Category: Nevin Manimala

Int J Mycobacteriol. 2023 Jan-Mar;12(1):33-37. doi: 10.4103/ijmy.ijmy_236_22.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Periodontitis and coronavirus disease (COVID-19) both exhibit an exaggerated inflammatory response as common traits. Given that periodontal diseases have been linked to respiratory illnesses like pneumonia, it is quite possible that periodontitis and COVID-19 are related. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to ascertain whether the severity of COVID-19 and periodontal disease are related.

METHODS: A retrospective study was done using the 3 years of patients’ medical and dental records in the University Hospital. A telephone interview was employed to estimate the severity of symptoms got through COVID-19 infection. The data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis. The Chi-square test, with statistical significance set at 0.05, was used to determine the relationship between the severity of periodontal disease and the severity of COVID-19.

RESULTS: It was seen that there was a strong relationship between the severities of COVID-19 disease and periodontal disease. The mildest gingivitis cases (63%), Stage 1 periodontitis (62.9%), were associated with the COVID-19-negative group, whereas the most severe gingivitis cases (85.7%), Stage 4 periodontitis group (66.66%), were associated with COVID-19-positive group. In comparison to those without periodontitis, patients with periodontitis had a 1.54 times higher risk of COVID-19 complications (P = 0.048). Patients who had comorbidities were 2.49 times to have COVID-19 complications (P = 0.02).

CONCLUSION: The observations presented above lead to the conclusion that COVID-19 and periodontal disease severities are related. Understanding the potential association between periodontitis and COVID-19 through systemic inflammation could be a means of achieving a high-quality medical care. To validate the findings, additional research with larger samples is required.

PMID:36926760 | DOI:10.4103/ijmy.ijmy_236_22

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2023 Feb 28;11:1153631. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1153631. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

The aim of this work was to analyze and compare the effect of bone morphogenetic protein-7 on biological parameters related to implant osseointegration in an experimental animal model. Sixteen dental implants were placed in the tibias of four randomly selected minipigs for the following dental implant surface treatments: Group A: conventional treatment of the dental implant surface by SLA (n = 8) and Group B: treatment of the dental implant surface with carboxyethylphosphonic acid and bone morphogenetic protein-7 (n = 8). The animals were sacrificed one month after dental implants placement and a histomorphometric study was performed for the evaluation of bone-to-implant contact, corrected bone-to-implant contact, new bone formation, interthread bone density and peri-implant density using Student’s t-test and the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test. The histomorphometric parameters bone-to-implant contact and corrected bone-to-implant contact showed statistically significant differences between the study groups; 34.00% ± 9.92% and 50.02% ± 10.94%, respectively (p = 0.004) for SLA and 43.08% ± 10.76% and 63.30% ± 11.30%, respectively (p = 0.003) for BMP-7. The parameters new bone formation, interthread bone density and peri-implant density did not show statistically significant differences between the study groups (p = 0.951, p = 0.967 and p = 0.894, respectively). Dental implant surfaces treated with carboxyethylphosphonic acid and BMP-7 improve the biological response of dental implants to osseointegration.

PMID:36926685 | PMC:PMC10011441 | DOI:10.3389/fbioe.2023.1153631

Toxicol Rep. 2023 Mar 4;10:367-375. doi: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2023.03.001. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

Smoking increases lipid levels, including triglycerides, leading to increased cardiovascular disease risk. We performed a meta-analysis to quantify the effects of smoking and smoking cessation on triglyceride levels. The PubMed and Scopus databases were searched to identify studies reporting either triglyceride levels in smokers and non-smokers or the effects of smoking cessation on triglyceride levels. Fixed- and random-effects models were used to perform the analyses when three or more studies/comparisons were available. We identified 169 and 21 studies evaluating the effects of smoking and smoking cessation, respectively, on triglyceride levels. Triglyceride levels were 0.50 mmol/L (95% confidence interval: 0.49-0.50 mmol/L) higher in smokers than non-smokers, but the effect differed widely across studies. No statistically significant effect was observed on triglyceride levels between baseline and 6 weeks (mean difference [MD] = 0.02 [-0.09, 0.12] mmol/L), 2 months (MD = 0.03 [-0.21, 0.27] mmol/L), 3 months (MD = 0.08 [-0.03, 0.21] mmol/L), or 1 year (MD = 0.04 [-0.06, 0.14] mmol/L) after quitting. However, a slightly significant decrease in triglyceride levels was observed at 1 month after cessation (MD = -0.15 [-0.15, -0.01] mmol/L). The results of this meta-analysis provide a basis for understanding the effects of smoking and smoking cessation on triglyceride levels, which could have important implications for public health.

