Evolutionary puzzle of Toxoplasma gondii with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts: An updated systematic review and meta‐analysis

The World Health Organization has reported an annual global suicide rate of 14.5 per 100,000 people. On the other hand, it is estimated that approximately one‐third of the global population are infected with Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) parasite. It is widely assumed that microbial pathogens, such as T. gondii, are probably associated with affective and behavioural modulation. The present article aimed to assess the proposed role of toxoplasmosis in raising the risk of suicidal ideation (SI) and suicide attempts (SA) using the available epidemiological data. Seven major electronic databases and the Internet search engine Google were searched for all the studies published between the 1st of January 1950 and 31st of October 2019. The heterogeneity and the risk of bias within and across studies were assessed. Following data extraction, pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) across studies were calculated using the random‐effects models. A total number of 9,696 articles were screened and 27 studies were regarded as eligible in our systematic review (SI with five papers and 22 papers on SA). A significant association was detected between antibodies against T. gondii with TA (ORs = 1.57; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23–2.00, p = .000). Exploration of the association between T. gondii and SA yielded a positive effect of seropositivity for IgG antibodies but not IgM. Despite the limited number of studies, a statistical association was detected between suicidal behaviours and infection with latent T. gondii.     

In vivo phosphorus polarization transfer and decoupling from protons in three-dimensional localized nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of human brain

Refocused insensitive nucleus enhancement by polarization transfer (RINEPT) from protons (¹H) to a J-coupled phosphorus (³¹P) has been incorporated into three-dimensional (3D) chemical-shift-imaging (CSI) sequence on a clinical imager. The technique is demonstrated on a phantom and in in vivo human brain. The polarization-transfer efficiency (～1.2) is lower than the theoretical maximum of γ¹H/γ³¹P≈ 2.4 resulting from ¹H-¹H homonuclear J couplings of similar magnitude competing with the ¹H →³¹P transfer. Nevertheless, compared with direct ³¹P Ernst-angle excitation, signal gains of up to × 1.8 were obtained mainly as a result of T¹ differences between ³¹P and the ¹H. Spectral interpretation is simplified by editing out all non-proton-coupled ³¹P signals. The duration, ～50 min, and power deposition, ～1 W · kg^?1, make the application suitable for human studies.     

DFNB40, a recessive form of sensorineural hearing loss, maps to chromosome 22q11.21-12.1

We report on a novel localization for a recessive form of deafness (DFNB), by linkage analysis in an Iranian consanguineous family. Affected individuals suffer from prelingual profound sensorineural hearing loss. Genome-wide analysis led to the characterization of a new locus, DFNB40, which maps to an approximately 9 Mb interval between markers D22S427 and D22S1144 at chromosome 22q11.21-12.1. Maximum lod score of 3.09 was obtained with D22S1174. Since the Bronx waltzer (bv) mouse mutant, characterized by waltzing behavior, deafness, and degeneration of cochlear inner hair cells, has been mapped to the syntenic region on murine chromosome 5, we suggest that DFNB40 and bv may result from orthologous gene defects.     

Gait speed is more challenging than cognitive load on the stride-to-stride variability in individuals with anterior cruciate ligament deficiency

Background

Several investigations have studied gait variability of individuals with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) deficiency; however, the effect of dual-tasking on the gait variability of these individuals remained unclear. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of gait speed and dual-tasking on knee flexion–extension variability in subjects with and without ACL deficiency.

An in vitro assay for evaluating chemosensitivity of leukaemia cells: preclinical studies

The present study was aimed at defining the standard conditions for predictive chemosensitivity testing of human leukaemias. The in vitro cytotoxic potential of 11 anticancer drugs against L1210 murine leukaemia was comparatively determined 3 and 48 h after in vitro exposure of leukaemia cells to these agents. In preliminary testing, drug-induced damage was estimated in terms of percent inhibition of: tumour cell proliferation, by microscopic determination of viable cell numbers; and DNA synthesis, by measuring the extent of incorporation of the labelled nucleoside 125IUdR. Since the two tests appeared to yield comparable results, all subsequent experiments on the various murine tumours were performed using the radiolabel incorporation technique. The results obtained pointed out that this metabolic assay performed 48 hours after drug exposure appears to be capable of predicting both "spontaneous" and "induced" in vivo resistance of murine leukaemias.     

Percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty in patients with solitary kidney

We report our experience with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of renal arteries (PTRA) in solitary kidney patients. Our series includes 31 patients (mean age: 52 years). 7 with solitary kidney following surgical nephrectomy and 24 with functioning solitary kidney. PTR indicated in presence of stenoses ranging from 60–95 % of vessel lumen. Procedure, with 29 patients were technically successful and mean values for stenosis dropped from 77 % to 33 %. In order to assess the results technically, changes in arterial blood pressure (according to Martin's classification) and creatinine levels were considered. Of 25 followed-up patients, 13 were cured (52%), 8 improved (32%),and 4 were unchanged (16%%). Complications were observed during procedures in five patients (16. 1 % ), superimposing that of nonsolitary kidney patients. Good revasculariiation, reduction of blood pressure, preservation or even improvement of renal function and low complications, make PTRA the best procedure with solitary kidney patients.     

Design and synthesis of modified quinolones as antitumoral acridones.

The bacterial topoisomerase II (DNA gyrase) and the mammalian topoisomerase II represent the cellular targets for quinolone antibacterials and a wide variety of anticancer drugs, respectively. In view of the mechanistic similarities and sequence homologies exhibited by the two enzymes, tentative efforts to selectively shift from an antibacterial to an antitumoral activity was made by synthesizing a series of modified tricyclic quinolones, in which the essential 3-carboxylic function is surrogated by phenolic OH and the classic C-6 fluorine atom is replaced by a NH2 group. The resulting 7-amino-9-acridone derivatives were assayed for their antibacterial as well as cytotoxic activities. No antibacterial activity was found. On the other hand, many derivatives showed significant cytotoxic activity against both HL-60 and P388 leukemias and a wide panel of human and rodent solid tumor cells, derivatives 25 and 26 displaying the best overall antiproliferative activity. Against the LoVo cell line, derivative 25 exhibited higher cytotoxic effects than etoposide.     

男性与女性糖尿病患者致死性冠心病的额外危险：37个前瞻性队列研究的汇总分析

目的：估计男性和女性糖尿病患者致死性冠心病的相对危险。设计：前瞻性队列研究的汇总分析。数据来源：自1966年至2005年3月间Embase和Medline确认并发表的研究，加上源自亚太队列研究协作组的研究，采用正文词组与MeSH主题词相结合的策略进行检索。综述方法：对入选研究的要求为报告有或无糖尿病的男性与女性致死性冠心病的相对危险比较的估计值。如果对估计值仅做年龄调整（而其它因素来经调整——泽者注），则将该研究排除在外。结果：总共纳入37项2型糖尿病和致死性冠心病的研究，涉及447064例患者。糖尿病患者的致死性冠心病发生率显著高于非糖尿病患者（5．4％比1．6％）。与无糖尿病者相比，糖尿病患者发生致死性冠心病的总的相对危险，女性为3．50，95％可信区间为2．70～4．53，显著高于男性患者（2．06，95％可信区间1．81～2．34）。在除外8项仅根据年龄调整的研究后，两性之间危险的差异大大减小，但仍然具有极显著统计学意义。汇集29项经多因素调整估计值的研究，总的相对危险比（女性比男性）为1．46（1．14～1．88）。结论：糖尿病相关的致死性冠心病相对危险，女性比男性高出50％。这种额外的冠心病危险可以通过女性糖尿病患者具有更多不利的心血管危险因素特点以及倾向于对男性患者更注重治疗的可能偏差来解释。