Plos One
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Clinical Trial
Suprathreshold heat pain response predicts activity-related pain, but not rest-related pain, in an exercise-induced injury model.
Exercise-induced injury models are advantageous for studying pain since the onset of pain is controlled and both pre-injury and post-injury factors can be utilized as explanatory variables or predictors. In these studies, rest-related pain is often considered the primary dependent variable or outcome, as opposed to a measure of activity-related pain. Additionally, few studies include pain sensitivity measures as predictors. ⋯ However, pre-injury and post-injury suprathreshold heat pain response (SHPR), a pain sensitivity measure, was a consistent predictor of activity-related pain, even after controlling for known psychological factors. These results suggest there is differential prediction of pain. A measure of pain sensitivity such as SHPR appears more influential for activity-related pain, but not rest-related pain, and may reflect different underlying processes involved during pain appraisal.
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Histopathological studies have demonstrated the involvement of spinal cord grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) in several diseases and recent research has suggested the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a promising tool for in vivo assessment of the upper spinal cord. However, many neurological conditions would benefit from quantitative assessment of tissue integrity at different levels and relatively little work has been done, mainly due to technical challenges associated with imaging the lower spinal cord. In this study, the value of the lumbosacral enlargement (LSE) as an intrinsic imaging biomarker was determined by exploring the feasibility of obtaining within it reliable GM and WM cross-sectional area (CSA) measurements by means of a commercially available MRI system at 3 tesla (T). 10 healthy volunteers (mean age 27.5 years, 6 female) gave written informed consent and high resolution images of the LSE were acquired and analysed using an optimised MRI acquisition and analysis protocol. ⋯ The mean scan-rescan, intra- and inter-observer % coefficient of variation (COV) for measuring the LSE-CSA were 2%, 2% and 2.5%, respectively and for measuring the LSE-GM-CSA were 7.8%, 8% and 8.6%, respectively. This study has shown that the LSE can be used reliably as an intrinsic imaging biomarker. The method presented here can be potentially extended to study the LSE in the diseased state and could provide a solid foundation for subsequent multi-parametric MRI investigations.
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Vaccination against tuberculosis (TB) should provide long-term protective immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb). The current TB vaccine, Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), protects against disseminated childhood TB, but protection against lung TB in adolescents and adults is variable and mostly poor. One potential reason for the limited durability of protection may be waning of immunity through gradual attrition of BCG-induced T cells. We determined if a MVA85A viral-vector boost could enhance the durability of mycobacteria-specific T cell responses above those induced by BCG alone. ⋯ MVA85A induces remarkably durable T cell responses in immunocompetent persons. However, results from a recent phase IIb trial of MVA85A, conducted in infants from the same geographic area and study population, showed no vaccine efficacy, suggesting that these durable T cell responses do not enhance BCG-induced protection against TB in infants.
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A subset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients have detectable antibodies directed against the peptidyl-arginine deiminase (PAD) enzyme isoforms 3 and 4. Anti-PAD3/4 cross-reactive antibodies (anti-PAD3/4XR) have been shown to lower the calcium threshold required for PAD4 activation, an effect potentially relevant to the pathogenesis of RA-associated interstitial lung disease (ILD). ⋯ The prevalence and extent of ILD was markedly higher among RA patients with anti-PAD3/4 cross-reactive antibodies, even after accounting for relevant confounders, particularly among ever smokers. These findings may suggest etiopathologic mechanisms of RA-ILD, and their clinical utility for predicting ILD warrants additional study.
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This study aimed to develop a culturally acceptable and valid scale to assess depressive symptoms in older Indigenous Australians, to determine the prevalence of depressive disorders in the older Kimberley community, and to investigate the sociodemographic, lifestyle and clinical factors associated with depression in this population. ⋯ The KICA-dep has robust psychometric properties and can be used with confidence as a screening tool for depression among older Indigenous Australians. Depressive disorders are common in this population, possibly because of increased stressors and health morbidities.