This study assessed the effect of hormone replacement therapy using estrogens and/or progestogens on the number of vessels in the proximal and distal urethra, vesicourethral junction and bladder of ...castrated adult female rats. Forty-five virgin adult rats (Rattus norvegicus albinus) castrated for at least 30 days were used. They were assigned to five groups; group I (control) received no medication; the others received via the subcutaneous route, respectively, 17-beta-estradiol (group II), medroxyprogesterone acetate (group III), a maize oil and benzyl acid solution - placebo (group IV) and 17-beta-estradiol combined with medroxyprogesterone acetate (group V), for a minimum of 28 days. Increased vascularization throughout the urinary tract, except in the distal urethra, was found following estrogen replacement alone. In the group that received combined estrogens and progestogens, no increase was found. It was concluded that estrogen replacement in castrated rats significantly increased the number of vessels in the lower urinary tract.
Abstract
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is associated with a hyperinflammatory state and lymphocytopenia, a hallmark that appears as both signature and ...prognosis of disease severity outcome. Although cytokine storm and a sustained inflammatory state are commonly associated with immune cell depletion, it is still unclear whether direct SARS-CoV-2 infection of immune cells could also play a role in this scenario by harboring viral replication. We found that monocytes, as well as both B and T lymphocytes, were susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro, accumulating double-stranded RNA consistent with viral RNA replication and ultimately leading to expressive T cell apoptosis. In addition, flow cytometry and immunofluorescence analysis revealed that SARS-CoV-2 was frequently detected in monocytes and B lymphocytes from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. The rates of SARS-CoV-2-infected monocytes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from COVID-19 patients increased over time from symptom onset, with SARS-CoV-2-positive monocytes, B cells, and CD4+ T lymphocytes also detected in postmortem lung tissue. These results indicated that SARS-CoV-2 infection of blood-circulating leukocytes in COVID-19 patients might have important implications for disease pathogenesis and progression, immune dysfunction, and virus spread within the host.
Early-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) characterized by microalbuminuria is associated with future cardiovascular events, progression toward end-stage renal disease, and early mortality in patients ...with type 2 diabetes.
To compare the albuminuria-lowering effects of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery vs best medical treatment in patients with early-stage CKD, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.
For this randomized clinical trial, patients with established type 2 diabetes and microalbuminuria were recruited from a single center from April 1, 2013, through March 31, 2016, with a 5-year follow-up, including prespecified intermediate analysis at 24-month follow-up.
A total of 100 patients with type 2 diabetes, obesity (body mass indexes of 30 to 35 calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared), and stage G1 to G3 and A2 to A3 CKD (urinary albumin-creatinine ratio uACR >30 mg/g and estimated glomerular filtration rate >30 mL/min) were randomized 1:1 to receive best medical treatment (n = 49) or RYGB (n = 51).
The primary outcome was remission of albuminuria (uACR <30 mg/g). Secondary outcomes were CKD remission rate, absolute change in uACR, metabolic control, other microvascular complications, quality of life, and safety.
A total of 100 patients (mean SD age, 51.4 7.6 years; 55 55% male) were randomized: 51 to RYGB and 49 to best medical care. Remission of albuminuria occurred in 55% of patients (95% CI, 39%-70%) after best medical treatment and 82% of patients (95% CI, 72%-93%) after RYGB (P = .006), resulting in CKD remission rates of 48% (95% CI, 32%-64%) after best medical treatment and 82% (95% CI, 72%-92%) after RYGB (P = .002). The geometric mean uACRs were 55% lower after RYGB (10.7 mg/g of creatinine) than after best medical treatment (23.6 mg/g of creatinine) (P < .001). No difference in the rate of serious adverse events was observed.
After 24 months, RYGB was more effective than best medical treatment for achieving remission of albuminuria and stage G1 to G3 and A2 to A3 CKD in patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01821508.
Objectives
We investigated the relationship between non‐syndromic cleft lip/palate (NSCLP) and polymorphisms in methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), methionine synthase (MTR), methionine ...synthase reductase (MTRR), and RFC1, as well as the corresponding interactions with environmental factors.
