Journal of investigative medicine : the official publication of the American Federation for Clinical Research
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Evidence suggests that substantial testosterone therapy is occurring without checking levels of testosterone, presumably based on the presence of symptoms alone. We sought to explore the relationship between total testosterone level and non-specific symptoms, metabolic abnormalities, and sexual dysfunction associated with hypogonadism. This cross-sectional study included 2994 generally healthy men aged 50-79 years examined at a preventive medicine clinic in Dallas, TX from January 2012 to March 2016. ⋯ When considering symptoms and signs of hypogonadism, only decreased libido (OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.70), fasting glucose ≥100 mg/dL (OR 1.47, CI 1.15 to 1.88), and hemoglobin A1c over 6% (OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.06 to 2.03) were associated with increased odds of low testosterone after adjustment for age, body mass index, and cardiorespiratory fitness. Testosterone levels were not associated with fatigue, depression, or erectile dysfunction in our study (p>0.6). In this preventive medicine cohort, symptoms commonly attributed to testosterone deficiency were not associated with low total testosterone levels.
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Observational Study
U-shaped relationship between left ventricular mass index and estimated glomerular filtration rate in patients with primary aldosteronism.
Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is an important topic in patients with primary aldosteronism (PA). However, the relationship between left ventricular structure and eGFR is unclear. We conducted a prospective, observational, and cross-sectional study to analyze 168 patients with PA and 168 propensity score-matched patients with essential hypertension (EH) as the control group, matched by age, gender, and systolic blood pressure. ⋯ The medium tertile of eGFR is associated with lowest LVMI. Patients with PA with high and low eGFR were associated with higher LVMI. The findings implied that the reasons for an increased LVMI in patients with PA may be different to those in patients with EH.
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Observational Study
Association of intestinal permeability with admission vitamin D deficiency in patients who are critically ill.
Emerging data have led to the hypothesis that vitamin D plays a role in promoting epithelial barrier dysfunction. Therefore, intestinal permeability becomes a significant determiner in the future of patients hospitalized in intensive care unit (ICU). The relationship between vitamin D and intestinal permeability remains unclear in patients who are critically ill. ⋯ Multivariate binary logistic regression analyses showed a significant association between the plasma endotoxin (OR 0.12, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.52) and zonulin (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.87 to 0.99) levels with serum levels of vitamin D categories in the overall population. Our finding suggests a relationship between vitamin D deficiency and early alterations in intestinal permeability. Thus, evaluating vitamin D levels in patients who are critically ill may be warranted.
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One of the first achievements of molecular biology in lymphoma science was a discovery of cell of origin (COO) classification around 20 years ago with defining activated B-cell like (ABC) and germinal center B-cell like subtypes of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) with the use of gene expression profiling. These categories were considered important as seemed to present different biology, response to treatment, and prognosis. Immunochemotherapy R-CHOP21 has been a standard of care for 2 decades, and it results in long-term disease-free survival or cure of 60% of patients with DLBCL but efficacy in an individual patient depends on age and other International Prognostic Index clinical risk factors and is within a range of 30% to more than 90%. ⋯ Unfortunately, randomized clinical trials did not confirm the expected benefit. Recently, advanced molecular techniques were used to classify B-cell lymphomas beyond COO or MYC alterations and correlated with clinical outcome as illustrated by 2 recently published influential studies from the National Institutes of Health and from Dana Farber Cancer Center, USA. Advanced molecular pathogenesis descriptions of DLBCL provide a framework for actionable classifications that should be used for designing future clinical trials and hopefully bring success to treatment of high-risk aggressive lymphoma.
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The aim of this study was to investigate the function of miR-3150b-3p in malignant behaviors of colorectal cancer (CRC). The tumor-inhibitive effect of miR-3150b-3p was determined by cell viability, invasion, and migration assays. The influence of miR-3150b-3p on the expression of Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3) and Janus kinase 2 (JAK2)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathway was evaluated by luciferase reporter, qRT-PCR and western blot analysis. ⋯ Furthermore, miR-3150b-3p inhibited malignant biological behaviors by targeting GOLPH3, an oncogene in CRC. Additionally, we suggested that miR-3150b-3p ameliorated CRC tumorigenesis in vitro through GOLPH3-mediated JAK2/STAT3 pathway. MiR-3150b-3p might function as a promising tumor suppressor in CRC.