To compare the effect of ultrasound (US)-guided dry needling (DN) with traditional DN in the treatment of pain and dysfunction for patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). A double-blind, randomized ...controlled trial. Eighty-four participants (61.26±5.57 years) completed the study. G1 achieved significant improvement in VAS at 8 weeks compared to G2 and G3 (G1 vs. G2: MD = -15.61, 95% CI -25.49, -5.51, p = 0.001; G1 vs. G3: MD = -19.90, 95% CI -29.71, -10.08, p< 0.001). G1 achieved significant improvement in KOOS-pain at 8 weeks compared to G2 and G3 (G1 vs. G2: MD = 9.76, 95% CI 2.38, 17.14, p = 0.006; G1 vs. G3: MD = 9.48, 95% CI 2.31, 16.66, p = 0.010). KOOS-symptoms and KOOS-QoL were not statistically significant between groups. G2 had no significant difference of the perceptions as G1 with p = 0.128. G2 were successfully blinded to placebo US-guided DN. US-guided DN with exercise therapy may be more effective than traditional DN with exercise therapy or exercise therapy alone in reduce pain of KOA.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This prospective study assessed the effectiveness of screening older long-term care residents (LTCRs) for fracture risk and osteoporosis in Taiwan. Fracture risk screening was done using the Fracture ...Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX), and those with high or moderate risk were offered osteoporosis workup and treatment at the hospital. Among 785 LTCRs screened, 338 men (mean age 75.6) and 447 women (mean age 81.2) were included. Only 5.2% of women and no men were using anti-osteoporosis medication. Based on the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation (BHOF) recommendations, 69.2% of men and 92.6% of women were classified as high fracture risk. In 110 participants willing to receive bone mineral density examination, osteoporosis was diagnosed in 86.2% of women and half of men. FRAX could effectively differentiate fracture risk in 648 LTCRs who completed 2-year follow-ups; no fracture occurred in the low-risk group. The study emphasizes the importance of fracture risk screening to enhance osteoporosis diagnosis and treatment among LTCRs.
Introduction
Blood proteins are emerging as candidate biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD). We systematically profiled the plasma proteome to identify novel AD blood biomarkers and develop a ...high‐performance, blood‐based test for AD.
Methods
We quantified 1160 plasma proteins in a Hong Kong Chinese cohort by high‐throughput proximity extension assay and validated the results in an independent cohort. In subgroup analyses, plasma biomarkers for amyloid, tau, phosphorylated tau, and neurodegeneration were used as endophenotypes of AD.
Results
We identified 429 proteins that were dysregulated in AD plasma. We selected 19 “hub proteins” representative of the AD plasma protein profile, which formed the basis of a scoring system that accurately classified clinical AD (area under the curve = 0.9690–0.9816) and associated endophenotypes. Moreover, specific hub proteins exhibit disease stage‐dependent dysregulation, which can delineate AD stages.
Discussion
This study comprehensively profiled the AD plasma proteome and serves as a foundation for a high‐performance, blood‐based test for clinical AD screening and staging.
Background and Objective
It is known that chronic periodontal infection can magnify the cytokine responses in patients with diabetes. Hyperglycemia increases the proinflammatory status, including the ...levels of advanced glycation end‐products (AGEs), in patients with periodontitis. However, whether AGEs have additional effects on the production of those proinflammatory cytokines in diabetic patients with periodontitis is still unknown. To examine in vitro the effect of hyperglycemia and AGEs on the amounts of interleukin (IL)‐6 and IL‐8 produced in periodontally infected gingiva, human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) were stimulated with glucose, AGE‐modified bovine serum albumin (AGE‐BSA) and Porphyromonas gingivalis LPS in the present study.
Material and Methods
Primary culture of HGFs was incubated with various concentrations of AGE‐BSA (0, 50, 100 and 200 μg/mL) and LPS (0, 10, 100 or 1000 ng/mL) at two different glucose concentrations – normal glucose (5 mm) and high glucose (25 mm). The amounts of IL‐6 and IL‐8 produced by HGFs were evaluated using ELISA. Expression of the AGE receptor on HGFs was determined by flow cytometry.
Results
High glucose stimulated a significant increase in the production of IL‐6 and IL‐8 by HGFs compared with normal glucose. This enhanced production of IL‐6 and IL‐8 could also be observed in the presence of LPS and/or AGE‐BSA. When both LPS and AGE‐BSA were present, especially at high concentrations (≥ 500 μg/mL of LPS and ≥ 25 μg/mL of AGE‐BSA), a synergistic effect on IL‐8 production was found in the high‐glucose condition.
Conclusions
A synergistic effect of the production of IL‐8 could be induced in HGFs with the combination of high glucose, LPS and AGEs.
Background and Aims
Mutations in the disheveled, Egl‐10 and pleckstrin domain‐containing protein 5 (DEPDC5) gene have emerged as an important cause of various familial focal epilepsy syndromes. ...However, the significance of DEPDC5 mutations in patients with sporadic focal epilepsy has yet to be characterized.
Materials and Methods
We studied a kindred of familial focal epilepsy with variable foci using whole‐exome sequencing. We subsequently studied a cohort of 293 patients with focal epilepsy and sequenced all exons of DEPDC5 using targeted resequencing.
Results
We reported a Taiwanese family with a novel splice site mutation which affected mRNA splicing and activated the downstream mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. Among patients with focal epilepsies, the majority (220/293) of these patients had sporadic focal epilepsy without malformation of cortical development. Two (0.9%) of these patients had probably pathogenic mutations in the
DEPDC5 gene.
Discussion and Conclusions
Our finding suggests that DEPDC5 is not only the most common gene for familial focal epilepsy but also could be a significant gene for sporadic focal epilepsy. Since focal epilepsies account for more than 60% of all epilepsies, the effect of mTORC1 inhibitor on patients with focal epilepsy due to DEPDC5 mutations will be an important future direction of research.
