Latex sensitization in dental students using powder-free gloves low in latex protein:a cross-sectional study

In Germany, employers must provide low-protein, powder-free gloves. This study was carried out to determine the current prevalence of latex sensitization in dental students using these gloves and to compare our results with a study of the same design dating from 1990/1991 at our university. A cross-sectional study was performed by questionnaire, prick testing and determination of specific IgE antibodies. 226 of 403 dental students underwent prick testing with a panel of 8 aero-allergens, 1 commercially available latex extract and 5 high-ammonia accelerator-free latex fluids. 39 of 226 dental students (17.3%) had a positive prick test response to at least 1 of the 6 latex substances tested. The prick test positivity was similar in preclinical education (semester 1-6) and in clinical education (semester 7-10), at 17.1% and 17.4%, respectively. In 9 of 32 persons with positive prick tests, specific IgE antibodies to latex could be detected. Within the past 10 years, prick test positivity increased from 8.7% to 17.3%. 14 students (6.2%) reported a history of glove intolerance, 3 of them (1.3%) showing a positive prick test to latex. By the use of low-protein, powder-free gloves less students with glove intolerance were observed. The observed reactions to between 1 and 3 of 6 latex substances tested may indicate a decrease in intensity and spectrum of sensitization. Additionally non-occupational sensitization may be of importance.     

Contact sensitization from Compositae-containing herbal remedies and cosmetics

The Compositae (Asteraceae) family of plants is currently an important cause of allergic plant contact dermatitis in Europe. The family comprises some of the oldest and most valued medicinal plants, and the increasing popularity of herbal medicine and cosmetics may theoretically result in a growing number of Compositae sensitizations from these sources. According to the literature at least 15 species, including among others arnica (Arnica montana), German and Roman chamomile (Chamomilla recutita and Chamaemelum nobile), marigold (Calendula officinalis), Echinacea and elecampane (Inula helenium), have been suspected of sensitization or elicitation of Compositae dermatitis. Epidemiological data are available for 2 species only, arnica and German chamomile, the rest of the evidence being anecdotal. Based on this, sensitization seems to occur relatively frequently with a few species such as arnica and elecampane, and occurs rarely with the majority, especially the widely used German chamomile. Sesquiterpene lactones are the most important allergens, but there are a few cases of sensitization from a coumarin, a sesquiterpene alcohol and a thiophene. The risk of elicitation of dermatitis by using Compositae-containing products in Compositae-sensitive individuals is by-and-large unknown.     

大肠癌患者术前肠外营养支持对术后胃肠功能恢复的影响

目的对比术前肠外营养支持对有无存在营养不良的大肠癌患者术后恢复的影响,以探讨术前营养支持的合理应用。方法回顾分析2008年4月—2009年3月住院行手术治疗的大肠癌患者345例资料,用营养风险筛查评分区别出有、无营养不良,比较术前肠外营养对是否有营养不良患者术后恢复的影响。结果术前使用肠外营养的无合并营养不良的大肠癌患者术后排气时间延长(P<0.05),而术前肠外营养的使用对合并有营养不良的大肠癌患者术后的恢复无促进作用(P>0.05)。结论术前无营养风险的大肠癌患者不宜使用肠外营养,有营养风险的大肠癌患者也应慎用,临床营养支持应该在充分评估患者营养状况的前提下,恰当选择营养支持方式。     

SMAD2/3蛋白在沙鼠脑缺血再灌注及氟桂利嗪干预后脑内表达的研究

目的 研究smad2/3在沙鼠脑缺血再灌注脑内表达及氟桂利嗪干预后对其表达的影响.方法 35只沙鼠随机分假手术组、缺血再灌注组和氟桂利嗪治疗组3组,采用夹闭双侧颈总动脉制作沙鼠脑缺血再灌注模型,于缺血10 min再灌注1 d、3 d、7 d各时间点处死动物,用免疫组化方法检测各组沙鼠脑内smad2/3的表达情况.结果 假手术组沙鼠脑内smad2/3弱阳性表达,而缺血再灌注1 d,3 d,7 d后沙鼠脑内呈阳性或强阳性表达,两者比较差异有统计学意义(P<0.01);氟桂利嗪治疗组smad2/3的表达低于缺血再灌注组,2组比较差异有统计学意义(P<0.05).结论 沙鼠脑内有smad2/3表达,脑缺血再灌注后,脑内smad2/3表达上调;氟桂利嗪干预后,其表达下调.     

