Genicular nerve block in rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized clinical trial

Clinical Rheumatology - This study highlights the effect of a genicular nerve block (GNB) on pain, function, and inflammation outcome measures in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) knees. A total of...     

Impact of Cardiac Computed Tomographic Angiography on Diagnostic and Therapeutic Decisions in Patients with Suspected Prosthetic Heart Valve Dysfunction

IntroductionComputed Tomography (CT) scan is a helpful tool to assess the coronary arteries and the great vessels. However, its routine use in the assessment of patients with suspected prosthetic valve dysfunction (PVD) has not been studied thoroughly.ObjectiveTo determine the impact of routine cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA) on diagnostic and therapeutic decisions in patients with suspected PVD.Methods and resultsThis was a prospective cohort study that was conducted on 50 consecutive patients with suspected PVD who underwent both 64-slice ECG-gated CT and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). The gold standard was the intraoperative findings. Surgery was performed in forty-six patients. ECG-gated CT showed findings that were not detected by TEE in sixteen patients (32%) namely aortic root abscess, aortic pseudoaneurysm, paravalvular leakage (PVL), sclero-calcific disruption of sutures as cause of PVL, mechanical prosthesis occluder malfunction, an underlying thrombus as cause of malfunction and finally presence of aortic dissection. Furthermore, CTA findings dictated treatment changes in fourteen patients (28%).ConclusionThis study demonstrates that ECG-gated CTA has a complementary role to TEE in patients with suspected PVD. CCTA is more accurate in diagnosis of periannular complications (Aortic root abscess and Pseudo-aneurysm) and in delineating their anatomical relation to surrounding cardiac structures. Therefore CCTA can have important role in deciding and planning the method of correction whether surgical or percutaneous and has to be considered after TEE in patients with a high suspicion on PVD.     

Analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of Citrus aurantium L. blossoms essential oil (neroli): involvement of the nitric oxide/cyclic-guanosine monophosphate pathway

Journal of Natural Medicines - The analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties of Citrus aurantium L. blossoms essential oil (neroli) were investigated in mice and rats. The analgesic activity of...     

Clinical Characteristics and Treatment Response in Microscopic Colitis Based on Age at Diagnosis: A Multicenter Retrospective Study

Digestive Diseases and Sciences - Microscopic colitis (MC) primarily affects older adults; thus, data in younger patients are scarce. To compare clinical characteristics and treatment response by...     

Newly Designed and Synthesized Curcumin Analogs with in vitro Cytotoxicity and Tubulin Polymerization Activity

Novel curcumin analogs with 4‐piperidone ring were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against five different cancer cell lines. 3,5‐bis(4‐Hydroxy‐3‐methoxybenzylidene)‐4‐oxo‐N‐phenylpiperidine‐1‐carbothioamide (XIIe) exhibited considerable cytotoxic activity with IC₅₀ values in 1–2.5 μm range. In silico and in vitro, studies were also performed to predict the binding affinity of the target compounds to the β‐chain of tubulin receptor (PDB code 1SA1) and their abilities to affect microtubules polymerization cycle. 3,5‐bis(3‐Iodo‐5‐methoxy‐4‐propoxybenzylidene)‐N‐acetylpiperidin‐4‐one (VIIa) was found to exert 93.3% inhibition of tubulin and destabilization of microtubules in vitro compared to vincristine while, 3,5‐bis(3,4,5‐trimethoxybenzylidene)‐N‐benzoylpiperidin‐4‐one (XIIc) showed high potency in a different way where it exerted 94.8% stabilization of microtubules in vitro compared to positive control paclitaxel.     

Improving the Corrosion Resistance of Wrought ZM21 Magnesium Alloys by Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation and Powder Coating

Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation (PEO) was applied to extruded ZM21 Mg alloys to improve their corrosion resistance in a chloride-containing environment. PEO was carried out in DC mode and voltage control in a fluoride-free electrolyte. Potentiodynamic polarization tests in 3.5 wt.% NaCl aqueous solution and neutral salt spray (NSS) tests were carried out. Microstructural and profilometric characterization, as well as NSS tests were performed in different conditions: (i) bare ZM21, (ii) PEO-treated ZM21, (iii) powder-coated ZM21 (without PEO interlayer), and (iv) PEO-treated ZM21 with powder coating top layer (carboxyl-functionalized polyester resin). The PEO + powder coating double layer was identified as the best-performing corrosion protection.