Nevin Manimala

Audiol Neurootol. 2022 Mar 1:1-9. doi: 10.1159/000522051. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to study the effect of steroid treatment on new-onset sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in subjects presenting shortly after an audiometry-confirmed acute acoustic trauma (AAT) injury.

STUDY DESIGN: This is a case-control study.

METHODS: We identified healthy military personnel who presented with AAT injury to the Israeli Defense Forces Medical Corps Otolaryngology/Audiology Services during 2016-2020. Patients were nonrandomly allocated to a treatment arm, where they received steroids (prednisone, 1 mg/kg, 60 mg maximal daily dose), administered for either ≥7 days or <7 days, or to a control arm, in which no treatment was offered besides loud noise avoidance. Audiometries were conducted within 7 days following the AAT and within 1 month later. We compared changes in bone conduction (BC) and air conduction (AC) thresholds at 2-8 kHz.

RESULTS: Of the 263 enrolled subjects, 137 (52%) received steroids and 126 (48%) received no treatment. Subjects who were treated early (<24 h) with high-dose steroids and for ≥7 days demonstrated significantly better hearing outcomes, compared with the nontreatment group. Subjects in the steroids group demonstrated 13-14 dB average improvement in BC thresholds at 3 and 4 kHz (p = 0.001) and additional 7-8 dB average improvement in AC thresholds at 6 and 8 kHz, compared with the nontreatment group (p < 0.0001). These observations were more compelling in patients who initially presented with worse hearing losses (>35 dB). No statistically significant differences were observed in AC/BC pure tone average between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Early oral steroids are recommended in AAT injuries and were shown to improve hearing outcomes within 1 month.

PMID:35231916 | DOI:10.1159/000522051

J Trace Elem Med Biol. 2022 Feb 22;71:126961. doi: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2022.126961. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Elemental profiling is a tool that has been proposed to improve the traceability of seafood products. Small sources of variation can affect the outcome of elemental profiling and therefore pose to lower the overall accuracy of analyses. Here, we investigate two potential sources of variation through three experiments: laboratory variation (intra-, interlaboratory variation, and tissue matrix) and tissue variation.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Samples of whitleleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) were obtained from 20 farms in Ecuador and two farms in Alabama to be analyzed. In the first experiment of the study, samples from Ecuador were analyzed at three different laboratories and compared. Two out of the five elements reported were statistically different across the three laboratories (Cu and Se). In the second experiment, the effect of tissue matrix (ground vs whole tissue during acid digestion) was investigated. Altogether, five out of 29 elements analyzed were statistically different. In the third experiment, samples from two farms in Alabama were analyzed to understand the variation in element concentrations in different tissues (head on shell on (HOSO), headless shell on (HLSO), headless peeled (PLD) and headless peeled and deveined (PLDV)). Elemental concentrations varied across tissues, and patterns in elemental concentrations were site specific. The samples from the two farms were analyzed with a Random Forest classification model to site x tissue groupings with 94% accuracy.

CONCLUSION: The result of this study highlights the following: 1. Consistency in laboratory analysis important in studies that involve element concentrations, as minor differences in methodology can propagate as significant differences in results. 2. In shrimp, elements are compartmentalized in different tissues and elemental profiling should consistently use the same type of tissue.

PMID:35231879 | DOI:10.1016/j.jtemb.2022.126961

Psychiatry Res. 2022 Feb 20;310:114469. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114469. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between childhood trauma and clinical correlates in bipolar depression.

METHODS: A total of 61 bipolar depression patients were enrolled and assessed based on the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), Patient Health Questionaire-15 (PHQ-15), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) systems.

RESULTS: The age of onset in bipolar depression patients with either trauma or abuse or neglect was significantly lower than in patients without these factors. There were statistically significant negative correlations between the age of onset and the number of different trauma types in bipolar depression patients. Multiple variable regression showed a significant association between the number of trauma types and the age of onset. Furthermore, there was a significant negative correlation between the age of onset with CTQ-SF total score (CTS), emotional abuse score and emotional neglect score, and physical neglect score. However, multiple variable regression analysis revealed that there was a significant association between emotional abuse score and the age of onset of bipolar depression patients.

CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that childhood trauma may be associated with physical symptoms and the age of onset in bipolar depression patients.

PMID:35231875 | DOI:10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114469

Am J Emerg Med. 2022 Feb 20;55:6-10. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2022.02.023. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Gender disparities continue to exist in emergency medicine (EM) despite increasing percentages of women in medical school and residencies. Prior studies in other male dominated industries have shown using masculine or feminine-coded language in job advertisements affects the proportion of male versus female applicants who choose to apply for those jobs. The goal of this study was to determine if gender-coding exists in EM job advertisements, and to see if there were differences between academic vs. non-academic jobs or administrative vs. non-administrative jobs.

