Prostaglandins differentially modulate progesterone receptor-A and -B expression in human myometrial cells: evidence for prostaglandin-induced functional progesterone withdrawal

We tested the hypothesis that prostaglandin (PGs), PGE2, and PGF2 alpha, stimulate labor and delivery in women, in part, by inducing functional progesterone withdrawal in myometrial cells by increasing the progesterone receptor (PR)-A/PR-B expression ration. PHM1-31 cells (an immortal pregnant human myometrial cell line) were exposed to PGE2, PGF2 alpha, cyclic-8-bromoadenosine monophosphate (8-Br-cAMP) and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) at various concentrations for 24h. Effects on PR-A and PR-B expression were then assessed by quantitative RT-PCR. PGF2 alpha dose dependently increased PR-A mRNA and the PR-A/PR-B expression ration but did not effect PR-B mRNA. PGE2 dose-dependently increased mRNAs encoding PR-A and PR-B. The PGE2 dose-threshold for PR-A (0.01 nM) was lower than that for PR-B (0.1 nM), which resulted in an initial rise then a gradual fall in PR-A/PR-B expression ration to basal levels in response to PGE2. Activation of the protein kinase (PK)-A signaling pathway with 8-Br-cAMP coordinately increased expression of PR-A and PR-B and therefore did not alter the PR-A/PR-B expression ration. In contrast, activation of the PKC signaling pathway with PMA increased expression of PR-A without affecting PR-B and therefore significantly (P<0.05) increased the PR-A/PR-B expression ration. These data demonstrate differential control of myometrial PR-A and PR-B expression by PGE2 and PGF2 alpha and by specific intracellular signaling pathways. We conclude that PGs acting via the PKC pathway facilitate functional progesterone withdrawal by increasing the myometrial PR-A/PR-B expression ratio.     

Testosterone patch increases sexual activity and desire in surgically menopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder

CONTEXT: Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) is one of the most common sexual problems reported by women, but few studies have been conducted to evaluate treatments for this condition. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a testosterone patch in surgically menopausal women with HSDD. DESIGN: The design was a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, 24-wk study (the Intimate SM 1 study). SETTING: The study was performed at private or institutional practices. PATIENTS: The subjects studied were women, aged 26-70 yr, with HSDD after bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy who were receiving concomitant estrogen therapy. Placebo (n = 279) or testosterone 300 microg/d (n = 283) was administered. There were 19 patients who withdrew due to adverse events in the placebo group and 24 in the 300 mug/d testosterone group. INTERVENTION: Testosterone (300 microg/d) or placebo patches were applied twice weekly. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(s): The primary end point was the change in the frequency of total satisfying sexual activity at 24 wk. Secondary end points included other sexual functioning end points and safety assessments. RESULTS: At 24 wk, there was an increase from baseline in the frequency of total satisfying sexual activity of 2.10 episodes/4 wk in the testosterone group, which was significantly greater than the change of 0.98 episodes/4 wk in the placebo group (P = 0.0003). The testosterone group also experienced statistically significant improvements in sexual desire and a decrease in distress. The overall safety profile was similar in both treatment groups. CONCLUSION: In the Intimate SM 1 study, the testosterone patch improved sexual function and decreased distress in surgically menopausal women with HSDD and was well tolerated in this trial.     

Response to vaccination against hepatitis B in patients with Behcet's disease

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Hepatitis B virus infection is an important public health problem in Turkey. Although hepatitis B vaccination is regarded as safe and effective for the general population, recommendations for hepatitis B immunization in patients with Behcet's disease are not clear. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the response of patients with Behcet's disease to hepatitis B vaccination and to determine whether hepatitis B vaccination has any adverse effects on the course of the disease. METHODS: Thirteen patients with Behcet's disease and 15 healthy individuals were enrolled into a prospective study. All subjects received the 3-dose series of routine hepatitis B vaccine. Anti-hepatitis B surface response was evaluated 1-3 months after the third dose of vaccine. RESULTS: The responder rates for patient and control groups were 12/13 (92.8%) and 14/15 (93.8%), respectively. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference between the two groups in terms of both the responder rates and mean antibody titers. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings might suggest that the majority of patients with Behcet's disease develop protective antibody response after hepatitis B vaccination and that the immune response against hepatitis B surface antigen is adequate, efficient and intact.     

Desmoid Tumor Arising at the Colostomy Site After Abdominoperineal Resection for Rectal Carcinoma: Report of a Case

A 69-year-old male who developed a desmoid tumor at the site of his end colostomy after abdominoperineal resection for rectal carcinoma is reported. The tumor was resected with wide margins. Histopathology revealed desmoid tumor of the anterior abdominal wall with no malignant features. The patient had an uneventful postoperative course. To our knowledge, this is the first case of solitary desmoid tumor of anterior abdominal wall at the colostomy site reported in the literature.     

Effects of metoprolol therapy on cardiac troponin-I levels after elective percutaneous coronary interventions.