恶性肿瘤患者低相位角与营养风险和住院时间相关性研究

目的探讨恶性肿瘤患者相位角与营养风险和住院时间相关性。方法利用生物电阻抗分析对2017年10月至2018年9月在河北医科大学第一医院接受治疗的259例恶性肿瘤患者进行人体成分检测、应用营养风险筛查2002和患者主观整体营养评估进行营养风险筛查和评估、同时收集患者血清ALB指标和住院时间。结果正常相位角组患者的BMI、ICW、FFM、SMM、BCM、蛋白质等均高于低相位角组（P<0.05）;正常相位角组与低相位角组男性患者ICW、FFM、SMM、BCM、蛋白质等均高于女性患者（P<0.05）;相位角与营养风险筛查2002评分（r=－0.346,P<0.05）、患者主观整体营养评估（r=－0.393,P＜0.05）呈负相关,与血清ALB值呈正相关（r=0.363,P<0.05）;与正常相位角组患者相比,低相位角组营养风险更高,计算相关风险比发现,按营养风险筛查2002评价营养不良分组,发现存在营养风险（OR=3.7,95%CI=1.8～7.7）,按PG-SGA评估分组,结果显示中度风险（OR=4.5,95％CI=2.1～9.4）,重度风险（OR=12.6,95％CI=5.1～31.3）,按血清ALB值分组,ALB<40g/L（OR=3.7,95％CI=2.1～6.4）（P<0.05）;与正常相位角组患者相比,低相位角组住院时间较长,住院时间≥14d（OR=1.9,95％CI=1.0～3.3）（P<0.05）。 结论低相位角与营养风险和住院时间密切相关。与正常相位角患者相比,低相位角患者存在营养风险高,住院时间延长。因此对肿瘤患者进行相位角测量有助于快速判断其是否存在营养风险,为及时进行营养干预的实施提供了客观依据,利于患者疾病控制与好转。     

Standardized phase angle indicates nutritional status in hospitalized preoperative patients

There is currently no criterion standard to assess nutritional status, and different methods have been used in hospitalized patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the agreement and the association between bioelectrical impedance analysis derived by standardized phase angle (SPA) and other methods used for the nutritional assessment of body composition, metabolic status, and functional status in surgical patients. The hypothesis was that the SPA is effective for evaluating nutritional status in surgical patients; therefore, it could be used when the application of other assessment methods is not possible. The sample consisted of 125 patients (20-94 years of age) before elective gastrointestinal or hernia repair. The participants were from the Surgical Clinic 1 at the University Hospital of the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil. Nutritional status was evaluated during the preoperative period based on the triceps skinfold thickness, mid-arm circumference, body mass index, percent weight loss, nutritional risk screening 2002 (NRS 2002), subjective global assessment (SGA), and SPA. The agreement between the SPA and the other methods was assessed with the k coefficient. The agreement between the SPA and the methods of nutritional assessment that were investigated for diagnosing malnutrition was moderate for NRS 2002 and SGA, weak for percent weight loss, and poor for triceps skinfold thickness, mid-arm circumference, and body mass index. There was a significant association between SPA and both NRS 2002 and SGA (P < .001). Our results suggest that SPA is able to indicate the risk of nutritional deficiency in the patients assessed. However, good agreement between SPA and the methods investigated was not observed.     

Benefits of omalizumab as add-on therapy in patients with severe persistent asthma who are inadequately controlled despite best available therapy (GINA 2002 step 4 treatment): INNOVATE

