Upsala journal of medical sciences
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Review
White horses - non-coding sequences drive premature hair greying and predisposition to melanoma.
The Grey allele in horses is causing premature hair greying and susceptibility to melanoma. The causal mutation is a 4.6 kb tandem duplication in intron 6 of the Syntaxin 17 gene. A recent study demonstrated that the most common allele at the Grey locus (G3) involves three tandem copies of this sequence, whilst a more rare allele (G2) has two tandem copies and the wild-type allele (G1) only one copy. ⋯ It is still an open question which of these genes is most important for the phenotypic effects or if causality is due to the combined effect of upregulation of both genes. Interestingly, RNAseq data in the Human Protein Atlas give support for a possible role of NR4A3 because it is particularly upregulated in human skin cancer, and it belongs to a cluster of genes associated with skin cancer and melanin biosynthesis. The Grey mutation and its association with melanoma provide a possibility to study the path to tumour development in numerous Grey horses carrying exactly the same predisposing mutation.
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Standard dosages of analgesic and sedative drugs are given to intensive care patients. The resulting range of blood concentrations and corresponding clinical responses need to be better examined. The purpose of this study was to describe daily dosages, measured blood concentrations, and clinical responses in critically ill patients. The purpose was also to contribute to establishing whole blood concentration reference values of the drugs investigated. ⋯ Using recommended dose intervals for analgesic and sedative drugs in the ICU setting combined with regular monitoring of clinical responses such as RASS and NRS leads to 97% of concentrations being below the upper limit in the therapeutic interval. This study contributes to whole blood drug concentration reference values regarding these 10 drugs.
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Treatment with proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors reduces low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and decreases the incidence of major ischaemic events in clinical trials. However, less is known about the efficacy of PCSK9 inhibition in clinical practice. This study aimed to describe the change in LDL-C levels over time and LDL-C goal achievement in patients with/without atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), who were prescribed evolocumab in clinical practice, and to describe adherence to and persistence with treatment. ⋯ The evolocumab LDL-C-lowering effect observed in clinical trials was confirmed in clinical practice in Sweden, particularly in patients also treated with oral LLT. During follow-up, adherence to and persistence with evolocumab were high, with stable reduced levels of LDL-C during observation.
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The Swedish Universities Scales of Personality (SSP) is a personality measurement tool with a short test battery of high psychometric quality, previously not availiable in Japanese. ⋯ The resulting three-factor SSP-J11 shows acceptable reliability and should provide informative insights about personality traits in research and clinical practice in a Japanese context.
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To compare statin utilization and ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality trends in Lithuania and Sweden and to assess correlations between the total utilization of statins and IHD mortality. ⋯ Despite the growing statin utilization in both countries, Lithuania recorded a slight increase in IHD mortality rates unlike the situation in Sweden. This indicates room for improvement in the management of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors in Lithuania including how statins are prescribed and used in clinical practice.