Anethole reduces inflammation and joint damage in rats with adjuvant-induced arthritis

Aim

This study evaluated whether anethole attenuates the inflammatory response and joint damage in a model of adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) in rats.

Methods

The animals were treated with 62.5-, 125-, or 250-mg/kg anethole daily for 21 days after AIA and necropsied on days 14 and 21 to evaluate the number of serum and synovial leukocytes (total and differential), serum cytokines (IL-2, IL-6, IL-12, IL-17, and TNF-α), and nitric oxide concentrations. Morphologic changes in the cartilage and bone of the femorotibial articulation in both left paw and right paw were studied in hematoxylin/eosin and Sirius Red-hematoxylin sections.

Results

Different doses of anethole suppressed paw swelling and the number of serum and synovial leukocytes. However, 250 mg/kg of anethole more effectively controlled local and systemic inflammation. Histological evaluation revealed significant prevention of cartilage damage and inflammatory infiltrate scores. Morphometric analysis showed pannus formation, the thickness of the articular cartilage, and bone resorption lower in the anethole-treated AIA group compared to untreated AIA group on both days 14 and 21. These significant anti-inflammatory effects in the anethole-treated AIA group were associated with downregulation of cytokines and nitric oxide levels.

Conclusion

Therefore, anethole may be a useful intervention to treat inflammatory arthritis.

     

Kinesio Taping? is not better than placebo in reducing pain and disability in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain: a randomized controlled trial

Background:

Kinesio Taping ^® has been widely used in clinical practice. However, it is unknown whether this type of tape is more effective than placebo taping in patients with chronic lower back pain.

Objective:

To compare the effectiveness of Kinesio Taping ^® in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain against a placebo tape and a control group.

Method:

This is a 3-arm, randomized controlled trial with a blinded assessor. Sixty patients with chronic non-specific low back pain were randomized into one of the three groups: Kinesio Taping ^® group (n=20), Micropore^® (placebo) group (n=20) and control group (n=20). Patients allocated to both the Kinesio Taping ^® group and the placebo group used the different types of tape for a period of 48 hours. The control group did not receive any intervention. The outcomes measured were pain intensity (measured by an 11-point numerical rating scale) and disability (measured by the 24-item Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire). A blinded assessor measured the outcomes at baseline, 48 hours and 7 days after randomization.

Results:

After 48 hours, there was a statistically significant difference between the Kinesio Taping ^® group versus the control group (mean between-group difference = -3.1 points, 95% CI=-5.2 to -1.1, p=0.003), but no difference when compared to the placebo group (mean between-group difference= 1.9 points, 95% CI=-0.2 to 3.9, p=0.08). For the other outcomes no differences were observed.

Conclusions:

The Kinesio Taping ^® is not better than placebo (Micropore^®) in patients with chronic low back pain.     

Organization of health services and tuberculosis care management

The scope of this study was to analyze the discourse of managers regarding the relationship between the organization of the health services and tuberculosis care management in a city in the metropolitan region of Jo?o Pessoa, State of Pernambuco. Using qualitative research in the analytical field of the French line of Discourse Analysis, 16 health workers who worked as members of the management teams took part in the study. The transcribed testimonials were organized using Atlas.ti version 6.0 software. After detailed reading of the empirical material, an attempt was made to identify the paraphrasic, polyssemic and metaphoric processes in the discourses, which enabled identification of the following discourse formation: Organization of the health services and the relation with TB care management: theory and practice. In the discourse of the managers the fragmentation of the actions of control of tuberculosis, the lack of articulation between the services and sectors, the compliance of the specific activities for TB, as well as the lack of strategic planning for management of care of the disease are clearly revealed. In this respect, for the organization of the health services to be effective, it is necessary that tuberculosis be considered a priority and acknowledged as a social problem in the management agenda.     

Cognitive evolutionary therapy for depression: a case study

We present an evolutionary‐driven cognitive–behavioral intervention for a moderately depressed patient. Standard cognitive and behavioral therapy techniques focused on the patient's perfectionistic and self‐downing beliefs, while novel, evolutionary‐informed techniques were used to guide behavioral activation and conceptualize secondary emotional problems related to anger. The treatment reduced depressive symptomatology and increased evolutionary fitness.     

Analysis of the blood supply to the post-fracture edentulous mandible: study by colour Doppler sonography

Purpose

This study assessed the arterial blood supply to the mandible of edentulous patients treated for mandibular fractures using colour Doppler ultrasound.

