Specific alterations in plasma proteins during depressed,manic, and euthymic states of bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common psychiatric mood disorder affecting more than 1-2% of the general population of different European countries. Unfortunately, there is no objective laboratory-based test to aid BD diagnosis or monitor its progression, and little is known about the molecular basis of BD. Here, we performed a comparative proteomic study to identify differentially expressed plasma proteins in various BD mood states (depressed BD, manic BD, and euthymic BD) relative to healthy controls. A total of 10 euthymic BD, 20 depressed BD, 15 manic BD, and 20 demographically matched healthy control subjects were recruited. Seven high-abundance proteins were immunodepleted in plasma samples from the 4 experimental groups, which were then subjected to proteome-wide expression profiling by two-dimensional electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight/time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry. Proteomic results were validated by immunoblotting and bioinformatically analyzed using MetaCore. From a total of 32 proteins identified with 1.5-fold changes in expression compared with healthy controls, 16 proteins were perturbed in BD independent of mood state, while 16 proteins were specifically associated with particular BD mood states. Two mood-independent differential proteins, apolipoprotein (Apo) A1 and Apo L1, suggest that BD pathophysiology may be associated with early perturbations in lipid metabolism. Moreover, down-regulation of one mood-dependent protein, carbonic anhydrase 1 (CA-1), suggests it may be involved in the pathophysiology of depressive episodes in BD. Thus, BD pathophysiology may be associated with early perturbations in lipid metabolism that are independent of mood state, while CA-1 may be involved in the pathophysiology of depressive episodes.     

糖尿病黄斑水肿患者病变程度与脉络膜厚度的关系

目的　利用频域光学相干断层扫描深度增强（enhanced depth imaging spectral domain optical coherence tomography，EDI SD-OCT）观察糖尿病黄斑水肿（diabetic macular edema，DME）患者脉络膜厚度（choroidal thickness，CT）的变化及结构特点，探讨DME病变程度与CT的关系。方法　纳入2型糖尿病患者共123例204眼，其中69眼诊断为DME（DME组），135眼无黄斑水肿为对照组。DME眼依据OCT形态学特点进一步分为视网膜弥漫性增厚（diffuse retinal thickness，DRT）型（34眼）、黄斑囊样水肿（cystoid macular edema，CME）型（19眼）和浆液性视网膜脱离（serous retinal detachment，SRD）型（16眼），利用EDI-OCT分别测量黄斑中心凹下CT和以黄斑为中心上、下、鼻、颞500 μm、1000 μm、1500 μm、2000 μm处CT。结果　DME组黄斑中心凹下CT为（326.72±90.15）μm，对照组为（320.17±106.46）μm，两组之间无统计学差异，但黄斑中心凹下CT与视网膜厚度间具有明显正相关关系（r=0.270，P=0.025）。DME亚型CT分别为:DRT型（303.94±81.47）μm、CME型（304.42±73.98）μm和SRD型（401.63±88.80）μm，SRD型CT明显高于其他亚型（P<0.05），此外，SRD型的周边CT同样呈现均匀一致的增厚；鼻侧CT从500 μm至2000 μm呈距离敏感性降低（P<0.05），但SRD型鼻侧CT降低幅度明显变缓（P=0.195）。结论　SRD型黄斑水肿患者CT在中心凹下及周边部均显著增厚，CT与DME病变程度之间有一定相关性。     

A Tool to Assess Patient and Surrogate Knowledge About the POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) Program

ContextIt is especially important that patients are well informed when making high-stakes, preference-sensitive decisions like those on the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form. However, there is currently no way to easily evaluate whether patients understand key concepts when making these important decisions.ObjectivesTo develop a POLST knowledge survey.MethodsExpert (n = 62) ratings of key POLST facts were used to select items for a POLST knowledge survey. The survey was administered to nursing facility residents (n = 97) and surrogate decision-makers (n = 112). A subset (n = 135) were re-administered the survey after a standardized advance care planning discussion to assess the scale's responsiveness to change.ResultsThe 19-item survey demonstrated adequate reliability (α = 0.72.). Residents' scores (x = 11.4, standard deviation 3.3) were significantly lower than surrogate scores (x = 14.7, standard deviation 2.5) (P < 0.001). Scores for both groups increased significantly after administration of a standardized advance care planning discussion (P < 0.001). Although being a surrogate, age, race, education, cognitive functioning, and health literacy were significantly associated with higher POLST Knowledge Survey scores in univariate analyses, only being a surrogate (P < 0.001) and being white (P = 0.028) remained significantly associated with higher scores in multivariate analyses.ConclusionThe 19-item POLST Knowledge Survey demonstrated adequate reliability and responsiveness to change. Findings suggest the survey could be used to identify knowledge deficits and provide targeted education to ensure adequate understanding of key clinical decisions when completing POLST.     

eTEP inferior access with tailored retromuscular dissection for small to mid-sized umbilical hernia repair with or without inguinal hernia: early experience

Hernia - The minimally invasive surgical repair of combined inguinal and ventral hernias often requires shifting from one approach or plane to another. The traditional enhanced-view totally...