Antibodies to carbonic anhydrase in patients with immune cholangiopathies

Bile duct epithelia contain an abundance of carbonic anhydrase. Antibodies to this enzyme have been described in autoimmune disorders. Serum from patients with immune-mediated liver diseases was studied to determine whether antibodies to carbonic anhydrase II and/or pyruvate dehydrogenase could distinguish autoimmune cholangitis as immunologically distinct from primary biliary cirrhosis. Antibody assays to carbonic anhydrase II (Western blot) and pyruvate dehydrogenase (flow cytometry) were performed on the sera of patients with autoimmune cholangitis (6), primary biliary cirrhosis (12), primary sclerosing cholangitis (12), autoimmune hepatitis (12), and control (Gilbert syndrome; 8). Reactivity to carbonic anhydrase II was detected in 5 of 6 patients with autoimmune cholangitis, 1 of 12 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis, 1 of 12 patients with autoimmune hepatitis, and no other patients. Individuals with autoimmune cholangitis were more likely than the other patients to be reactive to carbonic anhydrase II (P < 0.001). Patients with primary biliary cirrhosis were more reactive to pyruvate dehydrogenase compared with all other groups (P < 0.001). An antibody to human carbonic anhydrase II is frequently detected in the sera of patients with autoimmune cholangitis and is uncommon or not present in other cholangiopathies. These data provide evidence that autoimmune cholangitis and primary biliary cirrhosis represent distinct entities with unique patterns of immunoreactivity.     

Pooled Aquablation Results for American Men with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms due to Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in Large Prostates (60–150 cc)

Introduction

To present short-term safety and efficacy data of men with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) treated with Aquablation.

Methods

Men with LUTs secondary to BPH (60–150 cc) underwent Aquablation treatment from February 2016 to December 2017 across 17 investigational sites in the USA from two contemporary investigational device exemption (IDE) studies called WATER (NCT02505919) and WATER II (NCT03123250).

Results

One hundred seven males with mean age of 67.3?±?6.5 years were treated with Aquablation; mean prostate volume was 99.4?±?24.1 cc. The pooled results show that large prostates have an average procedure time of less than 36 min and discharge on average 1.6?±?1 days. The IPSS decreased by 16.7?±?8.1 points at 3 months and Q_max increased by 11.2?±?12.4 ml/s. The Clavien-Dindo (CD) grade 2 or higher event rate at 3 months was 29%. A non-hierarchical breakdown for CD events yielded 18% grade 2 and 19% grade 3 or higher.

Conclusion

Men with LUTS secondary to BPH (60–150 cc) in a pooled analysis were treated safely and effectively with Aquablation up to 3 months postoperatively.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov identifiers, NCT02505919 and NCT03123250.

Funding

PROCEPT BioRobotics.

     

Assessing Walking and Cycling Environments in the Streets of Madrid: Comparing On-Field and Virtual Audits

Audit tools are useful for exploring the urban environment and its association with physical activity. Virtual auditing options are becoming increasingly available potentially reducing the resources needed to conduct these assessments. Only a few studies have explored the use of virtual audit tools. Our objective is to test if the Madrid Systematic Pedestrian and Cycling Environment Scan (M-SPACES) discriminates between areas with different urban forms and to validate virtual street auditing using M-SPACES. Three areas (N?=?500 street segments) were selected for variation in population density. M-SPACES was used to audit street segments physically and virtually (Google Street View) by two researchers in 2013–2014. For both physical and virtual audits, all analyzed features score significantly different by area (p?<?0.05). Most of the features showed substantial (ICC?=?0.6–0.8) or almost perfect (ICC?≥?0.8) agreement between virtual and physical audits, especially neighborhood permeability walking infrastructure, traffic safety, streetscape aesthetics, and destinations. Intra-rater agreement was generally acceptable (ICC?>?0.6). Inter-rater agreement was generally poor (ICC?<?0.4). Virtual auditing provides a valid and feasible way of measuring residential urban environments. Comprehensive auditor training may be needed to guarantee good inter-rater agreement.     

HIV Prevalence and Related Behaviors Among People Who Inject Drugs in Iran from 2010 to 2020

AIDS and Behavior - Injection drug use has been the leading route of HIV transmission in Iran. We assessed HIV prevalence, risk behaviors, and uptake of prevention services among people who inject...     