PMID:36926662 | PMC:PMC10011683 | DOI:10.1016/j.toxrep.2023.03.001

World J Diabetes. 2023 Feb 15;14(2):110-119. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v14.i2.110.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In recent years, studies have found that the occurrence and development of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is closely related to an increase in polyadenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase-1 (PARP-1) activity. PARP-1 activation could be involved in the pathophysiological process of DCM by promoting oxidative stress, the inflammatory response, apoptosis and myocardial fibrosis.

AIM: To investigate the mechanism of liraglutide in improving myocardial injury in type 2 diabetic rats, further clarified the protective effect of liraglutide on the heart, and provided a new option for the treatment of DCM.

METHODS: Forty healthy male SD rats aged 6 wk were randomly divided into two groups, a normal control group (n = 10) and a model group (n = 30), which were fed an ordinary diet and a high-sugar and high-fat diet, respectively. After successful modeling, the rats in the model group were fed a high-glucose and high-fat diet for 4 wk and randomly divided into a model group and an intervention group (further divided into a high-dose group and a low-dose group). The rats were fed a high-glucose and high-fat diet for 8 wk and then started drug intervention. Blood samples were collected from the abdominal aorta to detect fasting blood glucose and lipid profiles. Intact heart tissue was dissected, and its weight was used to calculate the heart weight index. Haematoxylin and eosin staining was used to observe the pathological changes in the myocardium and the expression of PARP-1 in the heart by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS: The body weight and heart weight index of rats in the model group were significantly increased compared with those in the normal control group, and those in the intervention group were decreased compared with those in the model group, with a more obvious decrease observed in the high-dose group (P < 0.05). In the model group, myocardial fibers were disordered, and inflammatory cells and interstitial fibrosis were observed. The cardiomyopathy of rats in the intervention group was improved to different degrees, the myocardial fibers were arranged neatly, and the myocardial cells were clearly striated; the improvement was more obvious in the high-dose group. Compared with the normal control group, the expression of PARP-1 in myocardial tissue of the model group was increased, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). After liraglutide intervention, compared with the model group, the expression of PARP-1 in myocardial tissue was decreased, and the reduction was more obvious in the high-dose group (P < 0.05) but still higher than that in the normal control group.

CONCLUSION: Liraglutide may improve myocardial injury in type 2 diabetic rats by inhibiting the expression of myocardial PARP-1 in a dose-dependent manner.

PMID:36926657 | PMC:PMC10011895 | DOI:10.4239/wjd.v14.i2.110

J Ginseng Res. 2023 Mar;47(2):246-254. doi: 10.1016/j.jgr.2022.08.003. Epub 2022 Aug 26.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Here, we aimed to assess the inhibitory effect of a new compound from Panax ginseng on the migration of human ovarian cancer cells and tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).

METHODS: A new compound, ginsenglactone A (1), was isolated from ginseng roots, together with seven known compounds (2–8). Spectroscopic data were used to elucidate the chemical structure of 1. The tubular structure formation in HUVECs was assessed by Mayer’s hematoxylin staining. The migration of A2780 cells was evaluated using the scratch wound healing assay.

RESULTS: HUVECs treated with 1 had the statistically significant decrease in tubular structure formation compared to the HUVECs treated with compounds 2–8. This effect was enhanced by co-treatment with inhibitors for phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) (LY294002) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) (U0126). Treatment with 1 decreased the expression of phosphorylation of ERK, PI3K, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor2 (VEGFR2), Akt, and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). In addition, the ability of A2780 cells to cover the scratched area were also decreased. This effect was enhanced by co-treatment with U0126. Lastly, treatment with 1 decreased the phosphorylation of ERK, matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), and MMP-2.

CONCLUSION: These results suggest that ginsenglactone A is a potential inhibitor of HUVEC tubular structure formation and A2780 cellular migration, which may be helpful for understanding its anticancer mechanism.

