Metabolomics of Synovial Fluid and Infrapatellar Fat Pad in Patients with Osteoarthritis or Rheumatoid Arthritis

Inflammation - Osteoarthritis (OA) and autoimmune-driven rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are inflammatory joint diseases with complex and insufficiently understood pathogeneses. Our objective was to...     

Neck muscles cross-sectional area in adolescents with and without headache – MRI study

Background: Cervical musculature may play an important role in the genesis of tension‐type headache. However, there are no reports on a possible association between the morphometrical features of the neck flexion and extension muscles and adolescence headache. Aim: To examine differences in neck flexion and extension muscles cross‐sectional area (CSA) in adolescents with and without headache. Methods: A population‐based sample of 17‐year‐old adolescents with migraine (N=19), tension‐type headache (N=24) and healthy controls without headache (N=22) was examined. CSA of the neck muscles was measured from axial T1‐weighted magnetic resonance images (MRI). Results: Boys with tension‐type headache showed significantly smaller CSA of right sternocleidomastoid muscle than boys with migraine and girls with tension‐type headache showed significantly smaller CSA of combined right sternocleidomastoid and scalenus muscles than girls with migraine. In addition, boys with migraine had significantly larger CSA of both right sternocleidomastoid and combined right sternocleidomastoid and scalenus muscles, and left semispinalis capitis muscle and combined left semispinalis and splenius muscles than boys without headache. In boys and girls no other significant differences were observed in the CSA of neck flexion or extension muscles. Conclusions: This preliminary work demonstrates that both girls and boys with tension‐type headache and migraine have differences in the size of neck flexion muscles, especially unilaterally. In boys, unilaterally increased size of neck flexion and extension muscles is associated with migraine. These findings, if confirmed in further studies, may have important diagnostic and therapeutic implications for rehabilitation of adolescents with headache.     

Factors Associated With Radiographers' Intravenous Pharmacotherapy Theoretical Competence: A Comparative Repeated-Measures Study

Introduction

There are concerns that the high incidence of medicine-related adverse events is compromising patient safety. System errors and human factors, particularly inadequate knowledge of pharmacotherapy, are significant causes of medication errors. Little has been published on the continuing professional education of radiographers. We report on a study undertaken in Finland between 2012 and 2014.

A locus on 2p12 containing the co-regulated MRPL19 and C2ORF3 genes is associated to dyslexia

DYX3, a locus for dyslexia, resides on chromosome 2p11-p15. We have refined its location on 2p12 to a 157 kb region in two rounds of linkage disequilibrium (LD) mapping in a set of Finnish families. The observed association was replicated in an independent set of 251 German families. Two overlapping risk haplotypes spanning 16 kb were identified in both sample sets separately as well as in a joint analysis. In the German sample set, the odds ratio for the most significantly associated haplotype increased with dyslexia severity from 2.2 to 5.2. The risk haplotypes are located in an intergenic region between FLJ13391 and MRPL19/C2ORF3. As no novel genes could be cloned from this region, we hypothesized that the risk haplotypes might affect long-distance regulatory elements and characterized the three known genes. MRPL19 and C2ORF3 are in strong LD and were highly co-expressed across a panel of tissues from regions of adult human brain. The expression of MRPL19 and C2ORF3, but not FLJ13391, were also correlated with the four dyslexia candidate genes identified so far (DYX1C1, ROBO1, DCDC2 and KIAA0319). Although several non-synonymous changes were identified in MRPL19 and C2ORF3, none of them significantly associated with dyslexia. However, heterozygous carriers of the risk haplotype showed significantly attenuated expression of both MRPL19 and C2ORF3, as compared with non-carriers. Analysis of C2ORF3 orthologues in four non-human primates suggested different evolutionary rates for primates when compared with the out-group. In conclusion, our data support MRPL19 and C2ORF3 as candidate susceptibility genes for DYX3.     

Loading and gait symmetry during level and stair walking in asymptomatic subjects with knee osteoarthritis: Importance of quadriceps femoris in reducing impact force during heel strike?

Repetitive impulsive forces during walking are claimed to result in joint osteoarthritis (OA). The aim of this study was to investigate impact loading and gait symmetry during level and stair walking in asymptomatic elderly subjects with knee OA. It was hypothesised that pre-activity of the quadriceps femoris muscle (QF) would be an important factor reducing impulsive loading when walking on level ground. Subjects [21 female, six men, 66.2 (7.6) years] were studied. The subjects had no knee pain or diminished functional capacity, but showed radiographically light or moderate bilateral knee OA changes. Ground reaction forces (GRFs), plantar pressure distribution, muscle activation pattern [vastus medialis (VM), vastus lateralis, biceps femoris and gastrocnemius medialis] and asymmetry during level walking and stair walking were evaluated. Almost 20% of subjects had a distinct heel-strike transient at maximal speed with lower pre-activity of VM (P<0.05). The most forceful maximum vertical GRF in the braking phase occurred in stair descent [1.52 (0.21) BW]. This was 32.5% (P<0.001) higher than seen when walking on the level at normal speed. The loading rate of stair descent [10.87 (2.96) BW/s] was significantly stronger (P<0.05) than in level walking at normal speed [8.55 (1.93) BW/s]. There was no asymmetry in kinematic or kinetic variables in level walking. However, asymmetry increased during stair walking. The control of quadriceps femoris prior to heel-strike is possibly an important factor that reduces impulsive loading during walking in asymptomatic OA subjects. Stair walking is a demanding motor task and the musculoskeletal system is loaded more during stair descent than level walking at normal speed.     

Does mismatch negativity show differences in reading-disabled children compared to normal children and children with attention deficit?

An auditory event-related potential (ERP) component called mismatch negativity (MMN) was examined in three groups of children (n = 63) aged 8-14 years. A control group comprised healthy children in second or sixth grade of comprehensive school (n = 21). The two clinical groups included children with reading disability (RD) (n = 21) and children with attention deficit (AD) (n = 21). MMN was elicited in a passive oddball paradigm by duration changes in a continuous sound, consisting of two alternating (600 and 800 Hz) 100 msec tones. The deviant tones were either 30 or 50 msec in duration. Both deviants elicited a clear MMN in all groups. Statistical analyses showed no systematic difference in the MMN peak latencies or amplitudes between the groups. A significant difference between the RD group and the control group was observed in the lateralization of the MMN peak amplitudes.     

Pectin and Mucin Enhance the Bioadhesion of Drug Loaded Nanofibrillated Cellulose Films

Purpose

Bioadhesion is an important property of biological membranes, that can be utilized in pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. In this study, we have fabricated mucoadhesive drug releasing films with bio-based, non-toxic and biodegradable polymers that do not require chemical modifications.

Methods

Nanofibrillar cellulose and anionic type nanofibrillar cellulose were used as film forming materials with known mucoadhesive components mucin, pectin and chitosan as functional bioadhesion enhancers. Different polymer combinations were investigated to study the adhesiveness, solid state characteristics, film morphology, swelling, mechanical properties, drug release with the model compound metronidazole and in vitro cytotoxicity using TR146 cells to model buccal epithelium.

Results

SEM revealed lamellar structures within the films, which had a thickness ranging 40–240 μm depending on the film polymer composition. All bioadhesive components were non-toxic and showed high adhesiveness. Rapid drug release was observed, as 60–80% of the total amount of metronidazole was released in 30 min depending on the film formulation.

Conclusions

The liquid molding used was a straightforward and simple method to produce drug releasing highly mucoadhesive films, which could be utilized in treating local oral diseases, such as periodontitis. All materials used were natural biodegradable polymers from renewable sources, which are generally regarded as safe.