The American journal of the medical sciences
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Multicenter Study
Epidemiology of spondyloarthropathies in Central America.
The authors reviewed retrospectively a cohort of 233 spondyloarthropathy patients observed in 2 centers in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and in hospitals in San Salvador, El Salvador, and San José, Costa Rica. Guatemalan patients were either from the clinic of Guatemalan Association against Rheumatic Diseases (n = 105) or from the private clinic of AGK (n = 78). El Salvador patients (n = 17) were from Hospital Instituto Salvadoreño del Seguro Social, and Costa Rican patients (n = 33) were from Hospital Calderón Guardia, San José, Costa Rica. ⋯ Prevalence of spondyloarthropathy was slightly higher in females than males (57% versus 43%, respectively). The median age was 47.5 years. Most of our patients were diagnosed with reactive arthritis or undifferentiated arthritis (47% and 33%, respectively); 10% of patients had ankylosing spondylitis and 9% psoriatic arthritis.
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During the period of 2006 to 2007, 28 university centers in Brazil used a standardized protocol of investigation to study the epidemiological, clinical and radiological variables of 1036 consecutive patients with the diagnosis of spondyloarthritis (SpA). Validated translated (Portuguese) versions of the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) Disease Activity Index and the Bath AS Functional Index were applied. Patient diagnoses were predominantly AS (72.3%), followed by psoriatic arthritis (13.7%), undifferentiated SpA (6.3%), reactive arthritis (3.6%), juvenile SpA (3.1%) and arthritis related to inflammatory bowel disease (1.0%). ⋯ Pure axial disease was observed in 36.7% of the patients, whereas the mixed pattern (axial, peripheral and entheseal) was observed in 47.9%. The most common extra-articular involvement was anterior uveitis (20.2%). HLA-B27 was positive in 69.5% of the tested patients.
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The effect of white and black rice consumption on lipid profile, hydroperoxides, thiobarbituric reactive substances and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) induced by hypercholesterolemia was investigated in 24 male rabbits; a purified normal diet (NC, n = 6), a high fat/cholesterol (1.0 g/100 g) diet (PC group, n = 6), a high fat/cholesterol diet with 25 g/100 g white ground rice (PCWR group, n = 6), 25 g/100 g black ground rice (PCBR group, n = 6) for 10 weeks. Blood samples were collected for lipid measurements. Results indicate that serum high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol was higher (P < 0.05) in the PCBR compared with the PC and PCWR groups. ⋯ Cy-3-Glu was excelled peonidin-3-glucoside by increasing the lag time of NC from 80 to 500 minutes in the presence of 2.0 μM of Cy-3-Glu. Hierarchically, black rice rabbits group was given the best results compared with other groups. The results may be indicating to a suggested mechanism (anthocyanins protection; Cy-3-Glu) of the cardioprotective effect of black rice.
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Critical illnesses continue to be major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Recent investigations show that stem cells may be beneficial as prognostic biomarkers and novel therapeutic strategies in these syndromes. This article reviews the use of stem cells in sepsis and acute lung injury as prognostic biomarkers and also as a potential for exogenous cell-based therapy. ⋯ Stem cells have shown significant promise in the field of critical care medicine both for prognostication and treatment strategies. Although recent studies have been done to describe the mechanistic pathways of stem cells in critical illness, further investigation is necessary to fully delineate the mechanisms behind a stem cell's immunomodulatory characteristics and its ability to mobilize and engraft in tissues.
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Many challenges have made it difficult to determine the prevalence of spondyloarthritis (SpA) in North America. They include the ethnic heterogeneity of the population, the lack of feasibility of applying current criteria (such as requirements for human leukocyte antigen-B27 testing and imaging studies such as pelvic radiographs and magnetic resonance imaging scanning) and the transient nature of some SpA symptoms (ie, peripheral arthritis and enthesitis). Current estimates of the prevalence of SpA in the United States range between 0.2% and 0.5% for ankylosing spondylitis, 0.1% for psoriatic arthritis, 0.065% for enteropathic peripheral arthritis, between 0.05% and 0.25% for enteropathic axial arthritis and an overall prevalence of SpA as high as >1%. With newer population-based instruments becoming available, the availability of the widely validated European Spondyloarthropathy Study Group criteria and the lower cost and greater feasibility of genetic testing, opportunities for true population-based studies of SpA are possible and will likely soon ensue.