PMID:36926606 | PMC:PMC10014176 | DOI:10.1016/j.jgr.2022.08.003

JAMIA Open. 2023 Mar 14;6(1):ooad016. doi: 10.1093/jamiaopen/ooad016. eCollection 2023 Apr.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Post-acute sequalae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) is not well defined in pediatrics given its heterogeneity of presentation and severity in this population. The aim of this study is to use novel methods that rely on data mining approaches rather than clinical experience to detect conditions and symptoms associated with pediatric PASC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used a propensity-matched cohort design comparing children identified using the new PASC ICD10CM diagnosis code (U09.9) (N = 1309) to children with (N = 6545) and without (N = 6545) SARS-CoV-2 infection. We used a tree-based scan statistic to identify potential condition clusters co-occurring more frequently in cases than controls.

RESULTS: We found significant enrichment among children with PASC in cardiac, respiratory, neurologic, psychological, endocrine, gastrointestinal, and musculoskeletal systems, the most significant related to circulatory and respiratory such as dyspnea, difficulty breathing, and fatigue and malaise.

DISCUSSION: Our study addresses methodological limitations of prior studies that rely on prespecified clusters of potential PASC-associated diagnoses driven by clinician experience. Future studies are needed to identify patterns of diagnoses and their associations to derive clinical phenotypes.

CONCLUSION: We identified multiple conditions and body systems associated with pediatric PASC. Because we rely on a data-driven approach, several new or under-reported conditions and symptoms were detected that warrant further investigation.

PMID:36926600 | PMC:PMC10013630 | DOI:10.1093/jamiaopen/ooad016

Curr Res Neurobiol. 2023 Mar 1;4:100080. doi: 10.1016/j.crneur.2023.100080. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

Statistical learning (SL) is an innate mechanism by which the brain automatically encodes the n-th order transition probability (TP) of a sequence and grasps the uncertainty of the TP distribution. Through SL, the brain predicts a subsequent event (e _n+1 ) based on the preceding events (e _n ) that have a length of “n”. It is now known that uncertainty modulates prediction in top-down processing by the human predictive brain. However, the manner in which the human brain modulates the order of SL strategies based on the degree of uncertainty remains an open question. The present study examined how uncertainty modulates the neural effects of SL and whether differences in uncertainty alter the order of SL strategies. It used auditory sequences in which the uncertainty of sequential information is manipulated based on the conditional entropy. Three sequences with different TP ratios of 90:10, 80:20, and 67:33 were prepared as low-, intermediate, and high-uncertainty sequences, respectively (conditional entropy: 0.47, 0.72, and 0.92 bit, respectively). Neural responses were recorded when the participants listened to the three sequences. The results showed that stimuli with lower TPs elicited a stronger neural response than those with higher TPs, as demonstrated by a number of previous studies. Furthermore, we found that participants adopted higher-order SL strategies in the high uncertainty sequence. These results may indicate that the human brain has an ability to flexibly alter the order based on the uncertainty. This uncertainty may be an important factor that determines the order of SL strategies. Particularly, considering that a higher-order SL strategy mathematically allows the reduction of uncertainty in information, we assumed that the brain may take higher-order SL strategies when encountering high uncertain information in order to reduce the uncertainty. The present study may shed new light on understanding individual differences in SL performance across different uncertain situations.

PMID:36926596 | PMC:PMC10011828 | DOI:10.1016/j.crneur.2023.100080

Front Netw Physiol. 2023 Feb 6;3:1125023. doi: 10.3389/fnetp.2023.1125023. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

The approach introduced by Network Physiology intends to find and quantify connectedness between close- and far related aspects of a person’s Physiome. In this study I applied a Network-inspired analysis to a set of measurement data that had been assembled to detect prospective orthostatic intolerant subjects among people who were destined to go into Space for a two weeks mission. The advantage of this approach being that it is essentially model-free: no complex physiological model is required to interpret the data. This type of analysis is essentially applicable to many datasets where individuals must be found that “stand out from the crowd”. The dataset consists of physiological variables measured in 22 participants (4f/18 m; 12 prospective astronauts/cosmonauts, 10 healthy controls), in supine, + 30° and + 70° upright tilted positions. Steady state values of finger blood pressure and derived thereof: mean arterial pressure, heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output, systemic vascular resistance; middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity and end-tidal pCO2 in tilted position were (%)-normalized for each participant to the supine position. This yielded averaged responses for each variable, with statistical spread. All variables i.e., the “average person’s response” and a set of %-values defining each participant are presented as radar plots to make each ensemble transparent. Multivariate analysis for all values resulted in obvious dependencies and some unexpected ones. Most interesting is how individual participants maintained their blood pressure and brain blood flow. In fact, 13/22 participants had all normalized Δ-values (i.e., the deviation from the group average, normalized for the standard deviation), both for +30° and +70°, within the 95% range. The remaining group demonstrated miscellaneous response patterns, with one or more larger Δ-values, however of no consequence for orthostasis. The values from one prospective cosmonaut stood out as suspect. However, early morning standing blood pressure within 12 h after return to Earth (without volume repletion) demonstrated no syncope. This study demonstrates an integrative way to model-free assess a large dataset, applying multivariate analysis and common sense derived from textbook physiology.

