Croatian medical journal
-
Croatian medical journal · Dec 2014
ReviewCurrent state-of-the-art of device therapy for advanced heart failure.
Heart failure remains one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The advent of mechanical circulatory support devices has allowed significant improvements in patient survival and quality of life for those with advanced or end-stage heart failure. We provide a general overview of past and current mechanical circulatory support devices encompassing options for both short- and long-term ventricular support.
-
Dishevelled (DVL) proteins, three of which have been identified in humans, are highly conserved components of canonical and noncanonical Wnt signaling pathways. These multifunctional proteins, originally discovered in the fruit fly, through their different domains mediate complex signal transduction: DIX (dishevelled, axin) and PDZ (postsynaptic density 95, discs large, zonula occludens-1) domains serve for canonical beta-catenin signaling, while PDZ and DEP (dishevelled, Egl-10, pleckstrin) domains serve for non-canonical signaling. In canonical or beta-catenin signaling, DVL forms large molecular supercomplexes at the plasma membrane consisting of Wnt-Fz-LRP5/6-DVL-AXIN. ⋯ Therefore, DVLs are considered to be key regulators that rescue cytoplasmic beta-catenin from degradation. The potential medical importance of DVLs is in both human degenerative disease and cancer. The overexpression of DVL has been shown to potentiate the activation of Wnt signaling and it is now apparent that up-regulation of DVLs is involved in several types of cancer.
-
Croatian medical journal · Oct 2014
ReviewEfficacy and tolerability of mono-compound topical treatments for reduction of intraocular pressure in patients with primary open angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension: an overview of reviews.
To evaluate the existing evidence on relative efficacy and tolerability of topical mono-compound intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering drugs in treatment of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and ocular hypertension (OHT). ⋯ No high quality evidence on relative efficacy and tolerability of the most commonly used mono-compound IOP-lowering drugs for POAG/OHT exists. Moderate quality evidence indicates latanoprost as a treatment with the most favorable trade-off between benefits and harms.
-
Croatian medical journal · Oct 2014
Contribution of clinical trials to gross domestic product in Hungary.
To determine the contribution of clinical trials to the gross domestic product (GDP) in Hungary. ⋯ The contribution of clinical trials to the Hungarian GDP in 2010 amounted to 0.2%. Participation in international clinical trials may result in health, financial, and intangible benefits that contribute to the sustainability of health care systems, especially in countries with severe resource constraints. Although a conservative approach was employed to estimate the economic benefits of clinical trials, further research is necessary to improve the generalizability of our findings.
-
Croatian medical journal · Oct 2014
New classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus correlate with disease activity.
To determine the prevalence of American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) classification criteria among systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients; to determine disease activity and severity; and to investigate the correlation of classification criteria with disease activity, and of disease activity and damage index with disease duration. ⋯ New SLICC classification criteria correlate with disease activity because they capture more manifestations also included in the SLEDAI index. Patients with longer disease duration had a larger damage index score.