Plasma vaspin concentrations are decreased in acute coronary syndrome,but unchanged in patients without coronary lesions

Objective

Previous studies suggested that decreased serum vaspin levels were associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). The present study aimed to investigate the association between plasma vaspin levels and different states of CAD.

Design and methods

A total of 162 patients with coronary angiography (CAG) proved that CAD was enrolled. Additional 103 patients complained with “chest discomfort” with negative CAG, and 60 normal subjects were enrolled in this study. The levels of plasma vaspin, adiponectin, clinical parameters, lipid profile and C reactive protein (CRP) were measured.

Results

The levels of plasma vaspin were significantly lower in the CAD group (0.47 ± 0.63 μg/L) than those in the healthy group and CAG (−) group (all p < 0.001). In CAD group, the pos hoc analysis showed that serum vaspin concentration in acute myocardial infarction group (0.21 ± 0.19 μg/L) was significantly lower than that in the unstable angina pectoris group (0.40 ± 0.37 μg/L) (p = 0.012), and serum vaspin concentration in unstable angina pectoris was significantly lower than that in stable angina pectoris group (0.92 ± 0.94 μg/L) (p = 0.013). The plasma vaspin concentration was also negatively correlated with the severity of CAD (1-vessel: 0.86 ± 0.90 μg/L; 2-vessel: 0.36 ± 0.39 μg/L; 3-vessel: 0.21 ± 0.16 μg/L). The plasma vaspin concentration in CAG (−) group with “chest discomfort” (1.93 ± 2.57 μg/L) was similar to the healthy control group (2.18 ± 3.49 μg/L).

Conclusions

The plasma vaspin concentration correlated to the severity of CAD. Furthermore, plasma vaspin has a value of avoiding patients without CAD from unnecessary CAG.     

Effects of sea buckthorn oil intake on vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women: A randomized,double-blind,placebo-controlled study

Background

Vaginal atrophy, the thinning and drying of vaginal mucosa, is associated with menopause. The standard estrogen treatment is not suitable for all women.

Objective

To investigate the effects of oral sea buckthorn (SB) oil supplementation on vaginal atrophy.

Method

A total of 116 postmenopausal women experiencing symptoms of vaginal dryness, itching or burning were randomized to this placebo-controlled, double-blind study. Ninety-eight participants completed the intervention of three months, during which they consumed 3 g of SB or placebo oil daily. At the beginning and end, factors of vaginal health were scored by a gynecologist, vaginal pH and moisture were measured and vaginal health index was calculated. Symptoms of atrophy and menopause were evaluated at study visits and by daily logbooks. Serum samples were collected for the analysis of circulating lipids, liver enzymes and C-reactive protein.

Results

Compared to placebo, there was a significantly better rate of improvement in the integrity of vaginal epithelium in the SB group when both compliant and noncompliant participants were included (odds ratio (OR) = 3.1, 95% CI 1.11–8.95). A beneficial trend was observed when only the compliant participants were included (OR = 2.9; 95% CI 0.99–8.35). There was a tendency (P = 0.08) toward better improvement of vaginal health index from baseline to the end in the SB group [(0.8 (SD 2.8)] compared to placebo [−0.1 (SD 2.0)].

Conclusions

SB oil showed beneficial effects on vaginal health, indicating it is a potential alternative for mucosal integrity for those women not able to use estrogen treatment for vaginal atrophy.     

Peer educator vs. respiratory therapist support: Which form of support better maintains health and functional outcomes following pulmonary rehabilitation?

Objective

This study examined if ongoing support delivered by telephone following pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) assisted chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients to maintain health outcomes.

Methods

Phase one (n = 79) compared post-rehabilitation telephone-based support delivered by peers compared to usual care (UC). The second phase (n = 168) compared post-rehabilitation support from peer educators, respiratory therapists (RT), or UC. Primary outcome variables were St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) total score and the six minute walk test (6MWT). Measures were obtained at baseline, immediately following PR, and six-months post PR.

Results

Six-month follow-up data for phase one was collected for 66 COPD patients (n = 35 peer support, n = 31 UC) and 142 for phase two (n = 42 peer support, n = 52 RT support, n = 48 UC). Per-protocol and intention to treat (ITT) analysis in both phases found no significant group by time differences for SGRQ or 6MWT.

Conclusion

Providing peer or RT support via telephone following PR was not more effective than UC for maintaining health outcomes.

