Effect of folic acid in women with and without insulin resistance who have hyperhomocysteinemic polycystic ovary syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of folic acid on homocysteine (Hcy) levels in women with insulin resistance and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in a prospective clinical trial. METHOD: Of 210 women with PCOS, 70 were hyperhomocysteinemic; and of these, 32 were insulin resistant and 38 were not. The 70 women were treated with folic acid for 3 months. Baseline and serum levels of Hcy and insulin were measured in both groups. RESULTS: In both groups Hcy concentrations were significantly decreased following folic acid supplementation. The mean+/-SD levels before and after treatment were 14.03+/-1.5 micromol/L and 12.53+/-1.72 micromol/L in group 1 (P<0.001), and they were 12.07+/-0.87 micromol/L and 8.83+/-0.78 micromol/L in group 2 (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: The Hcy levels of hyperhomocysteinemic women with PCOS were reduced after 3 months of folic acid supplementation, and the rate of reduction was higher among women without insulin resistance. No change was found in fasting insulin levels.     

Immunoblot for verifying the results of screening of antibodies to hepatitis C virus in blood donors

A conclusion is made, on the basis of independent research results and published data, on the need to verify, compulsorily, the screening finding of donor blood for hepatitis virus by immunoblot and, in extra complicated cases, by PCR.     

Impact of guideline-concordant antibiotics and macrolide/β-lactam combinations in 3203 patients hospitalized with pneumonia: prospective cohort study

For patients hospitalized with pneumonia, guidelines provide empirical antibiotic recommendations and some studies suggest that macrolide/β-lactam combinations are preferable. We hypothesized that guideline-concordant regimens, particularly macrolide/β-lactams, would reduce mortality and ICU admissions. All patients hospitalized with pneumonia in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, were managed according to a clinical pathway and enrolled in a population-based registry. Clinical data, Pneumonia Severity Index and treatments were collected. Guideline-concordant regimens were macrolides/β-lactams or respiratory fluoroquinolone monotherapy. The main outcome was in-hospital mortality. The study included 3203 patients and most had severe pneumonia (63% PSI Class IV-V). Three hundred and twenty-one (10.0%) patients died, 306 (9.6%) were admitted to the ICU and 570 (17.8%) achieved the composite of death or ICU admission. Most (n = 2506) patients received guideline-concordant antibiotics. Receipt of guideline-concordant antibiotics was not associated with a reduction in mortality alone (231 (9.2%) vs. 90 (12.9%); adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 0.82; 95% CI, 0.61–1.09; p 0.16), but was associated with decreased death or ICU admission (14.7% vs. 29.0%; aOR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.36–0.54; p <0.0001). Within guideline-concordant subgroups, there was no difference in mortality between macrolide/β-lactams and respiratory fluoroquinolone monotherapy (22 (8.3%) vs. 209 (9.3%); aOR, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.66–1.81; p 0.73) but macrolide/β-lactams were associated with increased odds of death or ICU admission (17.4% vs. 14.4%; aOR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.09–2.27; p 0.01). In conclusion, guideline-concordant antibiotics were not associated with decreased mortality for patients hospitalized with pneumonia, but were associated with a decrease in the composite endpoint of death or ICU admission. Our findings do not support any clinical advantage of macrolide/β-lactam compared with respiratory fluoroquinolone monotherapy.     

Effects of in-season short-term plyometric training on jumping and agility performance of basketball players

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effects of in-season plyometric training program on power and agility performance in young male basketball players. Twenty intermediate basketball players (age 20.1 ± 1.3 years; height 181.1 ± 8.5 cm; body mass 78.8 ± 5 kg) from Division I province team volunteered to participate in this study and were randomly divided into two groups: plyometric training (PL; n = 10) and control group (CG; n = 10). Plyometric training took place twice weekly for 6 weeks including three sets of 15 repetitions of depth jump (from 45-cm box height), vertical jump, and standing long jump, in addition to regular basketball practice of the team. Vertical jump (VJ), standing long jump (SLJ), 4 × 9-m shuttle run, agility t test (ATT), and Illinois Agility Test (IAT) were measured at pre- and post-training. The PL group showed significant improvement (P < 0.05) in VJ (10.21 ± 2.72 cm), SLJ (21.15 ± 8.10 cm), 4 × 9-m shuttle run (0.62 ± 0.28 s), ATT (1.16 ± 0.57 s), and IAT (1.17 ± 0.65 s) after a 6-week training period and compared to CG. It can be concluded that a 6-week in-season plyometric training program has positive effects for improving power and agility performance in young male basketball players and this study provides support for coaches and basketball players who use this training method during competitive phase.     

Papulonodular mucinosis indicating systemic lupus erythematosus

We describe an 18‐year‐old girl with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who had cutaneous papulonodular mucinosis (PNM) as the first sign of SLE. She presented with multiple flesh‐coloured papules on the face, abdomen and limbs. Histological examination of a biopsy taken from a papule showed diffuse deposition of mucin throughout the dermis, and direct immunofluorescence of lesional skin showed a dermoepidermal junction band composed of IgG, IgM and C3, consistent with PNM. Investigations showed that that the patient had leucopenia, positive antinuclear and anti‐double‐stranded DNA antibodies and lupus nephritis. PMN can be an unusual clinical presentation of SLE.     

The effect of degradable polymer surfaces on co-cultures of monocytes and smooth muscle cells

Strategies to optimize biomaterial chemistry for applications in vascular tissue engineering attempt to promote endothelial and smooth muscle cell recruitment into porous material constructs. The primary objective is to facilitate relevant tissue formation in a wound healing versus pro-inflammatory manner. The present work investigated the interactive co-cellular response of human monocytes and human vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) with a novel degradable, polar/hydrophobic/ionic (D-PHI) polyurethane and compared it to a commercially available biomaterial, poly-lactic-glycolic acid (PLGA) as well as tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS). D-PHI triggered a smaller pro-inflammatory response (acid phosphatase, esterase, tumor necrosis factor-α) at later time points (>14?d) than PLGA suggesting that monocytes may be transitioning to a more wound-healing phenotype on the D-PHI surface. When D-PHI was coated with collagen, monocyte cell attachment did not differ with the native D-PHI; however, PLGA showed significant differences between collagen coated versus uncoated surfaces. There were more VSMCs and monocytes attached in co-culture to D-PHI when compared to PLGA. Co-cultures on D-PHI released more IL-10 (anti-inflammatory) than monocytes cultured alone, while the VSMCs retained the expression of its marker protein calponin. Together the above data suggest that co-culturing monocytes with VSMCs may aid in stimulating the attachment of VSMCs to D-PHI while eliciting the desired functional phenotypes for both monocytes (i.e. low inflammation based on IL-10 values) and VSMCs (expressing calponin, a marker of contractility). Moreover, the results of this study demonstrated that D-PHI performed equally or better to PLGA in terms of the assayed biological parameters.