METHODS: This was a cross sectional study of EM jobs advertised in the United States on 13 academic and non-academic medical job databases from September 2020-February 2021. Using a gender decoder program based on prior research by Gaucher et al. on gendered wording in job advertisements, we analyzed each job to determine if the job advertisement was overall highly masculine, masculine, highly feminine, feminine, or neutral. Each job was categorized as academic, non-academic, administrative, or non-administrative. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis.

RESULTS: Seventy-four EM job advertisements were posted during the study period. Forty-four (59.4%) of these coded out as masculine or strongly masculine, 18 (24.3%) coded out as feminine or strongly feminine, and 12 (16.2%) were neutral. Only one job advertisement contained no gender-coded words. There were no differences in the gender-coding of academic, non-academic, or administrative jobs.

CONCLUSION: Job advertisements for EM physicians tend to contain more masculine-coded language. Almost all job advertisements for emergency medicine physicians in this study contained at least one gender-coded word. Further studies could explore whether changing the language of job advertisements in EM has an impact on the proportion of women who choose to apply to EM jobs.

PMID:35231866 | DOI:10.1016/j.ajem.2022.02.023

Epilepsy Behav. 2022 Feb 26;129:108626. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108626. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Genetic epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) is an epilepsy syndrome with clinical heterogeneity that was first described in 1997. Central auditory processing (CAP) is defined as the neurophysiological process in decoding sound waves from the outer ear to the auditory cortex. The present study aimed to analyze CAP and phonological disorders in preschool-age children with GEFS+.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: This is a prospective case-control study. Twenty-seven patients diagnosed with GEFS+ aged between 4 years and 6 years and 6 months and 31 healthy controls in the same age range were included in the study. Phonological sensitivity test (SAT) and auditory discrimination test (İAT) were applied to both groups, and the results of both groups were statistically compared.

RESULTS: The SAT and İAT raw and Z scores of the subjects in the study group were found to be significantly higher than those of the control group (p = 0.001; p < 0.01). Electroencephalography (EEG) status of the patients or the duration of antiseizure medication use did not have a statistically significant effect on the outcome.

CONCLUSION: Patients with GEFS+ have a significantly high impairment in both articulation and auditory discrimination of phonemes compared with the healthy population. Early diagnosis and early treatment of this condition can prevent potential literacy problems and the development of dyslexia in the future.

PMID:35231857 | DOI:10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108626

Schizophr Res. 2022 Feb 26;243:32-42. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2022.02.026. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Relapses are frequent in the first years following a first episode of schizophrenia (FES), being associated with a higher risk of developing a chronic psychotic disorder, and poor clinical and functional outcomes. The identification and intervention over factors associated with relapses in these early phases are timely and relevant. In this study, 119 patients in remission after a FES were closely followed over three years. Participants came from the 2EPS Project, a coordinated, naturalistic, longitudinal study of 15 tertiary centers in Spain. Sociodemographic, clinical, treatment and substance abuse data were analyzed. 49.6% of the participants relapsed during the 3-years follow-up. None of the baseline demographic and clinical characteristics analyzed showed a statistically significant association with relapses. 22% of patients that finished the follow-up without relapsing were not taking any antipsychotic. The group that relapsed presented higher mean antipsychotics doses (381.93 vs. 242.29 mg of chlorpromazine equivalent/day, p = 0.028) and higher rates of antipsychotic polytherapy (28.6% vs. 13%, p < 0.001), benzodiazepines use (30.8% vs. 8.5%, p < 0.001), side effects reports (39.2% vs. 25%, p = 0.022), psychological treatment (51.8% vs. 33.9%, p = 0.03), and cannabis consumption (93.2% vs. 56.7%, p < 0.001). Clozapine use was notably higher in the group that reminded in remission (21.7% vs. 8.2%, p < 0.019). These findings may guide clinicians to detect subgroups of patients with higher risk to present a second episode of psychosis, focusing on measures to ensure an adequate treatment or facilitating cannabis use cessation. This study supports future research to identify relapse prevention strategies for patients in early phases of schizophrenia.