Practice implications

There are concerns with using peers to provide ongoing support to COPD patients. Additionally, COPD patients require a higher level of care than telephone support can provide.     

Increased plasma levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in patients with long-term bipolar disorder

Recent data indicate that neurotrophins may play a role in the physiopathology of bipolar disorder (BD) and may be useful as biomarkers of the disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the plasma concentrations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in BD patients, and to correlate their levels with clinical parameters. BDNF was measured in plasma from 53 BD type I subjects (34 during mania and 19 during euthymia) and 38 healthy controls by enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA). Patients were assessed by a structured clinical interview (Mini-plus), Young mania and Hamilton depression rating scales. Plasma BDNF levels were significantly increased in patients with mania (P ≤ 0.001) and euthymia (P ≤ 0.001) when compared with controls, but did not correlate with any clinical parameters. BDNF concentration was higher in BD patients with 10 or more years of disease. BDNF plasma levels were increased in BD patients, mainly in those with a longer course of disease. In line with previous studies, it is conceivable that BDNF may play a role in the pathophysiology of BD.     

Minimal deviation endometrioid adenocarcinoma of the cervix: report of three cases with exfoliative cytology

Three histologically confirmed minimal deviation endometrioid adenocarcinomas (MDEA) of the uterine cervix with cytologic evaluation by cervical scraping were reviewed. The smears were cellular and showed tall columnar tumor cells arranged in monolayered sheets with nuclei in palisade at free borders, rosettes, and irregular clusters. Cellular strips with palisading nuclei was noted in one case. The individual tumor cells showed monomorphic, round or oval, hyperchromatic nuclei with chromatin clumping, small nucleoli, and granular, nonvacuolated cytoplasm with cytoplasmic extensions or tails. The smear background showed a variable amount of necrotic debris admixed with polymorphonuclear leukocytes in two cases. The cytologic manifestations of those three cervical MDEAs overlapped, to some extents, with those of a cervical adenocarcinoma in situ and with those of a well-differentiated endometrial adenocarcinoma invading the cervix.     

Identification of p53-dependent genes potentially involved in UVB-mediated premature senescence of human skin fibroblasts using siRNA technology

Premature senescence of skin human diploid fibroblasts is induced after a series of 10 sublethal exposures to UVB at 2.5 kJ/m(2) with appearance of several biomarkers of cellular senescence like senescence-associated beta-galactosidase activity (SA beta-gal) and cell cycle arrest. Herein it is shown that the induction of UVB-induced premature senescence is associated with a transient increase of protein abundance and DNA-binding activity of p53. Silencing p53 expression with small interfering RNA (siRNA) affected the basal level of SA beta-gal and proliferative potential, but did not prevent UVB-induced increase of SA beta-gal and decrease of DNA synthesis. We used a senescence-specific low-density DNA array and p53 siRNA to study the mRNA abundance of 240 senescence-related genes and identified several potential p53-dependent genes differentially expressed after the repeated exposures to UVB.     

Relationship between nasal septum morphology and nasal obstruction symptom severity: computed tomography study

IntroductionThe impact of the nasal septum morphology on the severity of obstruction symptoms has not been fully explored.ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate whether the morphology of the deviated nasal septum assessed by computed tomography may explain nasal obstruction severity.MethodsThe study included 386 patients who were referred to the computed tomography examination of the paranasal sinuses. Patient selection criteria were the absence of facial anomalies, facial trauma, nasal surgery, and sinonasal tumors. Computed tomography images were used to estimate deviated nasal septum prevalence, the prevalence of Mladina's seven types of deviated nasal septum, and to measure the deviated nasal septum angle. Nasal obstruction severity was assessed by the nasal obstruction symptom evaluation, NOSE scale. The relationship between NOSE score, deviated nasal septum morphology, and deviated nasal septum angle was performed by a statistical regression model on the reduced sample of 225 patients.ResultsThe prevalence of deviated nasal septum was 92.7%. Type 7 deviated nasal septum was the most frequent (34.2%) followed by type 5 (26.2%) and type 3 (23.6%). The worst NOSE scores were recorded in the type 2 deviated nasal septum (45.00 ± 28.28). The mean deviated nasal septum angle in patients with nasal obstruction was 8.5° ± 3.24. NOSE scores were not significantly associated with deviated nasal septum types and angles.ConclusionPatients with different types of deviated nasal septum have different NOSE scores. Computed tomography morphology of the deviated nasal septum could not fully explain the severity of nasal obstruction.