Subjects and Methods
One hundred and forty NSCLP patients and their mothers, as well as 175 control individuals and their mothers, were recruited. Information regarding smoking and alcohol consumption was recorded. Blood samples were obtained in order to measure serum folate and cobalamin, as well as, plasma total homocysteine concentrations and to extract DNA. Polymorphisms in MTHFR(677C>T and 1298A>C), MTR(2756A>G), MTR(66A>G), and RFC1(80A>G) were analyzed by PCR–restriction fragment length polymorphism.
Results
Among the patients, 59.5% had cleft lip and palate, 22.0% had cleft palate, and 18.5% had cleft lip only. Maternal alcohol consumption and reduced folic acid concentrations in both children and mothers (P < 0.001 and P = 0.003, respectively) were risk factors for NSCLP. Patients and their mothers carrying the MTHFR 667T allele showed lower serum folate than CC (P = 0.011 and P = 0.030, respectively). Mothers who carried the MTHFR 1298C allele exhibited increased risk of having a child with NSCLP, after adjusting for alcohol consumption (OR: 1.75, 95% CI: 1.03–2.99, P = 0.038).
Conclusions
Reduced folic acid levels, alcohol consumption, and the MTHFR 677T and 1298C alleles may have contributed to NSCLP development in this sample population from Rio Grande do Norte.
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•Human land use affects blood parasite diversity, prevalence and intra-host parasite interactions.•Plasmodium and Haemoproteus parasites are more abundant in degraded ...habitats.•Leucocytozoon parasites are preferentially found in natural forested areas.•We found large variations in parasite diversity and prevalence among bird species.
Tropical forests are experiencing increasing impacts from a multitude of anthropogenic activities such as logging and conversion to agricultural use. These perturbations are expected to have strong impacts on ecological interactions and on the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. To date, no clear picture of the effects of deforestation on vector-borne disease transmission has emerged. This is associated with the challenge of studying complex systems where many vertebrate hosts and vectors co-exist. To overcome this problem, we focused on an innately simplified system – a small oceanic island (São Tomé, Gulf of Guinea). We analyzed the impacts of human land-use on host-parasite interactions by sampling the bird community (1735 samples from 30 species) in natural and anthropogenic land use at different elevations, and screened individuals for haemosporidian parasites from three genera (Plasmodium, Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon). Overall, Plasmodium had the highest richness but the lowest prevalence, while Leucocytozoon diversity was the lowest despite having the highest prevalence. Interestingly, co-infections (i.e. intra-host diversity) involved primarily Leucocytozoon lineages (95%). We also found marked differences between bird species and habitats. Some bird species showed low prevalence but harbored high diversity of parasites, while others showed high prevalence but were infected with fewer lineages. These infection dynamics are most likely driven by host specificity of parasites and intrinsic characteristics of hosts. In addition, Plasmodium was more abundant in disturbed habitats and at lower elevations, while Leucocytozoon was more prevalent in forest areas and at higher elevations. These results likely reflect the ecological requirements of their vectors: mosquitoes and black flies, respectively.
We present weak-lensing (WL) mass constraints for a sample of massive galaxy clusters detected by the South Pole Telescope (SPT) via the Sunyaev–Zel’dovich effect (SZE). We use griz imaging data ...obtained from the Science Verification (SV) phase of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) to fit the WL shear signal of 33 clusters in the redshift range 0.25 ≤ z ≤ 0.8 with NFW profiles and to constrain a four-parameter SPT mass–observable relation. To account for biases in WL masses, we introduce a WL mass to true mass scaling relation described by a mean bias and an intrinsic, lognormal scatter. We allow for correlated scatter within the WL and SZE mass–observable relations and use simulations to constrain priors on nuisance parameters related to bias and scatter from WL. We constrain the normalization of the ζ-M500 relation, ASZ=12.0$\mathbb +2.6\atop{-6.7}$ when using a prior on the mass slope BSZ from the latest SPT cluster cosmology analysis. Without this prior, we recover ASZ=10.8$\mathbb +2.3\atop{-5.2}$ and BSZ=1.30$\mathbb +0.22\atop{-0.44}$. Results in both cases imply lower cluster masses than measured in previous work with and without WL, although the uncertainties are large. The WL derived value of BSZ is ≈20 per cent lower than the value preferred by the most recent SPT cluster cosmology analysis. The method demonstrated in this work is designed to constrain cluster masses and cosmological parameters simultaneously and will form the basis for subsequent studies that employ the full SPT cluster sample together with the DES data.
