uncommon. Various factors play an important role in the occurrence and severity of pulmonary hypertension in patients.

High-Dose Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Cardiovascular Prevention: Finally Living Up to Their Potential?

American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs - Despite the widespread use of statins in the setting of high cardiovascular risk, many patients continue to experience clinical events. This highlights...     

Prooxidant-Antioxidant Balance and Antioxidized LDL Antibody Level Values and Cardiac Function in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Objectives: We studied the association between the prooxidant-antioxidant balance (PAB), anti-malondialdehyde-modified low-density lipoprotein (oxidized LDL, ox-LDL) IgG antibody and indices of cardiac function (systolic and diastolic function) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: Fifty-five patients with established CAD were selected, and serum levels of anti-ox-LDL IgG and PAB values were measured and compared with 40 matched healthy controls. Systolic and diastolic functions were determined for all patients. Results: PAB values were significantly higher in patients than in controls (p < 0.001), whilst serum anti-ox-LDL concentrations were not statistically different between the 2 groups (p = 0.821). However, after adjustment for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, the patients had higher anti-ox-LDL levels (p = 0.04). Total PAB values were inversely associated with ejection fraction (r = -0.326, p = 0.031), but this was not the case for anti-ox-LDL in either group (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Serum concentrations of a marker of oxidative stress (PAB values) are inversely associated with cardiac function. PAB is a relatively simple index that could be incorporated into risk assessment in CAD patients. Anti-ox-LDL IgG antibody concentration does not appear to reflect total oxidative stress as assessed by PAB.     

Osteochondral autograft transfer (mosaicplasty) for treatment of patients with osteochondral lesions of talus

Purpose:Osteochondral lesion of talus(OLT)is one of the common causes of ankle pain.This disorder is common in young athletes after ankle injury.There are various therapeutic options.One of the options is mosaic plasticizer.The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of mosaicplasty on improvement of symptoms of patients with osteochondral lesions of talus.Methods:Nineteen patients with osteochondral lesions of talus participated in this study,who were treated with mosaicplasty.Before and after treatment,pain(visual analogue scale),function(American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society),range of motion and radiographic signs were evaluated.Results:The results of this study showed that mosaicplasty could significantly reduce pain,increase function and improve radiographic symptoms.The range of motion increased after treatment,which was not significant.Conclusion:We can confirm the effect of mosaicplasty on the improvement of patients with osteochondral lesions of the ankle,suggesting it as a treatment option.     

Correlates of the Intention to Remain Sexually Inactive Among Male Adolescents in an Islamic Country: Case of the Republic of Iran

BACKGROUND:  There are very few studies that have examined sexual intentions and behaviors of adolescents in Islamic countries. This study employs the Health Belief Model to assess the correlates of the intention to remain sexually inactive among male adolescents in the Republic of Iran.
METHODS:  This cross-sectional study was performed with a sample of 314 adolescents recruited from 3 high schools from Tehran, Iran.
RESULTS:  Fifty-seven percent of this sample planned to remain abstinent until marriage. Another 23% rejected the notion of remaining abstinent and 20% were uncertain. Multinomial logistic regression revealed that students whose mothers were employed and who received a higher daily allowance were more likely to report that they would not remain abstinent. No significant independent relationship between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-related knowledge and an intention to remain abstinent was detected. However, consistent with previous studies conducted in Asia, Africa, and in Western countries, we documented that (1) perceived subjective norms, (2) self-efficacy, (3) and perceived susceptibility to contracting the HIV virus all are associated with the intention to remain sexually inactive among adolescents.
CONCLUSIONS:  It seems abstinence until marriage is more likely to be practiced in traditional families. However, Iranian society is changing rapidly and traditional family structures, values, and norms may not sufficiently protect adolescents from HIV infection. The data from this study support previous studies conducted in Western countries, which found that intervention programs that focus on knowledge alone are ineffective in their ability to alter adolescents' intentions to postpone sexual activity.     

Expression of deoxynucleoside kinases and 5'-nucleotidases in mouse tissues: implications for mitochondrial toxicity

Anti-HIV nucleoside therapy can result in mitochondrial toxicity affecting muscles, peripheral nerves, pancreas and adipose tissue. The cytosolic deoxycytidine kinase (dCK; EC 2.7.1.74) and thymidine kinase (TK1; EC 2.7.1.21), the mitochondrial thymidine kinase (TK2) and deoxyguanosine kinase (dGK; EC 2.7.1.113) as well as 5'-deoxynucleotidases (5'-dNT; EC 3.1.3.5) are enzymes that control rate-limiting steps in formation of intracellular and intra-mitochondrial nucleotides. The mRNA levels and activities of these enzymes were determined in mouse tissues, using real-time PCR and selective enzyme assays. The expression of mRNA for all these enzymes and the mitochondrial deoxynucleotide carrier was detected in all tissues with a 5-10-fold variation. TK1 activities were only clearly detected in spleen and testis, while TK2, dGK and dCK activities were found in all tissues. dGK activities were higher than any other dNK in all tissues, except spleen and testis. In skeletal muscle dGK activity was 5-fold lower, TK2 and dCK levels were 10-fold lower as compared with other tissues. The variation in 5'-dNT activities was about eight-fold with the highest levels in brain and lowest in brown fat. Thus, the salvage of deoxynucleosides in muscles is 5-10-fold lower as compared to other non-proliferating tissues and 100-fold lower compared to spleen. These results may help to explain tissue specific toxicity observed with nucleoside analogs used in HIV treatment as well as symptoms in inherited mitochondrial TK2 deficiencies.     

Biodegradable-Polymer Versus Polymer-Free Drug-Eluting Stents for the Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease

Background/purposeBiodegradable-polymer (BP) and polymer-free (PF) drug eluting stents (DES) were developed to reduce the risk of delayed arterial healing observed with durable-polymer (DP) platforms. Although trials demonstrate BP-DES and PF-DES are non-inferior to DP-DES, there is limited data directly comparing these technologies. We performed a meta-analysis to assess the efficacy and safety of BP-DES versus PF-DES for the treatment of coronary artery disease.Methods/materialsElectronic searches were performed identifying randomized trials comparing BP-DES with PF-DES. Co-primary efficacy endpoints were target vessel revascularization (TVR), target lesion revascularization (TLR) and angiographic in-stent late lumen loss (LLL). Co-secondary safety endpoints were all-cause death, myocardial infarction (MI) and stent thrombosis (ST).ResultsOf 208 studies, 5 met inclusion criteria including 1975 patients. At mean follow-up (14 ± 5 months), BP-DES were associated with significantly reduced rates of TVR (OR 0.58, 95%CI 0.37–0.92, p = 0.02), TLR (4.7% vs 9.5%) (OR 0.48, 95%CI 0.31–0.75, p = 0.001) and in-stent LLL (pooled mean difference ?0.20 mm, 95%CI ?0.24 to ?0.16, p < 0.001). There was no difference in safety, including all-cause death (OR 1.24, 95%CI 0.68–2.28, p = 0.48), MI (OR 0.92, 95%CI 0.54–1.56, p = 0.75) or ST (OR 1.58, 95%CI 0.67–3.73, p = 0.30).ConclusionsThese data suggests that BP-DES are more efficacious when compared with PF-DES for the treatment of CAD.