Characteristics and outcomes of recurrent atrial fibrillation after prior failed pulmonary vein isolation

Journal of Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology - The mechanisms for atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence after pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) catheter ablation are unclear. Non-PV organized...     

Type 2 Diabetes and COVID-19–Related Mortality in the Critical Care Setting: A National Cohort Study in England,March–July 2020

OBJECTIVETo describe the relationship between type 2 diabetes and all-cause mortality among adults with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the critical care setting.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSThis was a nationwide retrospective cohort study in people admitted to hospital in England with COVID-19 requiring admission to a high dependency unit (HDU) or intensive care unit (ICU) between 1 March 2020 and 27 July 2020. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate 30-day in-hospital all-cause mortality associated with type 2 diabetes, with adjustment for age, sex, ethnicity, obesity, and other major comorbidities (chronic respiratory disease, asthma, chronic heart disease, hypertension, immunosuppression, chronic neurological disease, chronic renal disease, and chronic liver disease).RESULTSA total of 19,256 COVID-19–related HDU and ICU admissions were included in the primary analysis, including 13,809 HDU (mean age 70 years) and 5,447 ICU (mean age 58 years) admissions. Of those admitted, 3,524 (18.3%) had type 2 diabetes and 5,077 (26.4%) died during the study period. Patients with type 2 diabetes were at increased risk of death (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.23 [95% CI 1.14, 1.32]), and this result was consistent in HDU and ICU subsets. The relative mortality risk associated with type 2 diabetes decreased with higher age (age 18–49 years aHR 1.50 [95% CI 1.05, 2.15], age 50–64 years 1.29 [1.10, 1.51], and age ≥65 years 1.18 [1.09, 1.29]; P value for age–type 2 diabetes interaction = 0.002).CONCLUSIONSType 2 diabetes may be an independent prognostic factor for survival in people with severe COVID-19 requiring critical care treatment, and in this setting the risk increase associated with type 2 diabetes is greatest in younger people.     

The role of diabetes mellitus on the formation of severe odontogenic abscesses—a retrospective study

Objectives

To analyze the correlation of diabetes mellitus and hyperglycemia with severe odontogenic abscesses.

Materials and methods

Records of all patients in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of the Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University who underwent inpatient treatment for severe odontogenic abscesses between 2010 and 2016 were evaluated retrospectively regarding diabetes anamnesis, maximum and fasting blood sugar count, and duration until discharge. In order to compare the numbers to a general maxillofacial group, all patients who received inpatient treatment in 2013 for any diagnosis other than an abscess of the head and neck region were analyzed as well, and the numbers were correlated.

Results

In total, 977 abscess patients were found in the analyzed period. 7.0% of the patients had a known diagnosis of diabetes mellitus type II and 0.6% of type I. Correlation with the general group showed that abscesses were significantly more likely in diabetics as well as patients with abnormal maximum and fasting blood sugar counts. These patients also needed significantly longer inpatient treatment.

Conclusions

Diabetics and patients with abnormal glucose tolerance show significantly higher numbers of severe odontogenic abscesses and might therefore benefit from earlier escalation of antibiotic medication.

Clinical relevance

Severe odontogenic abscesses are one of the most frequent diagnoses in maxillofacial practice. Adjusting the therapeutic approach for diabetics or patients with abnormal blood sugar counts might help to prevent the development of abscesses.

     

Van der Waals heterostructures of SiC and Janus MSSe (M = Mo,W) monolayers: a first principles study

Favorable stacking patterns of two models with alternative orders of chalcogen atoms in SiC-MSSe (M = Mo, W) vdW heterostructures are investigated using density functional theory calculations. Both model-I and model-II of the SiC-MSSe (M = Mo, W) vdW heterostructures show type-II band alignment, while the spin orbit coupling effect causes considerable Rashba spin splitting. Furthermore, the plane-average electrostatic potential is also calculated to investigate the potential drops across the heterostructure and work function. The imaginary part of the dielectric function reveals that the first optical transition is dominated by excitons with high absorption in the visible region for both heterostructures. Appropriate band alignments with standard water redox potentials enable the capability of these heterostructures to dissociate water into H⁺/H₂ and O₂/H₂O.

Using DFT calculations, we have investigated the electronic structure, Rashba effect, optical and photocatalytic performance of SiC-MSSe (M = Mo, W) van der Waals heterostructures with different stacking patterns of chalcogen atoms.