Preti A, Rocchi MBL, Sisti D, Camboni MV, Miotto P. A comprehensive meta‐analysis of the risk of suicide in eating disorders.
Objective: Past meta‐analyses on suicide in eating disorders included ...few available studies.
Method: PubMed/Medline search for papers including sample n ≥ 40 and follow‐up ≥5 years: 40 studies on anorexia nervosa (AN), 16 studies on bulimia nervosa (BN), and three studies on binge eating disorder (BED) were included.
Results: Of 16 342 patients with AN, 245 suicides occurred over a mean follow‐up of 11.1 years (suicide rate = 0.124 per 100 person‐years). Standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was 31.0 (Poisson 95% CI = 21.0–44.0); a clear decrease in suicide risk over time was observed in recent decades. Of 1768 patients with BN, four suicides occurred over a mean follow‐up of 7.5 years (suicide rate = 0.030 per 100 person‐years): SMR was 7.5 (1.6–11.6). No suicide occurred among 246 patients with BED (mean follow‐up = 5.3 years).
Conclusion: AN and BN share many risk factors for suicide: the factors causing lower suicide rates per person‐year in BN compared to AN should be investigated.
Interventions including physical exercise may help improve the outcomes of late-life major depression, but few studies are available.
To investigate whether augmenting sertraline therapy with ...physical exercise leads to better outcomes of late-life major depression.
Primary care patients (465 years) with major depression were randomised to 24 weeks of higher-intensity, progressive aerobic exercise plus sertraline (S+PAE), lower-intensity, non-progressive exercise plus sertraline (S+NPE) and sertraline alone. The primary outcome was remission (a score of ≤10 on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression).
A total of 121 patients were included. At study end, 45% of participants in the sertraline group, 73% of those in the S+NPE group and 81% of those in the S+PAE group achieved remission (P = 0.001). A shorter time to remission was observed in the S+PAE group than in the sertraline-only group.
Physical exercise may be a safe and effective augmentation to antidepressant therapy in late-life major depression.
Background
Published reports on tocilizumab in COVID‐19 pneumonitis show conflicting results due to weak designs or heterogeneity in critical methodological issues.
Methods
This open‐label trial, ...structured according to Simon's optimal design, aims to identify factors predicting which patients could benefit from anti‐IL6 strategies and to enhance the design of unequivocal and reliable future randomized trials. A total of 46 patients with COVID‐19 pneumonia needing of oxygen therapy to maintain SO2 > 93% and with recent worsening of lung function received a single infusion of tocilizumab. Clinical and biological markers were measured to test their predictive values. Primary end point was early and sustained clinical response.
Results
Twenty‐one patients fulfilled pre‐defined response criteria. Lower levels of IL‐6 at 24 h after tocilizumab infusion (P = 0.049) and higher baseline values of PaO2/FiO2 (P = 0.008) predicted a favourable response.
Conclusions
Objective clinical response rate overcame the pre‐defined threshold of 30%. Efficacy of tocilizumab to improve respiratory function in patients selected according to our inclusion criteria warrants investigations in randomized trials.
Background
The COVID‐19‐related restrictions hampered habitual physical activity (PA), particularly affecting the more vulnerable, such as people with Down syndrome (DS). The study aimed to ...investigate changes in PA, sedentary behaviour (SB) and screen time (ST) of youths with DS, before, during and after the restrictions, also in relation to parental PA levels.
Methods
A cross‐sectional design with a retrospective assessment of variables for the before and during restrictions periods was adopted. Parents of youths with DS completed an online questionnaire. Sociodemographic aspects, weekly PA levels and youths' daily SB and ST were investigated, referring to three time‐points: before the pandemic, during the restrictions and the restrictions‐easing phase.
Results
A total of 57 parents voluntarily participated in the study, proxy‐reporting on their child (male = 41, female = 16, age = 21.4 ± 7.7 years). A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance showed negative effects of restrictions (P < 0.05) on PA levels, SB and ST, independently from sociodemographic characteristics. In the restrictions‐easing phase, PA levels did not return to before the pandemic values (P < 0.05). A positive correlation between parents and their child's PA was detected before the pandemic (r = 0.38; P < 0.01), no longer reported in the restrictions‐easing phase.
Conclusions
The findings showed the negative impact of restrictions on youths with DS lifestyle. Moreover, the importance of addressing the needs of the disabled community including the whole family is highlighted.
Telomeres may be considered markers of biological aging, shorter telomere length is associated with some age-related diseases; in several studies short telomere length has also been associated to ...obesity in adults and adolescents. However the relationship between telomere complex functions and obesity is still not clear. Aim of the study was to assess telomere length (TL) in adults' obese subjects before and after weight loss obtained by placement of bioenteric intragastric balloon (BIB) for 6months.
We enrolled 42 obese subjects before and after BIB placement as weight loss intervention. Blood samples were collected in order to obtain DNA from leukocyte to measure TL by quantitative PCR.
Data were analyzed only in 37 subjects with complete data; all presented important body weight loss (124.06±26.7 vs 105.40±23.14, p<0.001) and more interesting they presented a significant increase in TL (3.58±0.83 vs 5.61±3.29, p<0.001). Moreover we observed a significant positive correlation between TL elongation and weight loss (r=0.44, p=0.007) as well as an inverse correlation between TL at baseline and TL elongation (r=−0.35, p=0.03).The predictors of TL elongation were once again weight loss and short TL at baseline (respectively p=0.007 and p=0.003).
Our study shows that weight loss is associated to telomere lengthening in a positive correlation: the greater weight loss the greater telomere lengthening; moreover telomere lengthening is more significant in those subjects with shortest telomeres at baseline.
