Depression in type 1 diabetes and risk of dementia

Objective: Depression afflicts 14% of individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Depression is a robust risk factor for dementia but it is unknown if this holds true for individuals with T1D, who recently started living to an age conferring dementia risk. We examined if depression is a dementia risk factor among elderly individuals with T1D.

Methods: 3,742 individuals with T1D age ≥50 were followed for dementia from 1/1/96-9/30/2015. Depression, dementia, and comorbidities were abstracted from electronic medical records. Cox proportional hazard models estimated the association between depression and dementia adjusting for demographics, glycosylated hemoglobin, severe dysglycemic epidsodes, stroke, heart disease, nephropathy, and end stage renal disease. The cumulative incidence of dementia by depression was estimated conditional on survival dementia-free to age 55.

Results: Five percent (N = 182) were diagnosed with dementia and 20% had baseline depression. Depression was associated with a 72% increase in dementia (fully adjusted HR = 1.72; 95% CI:1.12-2.65). The 25-year cumulative incidence of dementia was more than double for those with versus without depression (27% vs. 12%).

Conclusions: For people with T1D, depression significantly increases dementia risk. Given the pervasiveness of depression in T1D, this has major implications for successful aging in this population recently living to old age.     

Complications in Intermediate Uveitis: Prevalence,Time of Onset,and Effects on Vision in Short-Term and Long-Term Follow-Up

Purpose: To study the prevalence and time of onset of ocular complications in intermediate uveitis (IU) and to assess their effects on visual outcome in short-term and long-term follow-up.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study of patients with IU who had a minimal follow-up of one year.

Results: 96 patients (174 eyes, 70% females) were included with a mean age at presentation of 30 years. Children constituted 38% of all patients. Mean follow- up was 64.9 months. Pars planitis was the most common form followed by sarcoidosis and multiple sclerosis. Cystoid macular edema (CME), cataract, epiretinal membrane and posterior synechiae were the most prevalent complications. Posterior synechiae, band keratopathy, cataract and papillitis at presentation were associated with worse presenting visual acuity (VA). Of the late-onset complications, glaucoma/ocular hypertension (OHT) was the most significantly associated with worse long-term VA. Most sight-threatening complications (namely CME and glaucoma) were diagnosed at presentation while late complications predominantly affected the posterior segment and included among others peripheral retinal elevations, vasoproliferative tumors, and vitreous hemorrhage. Median LogMAR VA improved at short-term and long-term follow-up, from 0.2 to 0.1 (p<0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed significant VA improvement for eyes with all the different complications except for eyes with glaucoma/OHT.

Conclusion: IU is a chronic low-grade uveitis that may be associated with protean early and late complications of the anterior or posterior segments or both. Optimal treatment regimens are imperative for the strict control of inflammation and proper management of complications thus allowing a favorable long-term prognosis.     

Prevalence of bowlegs among child and adolescent soccer players.

OBJECTIVE: Little is known about the interactions of sports-related demands and human body, in particular on musculoskeletal features, during growth. Focusing on the relationship between soccer and lower limb alignment, we examined the hypothesis that varus knee deviation is more prevalent among high-performance pediatric and adolescent soccer players. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study with focused sampling. SETTING: First league sports clubs. PARTICIPANTS: 106 male child/adolescent soccer players aged 10 to 21 years and 68 age-matched tennis players. INTERVENTIONS: All athletes completed a demographic questionnaire and underwent physical examinations, which included height, weight, generalized laxity, knee, ankle, foot and spine axis, hip range of motion, tibial torsion, Q angle, foot navicular height, and progression angle. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENT: Varus/valgus axis was determined by the intercondylar intermalleolar distance while standing. Soccer and tennis players were compared on knee axis and other outcome variables by analysis of covariance, adjusting for age and by t-tests within age groups. RESULTS: A significantly higher prevalence of knee varus was found among the soccer players compared to that among the tennis players. The difference in intracondylar distance was statistically significant after the age of 13 years (P < 0.001). In addition, compared to tennis players, soccer players had higher foot arches, decreased hip external rotation and increased external tibial torsion. CONCLUSIONS: Varus knee axis deviation was more common among children and adolescent soccer players than among tennis players. The prevalence was more pronounced among players aged 13 years or older. Further research is needed to explore the rationale of this phenomenon.     

Diabetes mellitus is strongly associated with tuberculosis in Indonesia.

