Left atrioventricular plane displacement is related to both systolic and diastolic left ventricular performance in patients with chronic heart failure.

AIMS: Left atrioventricular plane displacement is proposed to reflect left ventricular systolic function and is strongly related to prognosis in patients with heart failure. Left atrioventricular plane displacement is a different measure of left ventricular function compared to ejection fraction, and the factors influencing left atrioventricular plane displacement are insufficiently characterized. We wanted to assess any relationship between left atrioventricular plane displacement and left ventricular diastolic performance. METHODS AND RESULTS: Left ventricular diastolic filling, left atrioventricular plane displacement, and fractional shortening were assessed by echocardiography/Doppler in 54 patients with chronic heart failure (age 64 +/- 7 years). Left atrioventricular plane displacement correlated significantly with Doppler variables of left ventricular filling, in particular the inverse logarithm of early transmitral flow deceleration time; log-1 Edt (r = -0.61, P < 0.0001, n = 54). Left atrioventricular plane displacement also correlated with fractional shortening (r = 0.49, P < 0.001, n = 50). However, fractional shortening did not correlate with any Doppler variable. Log-1 Edt, fractional shortening, age, heart rate, left ventricular and atrial size, and degree of mitral regurgitation were included in a multiple regression analysis. Only log-1 Edt (P = 0.001) and fractional shortening (P = 0.03) correlated independently with left atrioventricular plane displacement. Among patients with similar fractional shortening, those with more compromised diastolic performance had lower left atrioventricular plane displacement. CONCLUSION: Left atrioventricular plane displacement was related to both systolic and diastolic left ventricular performance, which may explain some of the discrepancies between left atrioventricular plane displacement and ejection fraction.     

Heating of food and haemoglobin adducts from carcinogens: possible precursor role of glycidol.

Studies of adducts from reactive compounds to haemoglobin (Hb) by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry according to the N-alkyl Edman method reveals the occurrence of N-(2,3-dihydroxypropyl)valine (diHOPrVal) at levels of 1-2 pmol/g Hb, in persons without known exposure. The hypothesis that this background originates from glycidol or related compounds during heating of food was tested in experiments with rats. Animals fed fried animal feed for 30 or 72 days showed an increase of the diHOPrVal level by about 50% compared with controls. Several arguments, such as the formation of reactive oxiranes by heat-induced dehydration of glycol configurations in glycerol and sugars, support the idea that glycidol (or e.g. glycidyl esters) are precursors of the adduct. In Hb samples, reduced for stabilisation of aldehyde adducts, relatively high levels of adducts determined as diHOPrVal were found, although without significant relation to frying of the feed. There is thus no indication that reduction in vivo of, for example, the Schiff base from glyceraldehyde, is a pathway for formation of the diHOPrVal. The background level of diHOPrVal in humans Hb is low, and the cancer risk associated with exposure to the specific alkylator-probably glycidol-formed in cooking, is therefore presumably low. The result implies, however, that low-molecular mass mutagenic oxiranes formed during the heating of food should be studied further.     

Relative Validity of a Short 15-Item Food Frequency Questionnaire Measuring Dietary Quality,by the Diet History Method

Food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) are commonly used dietary assessment tools. The aim was to assess the relative validity of a 15-item FFQ, designed for the screening of poor dietary patterns with a validated diet history (DH). The study population was derived from the Gothenburg H70 Birth Cohort Studies. The DH registrations were harmonized in accordance with the FFQ frequencies. The agreement was assessed by Cohen’s kappa with corresponding confidence intervals (CI) for the frequency and categorical variables. Bland–Altman plots were used for the numeric variables. The study comprised data from 848 individuals (55.2% women). Overall, there was high agreement between the methods, with the exact and adjacent level of agreement over 80% for eight variables. The proportion attributed to the opposite frequency was fairly low for most of the frequency variables. Most of the kappa values were in fair or moderate agreement. The highest kappa values were calculated for the type of cooking fat (k = 0.68, CI = 0.63–0.72) and sandwich spread (k = 0.55, CI = 0.49–0.53), and the lowest for type of bread (0.13, CI = 0.07–0.20) and sweets (0.22 CI = 0.18–0.27). In conclusion, the FFQ showed overall good agreement compared with the DH. We, therefore, think it, with some improvements, could serve as a simple screening tool for poor dietary patterns.     

