Summary
Background
Blood tests of liver injury are less well validated in non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) than in patients with chronic viral hepatitis.
Aims
To improve the validation of ...three blood tests used in NAFLD patients, FibroTest for fibrosis staging, SteatoTest for steatosis grading and ActiTest for inflammation activity grading.
Methods
We pre‐included new NAFLD patients with biopsy and blood tests from a single‐centre cohort (FibroFrance) and from the multicentre FLIP consortium. Contemporaneous biopsies were blindly assessed using the new steatosis, activity and fibrosis (SAF) score, which provides a reliable and reproducible diagnosis and grading/staging of the three elementary features of NAFLD (steatosis, inflammatory activity) and fibrosis with reduced interobserver variability. We used nonbinary‐ROC (NonBinAUROC) as the main endpoint to prevent spectrum effect and multiple testing.
Results
A total of 600 patients with reliable tests and biopsies were included. The mean NonBinAUROCs (95% CI) of tests were all significant (P < 0.0001): 0.878 (0.864–0.892) for FibroTest and fibrosis stages, 0.846 (0.830–0.862) for ActiTest and activity grades, and 0.822 (0.804–0.840) for SteatoTest and steatosis grades. FibroTest had a higher NonBinAUROC than BARD (0.836; 0.820–0.852; P = 0.0001), FIB4 (0.845; 0.829–0.861; P = 0.007) but not significantly different than the NAFLD score (0.866; 0.850–0.882; P = 0.26). FibroTest had a significant difference in median values between adjacent stage F2 and stage F1 contrarily to BARD, FIB4 and NAFLD scores (Bonferroni test P < 0.05).
Conclusions
In patients with NAFLD, SteatoTest, ActiTest and FibroTest are non‐invasive tests that offer an alternative to biopsy, and they correlate with the simple grading/staging of the SAF scoring system across the three elementary features of NAFLD: steatosis, inflammatory activity and fibrosis.
Policy evaluation and guidance on fluoride use and sugar consumption in Latin American and Caribbean countries (LACC) may provide a scientific evidence basis for policymakers, dental professionals, ...civil society organizations and individuals committed to improving public oral health. A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the extent of implementation of policies/guidelines on fluoride use, and sugar consumption in LACC. The study had two stages. First a questionnaire covering four major areas was developed: fluoridation of public water supplies; salt fluoridation; fluoride dentifrices, and sugar consumption. Then, the questionnaire was applied to collect data among representative participants in public oral health from LACC. Ninety-six participants from 18 LACC answered the questionnaire. One-hundred seventy documents were attached, and 285 links of websites were provided by the respondents. Implementation of policies and guidelines on water and table salt fluoridation and processed and ultra-processed food consumption were found in most countries, with some issues in the consensus and coverage. Thus, differences were identified in the extent of implementation of public oral health strategies on sugar consumption and fluoridation among the countries. There is no consensus on the policies in LACC to reduce sugar consumption and for the use of fluoride. A few policies and guidelines were applied in isolated countries, with a variety of strategies and standards. For future actions, it will be important to encourage the development of strategies and public policies within countries, and to evaluate the effectiveness of existing policies in reducing dental caries and in improving oral health in LACC.
Objective
The objective of this study was to investigate whether histamine H4 receptor (H4R) antagonists could prevent experimental periodontitis (EP)‐induced histological, functional and ...inflammatory alterations in submandibular gland (SMG), periodontal bone and gingiva.
Methods
Bilateral EP was induced for 2 weeks in anaesthetized male rats. The effect of systemic and local administration of H4R antagonists (JNJ7777120, JNJ10191584) on histopathology and functionality of SMG, bone loss and gingival inflammation was evaluated.
Results
The subcutaneous administration of JNJ7777120 prevented periodontitis‐induced SMG histological injury, reducing vacuolization and apoptosis and additionally reversed the increased prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) levels in SMG while it partially reversed the methacholine‐induced salivation reduction produced by periodontitis. JNJ7777120 attenuated bone loss and the increased PGE2 levels and inflammatory infiltration in gingival tissue of rats with periodontitis. Finally, local administration of JNJ7777120 and JNJ10191584 was also beneficial for improving periodontal parameters.
Conclusions
H4 receptor antagonists are able to ameliorate periodontitis‐induced injury on SMG, gingival tissue and bone structure, suggesting that pharmacological targeting of H4R could be an attractive strategy to improve periodontal health.
Renal necrosis can be induced in weanling rats due to choline deficient diet. Menhaden oil has a protective effect against the development of renal necrosis in choline deficient weanling rats. The ...aim of this work was to determine the effects of menhaden oil in a model of acute kidney injury due to ischemia reperfusion. Wistar rats were divided into two groups and fed vegetable oils or menhaden oil as lipids. Unilateral renal ischemia was performed for 30 minutes and animals were sacrificed 48 hours later. Histopathological examination showed no significant differences between groups. Menhaden oil did not prevent histopathological lesions.
Background & Aims
The occurrence of drug‐induced liver injury (DILI) is a major issue in all phases of drug development. To identify novel biomarker candidates associated with DILI, we utilised an ...affinity proteomics strategy, where antibody suspension bead arrays were applied to profile plasma and serum samples from human DILI cases and controls.
Methods
An initial screening was performed using 4594 randomly selected antibodies, representing 3450 human proteins. Resulting candidate proteins together with proposed DILI biomarker candidates generated a DILI array of 251 proteins for subsequent target analysis and verifications. In total, 1196 samples from 241 individuals across four independent cohorts were profiled: healthy volunteers receiving acetaminophen, patients with human immunodeficiency virus and/or tuberculosis receiving treatment, DILI cases originating from a wide spectrum of drugs, and healthy volunteers receiving heparins.
