Effect of purslane seed supplementation on inflammatory cytokines,oxidative stress and muscle damage in response to high-intensity intermittent exercise in national athlete runners

Sport Sciences for Health - Purslane supplementation has anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, skeletal muscle-relaxant activities. However, it is unknown if the ingestion of purslane will affect the...     

Microsatellite loci for an endemic stingless bee Melipona seminigra merrillae (Apidae, Meliponini) from Amazon

Melipona seminigra merrillae is one of the main pollinators of Central Amazon native flora. These stingless bees are reared as economic alternative and for forest conservation purposes. Nine polymorphic microsatellite markers were characterized in 44 genotypes of M. seminigra merrillae from the Meliponary of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia, INPA (3° 05.838′S 059° 59.103′W), Manaus, Brazil. The number of alleles observed for each locus ranged from 3 to 8, with an average of 3.7 alleles per locus. The polymorphism information content (PIC) varied between 0.21 and 0.81 (average 0.50) and the discriminating power (D) ranged from 0.59 to 0.98 (average 0.77). The observed heterozygosity (H _o) and the expected heterozygosity (H _e) were 0.04–0.68 and 0.19–0.84, respectively. A cross-amplification test in three Melipona species suggested potential transferability of these microsatellites. These microsatellite markers should be useful for characterizing natural populations and specie conservation.     

Examining pitch and numerical magnitude processing in congenital amusia: A quasi-experimental pilot study

Introduction: Congenital amusia is a developmental disorder associated with deficits in pitch height discrimination or in integrating pitch sequences into melodies. This quasi-experimental pilot study investigated whether there is an association between pitch and numerical processing deficits in congenital amusia. Since pitch height discrimination is considered a form of magnitude processing, we investigated whether individuals with amusia present an impairment in numerical magnitude processing, which would reflect damage to a generalized magnitude system. Alternatively, we investigated whether the numerical processing deficit would reflect a disconnection between nonsymbolic and symbolic number representations. Method: This study was conducted with 11 adult individuals with congenital amusia and a control comparison group of 6 typically developing individuals. Participants performed nonsymbolic and symbolic magnitude comparisons and number line tasks. Results were available from previous testing using the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA) and a pitch change detection task (PCD). Results: Compared to the controls, individuals with amusia exhibited no significant differences in their performance on both the number line and the nonsymbolic magnitude tasks. Nevertheless, they showed significantly worse performance on the symbolic magnitude task. Moreover, individuals with congenital amusia, who presented worse performance in the Meter subtest, also presented less precise nonsymbolic numerical representation. Conclusions: The relationship between meter and nonsymbolic numerical discrimination could indicate a general ratio processing deficit. The finding of preserved nonsymbolic numerical magnitude discrimination and mental number line representations, with impaired symbolic number processing, in individuals with congenital amusia indicates that (a) pitch height and numerical magnitude processing may not share common neural representations, and (b) in addition to pitch processing, individuals with amusia may present a deficit in accessing nonsymbolic numerical representations from symbolic representations. The symbolic access deficit could reflect a widespread impairment in the establishment of cortico-cortical connections between association areas.     

Predictive factors and the important role of detectable prostate-specific antigen for detection of clinical recurrence and cancer-specific mortality following robot-assisted radical prostatectomy

Purpose

To evaluate predictive factors associated with detectable prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and describe clinical recurrence (CR) and cancer-specific mortality (CSM) after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP).

Methods

The study included 2500 patients who were treated with RARP at a single institution between 2000 and 2016. All patients had clinically localized PCa. Patients were divided into two groups according to PSA value at 6 weeks after surgery: undetectable (n = 2271; PSA < 0.1 ng/dl) and persistently elevated (n = 229; PSA ≥ 0.1 ng/dl). The association between various covariates and: (1) detectable PSA and (2) CR was evaluated. Kaplan–Meier analyses estimated CR and CSM rates according to PSA persistence.

Results

Inside the group of detectable PSA, 146 men (63.75%) received adjuvant treatments, 44 patients (19.21%) salvages therapies and 38 men (16.5%) experienced CR. Factors associated with aggressive disease predicted PSA persistence. Within patients with detectable PSA, pathologic stage ≥ pT3a (HR 2.71; p < 0.029) and to received adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) due to bad prognosis tumors (HR 13.36; p < 0.001) were associated with CR. Overall 14 (0.56%) died of PCa. 5 and 10-year CSM rates were higher for patients with CR (9.6 and 23.7%, p < 0.001), and Gleason ≥ 8 (5.7 and 6.9%, p = 0.003).

Conclusions

A detectable PSA is affected by factors associated with aggressive prostate cancer. Within men with persistent PSA, those with higher pathologic stage and who received adjuvant ADT are more likely to have CR. Patients with CR, Gleason ≥ 8, and those who received adjuvant ADT must have a close monitoring due to the high rate of mortality.

     

Surgical method influences specimen margins and biochemical recurrence during radical prostatectomy for high-risk prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Purpose

To perform a meta-analysis comparing the rates of positive surgical margins (PSM) and biochemical recurrence (BCR) between open radical prostatectomy (ORP) and robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) in patients with high-risk prostate cancer.

Methods

A systematic review was performed on Pubmed, Embase and Scopus databases in August 2016, according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement. References retrieved were evaluated using the Newcastle–Ottawa scale and the Black and Down’s tool for quality assessment.

Results

Nine retrospective cohorts comparing ORP and RARP were selected and included in the meta-analysis. All studies reported the PSMs. Patients treated with RARP presented less risk of PSMs (risk difference ?0.04, p 0.02) than those treated with ORP. Five articles reported hazard ratios for BCR-free survival. Patients treated with RARP had less risk of BCR (HR 0.72, 95% CI 0.58–0.89) than those treated with ORP. Reports for PSM assessment were considered of adequate quality, while the studies retrieved for BCR assessment were considered limited because of the heterogeneity of their results.

Conclusion

Patients with high-risk prostate cancer treated with RARP have less risk of having PSM and BCR when compared to those treated with ORP. A strong conclusion is precluded due to the observational nature of the studies retrieved for our analysis.

     

Oncological and functional outcomes of elderly men treated with HIFU vs. minimally invasive radical prostatectomy: A propensity score analysis

Aim

To assess outcomes of whole gland high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) as compared with minimally-invasive radical prostatectomy (MIRP) in elderly patients.

Diagnosis of 5alpha-reductase type 2 deficiency: contribution of anti-Müllerian hormone evaluation

AIM: To evaluate anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels in patients with clinical and molecular diagnosis of 5alpha-reductase 2 deficiency. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data from 14 patients whose age ranged from 21 days to 29 years were analyzed according to age and pubertal stage. Sexual ambiguity was rated as Prader III in 11 patients. LH, FSH, testosterone (T), dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and AMH serum levels were measured in all but two patients, who had been previously submitted to gonadectomy; T and DHT were also measured in 20 age-matched controls. RESULTS: Gonadotropin levels were normal in all but one patient who retained gonads (six of whom had reached puberty) and T/DHT ratio was elevated in all patients when compared to controls. All prepubertal patients had AMH levels < -1 SD for age, while most pubertal patients had AMH levels compatible with pubertal stage. CONCLUSIONS: Prepubertal patients with 5alpha-reductase 2 deficiency have AMH values in the lower part of the normal range. These data indicate that T does not need to be converted to DHT to inhibit AMH secretion by Sertoli cells.