PMID:35231832 | DOI:10.1016/j.schres.2022.02.026

Theriogenology. 2022 Feb 22;183:90-97. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2022.02.019. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The in vitro embryo’s competence is lower than in vivo counterparts and miRNAs found to affect the developmental competence, affecting pluripotency, stress level and apoptosis in embryos. We aimed to investigate the effect of miRNA-155 on parthenogenically activated early development porcine embryos at the preimplantation blastocyst stage. We designed miRNA-155 mimics and inhibitors and microinjected them into post-activated oocytes. The embryonic cleavage rate, blastocyst rate, and embryo development quality in terms of stress and apoptosis levels were investigated by confocal microscopy. Furthermore, we selected target genes, analyzed gene interaction and prediction networks, and compared the gene expression level in treatments and controls. miRNA-155 inhibition improved in vitro developmental competence by increasing cell numbers and reducing stress and apoptosis levels. The cleavage rate in the miRNA-155 inhibitor group was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that in the miRNA-155 mimic group, but not in the control, whereas the blastocyst rate of the miRNA-155 inhibitor group was statistically significantly higher (P < 0.05) than in both control and miRNA-155 mimic groups. The relative gene expression level analysis showed downregulation of mRNAs related to stress and apoptosis, BAX, and the stress-induced autophagy gene ATF4, and TNF-ɑ in the miRNA-155 inhibitor group. Moreover, miRNA-155 inhibition showed upregulation of the relative expression of OCT4, ZEB2, BCL2, and IL-1 mRNA compared to control and mimic groups. However, the miRNA-155 mimic-injected group showed lower cleavage rates and blastocyst development rates than the other two groups. In conclusion, miRNA-155 inhibition in porcine in vitro embryos improved their preimplantation developmental competence and in vitro embryo production.

PMID:35231827 | DOI:10.1016/j.theriogenology.2022.02.019

Phytomedicine. 2022 Feb 17;99:153996. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2022.153996. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an inflammatory disorder of pancreas that lacks effective specific drugs as well as gold standard laboratory tests for diagnosis and severity assessment. Chaiqin chengqi decoction (CQCQD) has been proven to alleviate the severity and mortality of AP, but its underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood.

PURPOSE: To investigate the correlation between metabolic trajectories of the serum and pancreas, the metabolic pathways with respect to the onset and progression of AP, and investigate the effect of CQCQD in modulating the dysregulated pancreatic metabolism of AP.

METHODS: Serum and pancreas samples from cerulein-induced AP mice were collected for pathology, biochemical index assessment, LC-MS/MS based metabolomics and functional validation over the course of 1 – 24 h. The temporal trends of pancreatic and serum metabolites in AP were analyzed using Mfuzz clustering algorithm, and their associations were revealed by Pearson correlation analysis. The metabolic trajectories and pathways across multi-timepoints were analyzed by univariate and multivariate statistical analyses, and the AP-related metabolic pathways were further screened by metabolite correlation and network interaction analyses. Finally, the changes in metabolite levels and metabolic trajectory after CQCQD therapy were identified, and the altered expression of related metabolic enzymes was verified by RT-qPCR, western blotting, and immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS: Amino acid metabolism was significantly altered in the pancreas and serum of AP, but with different trends. The unsynchronized “open” and “closed” metabolic trajectories in pancreas and serumrevealed that metabolic processes occur earlier in peripheral rather than local tissue, with the most obvious changes occuring at 12 h in the pancreas which were also consistent with the inflammation score results. Several amino acid intermediates showed strong positive correlation between serum and pancreas, and therein serum cystathionine was positively correlated to 33 pancreatic metabolites. In particular, the correlations between the levels of pancreatic cystathionine and methionine, serine, and glutathione (GSH) emphasized the importance of trans-sulfuration to GSH metabolism for AP progression. CQCQD treatment reversed the metabolic trajectory of the pancreas, and also restored the levels of cystathionine and glutathione synthase.

CONCLUSION: Our results have defined a unique time-course metabolic trajectory for AP progression in both the serum and pancreas; it has also revealed a key role of CQCQD in reversing AP-associated metabolic alterations, thus providing new metabolic targets for the treatment and prognosis of AP.

PMID:35231826 | DOI:10.1016/j.phymed.2022.153996

Phytomedicine. 2022 Feb 20;99:154002. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2022.154002. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Mume Fructus (MF) is used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine (TCM) to treat chronic cough, prolonged diarrhea, and other inflammation-related diseases. It is processed from Prunus mume fruit (PM) by drying at low temperature according to the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The standard quality control method includes measurement of citric acid content, which is not sufficient to determine its clinical efficacy. In addition, the quality markers, that would ensure consistent drug composition and stability during extraction and processing of the drug, are currently not available.