A significant challenge in the post-genomic era is how to prioritize differentially expressed and uncharacterized novel genes found in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) microarray profiling. One such ...category is cell cycle regulated genes that have only evolved in higher organisms but not in lower eukaryotic cells. Characterization of these genes may reveal some novel human cancer-specific abnormalities. A novel transcript, FLJ10540 was identified. FLJ10540 is overexpressed in HCC as examined by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. The patients with higher FLJ10540 expression had a poor survival than those with lower FLJ10540 expression. Functional characterization indicates that FLJ10540 displays a number of characteristics associated with an oncogene, including anchorage-independent growth, enhanced cell growth at low serum levels and induction of tumorigenesis in nude mice. FLJ10540-elicited cell transformation is mediated by activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway. Moreover, FLJ10540 forms a complex with PI3K and can activate PI3K activity, which provides a mechanistic basis for FLJ10540-mediated oncogenesis. Together, using a combination of bioinformatics searches and empirical data, we have identified a novel oncogene, FLJ10540, which is conserved only in higher organisms. The finding raises the possibility that FLJ10540 is a potential new therapeutic target for HCC treatment. These findings may contribute to the development of new therapeutic strategies that are able to block the PI3K/AKT pathway in cancer cells.
It has been shown that the exposure to airborne particulate matter is one of the most significant environmental risks people face. Since indoor environment is where people spend the majority of time, ...in order to protect against this risk, the origin of the particles needs to be understood: do they come from indoor, outdoor sources or both? Further, this question needs to be answered separately for each of the PM mass/number size fractions, as they originate from different sources. Numerous studies have been conducted for specific indoor environments or under specific setting. Here our aim was to go beyond the specifics of individual studies, and to explore, based on pooled data from the literature, whether there are generalizable trends in routes of exposure at homes, schools and day cares, offices and aged care facilities. To do this, we quantified the overall 24h and occupancy weighted means of PM10, PM2.5 and PN - particle number concentration. Based on this, we developed a summary of the indoor versus outdoor origin of indoor particles and compared the means to the WHO guidelines (for PM10 and PM2.5) and to the typical levels reported for urban environments (PN). We showed that the main origins of particle metrics differ from one type of indoor environment to another. For homes, outdoor air is the main origin of PM10 and PM2.5 but PN originate from indoor sources; for schools and day cares, outdoor air is the source of PN while PM10 and PM2.5 have indoor sources; and for offices, outdoor air is the source of all three particle size fractions. While each individual building is different, leading to differences in exposure and ideally necessitating its own assessment (which is very rarely done), our findings point to the existence of generalizable trends for the main types of indoor environments where people spend time, and therefore to the type of prevention measures which need to be considered in general for these environments.
•Exposure to airborne particles is a significant risk factor.•Previous studies assessed it for specific buildings or particle metrics.•This work explored existence of generalizable trends based on published literature.•PM10, PM2.5, PNC at homes, schools, offices, aged care facilities were considered.•The general trends identified are pointers to the necessary prevention measures.
Summary
Recent studies found that hepatitis C virus (HCV) may invade the central nervous system, and both HCV and Parkinson's disease (PD) have in common the overexpression of inflammatory ...biomarkers. We analysed data from a community‐based integrated screening programme based on a total of 62 276 subjects. We used logistic regression models to investigate association between HCV infection and PD. The neurotoxicity of HCV was evaluated in the midbrain neuron–glia coculture system in rats. The cytokine/chemokine array was performed to measure the differences of amounts of cytokines released from midbrain in the presence and absence of HCV. The crude odds ratios (ORs) for having PD were 0.62 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.48–0.81 and 1.91 (95% CI, 1.48–2.47) for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and HCV. After controlling for potential confounders, the association between HCV and PD remained statistically significant (adjusted OR = 1.39; 95% CI, 1.07–1.80), but not significantly different between HBV and PD. The HCV induced 60% dopaminergic neuron death in the midbrain neuron–glia coculture system in rats, similar to that of 1‐methyl‐4‐phenylpyridinium (MPP+) but not caused by HBV. This link was further supported by the finding that HCV infection may release the inflammatory cytokines, which may play a role in the pathogenesis of PD. In conclusion, our study demonstrated a significantly positive epidemiological association between HCV infection and PD and corroborated the dopaminergic toxicity of HCV similar to that of MPP+.
Abstract Background Surgical excision of papillary breast lesions with atypia diagnosed using core needle biopsy (CNB) has been accepted; however, the management of benign papillary lesions (without ...atypia) has been controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the surgical outcome of nonmalignant papillary lesions diagnosed by ultrasound-guided 14-gauge CNB, and to establish clear guidelines on management of these lesions. Methods We retrospectively identified 268 nonmalignant papillary breast lesions, including 203 benign lesions and 65 atypical lesions, diagnosed by CNB and subsequently surgically excised in 250 women at our institution between July 2004 and October 2010. For each lesion, medical records and radiologic and pathologic reports were reviewed and coded. We compared the histological upgrade among the collected variables. Results On histological examination after surgical excision, 15.4% atypical papillary lesions and 5.9% benign lesions were upgraded to malignant, and 20.2% benign lesions were upgraded to atypical. Atypia ( P = 0.015) was significantly associated with malignant upgrade at excision. No clinical or radiologic variable was helpful in predicting the possibility of histological upgrade of CNB-diagnosed nonmalignant papillary lesions. Conclusions Nonmalignant papillary lesions diagnosed with CNB showed an unacceptable pathological upgrade rate after excision. Therefore, surgical excision should be performed for all papillary lesions of the breast for definitive diagnosis.
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