Depressive symptoms and smoking among Hong Kong Chinese adolescents

AIMS: To examine associations among depressive symptoms, smoking, smoking trajectories and quitting smoking in Hong Kong. DESIGN: Prospective longitudinal design, with wave 1 at baseline (T1) and wave 2 (T2) 12 months later. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Form 1 (equivalent to 7th grade in the United States) students, mean age = 12.7 years, n = 1894. MEASUREMENTS: Self-reported smoking status, attempts to quit and depressive symptoms. FINDINGS: At both waves, current as well as ex-smokers had higher depressive symptoms than never smokers. T1 smoking predicted T2 depressive symptoms among those with low baseline depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms at T1 predicted smoking at T2 among non-smokers at T1. Trajectories were defined by separating participants who were never smokers at both waves ('non-smokers'), those who smoked at both waves ('persistent smokers'), those who smoked at one time but were not smoking at either wave ('past smokers), and those who had never smoked at T1 but reported smoking a year later ('new smokers'). Persistent, past and new smokers had higher depressive symptoms at both waves than non-smokers. Smokers who reported not wanting or trying to quit and those who had been unsuccessful at quitting had higher depressive symptoms at T2 than those who successfully quit. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that depressive symptoms promote tobacco use in Asian adolescents by making it more likely that an adolescent will begin smoking and less likely that she or he will quit. These findings elucidate risk factors in Hong Kong for two important public health concerns for adolescents: smoking and depression.     

Rifaximin,a pregnane X receptor (PXR) activator regulates apoptosis in a murine model of breast cancer

The present study was proposed to investigate the effect of rifaximin (RFX) on methyl nitrosourea (MNU) induced mammary gland carcinoma in albino wistar rats. Animals were randomized and divided among four groups of six animals each. Group I (control 0.9% normal saline, 3 ml kg⁻¹, p.o.); Group II (toxic control, MNU 47 mg kg⁻¹, i.v.); Group III (RFX, 25 mg kg⁻¹, p.o.); Group IV (RFX, 50 mg kg⁻¹, p.o.). Toxicity was induced by single i.v. injection of MNU. MNU treatment was evident with increased alveolar bud count, differentiation score, up-regulated inflammatory enzyme markers (COX, LOX, NO and H₂S) and oxidative stress markers (TBAR''s, protein carbonyl, SOD, catalase and Ach). The mammary gland surface architecture was studied using SEM, carmine staining and H&E staining. The treatment with RFX elicited noticeable restoration of the overall histological architecture in the experimental animals similar to the control. In the MNU treated toxic group, the levels of oxidative stress markers significantly increased in comparison to the control, which was subsequently restored after RFX treatment. Furthermore, RFX up regulated the levels of caspase 3 and caspase 8, when compared to the MNU treated animals. MNU associated toxicity was also ascertained, when determined for UCHL-1, COX, NF-κBp65, BAD, and BCL-xl expression, while RFX demonstrated modulation of the same.

The present study was proposed to investigate the effect of rifaximin (RFX) on methyl nitrosourea (MNU) induced mammary gland carcinoma in albino wistar rats.     

Emerging role of non‐coding RNA in health and disease

Metabolic Brain Disease - Human diseases have always been a significant turf of concern since the origin of mankind. It is cardinal to know the cause, treatment, and cure for every disease...     

Impact of recent pulmonary exacerbations on quality of life in patients with cystic fibrosis.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of people with cystic fibrosis (CF) to the general population, and to determine the relationship between HRQOL and clinical and demographic factors. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of observational cohort. SETTING: Outpatient clinics of a Midwestern CF center. SUBJECTS: One hundred sixty-two subjects with CF aged 5 to 45 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Physical and psychosocial summary scores and individual scale scores for the Child Health Questionnaire and Short Form-36. RESULTS: Compared with the general population, people with CF reported similar scores for most psychosocial measures, but lower scores for most physical measures, with the lowest scores on the general health perceptions scale. In multivariable analyses, pulmonary exacerbations in the past 6 months were strongly associated with the physical (p = 0.001) and psychosocial (p = 0.0003) scores. The physical score fell, on average, 6 points per exacerbation and the psychosocial score fell 3 points. Lung function, nutrition, 6-min walk distance, age, gender, and insurance status were not significantly associated with HRQOL in this study population. Those who declined to participate had significantly lower FEV(1) percent predicted and nutritional indexes. Our findings may not be generalizable to the entire CF population. CONCLUSION: Recent pulmonary exacerbations have a profound negative impact on HRQOL that is not explained by differences in lung function, nutritional status, or demographic factors.     

Alcohol septal ablation versus surgical septal myectomy: comparison of effects on atrioventricular conduction tissue

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to evaluate the effect of septal reduction therapies on the conduction system for patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). BACKGROUND: Heart block is a potential complication of both catheter-based and surgical procedures to relieve left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in HCM, but it is important to understand the different effects of these treatments on the conduction system. METHODS: The electrocardiograms and postoperative course of patients who underwent percutaneous alcohol septal ablation or surgical myectomy at Mayo Clinic between 1999 and 2003 were reviewed. RESULTS: For the 58 patients who underwent alcohol septal ablation, 21 (36%) developed right bundle branch block. Six patients (12%) developed complete heart block requiring permanent pacing, three of whom had left bundle branch block before the procedure. Among the 117 patients who underwent surgical septal myectomy, 47 (40%) developed left bundle branch block. Four patients (3%) developed heart block requiring permanent pacing after the procedure, three of whom had right bundle branch block preoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous septal ablation selectively produces transmural infarction of the basal mid-septum and adjacent right bundle tissue, whereas surgical myectomy affects the endocardial portion of the basal anterior septum and adjacent left bundle tissue. These observations may help identify patients at risk for complete heart block after septal reduction procedures for HCM.     

Pregnancy-Associated Cardiac Hypertrophy in Corin-Deficient Mice: Observations in a Transgenic Model of Preeclampsia

Background

Preeclampsia increases the risk of heart disease. Defects in the protease corin, including the variant T555I/Q568P found in approximately 12% of blacks, have been associated with preeclampsia and cardiac hypertrophy. The objective of this study was to investigate the role of corin and the T555I/Q568P variant in preeclampsia-associated cardiac alterations using genetically modified mouse models.