Thyroid Hormones and Cardiovascular Function and Diseases

Thyroid hormone (TH) receptors are present in the myocardium and vascular tissue, and minor alterations in TH concentration can affect cardiovascular (CV) physiology. The potential mechanisms that link CV disease with thyroid dysfunction are endothelial dysfunction, changes in blood pressure, myocardial systolic and diastolic dysfunction, and dyslipidemia. In addition, cardiac disease itself may lead to alterations in TH concentrations (notably, low triiodothyronine syndrome) that are associated with higher morbidity and mortality. Experimental data and small clinical trials have suggested a beneficial role of TH in ameliorating CV disease. The aim of this review is to provide clinicians dealing with CV conditions with an overview of the current knowledge of TH perturbations in CV disease.     

How is the quality of the available evidence on molar-incisor hypomineralization treatment? An overview of systematic reviews

Clinical Oral Investigations - This overview analyzed the quality of the systematic reviews (SRs) available on treatments for molar-incisor hypomineralization (MIH). Six electronic databases were...     

Extrapolation of Normative KOOS,JR Data for the Young Patient Population Undergoing Knee Arthroplasty Procedures

Background

The Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome (KOOS), JR is a patient-reported outcome measure that is validated for patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty. The objective of this study was to provide normative data for the KOOS, JR in a relatively healthy US population visiting an outpatient orthopedic setting. This study is a cross-sectional study.

Detection of the human GPR50 orphan seven transmembrane protein by polyclonal antibodies mapping different epitopes

GPR50 is an orphan seven transmembrane protein related to the melatonin receptor subfamily comprising MT(1) and MT(2) receptors. In the absence of any known ligand for GPR50, other tools are critical for the characterization of this protein. Here, we describe the generation, purification and characterization of the first rabbit polyclonal antibodies generated against peptides corresponding to the N-terminus, C-terminus and two additional regions within the intracellular tail of GPR50. Immune sera were purified on peptide-antigen affinity columns. Antibodies specifically recognized a GPR50-YFP fusion protein on the plasma membrane of HEK 293 cells in immunofluorescence experiments. In Western blot experiments, the monomeric and dimeric forms of GPR50 were detected as proteins of 66 and 130 kDa, respectively. In addition, these new antibodies were sufficiently sensitive to detect GPR50 in brain slices of the rat pituitary and human hippocampus. In conclusion, we successfully produced antibodies against the orphan GPR50 protein that will become valuable tools for functional studies of this protein.