Nevin Manimala

Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2025 Jan 21;18:279-290. doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S502132. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The effect of the diurnal temperature range (DTR) on human health in diverse geographic areas and the potential confounding factors are not fully understood. Additionally, while a robust association has been reported between temperature and cardiomyopathy (CM), evidence of the impact of DTR is relatively limited. Here, we determined whether an association exists between DTR and CM hospitalisations in vulnerable populations.

METHODS: CM admission data (2016-2021) were collected from seven tertiary hospitals in Henan.We used a GAM combined with a distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) to investigate the delayed effects of DTR on daily hospitalisations for CM.Stratified analysis was performed in subgroups according to sex, age, and season. Attributable fractions (AF) and attributable numbers (AN) were employed to illustrate the disease burden and investigate the association between temperature and DTR.

RESULTS: Overall, 5,757 CM cases were identified. DTR and CM admissions exhibited a non-linear correlation. High DTR (P95: 15.5 °C) and low DTR (P05: 3 °C) increased CM admission risk, with low DTR having a stronger effect. Males and warm seasons were significantly more susceptible to DTR, and low DTR affected youth and adults more than older adults. AF and AN of low DTR on CM admissions were 51% and 2,936, respectively.

CONCLUSION: Our results revealed a significant association between DTR and CM hospitalisations, providing valuable insights for the development targeted prevention and control measures.

PMID:39867988 | PMC:PMC11761851 | DOI:10.2147/RMHP.S502132

Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2025 Jan 22;18:207-221. doi: 10.2147/CCID.S501140. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The aim was to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of LED light therapy combined with photoacceptor substances having anti-acne properties in reducing the symptoms of acne vulgaris.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: 15 subjects aged 20 to 24 who suffered from moderate or severe acne lesions. The treatments were performed using a LED device (465-880 nm). Blue light – 465 nm in combination with red light – 640 nm in pulsed mode and near-infrared light – 880 nm were used in the treatments. Each patient underwent 6 treatments, with intervals between treatments of 7 days. 3D images and biomechanical measurements were performed before first and fourth treatments and 6 weeks after the last. Additionally, photographic documentation was made 7 days after the 6th treatment.

RESULTS: The series of treatments significantly influenced the clinical condition of the patients’ skin. The treatments had a statistically significant impact on the intensity of erythema on the left and right cheeks. The hydration of the stratum corneum in all the examined areas of the face changed significantly after the treatments. Greater hydration was achieved six weeks after six treatments compared to the values obtained prior to treatment and after three treatments. The activity of sebaceous glands and, consequently, the amount of sebum on the epidermal surface in all the examined areas of the face changed significantly after the treatments. The treatments had a statistically significant impact on the volume of atrophic scars.

CONCLUSION: Therapy combining LED light with photoacceptor substances is an effective method of reducing the symptoms of acne vulgaris. The treatments lead to a significant reduction in erythema, reduction in the volume of atrophic scars, improvement of skin hydration and regulation of sebum secretion. These effects can be identified quantitatively. Further studies are necessary to confirm the long-term effectiveness and safety of this method.

PMID:39867974 | PMC:PMC11766709 | DOI:10.2147/CCID.S501140

Front Med (Lausanne). 2025 Jan 10;11:1492407. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1492407. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The objective of this study is to investigate the clinical efficacy of sequentially comprehensive treatment based on surgery and to furnish clinical evidence for the management of keloids.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: The patients with keloids were retrospectively analyzed who underwent surgery-based sequentially comprehensive treatment at the Plastic Surgery Department of Shandong Provincial Hospital from January 2018 to August 2021. The recurrence rate and incidence of adverse reactions were explored for all the included patients. For patients who were followed up for more than 1 year, the clinical response rate was calculated, and the chi-square test was used to analyze which factors could influence clinical effectiveness. Binary logistic analysis was performed on the factors with statistical differences. For patients with a follow-up time of less than 1-year, paired t-test was used to evaluate their Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) before and after treatment.

