Febrile convulsions increase risk of Tourette syndrome

PurposeFebrile convulsion (FC) and Tourette syndrome (TS) are both common neurological disorders in infants and children. Both disorders share clinical similarities, such as paroxysmal symptoms with normal neurodevelopment and expected remission over time. This population-based study investigated the association between FC with TS during childhood neurodevelopment.MethodWe used the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database to conduct a retrospective cohort analysis on 1586 FC patients. A reference cohort of 6344 non-FC patients, matched for age, sex, urbanization level, parental occupation, and index year, was used for comparison. The risk of the occurrence of TS in FC patients was assessed using a Cox proportional hazard regression model.ResultsThe overall incidence of TS was higher in the FC cohort than in the non-FC cohort (28.5 vs 13.9 per 10,000 person-years; adjusted hazard ratio = 1.91, 95% confidence interval = 1.32–2.75). The associated risk factors for FC patients to develop TS were boys, children living in rural areas, and children whose parents held blue-collar positions. Moreover, the risk of TS in FC patients rose from 0.89 to 16.0 (trend test P < 0.0001) when the frequency of FC-related medical visits increased from 1 to 2 times to more than 4 times. The adjusted hazard ratio for TS in related to FC-related medical visits was 1.02 (95% CI = 1.02–1.03) per one frequency increment.ConclusionFC may increase the risk of subsequent TS occurrence in children. Children who had frequent medical visits for FC were particularly vulnerable.     

DPD、MTHFR和TS表达水平与氟尿嘧啶类药物治疗消化道肿瘤疗效及预后关系的研究进展

消化道恶性肿瘤包括结直肠癌、胃癌和食管癌等。尽管使用了各种治疗方式，癌症患者仍然有复发和转移。绝大多数患者确诊时即为中晚期，因而化疗在癌症患者中发挥重要作用。作为5-FU抗癌活性中的三个关键酶，二氢嘧啶脱氢酶（DPD）、5,10-亚甲基四氢叶酸还原酶（MTHFR）、胸苷酸合成酶（TS）与消化道肿瘤的疗效、对化疗药物的敏感性及患者的预后有密切关系。     

Association of IL-8 gene polymorphisms with non small cell lung cancer in Tunisia: A case control study

Interleukin 8 (IL-8), is a proinflammatory chemokine, has been reported to have angiogenic activity and to be responsible for tumor-associated angiogenesis in several cancers. In this study, we aimed to study the (IL-8) gene polymorphism in relation with risk development of non small cell lung cancer in Tunisian patient. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (−251T/A [rs4073], +781C/T [rs2227306]) of the IL-8 gene were screened in 170 patients with NSCLC and 225 healthy controls by PCR–RFLP.     

Phase II study of pharmacogenetic-tailored therapy in elderly colorectal cancer patients

Background

Retrospective analyses suggested that a pharmacogenetic approach may allow a tailored selection of chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer.

Aim

We conducted a phase II study of pharmacogenetic-selected first-line chemotherapy in elderly patients with advanced colorectal cancer, with the aim to improve efficacy and to reduce toxicity in this group of patients.

Methods

24 patients were enrolled in this study. Chemotherapy regimen was prospectively assigned based on TS, DPD, ERCC-1 and UGT1A1 genotyping results. Twelve patients (50%) were treated with modified FOLFIRI, 11 patients (46%) with modified FOLFOX6 and 1 (4%) with De Gramont regimen.

Results

A partial remission was obtained in 4 cases (17%), stable disease in 8 cases (33%) and progressive disease in 12 cases (50%). Grade 3-4 neutropenia was observed in 7 patients (29%) and diarrhoea in 3 cases (12%). The trial was then interrupted according to study design requiring 13 partial remissions out of the first 24 patients enrolled as the necessary response rate level in order to continue.

Conclusion

Prospective selection of chemotherapy based on TS, DPD, ERCC-1 and UGT1A1 expression in elderly advanced colorectal cancer patients failed to confirm previous results. A more accurate validation of retrospective findings is warranted before these molecular markers can be used for treatment selection in the clinical practice.     

Synthetic genes: a tool for identifying human papillomavirus genotypes by hybridization and polymerase chain reaction-based assays

Obtaining positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) controls for human papillomavirus (HPV) diagnostic tests has been difficult because of prevalence variation in different geographic regions of each high-risk viral type. Overlapping oligonucleotides were designed for HPV-18, HPV-31, HPV-45, and HPV-58 type-specific (TS) sequences. Synthetic HPV viral genes were constructed by 2-step assembly PCR for accurately diagnosing TS HPV infection.     

The association between tic medication therapy and psychiatric comorbidities among patients with Tourette syndrome: A national population-based study in Taiwan

BackgroundTourette syndrome (TS) is often comorbid with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and depression. Medications are the main treatment for TS. Relationships between TS medication therapy and psychiatric comorbidities remain unclear. This study explored the impacts of TS medication on the risk of psychiatric comorbidities using a nationally representative sample of TS in Taiwan.MethodsData from National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan was used to identify 997,213 children and adolescents aged 6–18 years who had received a diagnosis of TS based on ICD-9-CM codes in 2000–2010. Cox’s proportional hazard regression analysis was conducted to estimate the risk of comorbidities among subjects with and without tic medication therapy.ResultsWe found that in TS patients, a lower risk of psychiatric comorbidities occurred in the tic medication therapy group (p = 0.012) and the crude hazard ratio (HR) was 0.6 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.4–0.8, p < 0.001). After adjusting for potential confounders of gender, age, income, level of care, department visited, brain injury, and the number of suicide attempts, the risk of comorbidities was still significantly lower in the tic medication therapy group (adjusted HR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3–0.6, p < 0.001).DiscussionOne limitation was that we did not include all mediations used to treat psychiatric comorbidities among TS patients. This study found the effectiveness of TS medications on improving psychiatric comorbidities.ConclusionsCompared to those without medication, medication therapy appears to have a benefit of decreasing the risk of psychiatric comorbidities. Strategies to improve medication regimens should be considered in clinical settings.     

An on-line algorithm for creating self-organizing fuzzy neural networks

This paper presents a new on-line algorithm for creating a self-organizing fuzzy neural network (SOFNN) from sample patterns to implement a singleton or Takagi-Sugeno (TS) type fuzzy model. The SOFNN is based on ellipsoidal basis function (EBF) neurons consisting of a center vector and a width vector. New methods of the structure learning and the parameter learning, based on new adding and pruning techniques and a recursive on-line learning algorithm, are proposed and developed. A proof of the convergence of both the estimation error and the linear network parameters is also given in the paper. The proposed methods are very simple and effective and generate a fuzzy neural model with a high accuracy and compact structure. Simulation work shows that the SOFNN has the capability of self-organization to determine the structure and parameters of the network automatically.