Atmospheric pressure plasmas: Infection control and bacterial responses

Cold atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) is a recent, cutting-edge antimicrobial treatment. It has the potential to be used as an alternative to traditional treatments such as antibiotics and as a promoter of wound healing, making it a promising tool in a range of biomedical applications with particular importance for combating infections. A number of studies show very promising results for APP-mediated killing of bacteria, including removal of biofilms of pathogenic bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. However, the mode of action of APP and the resulting bacterial response are not fully understood. Use of a variety of different plasma-generating devices, different types of plasma gases and different treatment modes makes it challenging to show reproducibility and transferability of results. This review considers some important studies in which APP was used as an antibacterial agent, and specifically those that elucidate its mode of action, with the aim of identifying common bacterial responses to APP exposure. The review has a particular emphasis on mechanisms of interactions of bacterial biofilms with APP.     

足浴对高血压病非药物因素的影响

目的：观察中药足浴治疗高血压在不同时间段非药物因素对高血压的影响，为设计更为有效、安全的中药足浴方案提供科学依据。方法对我院心病科60例接受药物治疗的原发性高血压患者同时给予平肝潜阳中药足浴辅助治疗，监测开始前、开始后15min、30min、45min、60min的血压和心率数值变化。结果收缩压（SBP）与舒张压（DBP）在足浴后15分钟开始下降，45分钟下降明显，且收缩压（SBP）下降更为显著；心率在30分钟后增快比较明显，但在45分钟呈下降趋势。结论中药足浴辅助治疗高血压安全持续有效，治疗时间控制在30~40分钟以内为宜。     

Blood pressure,prevalence of hypertension and hypertension related complications in Nigerian Africans:A review

To review studies on hypertension in Nigeria over the past five decades in terms of prevalence,awareness and treatment and complications.Following our search on Pubmed,African Journals Online and the World Health Organization Global cardiovascular infobase,1060 related references were identified out of which 43 were found to be relevant for this review.The overall prevalence of hypertension in Nigeria ranges from 8%-46.4% depending on the study target population,type of measurement and cut-off value used for defining hypertension.The prevalence is similar in men and women(7.9%-50.2% vs 3.5%-68.8%,respectively) and in the urban(8.1%-42.0%) and rural setting(13.5%-46.4%).The pooled prevalence increased from 8.6% from the only study during the period from 1970-1979 to 22.5%(2000-2011).Awareness,treatment and control of hypertension were generally low with attendant high burden of hypertension related complications.In order to improve outcomes of cardiovascular disease in Africans,public health education to improve awareness of hypertension is required.Further epidemiological studies on hypertension are required to adequately understand and characterize the impact of hypertension in society.     

Low Testosterone and Hyperkinetic Blood Pressure Responses in a Cohort of South African Men: The SABPA Study

Hypertension (HT) and the metabolic syndrome are major problems in Africa. The role of sex hormones in the cardiovascular profile of black Africans in South Africa has not been studied. Our objective was to study the association between the sex hormones and ambulatory blood pressure and the heart rate (HR) in black and white South Africans. The 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure measurements were performed and the blood samples were taken between 07:00 and 09:00 hours. A total of 80 black and 98 white South African teachers between 25 and 65 years of age from similar socioeconomic backgrounds from the Sympathetic Activity and Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Africans (SABPA) study were included. As a result, a more vulnerable cardiovascular profile was observed in Africans compared with Caucasians. In the African group, low testosterone (T) explained 19%–36% of the variance in systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and HR, whereas in the Caucasian group non-sex-hormone-binding globulin (non-SHBG)-bound T explained 27% of the variance in HR. In the African males, inverse associations between blood pressure and T (SBP: P = .08; DBP: P = .02) and non-SHBG-bound T (SBP: P < .001; DBP: P < .01) and HR (P < 0.01) were observed. Ambulatory HR predicted a prediabetic state in Africans. In conclusion, low T levels may predispose or result in impaired cardiovascular function in African men. The possibility exists that a prediabetic state, vagal-impaired HR, and hyperkinetic blood pressure responses may predispose or result in low T levels in African men.     

Assessment of Arterial Stiffness in Female and Male Gout Patients

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between central blood pressures (BP), pulse wave velocity (PWV) meaurements, and biochemical parameters in female and male gout patients and controls. This study included 12 (23.5%) females and 39 (76.5%) males with gout disease. 24-hour diastolic BP, day diastolic BP and day diastolic exceeding limit value were higher in male gout patients than female gout patients. In male gout patients, more prominent inflammatory changes in the vascular wall may be an explanation for the result of this our study, because history of hypertension and smoking habits were frequent in this group.     

Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibition Reveals an Important Role for the Renin System in the Control of Normal and High Blood Pressure in Man

Captopril, given for 5 days to normotensive healthy subjects caused a significant fall in blood pressure. The fall in mean supine blood pressure was greater on a low sodium diet (10 mmols/ day) - 19.6% and was less on a high sodium diet (350 mmols/day) - 11% compared to the normal sodium intake (120 mmols/day) when the fall in blood pressure was 16.5%. Patients with essential hypertension who were studied on their normal diet had a similar fall in blood pressure for a given plasma renin activity. It seems likely that the predominant mechanism whereby captopril lowers blood pressure is through the inhibition of the formation of angiotensin II. If this is so, our results suggest that the renin system is an important control of both normal and high blood pressure when on a normal sodium intake.     

Effect of Age,Weight, Race and Sex on Blood Pressure and Erythrocyte Sodium Pump Characteristics

In order to examine whether erythrocyte membrane handling of sodium is influenced by factors other than hypertension, measurements of red cell sodium transport were studied in one hundred normotensive volunteers. Erythrocyte sodium content was found to increase with increasing age, body weight and mean arterial pressure (MAP). It is also significantly correlated with age, body weight and MAP. Total sodium efflux was found to be reduced and negatively correlated with age and body weight. A reduction in ouabain-sensitive sodium efflux was also observed with increasing age and body weight. In males, the rate of ouabain-sensitive sodium efflux is higher than in females. Race was found to have no effect on erythrocyte electrolyte content and cationic flux rates of subjects. These data suggest that when studies in hypertension are going to be carried out, control subjects carefully matched for age, body weight and sex should be used if confounding results are not to be obtained.     

Low dialysate potassium and central arterial pressure waveform

Abstract

Background. Cardiovascular mortality is high in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Early arterial pressure wave reflections predict mortality in HD patients, and HD acutely improves the central pressure waveform. Potassium (K) plays a crucial role in cardiac electrophysiology, and patients with end-stage kidney disease depend on HD for neutral K balance. We aimed to study the impact of dialysate K concentrations on central arterial pressure waveform.

Methods. Thirty-three chronic HD patients were studied before and after a HD session, and the prescribed dialysate K concentration was recorded. In a subset of 23 patients without arrhythmias, pulse wave analysis was performed on radial arteries. Nine patients had dialysate K set to 1 mmol/L (group 1), and 14 patients had K set to 2 or 3 mmol/L (group 2). Augmentation index (AIx), defined as difference between the second and first systolic peak divided by central pulse pressure, was used as a measure of arterial stiffness.

Results. HD reduced the AIx in group 1 only (p = 0.0005). Likewise, central systolic pressure was reduced in group 1 only (p = 0.006). The relative reduction of AIx post-HD was significantly higher in group 1 compared with group 2 (p < 0.0001). The association between low dialysate K and AIx reduction remained statistically significant after adjustment for variables including the change in central and peripheral systolic pressure and mean arterial pressure.

Conclusion. Low dialysate K is strongly and independently associated with the acute improvement of AIx.