Bronchial artery aneurysm in hyperimmunoglobulinemia E syndrome

A 2-year-old girl presented with a large right middle lobe cavitating lesion, complicated by life-threatening hemoptysis secondary to hyperimmunoglobulinemia E (hyper IgE) sundrome (Job's syndrome). This proved to be a bronchial artery pseudoaneurysm which was successfully embolized.     

One-year outcome after severe pulmonary exacerbation in adults with cystic fibrosis

We retrospectively studied the outcomes of adult patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) hospitalized for severe pulmonary exacerbations (69 cases) between January 1997 and June 2001. Cases were treated either in the Pulmonary Department (n = 46) or in the intensive care unit (ICU) (n = 23) depending on severity. Noninvasive mechanical ventilation was used in 61% (14 of 23) and 33% (15 of 46) of cases treated in the ICU and the Pulmonary Department groups, respectively. Invasive ventilation was necessary in 4 of 23 cases treated in the ICU. The 1-year survival rate was 52% (12 of 23) and 91% (42 of 46) in the ICU and the Pulmonary Department groups, respectively. Lung transplantation was performed in two patients from the ICU group and in five patients from the Pulmonary Department group after hospital discharge. Factors predictive of death were prior colonization with Burkholderia cepacia and rapid decline in FEV1 before admission and severity of exacerbations (severity of hypoxemia and hypercapnia, simplified acute physiology score II and logistic organ dysfunction (LOD) scores, requirement of noninvasive mechanical ventilation, and hospitalization in the ICU) in the univariate analysis and were prior colonization with B. cepacia, the severity of hypoxemia at admission, and hospitalization in the ICU in the multivariate analysis. In 1-year survivors, pulmonary exacerbation did not affect the progression of the disease.     

A Snapshot of Social Risk Factors and Associations with Health Outcomes in a Community Sample of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) People in the U.S.

Social factors (e.g. housing, food security, etc.) contribute significantly to health. The purpose of this study is to describe social risk and social exclusion factors in one of the largest Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) populations in the U.S. and their association with health outcomes. We conducted a cross-sectional study with a community convenience sample of 412 adults who self-identify as MENA. Weighted, adjusted linear regression models were used to examine relationships of interest. Prevalent social risks included transportation barriers to healthcare (33%), food insecurity (33%), and financial strain (25%). In adjusted models, perception of being treated unfairly (Estimate (SE) 0.08 (0.04), p?<?0.05) and fear of deportation (0.26 (0.06), p?<?0.001) were associated with more social risk factors. More social risk factors were associated with worse self-reported health (0.09 (0.03), p?<?0.01), more chronic conditions (0.11 (0.03), p?<?0.004), and more mental health symptoms (0.34 (0.14) p?<?0.01).Social risk is high among those perceiving unfairness and fear deportation. Those with more social risk factors reported worse health. These findings have implications for social needs screening and referral models that can best serve U.S. MENA sub-populations.

     

Anthocyanidin attenuates myocardial ischemia induced injury via inhibition of ROS‐JNK‐Bcl‐2 pathway: New mechanism of anthocyanidin action

Despite treatment options available to date, myocardial ischemia (MI) remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Studies are focused on finding effective therapeutic strategies against MI injury. Growing interest has been developed in natural compounds possessing medicinal properties with scarcer side effects. Here, we have evaluated the cardioprotective potential of anthocyanidin against MI injury and explored its underlying protective mechanism. Left anterior descending coronary artery was ligated to induce MI in mice. Neonatal mice cardiomyocytes were treated with H₂O₂ to induce oxidative stress (a major contributor to MI injury) in vitro. Anthocyanidin pretreatment significantly reduced the infarct size, preserved the cell viability, and protected against ischemia‐induced cardiac injury in treatment groups compared with the H₂O₂‐treated group in vitro. Measurement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) validated the strong antioxidant potential of anthocyanidin, as significant reduction in oxidative stress was observed in anthocyanidin‐pretreated groups. Mechanistically, pretreatment with anthocyanidin significantly subdued the activation of JNK (to p‐JNK) and elevated Bcl‐2 levels. Both in vivo and in vitro findings suggest that anthocyanidin can induce a state of myocardial resistance against ischemic insult. We have provided the experimental evidence for inhibition of ROS/p‐JNK/Bcl‐2 pathway being the underlying mechanism of action of anthocyanidin. Our results support the use of anthocyanidin as therapeutic strategy against MI injury.