Brochlauritsen0722
Microneedle (MN) patches consist of a hydrogel-forming MN array and a drug-containing reservoir. Drug-containing reservoirs documented in the literature include polymeric films and lyophilized wafers. While effective, both reservoir formulations are aqueous based, and so degradation can occur during formulation and drying for drugs inherently unstable in aqueous media. The preparation and characterization of novel, nonaqueous-based, directly compressed tablets (DCTs) for use in combination with hydrogel-forming MN arrays are described for the first time. In this work, a range of drug molecules are investigated. Precipitation of amoxicillin (AMX) and primaquine (PQ) in conventional hydrogel-forming MN arrays leads to use of poly(vinyl alcohol)-based MN arrays. Following in vitro permeation studies, in vivo pharmacokinetic studies are conducted in rats with MN patches containing AMX, levodopa/carbidopa (LD/CD), and levofloxacin (LVX). Therapeutically relevant concentrations of AMX (≥2 µg mL-1 ), LD (≥0.5 µg mL-1 ), and LVX (≥0.2 µg mL-1 ) are successfully achieved at 1, 2, and 1 h, respectively. Thus, the use of DCTs offers promise to expand the range of drug molecules that can be delivered transdermally using MN patches.Liver transplantation, the only proven treatment for end-stage liver disease and acute liver failure, is hampered by the scarcity of donors. Regenerative medicine provides an alternative therapeutic approach. Tremendous efforts dedicated to liver regenerative medicine include the delivery of transplantable cells, microtissues, and bioengineered whole livers via tissue engineering and the maintenance of partial liver function via extracorporeal support. This brief review summarizes the current status of regenerative medicine for the hepatobiliary system. For liver regenerative medicine, the focus is on strategies for expansion of transplantable hepatocytes, generation of hepatocyte-like cells, and therapeutic potential of engineered tissues in liver disease models. For biliary regenerative medicine, the discussion concentrates on the methods for generation of cholangiocyte-like cells and strategies in the treatment of biliary disease. Significant advances have been made in large-scale and long-term expansion of liver cells. The development of tissue engineering and stem cell induction technology holds great promise for the future treatment of hepatobiliary diseases. The application of regenerative medicine in liver still lacks extensive animal experiments. Therefore, a large number of preclinical studies are necessary to provide sufficient evidence for their therapeutic effectiveness. Much remains to be done for the treatment of hepatobiliary diseases with regenerative medicine.Whether marked nocturnal blood pressure (BP) reduction is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) is still controversial. In addition, no report has yet discussed the relationship between lower nocturnal BP and CVD, involving modification by nighttime hypoxia. We evaluated 840 patients who had one or more cardiovascular risk factors by measuring their high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (Hs-cTnT), N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro BNP), and nighttime saturation levels and performing ambulatory BP monitoring. The lowest tertile in nighttime diastolic BP (DBP) (≤66 mmHg) had increased likelihood of the presence of ≥0.014 ng/ml of Hs-cTnT compared with the second tertile (odds ratio [OR] 1.91, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-3.63), and the lowest tertile of minimum blood oxygen saturation (≤81%) had increased likelihood of the presence of ≥0.014 ng/ml of Hs-cTnT compared with the third tertile (OR 2.15, 95% CI 1.13-4.10). Additionally, the patients with both lowest tertile of nighttime DBP and minimum SpO2 showed increased likelihood of the presence of ≥0.014 ng/ml of Hs-cTnT compared with those without this combination (OR 2.93, 95% CI 1.40-6.16). On the other hand, these associations were not found in the presence of ≥125 pg/ml of NT-pro BNP. In the clinical population, each of lower nocturnal DBP and nighttime hypoxia was associated with asymptomatic myocardial injury, which was represented as higher Hs-cTnT, and coexisting lower nocturnal DBP and nighttime hypoxia had an additive effect on the risk of myocardial injury.The exostosin (EXT) protein family is involved in diverse human diseases. However, the expression and prognostic value of EXT genes in human lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) is not well understood. In this study, we analyzed the association between expression of EXT1 and EXT2 genes and survival in patients with LUSC using bioinformatics resources such as Oncomine and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases, the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) server and Kaplan-Meier plotter. Furthermore, regulatory microRNAs (miRNAs) were predicted for EXT1 and used to establish a potential miRNA-messenger RNA (mRNA) regulation network for LUSC using the ENCORI platform. We observed that EXT1 and EXT2 expression levels were higher in LUSC than those in normal tissues. However, only EXT1 expression was significantly associated with poor overall survival (OS) in LUSC patients. Functional annotation enrichment analysis showed that genes co-expressed with the EXT1 gene were enriched in biological processes such as cell adhesion and migration, and KEGG pathways such as extracellular matrix receptor interactions, complement and coagulation cascades, and cell death. Furthermore, three miRNAs, hsa-mir-190a-5p, hsa-mir-195-5p, and hsa-mir-490-3p, were identified to be potentially involved in the regulation of EXT1. In summary, we identified EXT1 expression as a novel potential prognostic marker for human LUSC and the regulatory miRNAs that could possibly contribute to the prognosis of the disease.Temporal proximity is an important clue for multisensory integration. Previous evidence indicates that individuals with autism and schizophrenia are more likely to integrate multisensory inputs over a longer temporal binding window (TBW). However, whether such deficits in audiovisual temporal integration extend to subclinical populations with high schizotypal and autistic traits are unclear. Using audiovisual simultaneity judgment (SJ) tasks for nonspeech and speech stimuli, our results suggested that the width of the audiovisual TBW was not significantly correlated with self-reported schizotypal and autistic traits in a group of young adults. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) resting-state activity was also acquired to explore the neural correlates underlying inter-individual variability of TBW width. Across the entire sample, stronger resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between the left superior temporal cortex and the left precuneus, and weaker rsFC between the left cerebellum and the rny was not affected by different levels of autistic and schizotypal traits. We also found that connectivity of some brain regions engaging in multisensory and timing tasks might explain an individual's tendency to bind multisensory information within a wide or narrow time window. Autism Res 2021, 14 668-680. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.Kidney transplantation is the most promising treatment to improve mortality and life quality in end-stage kidney disease; however, cancer remains a leading cause of death. Several factors including immunosuppressants might be associated with a gradual increase in cumulative cancer incidence after kidney transplantation. Risk factors for cancer and overall and cancer-specific survival were analyzed in 1973 kidney transplant recipients from three study institutions in Japan. The 5-, 10-, 20-, and 30-year overall and cancer-specific survival rates were 93.3%, 88.4%, 78.0%, and 63.6% and 99.4%, 98.0%, 95.3%, and 91.7%, respectively. The overall survival rate was significantly higher and the graft survival rate was significantly lower in recipients without cancer than in those with cancer. Older recipient age, longer dialysis duration before kidney transplantation, and history of transfusion were significant predictors of cancer. Dialysis duration before kidney transplantation was a prognostic factor of overall survival rate. Regarding cancer-specific survival rates, older recipient age and dialysis duration before kidney transplantation were prognostic factors of worse cancer-specific survival rates. The type of immunosuppressant was not associated with an increased cancer rate. Aggressiveness of immunosuppressant regimens or potent immunosuppressants might improve graft survival rate while inducing de novo cancer after kidney transplantation. Older age and longer dialysis duration before kidney transplantation were risk factors of cancer-specific survival rate.
Clinical, molecular, and histopathologic features guide treatment for neuroblastoma, but obtaining tumor tissue may cause complications and is subject to sampling error due to tumor heterogeneity. We hypothesized that image-defined risk factors (IDRFs) would reflect molecular features, histopathology, and clinical outcomes in neuroblastoma.
We performed a retrospective cohort study of 76 patients with neuroblastoma or ganglioneuroblastoma. Diagnostic CT scans were reviewed for 20 IDRFs, which were consolidated into five IDRF groups (involvement of multiple body compartments, vascular encasement, tumor infiltration of adjacent organs/structures, airway compression, or intraspinal extension). IDRF groups were analyzed for association with clinical, molecular, and histopathologic features of neuroblastoma.
Patients with more IDRF groups had a higher risk of surgical complications (OR=3.1, p=0.001). Tumor vascular encasement was associated with increased risk of surgical complications (OR=5.40, p=0.009) andl planning and medical management for neuroblastoma patients.
To evaluate the impact of musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) in the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and to investigate factors affecting treatment strategy by the referring rheumatologist.
Prospective study of RA patients evaluated at a MSUS clinic over a 6-month period. Data extraction included demographics, current treatment and MSUS findings. Pre- and post-MSUS follow-up of 3months data were analyzed. Patients were classified into 2 groups based on the decision of the referring rheumatologist to change the treatment after the MSUS examination. Comparisons between groups were performed in a univariate analysis. We used logistic regression models to investigate factors associated with changes in clinical management.
A total of 64 RA patients were included. GO-203 chemical structure Mean age was 61.9years and 83.6% were female. Main referral indication was assessment of disease activity (89%). Overall, MSUS led to subsequent therapeutic actions by the referring rheumatologist in 41 (64.1%) patients, and to a change in the clinical impression of the complaint that generated the referral in 7 (11.5%) patients. The detection of power Doppler (PD), the 28 swollen joint count and the presence of radiographic erosions were significantly associated with a subsequent clinical action. In the multivariate analysis only PD remained significant (odds ratio=3.29; 95% CI 1.05-10.26).
Disease activity evaluation is the most common indication for MSUS examination, with the presence of PD the factor most frequently associated with changes in therapeutic management. This study highlights the impact of MSUS, especially the use of PD, to support treatment decisions in RA routine care.
Disease activity evaluation is the most common indication for MSUS examination, with the presence of PD the factor most frequently associated with changes in therapeutic management. This study highlights the impact of MSUS, especially the use of PD, to support treatment decisions in RA routine care.