Predictors of New Airway Obstruction – An 11 Year’s Population-Based Follow-Up Study

In the present study we aimed to investigate the incidence and predictors of spirometry based airway obstruction in a representative population-based sample. Altogether 3,863 subjects, 1,651 males and 2,212 females aged ≥30 years had normal spirometry in year 2000. Fifty-three percent of them were never and 23% current smokers. A re-spirometry was performed 11 years later. Several characteristics, such as level of education, use of alcohol, physical activity, diet using Alternate healthy eating (AHEI) index, body mass index, circumwaist, sensitive C reactive protein (CRP) and cotinine of the laboratory values and co-morbidities including asthma, allergic rhinitis, sleep apnoea and chronic bronchitis, as potential risk factors for airway obstruction were evaluated. Using forced expiratory volume in one second/ forced vital capacity below the lower limit of normal, we observed 124 new cases of airway obstruction showing a cumulative 11-year incidence of 3.2% and corresponding to an incidence rate of 5.6/1,000 per year (PY). The incidence rate was higher in men than in women (6.3/1,000 PY vs. 5.0/1,000 PY, respectively). The strongest risk factors were current smoking (Odds ratio [OR] 2.5) and previously diagnosed asthma (OR 2.1). Sensitive CRP associated with the increased risk and high AHEI index with the decreased risk of airway obstruction. Using the similar study approach our findings on the incidence of airway obstruction are in line with the previously published figures in Europe. We were able to confirm the recent findings on the protective effect of healthy diet.     

HOXA10 controls proliferation,migration and invasion in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Although HOX genes are best known for acting in the regulation of important events during embryogenesis, including proliferation, differentiation and migration, alterations in their expression patterns have been frequently described in cancers. In previous studies we analyzed the expression profile of the members of the HOX family of homeobox genes in oral samples of normal mucosa and squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and identified differently expressed genes such as HOXA10. The present study aimed to validate the increased expression of HOXA10 in OSCCs, and to investigate the effects arising from its knockdown in OSCC cells. The levels of HOXA10 mRNA were determined in human OSCC samples and cell lines by quantitative PCR, and HOXA10-mediated effects on proliferation, apoptosis, adhesion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), migration and invasion were studied in HSC-3 tongue carcinoma cells by using retrovirus-mediated RNA interference. Higher expression of HOXA10 mRNA was observed in OSCC cell lines and in tumor tissues compared to normal controls. HOXA10 knockdown significantly reduced the proliferation of the tumor cells which was accompanied by increased levels of p21. HOXA10 silencing also significantly induced the expression of EMT markers and enhanced the adhesion, migration and invasion of HSC-3 cells. No effects on cell death were observed after HOXA10 knockdown. The results of the current study confirm the overexpression of HOXA10 in OSCCs, and further demonstrate that its expression is functionally associated with several important biological processes related to oral tumorigenesis, such as proliferation, migration and invasion.     

Growth hormone and cortisol in serum and saliva

Salivary diagnosis is a developing area in clinical chemistry and dentistry. Cortisol analyses from saliva have been used in pediatric practice and as doping tests. Growth hormone (hGH), also a stress hormone, has not been analyzed from saliva. We studied the serum and saliva of 51 healthy subjects. The samples were taken at 8:00 in the morning after 12 h fasting. Cortisol concentrations were analyzed using RIA. An immunoradiometric assay was applied for analyzing serum and salivary hGH. The validity of this method developed in our laboratory was found to be good. The results showed correlation of salivary cortisol with that of serum (r = 0.47, P < 0.001). Salivary hGH concentrations were 1000-fold lower than the respective values in serum, but a clear correlation was found between salivary and serum hGH levels (r = 0.59, P < 0.001).     

Intra-word consistency and accuracy in Finnish children aged 3–6 years

This study examined intra-word consistency and accuracy in typically developing Finnish children and their relation to children’s vocabulary size and phonological skills. A total of 80 typically developing Finnish children aged 3;0 to 6;11 were asked to name 20 words three separate times during a single assessment session. Responses were classified into four categories: 1) consistently correct productions, 2) consistently incorrect productions, 3) variable productions with hits (variable productions including at least one matched adult target), and 4) variable productions with no hits. The results revealed that 5- and 6-year-old children produced significantly more often consistently correct responses than younger children. However, even for the 3- and 4-year old children the most frequent response type was consistently correct production. Between these two youngest age groups (3 and 4), the only significant difference was in consistently incorrect responses, which the 3-year-olds produced more often than the older children. There was a significant negative correlation between consistently incorrectly produced words and children’s phonological skills, but no other relationships were found. The results indicate that when assessing children with speech sound disorder (SSD), Finnish clinicians need to take into account the fact that even 3-year-old typically developing children generally produce words correctly, either consistently or inconsistently.     

Health-related quality of life among patients with major depression

The study compared health-related quality of life in 165 patients with major depression and 165 randomly selected and with age- and gender-matched controls from a population sample. Health-related quality of life was measured with the self-report questionnaire (RAND-36), which consists of eight dimensions. Overall, perceived quality of life was broadly reduced among depressive outpatients, and as compared with the control group, significant impairment was observed for all eight dimensions of health-related quality of life. Accompanying somatic diseases causing disability had no additional impact on the reduction of quality of life in depressive patients. Depression per se impairs an individual's functioning ability in a number of ways. It has a significant effect not only on mental well-being but also on perceived physical functioning and bodily pain, and even on general health perceptions. Major depression seems to explain the broad decline in the quality of life among depressive patients.