Global epidemiology of viral hepatitis and national needs for complete control

Introduction. The World Health Organization recognizes that viral hepatitis is not only a massive public health issue but also a huge opportunity to improve quality of life and equity at a global level. Viral hepatitis causes about 1.5 million deaths each year and significantly affects the quality of life of hundreds of millions of people. To date, frail individuals in high-income countries and people living in low-income settings are paying the heaviest tool.

Areas covered. Here we present a broad discussion on current knowledge and topical issues about the hepatitis pandemic. The report includes a structured overview of global epidemiology, including the definition of specific local epidemic profiles for each hepatitis agents (HAV, HBV, HCV, and HEV), and a perspective about the critical actions needed for achieving a complete control.

Expert commentary. The control of viral hepatitis is currently, ethically urgent and even economically convenient. There is a wide consensus that viral hepatitis can be controlled through comprehensive intervention tailored on local needs addressing the issue of viral hepatitis as a unique public health issue. These strategies should include: (1) primary prevention (including vaccination and improved infection control), (2) improving diagnosis rate, and (3) management of existing cases of infections.     

PHIL® (precipitating hydrophobic injectable liquid): retrospective multicenter experience on 178 patients in peripheral embolizations

La radiologia medica - This study aims to analyze safety and effectiveness of PHIL® (Microvention, CA-USA) in peripheral endovascular embolization procedures, both in elective and emergent...     

Hereditary fructose intolerance and celiac disease: a novel genetic association.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Celiac disease (CD) has been associated with several genetic disorders, but has not been associated with hereditary fructose intolerance (HFI). METHODS: We identified CD in 4 female patients affected by HFI from among 38 Italian HFI patients. RESULTS: Three of these patients were children in whom the CD-associated signs were hypertransaminasemia, failure to thrive, low weight, and short stature, whereas the adult patient had protracted diarrhea notwithstanding a fructose-free diet. The incidence of CD in our group of HFI patients was higher (>10%) than in the general population (1%-3%) (P<.02). CONCLUSIONS: The possibility of an association between these 2 gastrointestinal disorders is important, particularly in the management of HFI patients with persisting symptoms.     

What is the role of motor simulation in action and object recognition? Evidence from apraxia

An important issue in contemporary cognitive neuroscience concerns the role of motor production processes in perceptual and conceptual analysis. To address this issue, we studied the performance of a large group of unilateral stroke patients across a range of tasks using the same set of common manipulable objects. All patients (n = 37) were tested for their ability to demonstrate the use of the objects, recognize the objects, recognize the corresponding object-associated pantomimes, and imitate those same pantomimes. At the group level we observed reliable correlations between object use and pantomime recognition, object use and object recognition, and pantomime imitation and pantomime recognition. At the single-case level, we document that the ability to recognize actions and objects dissociates from the ability to use those same objects. These data are problematic for the hypothesis that motor processes are constitutively involved in the recognition of actions and objects and frame new questions about the inferences that are merited by recent findings in cognitive neuroscience.     

Variation in the HTR1A and HTR2A genes and social adjustment in depressed patients

Background

Social adjustment is impaired in depressed patients. The difficulty to adjust to social circumstances has been hypothesized to be one of the causes of depression, as well as a consequence of the disorder. Genetic variation in the serotonin transporter gene has been previously associated with social adjustment levels in patients with mood disorders.

Methods

We investigated whether variations on the HTR1A (rs6295) and HTR2A (rs7997012) genes were associated with levels of social adjustment using the Social Adjustment Scale in two samples of depressed patients (total n=156).

Results

Patients carrying the GG genotype of the HTR2A-rs7997012 showed better social adjustment in areas of work and family unit bonding.

Limitations

These findings did not survive correction for multiple testing and should be interpreted with caution.

Conclusion

Our finding is in line with previous observations that have associated the G allele of the HTR2A-rs7997012 with higher rate of antidepressant response. The HTR2A-rs7997012 is worthy of further investigation in studies examining factors that are related to depression course and outcome.     

SARS-CoV-2 infection after alemtuzumab in a multiple sclerosis patient: milder disease symptoms in comparison with coinfected relatives: a case report and review of the literature

Neurological Sciences - Literature data reporting SARS-CoV-2 infection in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients recently treated with immunodepleting agents as cladribine and alemtuzumab are very...     

Mechanics of Uterosacral Ligaments: Current Knowledge,Existing Gaps,and Future Directions

Annals of Biomedical Engineering - The uterosacral ligaments (USLs) are important anatomical structures that support the uterus and apical vagina within the pelvis. As these structures are...