Plos One
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The District Health Information Management System-2 (DHIMS-2) is the database for storing health service data in Ghana, and similar to other low and middle income countries, paper-based data collection is being used by the Ghana Health Service. As the DHIMS-2 database has not been validated before this study aimed to evaluate its validity. ⋯ This study demonstrated that the percentage of missing data in the DHIMS-2 database was negligible while its accuracy was close to the acceptable range for high quality data.
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MicroRNA-146a (miR-146a) was a key negative regulator of autoimmunity. V-Ets oncogene homolog 1 (Ets-1) was demonstrated to bind to the miR-146a promoter region and markedly affects miR-146a promoter activity. This study aimed to investigate the association of miR-146a and Ets-1 gene polymorphisms with pediatric uveitis in a Han Chinese population. ⋯ This study shows that miR-146a and Ets-1 are both associated with pediatric uveitis in Han Chinese. SNP rs10893872 may affect the genetic predisposition to pediatric uveitis by modulating expression of Ets-1.
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Elevated myocardial energy expenditure (MEE) is related with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, and has also been documented as an independent predictor of cardiovascular mortality. However, the serum small-molecule metabolite profiles and pathophysiological mechanisms of elevated MEE in heart failure (HF) are still lacking. Herein, we used 1H-NMR-based metabolomics analysis to screen for potential biomarkers of MEE in HF. ⋯ These results suggested that in patients with heart failure, MEE elevation was associated with significant changes in serum metabolomics profiles, especially the concentration of 3-hydroxybutyrate, acetone and succinate. These compounds could be used as potential serum biomarkers to study myocardial energy mechanism in HF patients.
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Aluminium (Al) is the third most abundant element in the earth's crust and its compounds are used in the form of house hold utensils, medicines and in antiperspirant etc. Increasing number of evidences suggest the involvement of Al+3 ions in a variety of neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease. Here, we have attempted to investigate the role of Al in endoplasmic reticulum stress and the regulation of p53 during neuronal apoptosis using neuroblastoma cell line. ⋯ However, with respect to the role of p53, we observed downregulation of its transcript as well as protein levels while analysis of its ubiquitination status revealed no significant changes. Not only did Al increase the activities of caspase 9, caspase 12 and caspase 3, but, by the use of peptide inhibitors of specific and pan-caspases, we observed significant protection against neuronal cell death upon inhibition of caspase 12, demonstrating the prominent role of endoplasmic reticulum stress generated responses in Al toxicity. Overall our findings suggest that Al induces ER stress and ROS generation which compromises the antioxidant defenses of neuronal cells thereby promoting neuronal apoptosis in p53 independent pathway.
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To determine if oral dosing with the CFTR-potentiator ivacaftor (VX-770, Kalydeco) improves CFTR-dependent sweating in CF subjects carrying G551D or R117H-5T mutations, we optically measured sweat secretion from 32-143 individually identified glands in each of 8 CF subjects; 6 F508del/G551D, one G551D/R117H-5T, and one I507del/R117H-5T. Two subjects were tested only (-) ivacaftor, 3 only (+) ivacaftor and 3 (+/-) ivacaftor (1-5 tests per condition). The total number of gland measurements was 852 (-) ivacaftor and 906 (+) ivacaftor. ⋯ The losses were reduced by measuring C/M ratios in 12 glands from each subject that had the highest M-sweat rates. Remaining losses were estimated from single channel data and used to correct the C/M ratios, giving estimates of CFTR function (+) ivacaftor = 1.6%-7.7% of the WT average. These estimates are in accord with single channel data and transcript analysis, and suggest that significant clinical benefit can be produced by low levels of CFTR function.