Endorphin levels in human cerebrospinal fluid during alcohol intoxication and withdrawal

Levels of endorphins were determined in CSF from alcoholics while intoxicated or after 1 day, 1 week, and 3 weeks of abstinence, respectively, and from healthy volunteers. The level of endorphins was determined by a radioreceptor assay and two fractions were analyzed. With fraction 1, there were no significant differences between the groups, but the level was negatively correlated with the blood-alcohol level. The mean level of endorphin fraction 2 during the early withdrawal phase was significantly lower than those of the other groups. With respect to clinical conditions and monoamine metabolites, fraction 2 in early withdrawal correlated significantly to duration of abuse and age. During late withdrawal, fraction 1 level correlated to depressive symptoms and, after 3 weeks of abstinence, fraction 2 correlated to MOPEG levels. This study suggests that endorphin systems are affected during alcohol intoxication and withdrawal in alcoholics.     

NET‐producing CD16high CD62Ldim neutrophils migrate to tumor sites and predict improved survival in patients with HNSCC

The concept of functional neutrophil subsets is new and their clinical significance in malignancies is unknown. Our study investigated the role of CD16^dim CD62L^high, CD16^high CD62L^high and CD16^high CD62L^dim neutrophil subsets in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients. These neutrophil subsets may play different roles in immune‐related activity in cancer, based on their profile, activation state and migration ability within a tumor site, which may be important in predicting cancer prognoses. Tumor biopsies and blood were obtained from newly diagnosed untreated HNSCC patients and healthy controls. Neutrophil subsets and their phenotype were characterized using flow cytometry. Isolated granulocytes were assessed for anti‐tumor immune functions. Compared to controls HNSCC patients exhibited increased CD16^high CD62L^dim neutrophils in blood; this subset displayed a distinct phenotypes with high expression of CD11b and CD18. This subset was prone to migrate into the tumor facilitated by tumor‐derived IL‐8. Furthermore, IL‐8 was also found to activate neutrophils and thereby promoting subset transition. Various assays demonstrated that activated CD16^high CD62L^dim neutrophils inhibited migration, proliferation and induced apoptosis of FaDu cancer cells. Neutrophil elastase detected in activated CD16^high CD62L^dim neutrophils and tumor biopsies suggested that CD16^high CD62L^dim neutrophils impart anti‐tumoral activity via neutrophil extracellular traps. Furthermore, increased fraction of CD16^high CD62L^dim neutrophils was shown to correlate with an increased survival rate. Our study demonstrates the clinical relevance of the CD16^high CD62L^dim neutrophil subset, providing evidence for its increased migration capacity, its anti‐tumor activity including increased NET formation and finally its correlation with increased survival in HNSCC patients.     

Early Psychological Preventive Intervention For Workplace Violence: A Randomized Controlled Explorative and Comparative Study Between EMDR-Recent Event and Critical Incident Stress Debriefing

This randomized controlled trial study aims to investigate the efficacy of an early psychological intervention called EMDR-RE compared to Critical Incident Stress Debriefing on 60 victims of workplace violence, which were divided into three groups: ‘EMDR-RE’ (n = 19), ‘CISD’ (n = 23), and ‘delayed EMDR-RE’ (n = 18). EMDR-RE and CISD took place 48 hours after the event, whilst third intervention was delayed by an additional 48 hours. Results showed that after 3 months PCLS and SUDS scores were significantly lower with EMDR-RE and delayed EMDR-RE compared to CISD. After 48 hours and 3 months, none of the EMDR-RE-treated victims showed PTSD symptoms.     

Scintigraphic findings in the rheumatoid knee joint

An increased uptake of 99m-technetium methylenediphosphonate was found in 42 knees of 24 patients afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis. All the 23 knees which were painful and the 21 knees which had synovitis showed an increased concentration of isotope. Articular space narrowing was observed in 26 joints, all but one of which were subjected to increased isotopic accumulation and synovitis. The degree of radiologic cartilage destruction correlated significantly with the isotopic uptake. In the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis, the isotopic uptake was found to be heterogeneous within the joint in one half of the cases. In the later stages, with a narrowed articular space and valgus angulation, the isotope was concentrated to the lateral side of the joint, while joints with varus angulation had a more symmetric distribution. The degree and distribution of uptake seemed to be governed by several factors, among others, inflammatory activity and mechanical load.