Atherosclerotic disease of the abdominal aorta and its branches: prognostic implications in patients with heart failure

Aortic atherosclerosis reduces compliance in the systemic circulation and increases peripheral resistance, afterload and left ventricular wall stress. In patients with heart failure, these changes can impair left ventricular systolic function and energy efficiency, which could reduce exercise capacity. Though the interaction and the impact of aortic atherosclerosis on left ventricular function have been investigated, its prognostic implications in patients with heart failure are unclear. We used cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and gadolinium-enhanced abdominal aortography to investigate the prevalence and prognostic impact of atherosclerotic disease of the abdominal aorta and its side branches in 355 patients with heart failure. Sclerotic abdominal aortic disease was defined as a luminal narrowing >50% of the aorta and its side branches or the presence of abdominal aortic aneurysm. Patients with disease of the aorta and its branches were older (P?相似文献   

Chlorhexidine rinse in prevention of dental caries in patients following radiation therapy

Patients who receive cancer radiotherapy, which compromises salivary gland function, may develop xerostomia. These patients are at increased risk to develop rampant dental caries. Streptococcus mutans and species of lactobacillus have been associated with dental caries. Quantitative counts of these organisms demonstrated high caries risk in 85% of patients studied. The use of chlorhexidine rinse to reduce the counts of S. mutans and lactobacillus was studied. A modest reduction in S. mutans was seen, but little effect was demonstrated on lactobacillus counts. Caries activity was shown to be related to lactobacillus count.     

Histiocytosis X (Langerhans-cell histiocytosis) of the palate. Case report

A case of histiocytosis X (Langerhans-cell histiocytosis) occurring in the maxilla of a two-year-old boy is presented. Common dental and oral conditions were considered and eliminated. Diagnosis was made through a biopsy which showed aggregates of histiocytes. Management consisted of multi-modal treatment. Full skeletal radiographic survey and review were essential to detect other possible sites of involvement. None was found in this case over a four-year review.     

A meta-summary of case reports of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant use in patients with left ventricular thrombus

Left ventricular (LV) thrombus is commonly seen in patients with extensive anterior ST-elevation myocardial infarction. The standard of care for LV thrombus is anticoagulation with warfarin. However, there has been an increasing trend of case reports using non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOAC) for the treatment of LV thrombus. This study aimed to perform a meta-summary of the literature to characterise and evaluate the safety and feasibility of using NOAC in patients with LV thrombus. We searched for articles published in four electronic databases: PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus and Google Scholar using an appropriate keyword/MeSH term search strategy. Twenty-four studies comprising 36 patients were included in the analysis. Rivaroxaban was used in majority of patients (47.2%), whilst Apixaban and Dabigatran were prescribed in 25.0% and 27.8% of patients respectively. The most commonly associated risk factor found was post-acute myocardial infarction in 15 patients (41.7%). LV thrombus resolution was met by most patients (87.9%), and the median duration of treatment to resolution was 30.0 days (IQR?=?22.5–47.0). One non-fatal bleeding event (3.0%) and no embolic events were reported. The use of NOAC may have a role in the treatment of LV thrombus in selected patients. Further randomized controlled trials are needed to evaluate this treatment strategy.     

Role of lysine in the replication of reovirus

Summary Omission of lysine from the extracellular medium of HeLa cells infected with reovirus type 2 results in the production of virus structures which could be separated by isopycnic sedimentation in CsCl into a top band of empty particles (L-T) and a bottom band (L-B) containing a mixture of defective and complete virus structures. The L-T and L-B particles were found to be similar to the complete virus in the following properties: adsorption characteristics to HeLa cells, RNA base composition, and qualitative distribution of the double-stranded viral RNA segments and structural viral proteins.Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analyses of the capsid proteins of L-T and L-B particles indicated a quantitative alteration in the distribution of their protein components. In addition, L-T particles contained markedly reduced amounts of the single-stranded adenine-rich RNA component. The synthesis of viral double-stranded RNA and cytoplasmic proteins were both reduced in lysine-deficient cell cultures. In contrast, the synthesis of single-stranded RNA remained unaltered. Addition of increasing concentrations of lysine to lysine-deficient cultures resulted in increasing yields of infectious virus.This investigation was supported by research grant AI 07647 from the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Public Health Service.Post-doctoral trainee NIH 5 T 1 AI 243.     

CD8 is needed for positive selection but differentially required for negative selection of T cells during thymic ontogeny

During thymic development, immature thymocytes expressing major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-restricted T cell receptors (TcR) differentiate into CD8⁺ T cells with cytolytic functions. To evaluate the role of CD8 in positive and negative selection during thymic ontogeny, mice rendered CD8-null by gene targeting were bred with three lines of transgenic mice expressing unique MHC class I-restricted TcR. In all three instances CD8 was required for positive selection of MHC class I-restricted transgenic T cells. The efficiency of positive selection decreased in accordance with a reduced level of CD8 expression on thymocytes. Surprisingly, there was a differential requirement for CD8 expression in negative selection of MHC class I-restricted thymocytes, depending on the antigen specificity of TcR. These observations show that CD8 is essential for positive selection but is differentially required for negative selection of MHC class I-restricted T cells. Thus thymic selection, at least for negative selection, can occur in the absence of the CD8 accessory molecule.     

Grafting antibiofilm polymer hydrogel film onto catheter by SARA SI-ATRP

Abstract

Catheters are widely used and play an important role in medicine. However, catheter-associated infection is prevalent even under stringent sterile conditions. Biofilms are formed when bacteria populate the surfaces of catheters. This makes the biofilm resistant to antibiotics. Hence, it is imperative for there to be an inherently antifouling and anti-bacterial catheter to mitigate the formation of biofilm. This paper aims to outline the synthesis of non-leachable anti-biofilm and anti-bacterial cationic film coatings through direct polymerization using supplemental activator and reducing agent surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SARA SI-ATRP). Three crosslinked cationic coatings comprising of Diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride (DADMAC), or ε-poly-L-lysine HCl methacrylic acid (EPL-MA) together with a crosslinker (polyethylene glycol dimethacrylate, PEGDMA) were investigated. These non-leachable covalently linked coatings with DADMAC can achieve more than 2 log reduction (99.0%) with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and 1.25 log reduction (94.4%) with Vancomycin resistant Enterococcus (VRE) in in vitro studies.