Sommermarcussen2665
Preclinical and clinical findings suggest sexual dimorphism in cardiotoxicity induced by a chemotherapeutic drug, doxorubicin (DOX). However, molecular alterations leading to sex-related differential vulnerability of heart to DOX toxicity are not fully explored. In the present study, RNA sequencing in hearts of B6C3F1 mice indicated more differentially expressed genes in males than females (224 vs. 19; ≥1.5-fold, False Discovery Rate [FDR] less then 0.05) at 1 week after receiving 24 mg/kg total cumulative DOX dose that induced cardiac lesions only in males. Pathway analysis further revealed probable inactivation of cardiac apelin fibroblast signaling pathway (p = 0.00004) only in DOX-treated male mice that showed ≥1.25-fold downregulation in the transcript and protein levels of the apelin receptor, APJ. In hearts of DOX-treated females, the transcript levels of apelin (1.24-fold) and APJ (1.47-fold) were significantly (p less then 0.05) increased compared to saline-treated controls. 10074-G5 Myc inhibitor Sex-related differential DOX effect was also observed on molecular targets downstream of the apelin-APJ pathway in cardiac fibroblasts and cardiomyocytes. In cardiac fibroblasts, upregulation of Tgf-β2, Ctgf, Sphk1, Serpine1, and Timp1 (fibrosis; FDR less then 0.05) in DOX-treated males and upregulation of only Tgf-β2 and Timp1 (p less then 0.05) in females suggested a greater DOX toxicity in hearts of males than females. Additionally, Ryr2 and Serca2 (calcium handling; FDR less then 0.05) were downregulated in conjunction with 1.35-fold upregulation of Casp12 (sarcoplasmic reticulum-mediated apoptosis; FDR less then 0.05) in DOX-treated male mice. Drug effect on the transcript level of these genes was less severe in female hearts. Collectively, these data suggest a likely role of the apelin-APJ axis in sex-related differential DOX-induced cardiotoxicity in our mouse model.
To review and summarize the literature published between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2022, on the prevalence, risk factors and impact of depression in transplant population.
Depression is common in transplantation candidates and recipients, with a prevalence up to 85.8% in kidney recipients. Multiple studies have indicated after transplantation depression correlates with increased mortality and with higher healthcare utilization. Social risk factors for posttransplant depression include financial difficulties and unemployment, while less is understood about the biological substrate of depression in this population. There is evidence that dynamic psychotherapy is effective for depression in organ transplant recipients, while cognitive behavioral therapy or supportive therapy did not lead to improvement of depression in transplant recipients. For living organ donors, the rates of depression are similar to the general population, with financial factors and the clinical status of the recipient playing a significant role.
Depression is a common finding in transplant population. More research is needed to understand the biological substrate and risk factors and to develop effective treatment interventions.
Depression is a common finding in transplant population. More research is needed to understand the biological substrate and risk factors and to develop effective treatment interventions.
Unmet needs for contraception constitute a major public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Several mechanisms have been tested to reduce the financial barrier and facilitate access to family planning services, with inconclusive results. Based on the positive impacts following the introduction of free health care for pregnant women, Burkina Faso decided to extend its national policy and abolished direct payment for family planning services. This study aims to evaluate the impact of this policy on contraceptive use and unmet needs for contraception among women of reproductive age (WRA) in Burkina Faso.
This study uses two different study designs to examine the impact of a user fee removal policy on contraceptive use across a panel of 1400 households randomly selected across eight health districts. Data were collected using a standardized socio-demographic questionnaire at three different time points during the pilot and scale-up phases of the fee abolition program. The questionnaire was administered six mpact on the overall population.