RESULTS: A total of 67 patients with 80 keloids were included. The clinical response rate was 81.5% (44/54), the recurrence rate was 15.0% (12/80) and the adverse reaction rate was 4.5% (3/67). The clinical response rate of tumor-type keloids (95.8%) was higher than that of inflammatory-type (70.0%) with a significant difference (P = 0.040). After treatment, the color, blood vessel distribution, softness, thickness, and VSS score were all decreased, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: The sequentially comprehensive treatment based on surgery has a significant curative effect, as well as a low recurrence rate and a low adverse effect rate. The type of keloid has a statistically significant effect on clinical efficacy, and tumor-type keloids are more suitable for sequentially comprehensive treatment based on surgery.

PMID:39867931 | PMC:PMC11757127 | DOI:10.3389/fmed.2024.1492407

Front Med (Lausanne). 2025 Jan 10;11:1510376. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1510376. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is becoming more resistant to antibiotics, and the implementation of individualized therapy is highly valuable for its eradication. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of individualized treatment guided by antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) with a 10-day or 14-day course for the eradication of H. pylori.

METHODS: This was a prospective, open-label, single-center, quasi-randomized trial in which 220 participants were randomized into groups based on AST results as AST-10-day (n = 98) and AST-14-day (n = 112) treatment groups. All participants were retested for a 14-carbon urease breath test at weeks 4-8 after the end of the treatment.

RESULTS: The primary resistance rates of H. pylori to metronidazole, levofloxacin, clarithromycin, and amoxicillin were 94.1% (207/220), 42.7% (95/220), 41.4% (91/220), and 0.9% (2/220), respectively; however, no resistance to furazolidone and tetracycline was observed. In the AST-10-day and AST-14-day groups, the intention-to-treat (ITT) eradication rates were 89.8% (88/98) and 90.2% (110/122), respectively, with no statistically significant difference (p = 0.928). The per-protocol (PP) eradication rates were 92.6% (88/95) and 98.2% (110/112), respectively, with a statistically significant difference (p = 0.049). The incidence rates of adverse events (AEs) in the AST-10-day and AST-14-day groups were 6.3% (6/95) and 7.2% (8/112), respectively, with no statistically significant difference (p = 0.813). No statistically significant difference was observed in compliance between the two groups (p = 0.467).

CONCLUSION: Both 10-day and 14-day AST guided individualized therapy can achieve satisfactory eradication effect. Compared with the 14-day regimen, the 10-day regimen has similar eradication rate and incidence of adverse events and compliance but shorter duration and lower cost.

PMID:39867921 | PMC:PMC11757245 | DOI:10.3389/fmed.2024.1510376

OTO Open. 2025 Jan 26;9(1):e70080. doi: 10.1002/oto2.70080. eCollection 2025 Jan-Mar.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the clinical efficacy of electro-pneumatic intracorporeal lithotripsy for the treatment of salivary gland stones.

STUDY DESIGN: A prospective cohort study of patients diagnosed with obstructive salivary gland syndrome, where basket-assisted sialendoscopy alone failed to remove the calculi.

SETTING: This study was conducted at the “Queen Maria” Military Hospital in Brașov, Romania, and a private practice, between February 2023 and May 2024.

METHODS: A total of 29 patients with salivary calculi were treated using the SialoLither device (Hidromed), which operates on the electro-pneumatic principle. The number of sessions required for complete stone removal, the duration of each session, and the number of ballistic impulses applied were recorded. Statistical analyses, including the Mann-Whitney U test and multiple linear regression, were conducted to assess the relationship between stone size, location, and treatment outcomes.

RESULTS: Complete removal was achieved in 72.4% of patients after a single session, with 100% success after 3 sessions. The average number of impulses was 13.9 (±4.25), with no significant difference in outcomes between the parotid and submandibular glands (P > .05). The total duration varied, with a mean time of 89.97 (±54.89) minutes. Complications were minimal, with only 2 cases of minor epithelial damage.

CONCLUSION: Electro-pneumatic intracorporeal lithotripsy is a highly effective, minimally invasive technique for managing salivary calculi, offering a safe and efficient alternative to traditional surgical methods.

