Plos One
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Epidemiological studies have suggested an association between maternal vitamin D dietary intake during pregnancy and risk of asthma and allergy in the offspring. However, prospective clinical studies on vitamin D measured in cord blood and development of clinical end-points are sparse. ⋯ Cord blood 25(OH)-Vitamin D deficiency associated with increased risk of recurrent TROLS till age 7 years. Randomized controlled trials of vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy are needed to prove causality.
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Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is recognized as a complication in the elderly after cardiac surgery. Imaging of the brain provides evidence of neurodegeneration in elderly patients; however, abnormalities in brain structure and their relation to POCD are uncertain. This pilot study investigated whether loss of gray matter in the bilateral medial temporal lobe (MTL), seen in preoperative MRI, was associated with POCD. ⋯ These preliminary findings suggested that reduced gray matter in the bilateral MTL and white matter lesions existed in brains of elderly cardiac surgery patients who experienced POCD. Additional studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm these findings.
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Two-year, prospective cohort data from the Japan epidemiological research of occupation-related back pain study in urban settings were used for this analysis. ⋯ Psychosocial factors are important risk factors for persistent LBP in urban Japanese workers. It may be necessary to take psychosocial factors into account, along with physical work demands, to reduce LBP related disability.
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Macrophage migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine sustaining the acute response to gram-negative bacteria and a regulatory role for MIF in Cystic Fibrosis has been suggested by the presence of a functional, polymorphic, four-nucleotide repeat in this gene's promoter at position -794, with the 5-repeat allele displaying lower promoter activity. We aimed at assessing the association of this polymorphism with disease severity in a group of Cystic Fibrosis patients homozygous for F508del CFTR gene mutation. ⋯ Multiple regression analysis on age-normalized respiratory volume showed no association of the homozygous 5-repeat genotype with lung function under stable conditions and no correlation with P.aeruginosa chronic colonization. Therefore, only the Homozygous 5-repeat genotype at MIF -794 is associated with milder disease in F508del Cystic Fibrosis patients.
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Recent studies indicated that microRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) were important for many biological and pathological processes, and they might be potential biomarkers for cardiovascular diseases. The present study aims to determine the release patterns of miRNAs in cardiac surgery and to analyze the ability of miRs to provide early prediction of perioperative myocardial infarction (PMI) in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. ⋯ Our results demonstrate that circulating miR-499 is a novel, early biomarker for identifying perioperative myocardial infarction in cardiac surgery.