Urban Farming: A Non-Traditional Intervention for HIV-Related Distress

As individuals with HIV are living longer with less morbidity, developing interventions that address co-morbidities are essential. Psychological distress symptoms fluctuate throughout HIV infection and interrupt self-care practices. This pilot study was conducted to test the implementation of a clinic-recruited sample to participate in a community-based urban farming intervention, and assess the efficacy of reducing psychological distress symptoms. While the changes were not statistically significant, participants reported less distress symptoms, improved overall general health, and reduced frequency of illicit drug use. These findings support the development of a larger scale study to examine the impact of this nontraditional intervention.     

Red Blood Cell Distribution Width (RDW) and long-term survival in patients with ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Introduction

High RDW values are associated with adverse prognosis in many clinical conditions including short and medium term outcome of patients with ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between RDW and long term mortality in STEMI patients undergoing primary angioplasty (PPCI).

Material and methods

A cohort of 535 STEMI patients undergoing PPCI were divided into two groups (RDW > 14%, RDW ≤ 14%) using CHAID and CART methods. The association between RDW and 5-year all-cause mortality was assessed using Cox’s proportional hazards analysis.

Results

A total of 37 patients died during follow up of 5 years (mean: 1059, median: 1013, range 2–2130 days). RDW > 14% was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 5, CI 95% 2.7– 9.9, p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, RDW > 14 remained significantly associated with increased risk for all-cause mortality (HR = 3.8, CI 95% 1.8– 7.99, p < 0.001). Patients with RDW above 14% did not have lower ejection fraction, higher CPK or more conventional risk factors.

Conclusion

RDW value above 14 is independently associated with increased long term all-cause mortality in patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI.     

Ibuprofen affects pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine production by mononuclear cells of preterm newborns

The in vitro effect of ibuprofen (IB) on the production of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL) 1beta, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 by cord blood mononuclear cells from preterm newborns was compared to that of peripheral blood mononuclear cells of adults. Mononuclear cells were incubated without or with lipopolysaccharide in the absence or presence of various concentrations of IB. The levels of IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF-alpha, and IL-10 in the supernatants were tested by ELISA. The mononuclear cells from the two groups responded to IB by an increased secretion of IL-6 and TNF-alpha and by a reduced production of IL-10. The pattern of response to the drug was similar following stimulation with lipopolysaccharide. The IL-1beta production was mostly unaffected by IB. It is suggested that in preterm newborns the differences observed in the in vitro proinflammatory cytokine production in response to IB, as observed in the present study, or to indomethacin, as reported previously, may affect various clinical outcomes using these two drugs.