PMID:39867918 | PMC:PMC11764989 | DOI:10.1002/oto2.70080

Front Immunol. 2025 Jan 10;15:1494476. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1494476. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Macrophages exhibit marked phenotypic heterogeneity within and across disease states, with lipid metabolic reprogramming contributing to macrophage activation and heterogeneity. Chronic inflammation has been observed in human benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) tissues, however macrophage activation states and their contributions to this hyperplastic disease have not been defined. We postulated that a shift in macrophage phenotypes with increasing prostate size could involve metabolic alterations resulting in prostatic epithelial or stromal hyperplasia.

METHODS: Single-cell RNA-seq of CD45⁺ transition zone leukocytes from 10 large (>90 grams) and 10 small (<40 grams) human prostates was conducted. Macrophage subpopulations were defined using marker genes and evaluated by flow cytometry.

RESULTS: BPH macrophages do not distinctly categorize into M1 and M2 phenotypes. Instead, macrophages with neither polarization signature preferentially accumulate in large versus small prostates. Specifically, macrophage subpopulations with altered lipid metabolism pathways, demarcated by TREM2 and MARCO expression, accumulate with increased prostate volume. TREM2 ^high and MARCO ^high macrophage abundance positively correlates with patient body mass index and urinary symptom scores. TREM2^high macrophages have a statistically significant increase in neutral lipid compared to TREM2^low macrophages from BPH tissues. Lipid-rich macrophages were observed to localize within the stroma in BPH tissues. In vitro studies indicate that lipid-loaded macrophages increase prostate epithelial and stromal cell proliferation compared to control macrophages.

DISCUSSION: These data define two new BPH immune subpopulations, TREM2^high and MARCO^high macrophages, and suggest that lipid-rich macrophages may exacerbate lower urinary tract symptoms in patients with large prostates. Further investigation is needed to evaluate the therapeutic benefit of targeting these cells in BPH.

PMID:39867899 | PMC:PMC11757139 | DOI:10.3389/fimmu.2024.1494476

Front Immunol. 2025 Jan 10;15:1509534. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1509534. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Brucellosis is a widespread zoonotic disease that poses a considerable challenge to global public health. Existing diagnostic methods for this condition, such as serological assays and bacterial culture, encounter difficulties due to their limited specificity and high operational complexity. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of enhanced diagnostic approaches for brucellosis.

METHODS: Tandem mass tag (TMT) proteomic analysis was conducted on the wild-type strain Brucella abortus (B. abortus) DT21 and the vaccine strain B. abortus A19 to identify proteins with high expression levels. The proteins that exhibited high expression in the wild-type strain were selected based on the proteomic results. Subsequently, B-cell linear epitopes were predicted using multiple computational tools, including ABCpred, SVMTriP, BCPred, and Bepipred Linear Epitope Prediction 2.0. These epitopes were concatenated to construct a multiepitope fusion protein. Following prokaryotic expression and purification, an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA) was developed. A total of 100 positive serum samples, 96 negative serum samples, and 40 serum samples from patients infected with other pathogens were collected and analyzed using the established iELISA. Furthermore, the protein was assessed for its capability to differentiate human brucellosis from lipopolysaccharide (LPS).

RESULTS: Proteomic analysis revealed the presence of 152 proteins with high expression levels in the wild-type strains. A multiepitope fusion protein, comprising a total of 32 predicted B-cell linear epitopes, was successfully prepared. The results from the iELISA indicated that the multiepitope fusion protein exhibited exceptional diagnostic performance, evidenced by an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.9576, a sensitivity of 0.9300, and a specificity of 0.8542. In comparison to the commonly utilized LPS antigen, the fusion protein demonstrated a reduced level of cross-reactivity.

CONCLUSIONS: A novel multiepitope fusion protein has been successfully developed utilizing bioinformatics and TMT proteomics technology. This fusion protein demonstrates significant potential as a diagnostic antigen for brucellosis, exhibiting high sensitivity and specificity.

PMID:39867886 | PMC:PMC11757136 | DOI:10.3389/fimmu.2024.1509534

Brain Behav Immun Health. 2024 Dec 28;43:100939. doi: 10.1016/j.bbih.2024.100939. eCollection 2025 Feb.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Up to 50% of individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience depression. Depression has been accompanied by increases in inflammatory proteins. This meta-analysis summarized the data on inflammatory protein concentrations and level of depression in individuals with MS.

METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis of studies measuring inflammatory protein concentrations and level of depression in individuals with MS with a database search of the English literature (to October 2024) and a manual search of references. Quality of evidence was also assessed.

RESULTS: Fifteen studies involving measurements of inflammatory proteins and level of depression in 1102 individuals with MS were included in the meta-analysis: five for interleukin (IL)-10 (LPS and PHA), four for tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, four for interferon (IFN)-γ, and four for IL-6 (LPS and PHA). A meta-analysis showed that higher concentrations of TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-6 and IL-10 were significantly associated with higher levels of depression in individuals with MS (r = 0.35, 95% CI [0.6,0.03], p = .015. Meta-analyses undertaken for individual inflammatory proteins of IFN-γ and IL-10 found positive associations between these proteins and level of depression although these did not reach statistical significance. Most studies were rated ‘poor quality’.

CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis reports significant associations between higher concentrations of TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-6 and IL-10 and level of depresson in individuals with MS. Future longitudinal studies with improved reporting of data are needed to replicate these results and confirm the mechanisms through which these inflammatory proteins are present. Meta-analytic findings lend support to depression being associated with the activation of the inflammatory system in individuals with MS.

PMID:39867847 | PMC:PMC11758135 | DOI:10.1016/j.bbih.2024.100939

Int J Public Health. 2025 Jan 10;69:1607669. doi: 10.3389/ijph.2024.1607669. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Research questions about how and why health trends differ between populations require decisions about data analytic procedure. The objective was to document and compare the information returned from stratified, fixed effect and random effect approaches to data modelling for two prototypical descriptive research questions about comparative trends in toothbrushing.

METHODS: Data included five cycles of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children 2006 to 2022, which provided a sample of 980192 11- to 15- year olds from 35 countries. Using logistic regression models and generalized linear mixed models, toothbrushing daily was regressed on time, following the three approaches to analysis of trends.

RESULTS: The stratified approach suggested a positive but non-linear trend in toothbrushing from 2006 to 2022 in most countries but provided no statistical inference on the variation. The fixed effect and the random effect approach converged on a positive but flattening overall trend, with a statistically significant country variation in trends.

CONCLUSION: Only the fixed effect approach and the random effects approach provided clear answers to the research question. Additional methodological considerations for making an informed choice of analytical approach are discussed.

PMID:39867841 | PMC:PMC11757018 | DOI:10.3389/ijph.2024.1607669

Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2025 Jan 8;50:101208. doi: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2024.101208. eCollection 2025 Mar.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption has been linked with higher risk of mortality. This multi-centre study investigated associations between food intake by degree of processing, using the Nova classification, and all-cause and cause-specific mortality.

METHODS: This study analyzed data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. All-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality due to cancer, circulatory diseases, digestive diseases, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease served as endpoints. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs were estimated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models. Substitution analyses were also performed.

FINDINGS: Overall, 428,728 (71.7% female) participants were included in the analysis and 40,016 deaths were documented after 15.9 years of follow-up. UPFs (in percentage grams per day [g/d]) were positively associated with all-cause mortality (HRs per 1-SD: 1.04; 95% CI: 1.02,1.05), as well as mortality from circulatory diseases (1.09; 95% CI: 1.07,1.12), cerebrovascular disease (1.11; 95% CI: 1.05,1.17), ischemic heart disease (1.10; 95% CI: 1.06,1.15), digestive diseases (1.12; 95% CI: 1.05,1.20), and Parkinson’s disease (1.23; 95% CI: 1.06,1.42). No associations were found between UPFs and mortality from cancer or Alzheimer’s disease. Replacing processed and UPFs with unprocessed/minimally processed foods was associated with lower mortality risk.

INTERPRETATION: In this pan-European analysis, higher UPF consumption was associated with greater mortality from circulatory diseases, digestive diseases, and Parkinson’s disease. The results support growing evidence that higher consumption of UPFs and lower consumption of unprocessed foods may have a negative impact on health.

FUNDING: l’Institut National du Cancer, and World Cancer Research Fund International.

PMID:39867840 | PMC:PMC11764076 | DOI:10.1016/j.lanepe.2024.101208