AIMS: Beta-blockers (BBs) have been shown to improve survival and reduce the risk of re-infarction in patients following myocardial infarction. There are conflicting data about the effects of BB therapy on cardiac biomarkers after percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs). The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of BB use on cardiac troponin-I (cTnI) levels in patients who had undergone elective PCI. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this prospective study, 287 patients with coronary artery disease were included. Patients were randomized either to BB or control groups prior to the intervention. Blood samples for cTnI were obtained before and at 6, 24, and 36 h after the procedure. Of the 287 patients included, 143 received metoprolol succinate 100 mg/day, and 144 received no BB and served as the control group. Baseline clinical characteristics of both groups, except for history of coronary artery bypass graft surgery, were similar. We observed no significant difference in the elevation of cTnI levels between the two groups after PCI (BB group, 17 patients, 11.9%; control group, 10 patients, 6.9%; P=0.2). CONCLUSION: Metoprolol succinate therapy seems to have no cardioprotective effect in limiting troponin-I rise after PCI.     

Influence of Zeolite Coating on the Corrosion Resistance of AZ91D Magnesium Alloy

The protective performance of zeolite coating on AZ91D magnesium alloy was evaluated using potentiodynamic polarisation and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in 0.1 M sodium chloride solution (NaCl). Electrical equivalent circuit (EEC) was developed based upon hypothetical corrosion mechanisms and simulated to correspond to the experimental data. The morphology and the chemical nature of the coating were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Post corrosion morphologies of the zeolite coated and the uncoated AZ91D alloy were investigated using SEM. The corrosion resistance of the zeolite coated specimen was at least one order of magnitude higher than the uncoated specimen.     

Biodegradable-Polymer Versus Polymer-Free Drug-Eluting Stents for the Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease

Background/purposeBiodegradable-polymer (BP) and polymer-free (PF) drug eluting stents (DES) were developed to reduce the risk of delayed arterial healing observed with durable-polymer (DP) platforms. Although trials demonstrate BP-DES and PF-DES are non-inferior to DP-DES, there is limited data directly comparing these technologies. We performed a meta-analysis to assess the efficacy and safety of BP-DES versus PF-DES for the treatment of coronary artery disease.Methods/materialsElectronic searches were performed identifying randomized trials comparing BP-DES with PF-DES. Co-primary efficacy endpoints were target vessel revascularization (TVR), target lesion revascularization (TLR) and angiographic in-stent late lumen loss (LLL). Co-secondary safety endpoints were all-cause death, myocardial infarction (MI) and stent thrombosis (ST).ResultsOf 208 studies, 5 met inclusion criteria including 1975 patients. At mean follow-up (14 ± 5 months), BP-DES were associated with significantly reduced rates of TVR (OR 0.58, 95%CI 0.37–0.92, p = 0.02), TLR (4.7% vs 9.5%) (OR 0.48, 95%CI 0.31–0.75, p = 0.001) and in-stent LLL (pooled mean difference ?0.20 mm, 95%CI ?0.24 to ?0.16, p < 0.001). There was no difference in safety, including all-cause death (OR 1.24, 95%CI 0.68–2.28, p = 0.48), MI (OR 0.92, 95%CI 0.54–1.56, p = 0.75) or ST (OR 1.58, 95%CI 0.67–3.73, p = 0.30).ConclusionsThese data suggests that BP-DES are more efficacious when compared with PF-DES for the treatment of CAD.     

Postpartum monitoring of women with a history of gestational diabetes — A cross-sectional study of an inner-city population

This was a cross-sectional analysis (1980–2017) in Leicester to examine the proportion of women with a history of gestational diabetes (GDM) who (a) attended the 13-week postpartum screening and (b) attended annual type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) screening and assessed the association between screening rates and sociodemographic factors. We found that women with a history of GDM were not adequately screened for type 2 diabetes in primary care. 62% did not have postpartum screening and 84% did not have the recommended annual screening. A significant association was found between South Asian ethnicity and not being screened annually. These results emphasise the need for better targeted education of pregnant women about the risks of T2DM and the need for more research across the UK into the screening of women with a history of GDM and the potential for a national screening programme.     

Bacterial salivary microbiome associates with asthma among african american children and young adults

Several studies have shown that the airways of asthma patients contain higher diversity of bacteria and are enriched in pathogenic species. However, sampling the airways in children is challenging. Here we aimed to identify differences in the salivary bacterial composition between African Americans children with and without asthma. Saliva samples from 57 asthma cases and 57 healthy controls were analyzed by means of 16S ribosomal RNA amplicon profiling. Measurements of bacterial diversity and genus relative abundance were compared between cases and controls using the nonparametric Wilcoxon test and multivariate regression models. A total of five phyla and a mean of 56 genera were identified. Among them, 15 genera had a relative abundance greater than 1%, being Prevotella, Haemophilus, Streptococcus, and Veillonella the most abundant genera. Differences between cases and controls were found in terms of diversity, as well as in relative abundance for Streptococcus genus (13.0% in cases vs 18.3% in controls; P = .003) and Veillonella genus (11.1% in cases vs 8.0% in controls; P = .002). These differences remained significant after correction for multiple comparisons and when potential confounders were taken into account in logistic regression models. In conclusion, we identified changes in the salivary microbiota associated with asthma among African Americans.