Removing user fees for family planning services is a promising strategy to increase access to, and reduce unmet needs for, contraception. A broader dissemination of the policy's existence will likely increase its impact on the overall population.ABSTRACTA wave of Omicron infections rapidly emerged in China in 2022, but large-scale data concerning the safety profile of vaccines and Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection features in liver transplant (LT) recipients have not been collected. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the protectiveness and safety profile of the inactivated vaccines in LT patients against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant infections. A multi-centre retrospective study was conducted in a cohort with a history of liver transplantation. A total of 1881 participants (487 vaccinated and 1394 unvaccinated patients) were enrolled from seven centres in China. Fourteen of the participants were infected by Omicron, and 50% patients had over 14 days of viral shedding duration. The protection rate of COVID-19 vaccinations to Omicron was 2.59%. The three breakthrough infections occurred more than 6 months after fully vaccinated. A total of 96 (19.7%) vaccinated patients had adverse events, including fatigue, myalgia, liver dysfunction, swelling, and scleroma. There were more Grade 3 adverse events in the preoperative vaccination group than those in the postoperative vaccination group. Inactivated whole-virion SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are safe in patients with post-liver transplantation. The efficacy of inactivated vaccines decreases after 6 months of vaccination, it is recommended that liver transplant patients get boosted vaccinations as early as possible even when they are fully vaccinated. Although clinical manifestations of Omicron infections were mild in LT patients, unvaccinated patients might have a higher risk of liver dysfunction during infections.As an emerging two-dimensional nanomaterial with promising prospects, mono- or few-layer black phosphorus (BP) is potentially toxic to humans. We investigated the effects of two types of BPs on adult male mice through intratracheal instillation. Using the flow cytometry method, the generation, migration, and recruitment of immune cells in different organs have been characterized on days 1, 7, 14, and 21 post-exposure. Compared with small BP (S-BP, lateral size at ∼188 nm), large BP (L-BP, lateral size at ∼326 nm) induced a stronger stress lymphopoiesis and B cell infiltration into the alveolar sac. More importantly, L-BP dramatically increased peripheral neutrophil (NE) counts up to 1.9-fold on day 21 post-exposure. Decreased expression of the CXCR4 on NEs, an important regulator of NE retention in the bone marrow, explained the increased NE release into the circulation induced by L-BP. Therefore, BP triggers systemic inflammation via the disruption of both the generation and migration of inflammatory immune cells.
The purpose of the article is to analyze how physicians and nurses, as the two major health care professions, experience psychological empowerment for managerial work.
The study was designed as a qualitative interview study at four primary care centers (PCCs) in Sweden. In total, 47 interviews were conducted, mainly with physicians and nurses. The first inductive analysis led us to the concept of psychological empowerment, which was used in the next deductive step of the analysis.
The study showed that both professions experienced self-determination for managerial work, but that nurses were more dependent on structural empowerment. Nurses experienced that they had competence for managerial work, whereas physicians were more ignorant of such competence. Nurses used managerial work to create impact on the conditions for their clinical work, whereas physicians experienced impact independently. Both nurses and physicians experienced managerial work as meaningful, but less meaningful than nurses and physiciah physicians and nurses experienced that managerial work was less meaningful than clinical work. This implies that psychological empowerment for managerial work may only make a difference if psychological empowerment does not compete with physicians' and nurses' clinical work.Primary culture and long-term maintenance of primary retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is a useful model system for the study of ocular pathologies such as age-related macular degeneration. Here, we detail the steps for the isolation and long-term culture of primary porcine RPE. We also describe steps for cryoprotecting, cryosectioning, and interrogating with immunofluorescence and histochemistry RPE cells grown on transwell membranes. These techniques can be used in histological studies to detect sub-RPE deposits. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Pilgrim et al., (2017).Precisely measuring the number and somatic volume of neurons in the central nervous system at single-cell resolution is technically challenging. Here, we combine multiple techniques to address this challenge in optically cleared mouse spinal cords. We describe in vivo neuron labeling approaches, tissue-clearing technology, light sheet fluorescence microscopy, and machine learning-guided imaging analysis. This combination provides a precise determination of the cell number and somatic volume of any neuron population in the spinal cords.We provide protocols for the social transfer of pain and analgesia in mice. We describe the steps to induce pain or analgesia (pain relief) in bystander mice with a 1-h social interaction with a partner injected with CFA (complete Freund's adjuvant) or CFA and morphine, respectively. We detail behavioral tests to assess pain or analgesia in the untreated bystander mice. This protocol has been validated in mice and rats and can be used for investigating mechanisms of empathy. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Smith et al. (2021).
In Belgium, no publicly available information exists on the spread, quality, results nor follow-up of antireflux and hiatal hernia surgery, in contrast to the recently centralized esophageal cancer surgery. The aim of this study was to create a snap shot of the current practice in Belgium.
An online questionnaire was distributed among all members of the Royal Belgian Society for Surgery in autumn 2021. A total of 33 questions spread over four sections were asked, covering demographics, current practice (case load, case mix, indications, preoperative workup, patient information, average length of stay, follow up, quality of life (QOL)), operative techniques and future thoughts.
Twenty-four surgeons completed the questionnaire. Surgical indications are discussed multidisciplinary and based on guidelines in 67%. Workup includes endoscopy, pH-monitoring and manometry in 100%. Barium swallow, impedance and gastric emptying tests were added in respectively 83%, 42% and 13%. Symptom or QOL scores were used in 17%.