SETTING: Diabetes mellitus is a known risk factor for tuberculosis (TB), but no studies have been reported from South-East Asia, which has a high burden of TB and a rapidly growing prevalence of diabetes. OBJECTIVE: To examine if and to what extent diabetes is associated with an increased risk of TB in an urban setting in Indonesia. DESIGN: Case-control study comparing the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (fasting blood glucose level >126 mg/dl) among newly diagnosed pulmonary TB patients and matched neighbourhood controls. RESULTS: Patients and control subjects had a similar age (median 30 years) and sex distribution (52% male), but malnutrition was more common among TB patients (median body mass index 17.7 vs. 21.5 kg/m2). HIV infection was uncommon (1.5% of patients). Diabetes mellitus was present in 60 of 454 TB patients (13.2%) and 18 of 556 (3.2%) control subjects (OR 4.7; 95%CI 2.7-8.1). Adjustment for possible confounding factors did not reduce the risk estimates. Following anti-tuberculosis treatment, hyperglycaemia reverted in a minority (3.7%) of TB patients. CONCLUSION: Diabetes mellitus is strongly associated with TB in young and non-obese subjects in an urban setting in Indonesia. This may have implications for TB control and patient care in this region.     

Technetium-99m labelled liposomes to image experimental arthritis

OBJECTIVES—Liposomes sterically stabilised with polyethylene glycol (PEG) labelled with technetium-99m were tested for their ability to image adjuvant arthritis in a rat model.
METHODS—Adjuvant arthritis was induced in the ankle joint of the left hind foot by injection of Mycobacterium butyricum in Freund's incomplete adjuvant in the foot pad. Seven days later animals received the following radiopharmaceuticals labelled with ^99mTc (a) non-PEG-liposomes, (b) PEG-liposomes or (c) non-specific human polyclonal IgG. For each of the radiopharmaceuticals the in vivo distribution of the radiolabel was monitored both scintigraphically as well as by counting the dissected tissues at two, eight, and 24 hours after injection.
RESULTS—The pharmacokinetics of the radiopharmaceuticals differed considerably (half life in the blood: PEG-liposomes (18 hours) > ^99mTc-IgG (3 hours) > non-PEG liposomes (1 hour)). The inflamed focus was visualised with each of the agents. The uptake of each of the radiopharmaceuticals in the inflamed ankle region correlated with their residence time in the blood (inflamed joint uptake: PEG liposomes (1.15% injected dose (ID)/g)>^99mTc-IgG (0.35% ID/g)>non-PEG-liposomes (0.05% ID/g)). Quantitative analysis of the images showed that the inflamed ankle to background ratio was highest with the PEG-liposomes (7.5 at 24 hours after injection), while with the other two agents this ratio did not exceed 4.
CONCLUSION—This study shows that ^99mTc-labelled PEG-liposomes may be an excellent agent to visualise arthritis. Increased label uptake in the inflamed joint and increased target to background ratios can be obtained with PEG-liposomes because of their long circulating properties. In addition to their use as vehicles for scintigraphic imaging of arthritis PEG-liposomes might also be used for the site specific delivery of antirheumatic drugs.

     

Derivation and spontaneous differentiation of human embryonic stem cells

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are unique cells derived from the inner cell mass of the mammalian blastocyst. These cells are immortal and pluripotent, retain their developmental potential after prolonged culture, and can be continuously cultured in an undifferentiated state. Many in vitro differentiation systems have been developed for mouse ES cells, including reproducible methods for mouse ES cell differentiation into haematopoietic and neural precursors, cardiomyocytes, insulin‐secreting cells, endothelial cells and various other cell types. The derivation of new human ES cell lines provides the opportunity to develop unique models for developmental research and for cell therapies. In this review we consider the derivation and spontaneous differentiation of human ES cells.     

Effect of albumin on neonatal serum ionized magnesium in vitro.

BACKGROUND: Human serum albumin (HAS) is used to treat hypoproteinaemia in neonates and as a volume expander. The aim of this study was to quantify the decrease in serum concentration of ionized magnesium ([Mg2+]) when human serum albumin is added to neonatal serum in vitro. METHODS: Human serum albumin was added to 20 cord serum samples of term infants to reach incremental concentrations of 0 to 20.0 g/l and [Mg2+] were measured. RESULTS: Serum [Mg2+] decreased significantly with the addition of serum albumin. At incremental serum albumin concentration of 10 to 20 g/l, which is within the range of the desired aim in the treatment of hypoalbuminaemia, the magnitude of the decrease in serum [Mg2+] was approximately 0.041 to 0.052 mmol/l (10 to 13 per cent) from the average baseline value. CONCLUSION: The addition of albumin causes a decrease in [Mg2+]. From this in vitro study we speculate that fast infusion of albumin in human neonates may potentially cause a clinically significant decrease in serum [Mg2+].