PMID:36926547 | PMC:PMC10012999 | DOI:10.3389/fnetp.2023.1125023

N Am Spine Soc J. 2023 Jan 29;14:100201. doi: 10.1016/j.xnsj.2023.100201. eCollection 2023 Jun.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Strong innervation of the vertebral endplates by the basivertebral nerve makes it an ideal target for ablation in the treatment of vertebrogenic low back pain with Modic changes. This data represents the clinical outcomes for 16 consecutively treated patients in a community practice setting.

METHODS: Basivertebral nerve ablations were performed on 16 consecutive patients by a single surgeon (WS) utilizing the INTRACEPT® device (Relievant Medsystems, Inc.). Evaluations were performed at baseline, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months. The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and SF-36 were recorded in Medrio electronic data capture software. All patients (n = 16) completed the baseline, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months follow-up.

RESULTS: The ODI, VAS, and SF-36 Pain Component Summary showed statistically significant improvements above minimal clinically important differences at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months (all p values <0.05). Change in ODI pain impact declined 13.1 points [95% CI: 0.01,27.2] at one month from baseline, 16.5 points [95% CI: 2.5,30.6] at three months from baseline, and 21.1 points [95% CI: 7.0,35.2] six-months from baseline. SF-36 Mental Component Summary also showed some improvements, but with significance only at 3 months (p = 0.0091).

CONCLUSIONS: Basivertebral nerve ablation appears to be a durable, minimally invasive treatment for the relief of chronic low back pain that can be successfully implemented in a community practice setting. To our knowledge, this is the first independently funded US study on basivertebral nerve ablation.

PMID:36926532 | PMC:PMC10011817 | DOI:10.1016/j.xnsj.2023.100201

Front Immunol. 2023 Feb 28;13:1110992. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1110992. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: WBP216 is a novel human immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) monoclonal antibody for interleukin (IL)-6. We aimed to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK), and pharmacodynamics (PD) of a single ascending dose (SAD) of WBP216 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

METHODS: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, SAD, phase Ia study, patients with RA were randomized in a 3:1 (Group A1, 10 mg) and 6:2 (Group A2, 30 mg; Group A3, 75 mg; Group A4, 150 mg; Group A5, 300 mg) ratios to receive either ascending doses of WBP216 or placebo subcutaneously. The primary endpoint was the incidence of adverse events (AEs), while the secondary endpoints were characterization of PK, PD, and immunogenicity of WBP216 and the exploratory endpoints included improvements in RA clinical metrics. All statistical analyses were performed using SAS^® version 9.2.

RESULTS: A total of 41 subjects (34 females and 7 males) were enrolled in the study. WBP216 was well tolerated in all doses (10-300 mg). Most treatment-emergent AEs (TEAEs; 97.6%) were of grade 1 severity and resolved without any treatment. No subjects experienced TEAEs leading to withdrawal or death during the study. An increase in serum concentration and total IL-6 from baseline was observed, while a substantial decrease in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was observed in all the WBP216 groups. Anti-drug antibodies were detected in only one subject after dosing, indicating an acceptable immunogenicity profile. Limited ACR20 and ACR50 response was observed in the WBP216 groups and no response in the placebo group.

CONCLUSION: WBP216 demonstrated a good safety profile and evidence of potential efficacy in the treatment of patients with RA.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: http://www.chinadrugtrials.org.cn/clinicaltrials.searchlistdetail.dhtml, identifier CTR20170306.

PMID:36926529 | PMC:PMC10011485 | DOI:10.3389/fimmu.2022.1110992