BACKGROUND: Patients with severe persistent asthma who are inadequately controlled despite Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) 2002 step 4 therapy are a challenging population with significant unmet medical need. We determined the effect of omalizumab on clinically significant asthma exacerbations (requiring systemic corticosteroids) in the first omalizumab study to exclusively enrol patients from this difficult-to-treat patient population. METHODS: Following a run-in phase, patients (12-75 years) inadequately controlled despite therapy with high-dose inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and long-acting beta(2)-agonists (LABA) with reduced lung function and a recent history of clinically significant exacerbations were randomized to receive omalizumab or placebo for 28 weeks in a double-blind, parallel-group, multicentre study. RESULTS: A total of 419 patients were included in the efficacy analyses. The clinically significant asthma exacerbation rate (primary efficacy variable), adjusted for an observed relevant imbalance in history of clinically significant asthma exacerbations, was 0.68 with omalizumab and 0.91 with placebo (26% reduction) during the 28-week treatment phase (P = 0.042). Without adjustment, a similar magnitude of effect was seen (19% reduction), but this did not reach statistical significance. Omalizumab significantly reduced severe asthma exacerbation rate (0.24 vs 0.48, P = 0.002) and emergency visit rate (0.24 vs 0.43, P = 0.038). Omalizumab significantly improved asthma-related quality of life, morning peak expiratory flow and asthma symptom scores. The incidence of adverse events was similar between treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with inadequately controlled severe persistent asthma, despite high-dose ICS and LABA therapy, and often additional therapy, omalizumab significantly reduced the rate of clinically significant asthma exacerbations, severe exacerbations and emergency visits. Omalizumab is effective and should be considered as add-on therapy for patients with inadequately controlled severe persistent asthma who have a significant unmet need despite best available therapy.     

Immediate effects of foot orthoses on pain during functional tasks in people with patellofemoral osteoarthritis: A cross-over,proof-of-concept study

Background

The purpose of the study was to determine whether prefabricated foot orthoses immediately reduce pain during functional tasks in people with patellofemoral osteoarthritis, compared to flat insoles and shoes alone.

Diurnal time course of heat pain perception in healthy humans

Rapid skin heating by infrared lasers can be used to investigate the integrity of the nociceptive system by activating A-delta and C fibers. The aim of our study was to analyze if healthy humans exhibit any clinically relevant diurnal variations in their heat pain sensitivity. Circadian A-delta fiber function was analyzed by studying N2 and P2 components of laser-evoked potentials (LEP) and pain thresholds evoked by laser stimulation of the foot every 2h from 8a.m. to 10p.m. in 15 healthy subjects. Heat stimuli were generated by an infrared Tm-YAG laser and were delivered to an area of 4 cm × 4.5 cm on the dorsum of the right or left foot in 3 runs of incremental and decremental intensities. After each stimulus subjects were asked to classify the intensity of pain with a numeric rating scale (NRS). LEPs were recorded with fixed stimulus intensities that were 1.5× of the pain threshold. Data were collected with the SynAmps System (Neuroscan, El Paso, USA) and averaged across 35-40 trials. Laser-induced heat pain thresholds and circadian latencies of LEP did not significantly vary during the day. Our results correspond with previous studies that did not detect any consistent significant diurnal variations in perception of heat pain perception using contact thermodes. The intensity of pain perception did not demonstrate any correlation with mood or sleep parameters as measured with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the subjective sleep scales Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS).     

Pregnancy-associated glycoprotein (PAG) family localized in chorionic cells within the epitheliochorial/diffuse placenta of the alpaca (Lama pacos)

Pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAGs) are abundant embryo-originated products expressed in the pre-placental trophoblast and later in the post-implantational chorionic epithelium of some ungulate species. This paper describes the cellular immunolocalization of the chorionic PAG family in the epitheliochorial placenta type of the alpaca (Lama pacos—Lp), in which the PAGs were named ‘LpPAGs’. Placental Lp sections (5 μm) of different females near mid-pregnancy (150 days post coitum; dpc), advanced pregnancy (244-263 dpc) and late pregnancy (347 dpc) were used for cross-species (heterologous—ht) double fluorescent immunohistochemistry (htdF-IHC). The htdF-IHC was performed with primary rabbit polyvalent anti-porcine PAG polyclonals. The LpPAG immuno-complexes were visualized with secondary goat anti-rabbit immunoglobulins-conjugated with Alexa 488 fluorophore (green), among all nuclei of placental cells stained with propidium iodide (red). This is the first study reporting the immunolocalization of the LpPAG family identified by htdF-IHC at the feto/maternal interface during different pregnancy stages of the alpaca. The most dominant and strongest immune-positive LpPAG signals were found in the well-developed chorionic cell layer. Our htdF-IHC indicated relatively high epitope resemblance to that of the PAGs in camelids and pigs. These data increase our general knowledge of chorionic PAG localization during pregnancy-stage dependent development of the epitheliochorial diffuse placenta type in the alpaca.