Self-reported fertility in long-term survivors of acute myeloid leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) survival rates in younger patients have improved considerably since the 1970s. In order to evaluate the impact of AML and its treatment on fertility and family situation in adult long-term survivors, we used the Swedish population-based registries to identify 161 adult patients diagnosed with AML within the Leukemia Group of Middle Sweden (LGMS) 1973–2003, who survived for more than 5 years and were alive in 2010. Ninety-eight patients (61 %) completed a questionnaire including items on reproductive concerns, family situation, and infertility-related distress. After excluding women >45 years and/or postmenopausal women and men >55 years, 22 women and 38 men were included in the final analysis. Nine of the women (41 %) tried to conceive after treatment, but only three succeeded. Five (83 %) of the unwillingly childless women reported “a moderate” or “a lot” of distress caused by this. Among men in the same age group, all six who wanted children after treatment succeeded. None of the men 46–55 years old cryopreserved their sperm or tried to father a child. Among patients who wanted children after AML treatment, 46 % of the women and 40 % of the younger men reported that they were not, or not fully, informed about fertility-related issues. In contrast, among men 46–55 years, none reported they would have wanted more information. Infertility among young female AML survivors thus remains an important clinical issue, and there is a need for improved clinical counseling and education in this area.     

Pain tolerance after stroke: The Tromsø study

Background

Stroke lesions might alter pain processing and modulation by affecting the widely distributed network of brain regions involved. We aimed to compare pain tolerance in stroke survivors and stroke-free persons in the general population, with and without chronic pain.

Methods

We included all participants of the sixth and seventh wave of the population-based Tromsø Study who had been tested with the cold pressor test (hand in cold water bath, 3°C, maximum time 106 s in the sixth wave and 120 s in the seventh) and who had information on previous stroke status and covariates. Data on stroke status were obtained from the Tromsø Study Cardiovascular Disease Register and the Norwegian Stroke Register. Cox regression models were fitted using stroke prior to study attendance as the independent variable, cold pressor endurance time as time variable and hand withdrawal from cold water as event. Statistical adjustments were made for age, sex, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, body mass index and smoking.

Results

In total 21,837 participants were included, 311 of them with previous stroke. Stroke was associated with decreased cold pain tolerance time, with 28% increased hazard of hand withdrawal (hazard ratio [HR] 1.28, 95% CI 1.10–1.50). The effect was similar in participants with (HR 1.28, 95% CI 0.99–1.66) and without chronic pain (HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.04–1.59).

Conclusions

Stroke survivors, with and without chronic pain, had lower cold pressor pain tolerance, with possible clinical implications for pain in this group.

Significance

We found lower pain tolerance in participants with previous stroke compared to stroke-free participants of a large, population-based study. The association was present both in those with and without chronic pain. The results may warrant increased awareness by health professionals towards pain experienced by stroke patients in response to injuries, diseases and procedures.     

Mitochondria and autophagy in adult stem cells: proliferate or differentiate

Journal of Muscle Research and Cell Motility - Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells that are found in many different tissues after development. They are responsible for regenerating and...     

The phosphoproteome and its physiological dynamics in Staphylococcus aureus

Phosphorylation events on proteins during growth and stress/starvation can represent crucial regulation processes inside the bacterial cell. Therefore, serine, threonine and tyrosine phosphorylation patterns were analyzed by two powerful complementary proteomic methods for the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. Using 2D-gel analysis with a phosphosensitive stain (Pro-Q Diamond) and gel-free titanium dioxide based phosphopeptide enrichment, 103 putative phosphorylated proteins with successfully mapped 68 different phosphorylation sites were found in the soluble proteome of S. aureus. Additionally, in a proof of concept study, 8 proteins phosphorylated on arginine residues have been identified. Most important for functional analyses of S. aureus, proteins related to pathogenicity and virulence were found to be phosphorylated: the virulence regulator SarA, the potential antimicrobial target FbaA and the elastin-binding protein EbpS. Besides newly identified phosphorylation sites we compared our dataset with existing data from literature and subsequent experiments revealed additional phosphorylation events on highly conserved localizations in FbaA. Differential analysis of phosphorylation signals on the 2D-gels showed significant changes in phosphorylation under different physiological conditions for 10 proteins. Among these, we were able to detect newly appearing signals for phosphorylated isoforms of FdaB and HchA under nitrosative stress conditions.     

Profiles of orofacial dysfunction in different diagnostic groups using the Nordic Orofacial Test (NOT-S)—A review

Objective. The Nordic Orofacial Test-Screening (NOT-S) was developed as a comprehensive method to assess orofacial function. Results from the screening protocol have been presented in 11 international publications to date. This study reviewed these publications in order to compile NOT-S screening data and create profiles of orofacial dysfunction that characterize various age groups and disorders. Materials and methods. NOT-S results of nine reports meeting the inclusion criteria were reviewed. Seven of these studies not only provided data on the mean and range of total NOT-S scores, but also on the most common domains of orofacial dysfunction (highest rate of individuals with dysfunction scores), allowing the construction of orofacial dysfunction profiles based on the prevalence of dysfunction in each domain of NOT-S. Results. The compiled data comprised 669 individuals, which included healthy control subjects (n = 333) and various patient groups (n = 336). All studies reported differences between individuals with diagnosed disorders and healthy control subjects. The NOT-S data could measure treatment effects and provided dysfunction profiles characterizing the patterns of orofacial dysfunction in various diagnoses. Conclusions. This review corroborates previous results that the NOT-S differentiates well between patients and healthy controls and can also show changes in individuals after treatment. NOT-S could be used as a standard instrument to assess orofacial dysfunction, evaluate the outcomes of oral habilitation and rehabilitation and improve comparability in clinical practice and research.     

Accumulation of lipid in muscular arteries of short-term diabetic rats

Summary Lipid accumulation in muscular (pulmonary, coronary and tibial) arteries and elastic (aorta and pulmonary) arteries of streptozotocin diabetic (65 mg/kg) rats was studied with an electron microscope. Arterial tissue specimens taken 4 days after the induction of diabetes showed lipid deposits in smooth muscle cells in the muscular arteries of 9 out of 24 diabetic rats, but in none of the 17 control rats. Histochemically the lipid was identified as triacylglycerol. Lipid accumulation was not seen in the elastic arteries of either diabetic or control rats. The diabetic animals with lipid deposits had slightly but significantly higher plasma glucose concentrations (p<0.02), higher non-esterified fatty acids levels (p<0.01), and lower concentrations of plasma insulin (p<0.02) than those without arterial deposits. The amount of lipid deposited in the arteries was closely related to the plasma non-esterified fatty acid level, which was in the ranges 0.8–1.1 mmol/l in diabetic rats without deposits, and 1.1–2.4 mmol/l in those with deposits. The findings suggest that lipid accumulation in smooth muscle cells of muscular arteries during acute diabetes could result from the high plasma non-esterified fatty acid concentrations.