Annals of medicine
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Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is the most common subepidermal autoimmune blistering disease. It usually affects people older than 70 years of age. The two main autoantigens are BP180 and BP230, both of which are components of hemidesmosomes. ⋯ Key MessagesBullous Pemphigoid Disease Area Index (BPDAI) is a scoring system which can reflect the extent of clinical involvement of BP patients. The titres of IgE autoantibodies and IgG autoantibodies against the NC16A domain of BP180 are closely correlated with the activity and severity of BP. Many inflammatory cells and molecules, such as eosinophils and interleukins, can also reflect the activity and severity of BP.
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Observational and interventional studies have unequivocally demonstrated that "present", i.e. single-occasion, blood pressure is one of the key determinants of cardiovascular disease risk. Over the past two decades, however, numerous publications have suggested that longitudinal blood pressure data and assessment of long-term blood pressure exposure provide incremental prognostic value over present blood pressure. These studies have used several different indices to quantify the overall exposure to blood pressure, such as time-averaged blood pressure, cumulative blood pressure, blood pressure trajectory patterns, and age of hypertension onset. ⋯ KEY MESSAGESNumerous recent publications have examined the relation between cardiovascular disease and long-term blood pressure (BP) exposure, quantified using indices such as time-averaged BP, cumulative BP, BP trajectory patterns, and age of hypertension onset. This review summarises existing research on the association between these indices and hard cardiovascular outcomes, outlines the strengths and weaknesses of these indices, and provides an overview of how longitudinal BP changes can be measured and used to improve cardiovascular disease risk prediction. Although longitudinal BP indices seem to predict cardiovascular outcomes better than present BP, there are considerable differences in the clinical feasibility of these indices along with a limited number of prospective data.
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Background: Saliva represents a promising non-invasive source of novel biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis cancer. This meta-analysis evaluates the diagnostic value of salivary biomarkers for detection of malignant non-oral tumours to better define the value of saliva as an alternative liquid biopsy. Materials and methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis. ⋯ Key messagesThis meta-analysis evaluates the diagnostic value of salivary biomarkers for detection of malignant non-oral tumours to better define the role of saliva as an alternative liquid biopsy. Salivary biomarkers showed 85% accuracy for cancer distant to the oral cavity. Saliva represents a promising non-invasive source of novel biomarkers in cancer.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Peptide hormones and risk for future cardiovascular events among prediabetics: a 20-year follow-up in the OPERA study.
Background: Prediabetes has proven to have many unfavourable impacts on the cardiovascular system. Methods: The OPERA (Oulu Project Elucidating Risk of Atherosclerosis) study included 1045 middle-aged subjects followed from the years 1990-1993 to 2014. The focus was on peptide hormones. ⋯ Among prediabetics, ghrelin seems to predict independently cardiovascular events in the long term. KEY MESSAGEAmong glucose tolerance groups, patients with IGT had the highest resistin, but equally high leptin and low adiponectin levels as diabetics. Among prediabetics, ghrelin seems to predict independently cardiovascular events in the long term.
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Observational Study
Handgrip strength is inversely associated with fatal cardiovascular and all-cause mortality events.
Purpose: We aimed to assess the associations of handgrip strength (HS) with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality and whether adding data on HS to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors is associated with improvement in CVD mortality prediction. Design: Handgrip strength was assessed in a population-based sample of 861 participants aged 61-74 years at baseline. Relative HS was obtained by dividing the absolute value by body weight. ⋯ KEY MESSAGESHandgrip strength (HS) assessment is simple, inexpensive and it takes only a few minutes to measure in clinical practice; however, its prognostic role for fatal cardiovascular outcomes on top of traditional risk factors in apparently healthy populations is uncertain. In a population-based prospective cohort study, good HS adjusted for body weight was associated with lower risk of fatal cardiovascular outcomes and the associations remained consistent across several clinically relevant subgroups. Handgrip strength may be a useful prognostic tool for fatal CHD and CVD events, in the general population.