Significant Association of rs77493513 Polymorphism in 3'-UTR of the NRG1 Gene with the Risk of Multiple Sclerosis Disease

Metabolic Brain Disease - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory and autoimmune disease characterized by demyelination of the central nervous system (CNS). Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) is a...     

A rare sighting: left atrial appendage thrombus seen on transthoracic echocardiogram

The left atrial appendage(LAA)is the most common site of left atrial thrombus with more than 90％of thrombi formed within this structure.[1]Transesophageal echoc...     

Axillary lymph‐node metastases as the primary presentation of high‐grade serous ovarian carcinoma: A case report

We reported a female presented with an initial diagnosis of metastatic axillary lymph‐node carcinoma that comprehensive assessments revealed a definitive diagnosis of high‐grade serous ovarian carcinoma as the primary tumor.     

Guidelines for the management of community-acquired pneumonia in Saudi Arabia: a model for the Middle East region

Worldwide, community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common respiratory tract infection and is now a growing public health concern in Saudi Arabia. In an effort to simplify treatment regimens to aid the practitioner, empirical treatment guidelines for CAP have evolved across the international medical community, reducing the number of antibiotics used and improving outcomes. Saudi Arabia and the surrounding region have no such consensus guidelines and this document aims to redress this lack. The potential impacts of developing and implementing CAP treatment guidelines in Saudi Arabia, which are new to the Kingdom, will be examined. Widespread adoption of these SACAP guidelines could lead to nationwide reductions of antibiotic resistance and improvement of clinical outcomes. Ultimately, Kingdomwide uniformity of treatment algorithms provides a foundation for both database generation and valuable outcomes of research in the future.     

Delayed toxic effects of sulfur mustard on respiratory tract of Iranian veterans

To investigate late toxic effects of sulfur mustard (SM) on the upper and lower respiratory tracts of Iranian veterans, 43 male veterans with more than 25% disability due to SM poisoning in 20-25 years after exposure, were studied. Direct laryngoscopy, pulmonary function tests, arterial blood gasses and pH, computed tomography of sinuses and lungs were investigated. The patients were aged 50.6 (8.9 SD) years with body mass index (BMI) of 26.6 (4.0) and disability of 53.2 (17.0%). The common findings of the upper respiratory tract were dysphonia (79.1%), post-nasal discharge (PND; 41.9%), lower larynx position (30.2%), limitation of vocal cords (25.6%) and mucosal inflammation of larynx (14.8%). The common lower respiratory diseases were diagnosed as chronic obstructive respiratory disease (84%), bronchiectasis (44.1%) and lung fibrosis (7.7%). Severity of disability was negatively correlated with BMI (p = 0.032), spirometric parameters (p < 0.001) and oxygen saturation (p < 0.001), but positively correlated with low-density lipoproteins (LDL <0.010), blood pressure (p = 0.008), diabetes mellitus (p < 0.001), wheezing (p = 0.0043) and bronchiectasis (p < 0.001). Delayed toxic effects of SM in upper and lower respiratory tracts were mostly inflammatory and infectious complications, SM-induced disabilities were significantly correlated with risk factors such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, LDL and lower-respiratory complications.     

Antihyperglycemic and antihyperlipidemic effect of Rumex patientia seed preparation in streptozotocin-diabetic rats

Background and objective:Rumex patientia (RP) could exert beneficial health effects to ameliorate metabolic diseases. The effect of subchronic feeding of RP seeds was evaluated on serum glucose and lipid profile in streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic rats. Methods: Wistar rats were divided into control, RP-treated control, diabetic, glibenclamide-treated diabetic, and RP-treated diabetic groups. For induction of diabetes, streptozotcin was administered at a dose of 60 mg/kg. Meanwhile, RP-treated groups received RP seed powder mixed with standard pelleted food at a weight ratio of 6% for 4 weeks. Serum glucose and lipid levels were determined before the study and at 2nd and 4th weeks after the study in addition to the oxidative stress markers in hepatic tissue. Results: Serum glucose was significantly lower in RP-treated diabetic rats at 2nd and 4th weeks as compared to untreated diabetics (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). Serum total cholesterol and triglyceride levels did not show significant reductions in RP-treated diabetic rats as compared to untreated diabetics. Serum HDL-cholesterol, however, significantly increased (p < 0.05) and LDL-cholesterol showed a significant reduction (p < 0.05) in RP-treated diabetic rats as compared to untreated diabetics (p < 0.05). RP also attenuated the increased malondialdehyde (MDA) content and reduced activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in hepatic tissue. Conclusion: Subchronic treatment of diabetic rats with RP could lessen the abnormal changes in blood glucose level and to improve lipid profile regarding HDL- and LDL-cholesterol in part due to its attenuation of lipid peroxidation in hepatic tissue.     

Imagery and Pavlovian Heart Rate Decelerative Conditioning

The present experiment was designed to investigate the role of US-imagery in Pavlovian heart rate(HR) decelerative conditioning with a head-up to head-down body tilt as the unconditional stimulus (US). From imagery theories of Pavlovian conditioning (e.g., King, 1973), it was hypothesized that the nature (content) of the imagery instructions would affect the conditional response (CR). Two groups of 20 subjects were employed: an Experimental (CS-US) group and a Control (US-CS) group. Half the subjects in each group were instructed to imagine the tilt-US whenever the CS was presented (Relevant Imagery condition); the remaining subjects were instructed to imagine a car-ride whenever the CS was presented (Irrelevant Imagery condition). The HR CR was assessed on a second-by-second basis during CS-alone lest trials. The results of the experiment supported the hypothesis: despite an identical CS-US contingency, only the Experimental/Relevant Imagery group (as opposed to the Experimental/Irrelevant Imagery group) demonstrated a marked, monophasic decelerative CR to the CS relative to control groups. Differences in imagery ability, instructed-imagery vividness ratings, and US-awareness ratings could not account for the data. The significance and implications of these findings are discussed in relation to stimulus substitution (S-R) and cognitive (S-S) theories of conditioning.