Quality of life in patients before and after total hip arthroplasty]

INTRODUCTION: Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease in adults and according to WHO is one of the civilisation threats. Total joint replacement is the best method of treatment of severe osteoarthritis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study group consisted of 62 (44 women, 18 men) patients, who due to the severe osteoarthritis underwent total hip replacement at the Department of Orthopaedics Poznań University of Medicine. The mean age was 63 (range 30-87). For the evaluation of the quality of life the modified questionnaire WHOQOL-100 was used. The first evaluation was performed before the surgery, the second one 12-18 (average 14) months postoperatively. RESULTS: At the final evaluation the improvement was observed in the following domains: physical, psychological, level of independence, environmental and the global quality of life. No change was observed in the domain "social relations". The greatest improvement was observed in the following subscales: "pain and discomfort", "vitality and fatigue", mobility, "everyday activities", "drug dependence", transportation. No significant change was found in the following subscales: "sleep and rest", "positive feelings", "ability to work and learn", "personal social relations" and accessibility and quality of healthcare.     

Immobility in the tail suspension test predicts quinine but not saccharin intake in mice

It is assumed that depressive symptomatology can alter taste preferences in humans. The aim of the present study was to search for correlations between immobility in the tail suspension test (TST) and consumption of saccharin (0.0025–0.1%, w/w) and quinine (0.0024–0.04%) solutions. Male C57BL/6J mice were divided into high immobility and low immobility groups based on their immobility scores in the TST. The groups consumed similar amounts of saccharin solutions in the two-bottle choice test. There were significant differences between the groups in quinine intake and preference. Intake of, and preference for, 0.0024% quinine was significantly higher in the high immobility than in low immobility subjects. In line with some animal and human studies, our results suggest that behavioral despair in the TST can correlate with taste responses to bitter stimuli.     

Detection of transketolase in bone marrow-derived insulin-producing cells: benfotiamine enhances insulin synthesis and glucose metabolism

Adult bone marrow (BM)-derived insulin-producing cells (IPCs) are capable of regulating blood glucose levels in chemically induced hyperglycemic mice. Using cell transplantation therapy, fully functional BM-derived IPCs help to mediate treatment of diabetes mellitus. Here, we demonstrate the detection of the pentose phosphate pathway enzyme, transketolase (TK), in BM-derived IPCs cultured under high-glucose conditions. Benfotiamine, a known activator of TK, was not shown to affect the proliferation of insulinoma cell line, INS-1; however, when INS-1 cells were cultured with oxythiamine, an inhibitor of TK, cell proliferation was suppressed. Treatment with benfotiamine activated glucose metabolism in INS-1 cells in high-glucose culture conditions, and appeared to maximize the BM-derived IPCs ability to synthesize insulin. Benfotiamine was not shown to induce the glucose receptor Glut-2, however it was shown to activate glucokinase, the enzyme responsible for conversion of glucose to glucose-6-phosphate. Furthermore, benfotiamine-treated groups showed upregulation of the downstream glycolytic enzyme, glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). However, in cells where the pentose phosphate pathway was blocked by oxythiamine treatment, there was a clear downregulation of Glut-2, glucokinase, insulin, and GAPDH. When benfotiamine was used to treat mice transplanted with BM-derived IPCs transplanted, their glucose level was brought to a normal range. The glucose challenge of normal mice treated with benfotiamine lead to rapidly normalized blood glucose levels. These results indicate that benfotiamine activates glucose metabolism and insulin synthesis to prevent glucose toxicity caused by high concentrations of blood glucose in diabetes mellitus.     

Isolated noncompaction of the ventricular myocardium

Isolated left ventricular noncompaction is a primary, genetic cardiomyopathy thought to be caused by arrest of normal embryogenesis of endocardium and myocardium, characterised by a pattern of excessively prominent trabecular meshwork and deep intertrabecular recesses with to-and-from flow in continuity with the ventricular flow and the absence of other structural heart diseases. Isolated noncompaction of the ventricular myocardium is considered to predominantly affect the left ventricle. Our earlier observations suggest that both ventricles may be involved. We present another case of isolated noncompaction of both ventricles.     

Structure and folding of a designed knotted protein

A very small number of natural proteins have folded configurations in which the polypeptide backbone is knotted. Relatively little is known about the folding energy landscapes of such proteins, or how they have evolved. We explore those questions here by designing a unique knotted protein structure. Biophysical characterization and X-ray crystal structure determination show that the designed protein folds to the intended configuration, tying itself in a knot in the process, and that it folds reversibly. The protein folds to its native, knotted configuration approximately 20 times more slowly than a control protein, which was designed to have a similar tertiary structure but to be unknotted. Preliminary kinetic experiments suggest a complicated folding mechanism, providing opportunities for further characterization. The findings illustrate a situation where a protein is able to successfully traverse a complex folding energy landscape, though the amino acid sequence of the protein has not been subjected to evolutionary pressure for that ability. The success of the design strategy--connecting two monomers of an intertwined homodimer into a single protein chain--supports a model for evolution of knotted structures via gene duplication.     

Application of neural networks for the analysis of intravascular ultrasound and histological aortic wall appearance-an in vitro tissue characterization study

The role of tissue characterization by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging of the aortic wall has not been well established. The artificial neural networks (ANNs) are a promising tool for image classification. The aim of the study was to assess the texture correlation between matching IVUS and histologic images of the aortic wall. The computer-based discrimination of pathology within the data sets was also evaluated. In vitro IVUS images and histologic sections from 36 aortic segments were compared using texture parameters that produced the best correlation or the highest discriminative value. The images were classified as normal or abnormal with variable degrees of pathology. Tissue characterization was performed by a nearest neighbor classifier, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and the ANN-based approach. Good agreement was observed between IVUS and the histologic reference with a correlation coefficient of r = 0.89, r = 0.76 and r = 0.71 for the three most successful texture parameters. The ANN-based approach was the most effective in discriminant analysis, with a correct classification rate of 87.5% for histologic images and 79.2% for IVUS data. The study shows that ANNs are a potentially effective tool for assessment of IVUS aortic images.