Methods

The blood supply of edentulous patients surgically treated for mandibular fractures (group A) and edentulous fracture-free individuals (group B) was assessed. Only the fractured sides were evaluated in the first group (N?=?17), whereas each side was evaluated in the second group (N?=?20). The arterial flow of six sites was assessed. The systolic-peak maximum velocity (SPV), final diastolic velocity (FDV), resistive index (RI), pulsatility index (PI), acceleration and flow direction of each artery were obtained. Additionally, the presence of local vascular obstructive factors was evaluated. The differences between groups were analysed using the Kruskal-Wallis test, which was complemented by the Mann-Whitney test, for correlations between the degree of alveolar atrophy and the study factors (p?<?0.050).

Results

There was a significant decrease in the flow of certain arteries, especially the submental (SPV, p?=?0.007, PI, p?=?0.022, and acceleration, p?=?0.015), in the fracture group. The facial artery in both groups showed lower values related to local obstructive factors (SPV, p?=?0.001, FDV, p?=?0.040, and PI, p?=?0.030). The submental artery flow was higher (SPV, p?=?0.006, and FDV, p?=?0.009) in non-atrophic individuals.

Conclusions

There was a decreased flow mainly in the submental artery, but there were no cases of major vascular injury in edentulous patients treated for mandibular fractures.

     

Elastic properties of stored red blood cells from sickle trait donor units

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Red blood cells (RBCs) from patients with sickle cell disease present reduced deformability. The aim of this study was to analyse the elasticity of stored RBCs from patients with the sickle cell trait (AS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cell elasticity was studied, using laser optical tweezers, on storage days 1, 14, 21, 28 and 35. RESULTS: The elasticity of RBC from AS units stored for 1, 14 and 21 days was significantly greater compared with that of control RBC cells stored for the same time-period. More than 30% of the cells from AS units stored for 28 or 35 days were very rigid and escaped from the optical trap. CONCLUSIONS: RBCs became rigid during storage, suggesting that haemoglobin S might compromise the cell elasticity.     

Quantitative hyperemic reactivity in opposed limbs during myocardial perfusion imaging: a new marker of coronary artery disease

OBJECTIVES: We sought to evaluate the feasibility and validity of a new method to quantify the hyperemic response of the forearms that can be incorporated into a rest myocardial perfusion protocol. BACKGROUND: Evaluation of the hyperemic response could provide useful clinical information in the detection and risk stratification of atherosclerotic vascular disease. METHODS: Patients with proven coronary artery disease (CAD) (n = 46) were compared with low-risk subjects without such evidence (n = 47). A regular dose of Myoview was injected after 5 min of right arm ischemia. Three dimensionless parametric ratios (right/left) were derived from the analysis of activity-time curves of the hyperemic right forearm and that of the contralateral left forearm. RESULTS: The maximal ingress upslope ratio was 40% lower in the CAD group (3.0 +/- 0.2 vs. 4.2 +/- 0.3, p < 0.0005), and the integral to peak ratio was also lower (23 +/- 4 vs. 52 +/- 11, p < 0.01), whereas the peak activity ratio was nonsignificantly lower (3.0 +/- 0.3 vs. 3.8 +/- 0.3, p = 0.07). Using a value of 3.55 for the maximal upslope ratio, this approach could predict the presence of CAD with a sensitivity of 0.70 and a specificity of 0.60. CONCLUSIONS: This simple and noninvasive method is feasible and can discriminate between patients with known CAD and those at low risk of atherosclerosis. Refinements of this approach and its inclusion in larger clinical trials are needed to determine whether it could provide additional value to myocardial scintigraphic imaging.     

Abstinence rates and predictors of outcome for smoking cessation: do Brazilian smokers need special strategies?

AIMS: To study tobacco abstinence and risk factors for failure in smoking cessation program and to evaluate the need for special strategies in a Brazilian cohort of smokers. DESIGN: A non-randomized, prospective, open clinical trial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We studied smokers who attended the Smoking Cessation Clinics of Hospital Sao Lucas da PUCRS, in Porto Alegre, Brazil between July, 1999 and June, 2003. All participated in the same behavioral therapy program and, according to the Fagerstrom test, also received nicotine patches and/or bupropion. Sustained abstinence was confirmed by exhaled CO measurements 相似文献   

Surgical Technique: Medial Column Arthrodesis in Rigid Spastic Planovalgus Feet

Background  

Treatment of spastic planovalgus feet is challenging, especially in patients with severe and rigid deformities. The available techniques do provide some correction but not at the site of the deformity and sometimes the correction is lost over time. We describe a new surgical approach at the site of the deformity.