There is solid observational evidence on the existence of massive, M ~ 1 M..., highly magnetized white dwarfs (WDs) with surface magnetic fields up to B ~ 10 super( 9) G. We show that, if in addition ...to these features, the star is fast rotating, it can become a rotation-powered pulsar-like WD and emit detectable high-energy radiation. We infer the values of the structure parameters (mass, radius, moment of inertia), magnetic field, rotation period and spin-down rates of a WD pulsar death-line. We show that WDs above the death-line emit blackbody radiation in the soft X-ray band via the magnetic polar cap heating by back flowing pair-created particle bombardment and discuss as an example the X-ray emission of soft gamma-repeaters and anomalous X-ray pulsars within the WD model. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
O objetivo do estudo foi comparar os níveis de elementos-traço (ET) de acordo com a densidade mineral óssea (DMO) em idosas. Participaram do estudo 27 idosas (65.70 ± 3.96 anos). A amostra foi ...dividida em dois grupos homogêneos de acordo com a DMO, sendo o grupo 1 aquelas com maior DMO e no grupo 2 as com os menores valores. A DMO foi mensuradas utilizando o DEXA e os ET foram avaliados a partir de amostras de cabelo. No grupo 1 encontrou-se maiores teores de Ca, K, Na, Mo, B, Cu e Mg. Enquanto que no grupo 2 observou-se maiores concentrações de Se e o Pb. Os resultados sugerem que o desequilíbrio na homeostase dos ET pode ser fator de risco para a redução da DMO e que as altas concentrações de Pb e Se no cabelo podem ser indicativos de redução da massa óssea.
Aims
While heart failure with preserved (HFpEF) and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) are well described, determinants and outcomes of heart failure with mid‐range ejection fraction (HFmrEF) remain ...unclear. We sought to examine clinical and biochemical predictors of incident HFmrEF in the community.
Methods and results
We pooled data from four community‐based longitudinal cohorts, with ascertainment of new heart failure (HF) classified into HFmrEF ejection fraction (EF) 41–49%, HFpEF (EF ≥50%), and HFrEF (EF ≤40%). Predictors of incident HF subtypes were assessed using multivariable Cox models. Among 28 820 participants free of HF followed for a median of 12 years, there were 200 new HFmrEF cases, compared with 811 HFpEF and 1048 HFrEF. Clinical predictors of HFmrEF included age, male sex, systolic blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, and prior myocardial infarction (multivariable adjusted P ≤ 0.003 for all). Biomarkers that predicted HFmrEF included natriuretic peptides, cystatin‐C, and high‐sensitivity troponin (P ≤ 0.0004 for all). Natriuretic peptides were stronger predictors of HFrEF hazard ratio (HR) 2.00 per 1 standard deviation increase, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.81–2.20 than of HFmrEF (HR 1.51, 95% CI 1.20–1.90, P = 0.01 for difference), and did not differ in their association with incident HFmrEF and HFpEF (HR 1.56, 95% CI 1.41–1.73, P = 0.68 for difference). All‐cause mortality following the onset of HFmrEF was worse than that of HFpEF (50 vs. 39 events per 1000 person‐years, P = 0.02), but comparable to that of HFrEF (46 events per 1000 person‐years, P = 0.78).
Conclusions
We found overlap in predictors of incident HFmrEF with other HF subtypes. In contrast, mortality risk after HFmrEF was worse than HFpEF, and similar to HFrEF.
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