Results
We observed elevated levels of cadherin 5, type 2 (CDH5) and fatty acid‐binding protein 1 (FABP1) in DILI cases. In the two longitudinal cohorts, CDH5 was elevated already at baseline. FABP1 was elevated after treatment initiation and seemed to respond more rapidly than alanine aminotransferase (ALT). The elevations were verified in the DILI cases treated with various drugs. In the heparin cohort, CDH5 was stable over time whereas FABP1 was elevated.
Conclusions
These results suggest that CDH5 may have value as a susceptibility marker for DILI. FABP1 was identified as a biomarker candidate with superior characteristics regarding tissue distribution and kinetics compared to ALT but likely with limited predictive value for the development of severe DILI. Further studies are needed to determine the clinical utility of the proposed markers.
We examined the genotoxic and mutagenic effects of a crude extract of Clusia alata (a potential medicinal plant) on peripheral leukocyte and bone marrow cells of mice, using the comet and chromosome ...aberration assays. Extracts at doses of 1000, 1500 and 2000 mg/kg were administered by gavage, and a positive control, N-nitroso-N-ethylurea (50 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally. Peripheral blood leukocytes were collected 4 and 24 h after the treatments for the comet assay, and bone marrow cells were collected 24 h after the treatments, for the chromosome aberration assay. The comet assay showed that C. alata extract causes an increase in damage to DNA in the peripheral blood leukocytes, but it was significant only with the 2000 mg/kg dose after 24 h; the extract also induced a small but significant increase in the mean number of chromosome aberrations in the bone marrow cells at doses of 1500 and 2000 mg/kg. No evidence of a significant decrease in the mitotic index was observed. Acute consumption of high concentrations of C. alata extract produced some mutagenic effects in bone marrow cells.
The slow flow of thin liquid films on solid surfaces is an important phenomenon in nature and in industrial processes, and an intensive effort has been made to investigate it. So far research has ...been focused mainly on Newtonian fluids, notwithstanding that often in the real situations as well as in the experiments, the rheology of the involved liquid is non-Newtonian. In this paper we investigate within the lubrication approximation the family of traveling wave solutions describing the flow of a power-law liquid on an incline. We derive general formulae for the traveling waves, that can be of several kinds according to the value of the propagation velocity
c and of an integration constant
j
0 related to the difference between
c and the averaged velocity of the fluid
u. There are exactly 17 different kinds of solutions. Five of them are the steady solutions (
c=0). In addition there are eight solutions that correspond to different downslope traveling waves, and four that describe waves traveling upslope.
Anxiety is the most prevalent mental health disorder among adults worldwide. Given its increased prevalence among migrants due to their marginalized position in the societies where they reside, ...psychometric evaluations of anxiety measures such as the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) are needed for use with migrants. The present study is the first attempt to compare the structure of GAD-7 scores for (a) different Latino groups in the same country and (b) the same Latino group in two different countries. Using three samples of Mexican and Venezuelan migrants (total
= 933), we provide reliability and validity evidence of the GAD-7 for use with adult Latino migrants. Utilizing confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory, we demonstrate that the GAD-7 is internally consistent, possesses a strong single-factor structure, and generates scores with equivalent psychometric properties. GAD-7 is appropriate for use with Mexican and Venezuelan migrants across differing gender groups and education levels.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between oral health problems and oral health‐related quality of life (OHRQoL) of preschool children according to both self‐reports and the ...reports of parents/caregivers. A school‐based, cross‐sectional study was conducted with 769 preschool children and their parents/caregivers. The OHRQoL was evaluated using the Scale of Oral Health Outcomes for Five‐Year‐Old Children (SOHO‐5). Based on logistic regression for complex samples, the following variables were found to be associated with poorer OHRQoL in the parent/caregiver version: toothache (OR = 6.77; 95% CI: 3.95–11.59); consequences of untreated dental caries (OR = 2.69; 95% CI: 1.27–5.70); and anterior open bite (OR = 2.01; 95% CI: 1.13–3.56). The following variables were associated with poorer OHRQoL in the child self‐report version: toothache (OR = 3.34; 95% CI: 2.11–5.29); cavitated lesions (anterior teeth) (OR = 2.20; 95% CI: 1.26–3.84); occurrence of traumatic dental injury (OR = 1.77; 95% CI: 1.19–2.61); and anterior open bite (OR = 1.95; 95% CI: 1.16–3.29). We conclude that children with dental caries (or its sequelae) had poorer OHRQoL. Having experienced a traumatic dental injury and having a malocclusion were also associated with a poorer OHRQoL.
Determination of the adequacy of dialysis is a routine but crucial procedure in patient evaluation. The total dialysis dose, expressed as Kt/V, has been widely recognised to be a major determinant of ...morbidity and mortality in haemodialysed patients. Many different factors influence the correct determination of Kt/V, such as urea sequestration in different body compartments, access and cardiopulmonary recirculation. These factors are responsible for urea rebound after the end of the haemodialysis session, causing poor Kt/V estimation. There are many techniques that try to overcome this problem. Some of them use analysis of blood-side urea samples, and, in recent years, on-line urea monitors have become available to calculate haemodialysis dose from dialysate-side urea kinetics. All these methods require waiting until the end of the session to calculate the Kt/V dose. In this work, a neural network (NN) method is presented for early prediction of the Kt/V dose. Two different portions of the dialysate urea concentration-time profile (provided by an on-line urea monitor) were analysed: the entire curve A and the first half B, using an NN to predict the Kt/V and compare this with that provided by the monitor. The NN was able to predict Kt/V is the middle of the 4h session (B data) without a significant increase in the percentage error (B data: 6.69% +/- 2.46%; A data: 5.58% +/- 8.77%, mean +/- SD) compared with the monitor Kt/V.
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