PURPOSE: This study sought to determine and analyze the bioactive compounds in MF and to establish the quality maker evaluation system, which would enable accurate assessment of different processing and extraction approaches for MF preparation.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: First, a UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS method was established to identify the chemical constituents of PM and MF. Second, the 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS)-treated rats were used to assess anti-inflammatory activity of water and ethanol extracts of PM and MF. Third, correlation analysis and multivariate statistical analysis was used to seek the candidate quality markers of MF. Fourth, molecular docking was used to predict the potential mechanism of identified compounds for the anti-inflammatory activity. Finally, a UPLC method was established to quantify the selected quality markers in MF products, that were prepared by different drying processes.

RESULTS: 99 components (28 newly reported) were identified from PM and MF. During the drying process several changes in the composition were observed; caffeoylquinic acids were degraded to p-coumaric acid, caffeic acid, protocatechuic acid, or p-hydroxybenzoic acid; multi-acetyl p-coumaroyl sucroses were degraded to mumeose R and p-coumaroyl-3-O-sucrose. On the other hand, contents of mumefural and amygdalin increased after drying process. In colitis rats, MF reduced more NO levels to greater extent in comparison to PM, which could be attributed to the presence of caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid, protocatechuic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, mumefural, p-coumaroyl-3-O-sucrose, mumeose R, and amygdalin in MF. Moreover, water extracts were better than ethanol extracts in alleviating the IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-17 levels, possibly on account of citric acid and caffeoylquinic acids. The predicted mechanism of action could be through inhibition of the production of NLRP3, TLR4, and NF-κB proteins. Finally, 7 compounds (citric acid, 3-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 4-O-caffeoylquinic acid, caffeic acid, protocatechuic acid, and p-coumaric acid) were selected as quality markers of MF that could be used for the process quality control.

CONCLUSION: This study revealed the material basis of PM and MF for anti-colitis activity and discovered the quality markers of MF which could reflect the anti-inflammatory activity and the processing process of MF.

PMID:35231824 | DOI:10.1016/j.phymed.2022.154002

Water Res. 2022 Feb 17;214:118203. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118203. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This study is the first to enrich a facultative QQ consortium for AI-2-based quorum sensing (QS) disruption (FQQ2) and discover its quorum quenching (QQ) performance in an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) for membrane fouling retardation. Herein, FQQ2 was enriched by the enrichment culture using 4,5-dihydroxy-2,3-pentanedione (DPD) followed by anaerobic screening. FQQ2 was composed of various facultative AI-2-based QQ microorganisms including Acinetobacter, Comamonas, Stenotrophomonas, and FQQ2 was capable to degrade 96.96% of DPD in 9 h. More importantly, FQQ2 prolonged membrane filtration operation by an average of 3.72 times via reduction of DPD in the AnMBR treating domestic wastewater (p ≤ 0.05). QQ was implicated to reduce the content of proteins and carbohydrates of the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of suspended biomass by 24.16% and 10.39%, respectively, and concentration of proteins of the soluble microbial products (SMP) by 18.77%. Parallel factor (PARAFAC) modelling of excitation-emission matrix (EEM) demonstrated that QQ could reduce the content of fulvic acid-like and humic acid-like substances, aromatic proteins and soluble-microbial-by-product-like proteins of the EPS (p ≤ 0.05) and abate the content of soluble-microbial-by-product-like proteins in the SMP (p ≤ 0.05). The lower EPS content of suspended biomass could be rendered with the reduced relative abundance of AI-2-regulated Christensenellaceae;g-, Hyphomicrobium, Leucobacter and Microbacterium by 48.48%, 76.56%, 64.78% and 59.26%, respectively, and QQ led to the reduction of the relative abundance of Christensenellaceae;g- and Leucobacter in the cake layer by 31.07% and 51.43%, respectively. Moreover, quantity of organics as well as planktonic microorganisms in the supernatant decreased in presence of FQQ2 (p ≤ 0.05). Of note, markedly lower relative abundance of AI-2-regulated Sulfurovum in supernatant by 97.74% resulted in its lower abundance of cake layer. Intriguingly, in the presence of QQ, methane production was statistically enhanced by 62.5% (p ≤ 0.05). It was closely linked to the decrease of sulfate reduction (p ≤ 0.05), which resulted from 37.93% lower abundance of sulfate-reduction Desulfomonile in the suspended biomass (p ≤ 0.05). Collectively, this study sheds lights on the development of AI-2-based QQ for biofouling control in AnMBRs.

PMID:35231804 | DOI:10.1016/j.watres.2022.118203