•Telomeres are considered markers of biological aging and aging-related diseases such as obesity.•The relationship between obesity and telomere complex functions is still not clear.•Weight loss, obtained by bioenteric intragastric balloon (BIB) for 6months, is associated to telomere lengthening.•Telomere lengthening is more significant in those subjects with shortest telomeres at baseline.•A healthy life style promotes longevity and health.
The evolutionary history of chromosomes can be tracked by the comparative hybridization of large panels of bacterial artificial chromosome clones. This approach has disclosed an unprecedented ...phenomenon: 'centromere repositioning', that is, the movement of the centromere along the chromosome without marker order variation. The occurrence of evolutionary new centromeres (ENCs) is relatively frequent. In macaque, for instance, 9 out of 20 autosomal centromeres are evolutionarily new; in donkey at least 5 such neocentromeres originated after divergence from the zebra, in less than 1 million years. Recently, orangutan chromosome 9, considered to be heterozygous for a complex rearrangement, was discovered to be an ENC. In humans, in addition to neocentromeres that arise in acentric fragments and result in clinical phenotypes, 8 centromere-repositioning events have been reported. These 'real-time' repositioned centromere-seeding events provide clues to ENC birth and progression. In the present paper, we provide a review of the centromere repositioning. We add new data on the population genetics of the ENC of the orangutan, and describe for the first time an ENC on the X chromosome of squirrel monkeys. Next-generation sequencing technologies have started an unprecedented, flourishing period of rapid whole-genome sequencing. In this context, it is worth noting that these technologies, uncoupled from cytogenetics, would miss all the biological data on evolutionary centromere repositioning. Therefore, we can anticipate that classical and molecular cytogenetics will continue to have a crucial role in the identification of centromere movements. Indeed, all ENCs and human neocentromeres were found following classical and molecular cytogenetic investigations.
The welfare and economic impact of bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC), and its associated antibiotic usage, are major challenges to cattle rearing and beef cattle finishing industries. ...Accurate pathogen diagnosis is important to undertake appropriate treatment and long-term management strategies, such as vaccine selection. Conventional diagnostic approaches have several limitations including high costs, long turnaround times and difficulty in test interpretation, which could delay treatment decisions and lead to unnecessary animal losses. We describe the validation of a multiplex-tandem (MT) reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the detection of seven common pathogens associated with BRDC. This test has the potential to advance pathogen identification and to overcome many of the limitations of current testing methods. It requires a single sample and results are obtained quickly and not influenced by prior antimicrobial therapy or overgrowth of contaminating organisms. We demonstrated a test specificity of 100% and sensitivity ranging from 93.5% to 100% for these seven common pathogens. This test will be a useful addition to advance BRDC investigation and diagnosis.
•A new PCR-based test for bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC) was evaluated.•Validation was undertaken for seven of the most important BRDC pathogens.•The multiplex test gave fast, accurate etiological diagnosis on lung samples.•A single cut off for all pathogens is proposed, simplifying interpretation.•This test can play a useful role in BRDC investigations and diagnosis.
Abstract Objective Studies in the general population report that unusual subjective experiences are relatively common. Such experiences have been conceptualized either as extreme personality traits ...or as vulnerability markers for psychosis, and often grouped under the expression “schizotypal experiences”. This study investigates the heterogeneity of schizotypal traits using factor and latent class analysis. Methods One thousand and thirty-two adolescents were recruited for this study. Schizotypal experiences were assessed with the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences (O-LIFE); psychological distress was assessed with the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Confirmatory Factorial Analysis (CFA) and Latent Class Analysis (LCA) were performed on the O-LIFE and on the association with the GHQ and demographic variables. Results CFA replicated the original 4-factor structure of the O-LIFE. Three latent classes (LC) of schizotypal features were identified: participants in LC1 (26% of the total sample) showed minimal level of item endorsement; LC2 accounted for 52% of the sample and showed overall higher item endorsement compared to LC1, especially for disorganization and positive signs of schizotypy, but not for negative affective items. LC3 (22%) showed an overall higher level of item endorsement across schizotypal dimensions, and positive association with psychological distress and family history of psychosis. Discussion Different latent class of schizotypal features can be empirically defined in adolescent community samples. The most extreme class is defined not only by a profile of higher positive replies to the items, but also by anhedonia, high psychological distress, and family history of psychosis. These findings can inform prevention research in schizophrenia.
Highlights • Creatine supplementation during pregnancy is induced by drinking water. • Maternal supplementation results in a significant increase of brain creatine levels in newborn rats. • A ...significant increase of intracellular GSH brain levels is observed in pups under creatine supplementation. • CA1 pyramidal neurons of supplemented newborn rats show enhanced dendritic tree development. • Creatine supplementation increases intrinsic excitability of CA1 pyramidal neurons of supplemented newborn rats.
One cross-sectional study.
To examine the extent to which a sample of adults with spinal cord injury (SCI) meet the SCI-specific physical activity guidelines and to identify potential demographic, ...injury and motivational characteristics related to participation.
Quebec, Canada.
A sample of 73 adults from the province of Quebec, Canada living with SCI completed the Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire for People with Spinal Cord Injury to report their current frequency (sessions per week) and duration (minutes per session) in aerobic and resistance physical activity.
Results showed that 12% of participants in this sample met the guidelines and as many as 44% reported 0 min of physical activity. Only the participants' mode of mobility and autonomous motivation for physical activity emerged as a marginal correlate of the likelihood of meeting the physical activity guidelines.
Overall, physical activity participation rates among adults in this sample living with SCI remain quite low. Given the benefits of physical activity for adults with SCI, physical activity promotion efforts are needed.
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