Plos One
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Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a highly morbid and fatal condition with high rate of cognitive impairment and negative impact in quality of life among survivors. Delayed cerebral infarction (DCI) is one the major factors for these negative outcomes. In this study we compared the circulating microRNA profiles of SAH patients and healthy individuals, and the circulating microRNA profiles of SAH patients with and without DCI. ⋯ Our study demonstrated that as compared to healthy control, miR-132 and miR-324 showed a upregulation in both SAH DCI and Non-DCI groups. However, the differences between the SAH DCI and non-DCI groups were not statistically significant.
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Experiencing terrorism is associated with high levels of psychological distress among survivors. The aim of the present study was to examine whether work environmental factors such as role clarity and predictability, role conflicts, and leader support may protect against elevated levels of psychological distress after a workplace terrorist attack. ⋯ The results show that after a traumatic event, lower role conflicts, higher role clarity, higher predictability, and higher leader support were independently associated with lower psychological distress. These findings suggest that the workplace environment may be a facilitator of employees' mental health after stressful events.
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Conflicts of interest arising from ties between pharmaceutical industry and physicians are common and may bias research. The extent to which these ties exist among editorial board members of medical journals is not known. This study aims to determine the prevalence and financial magnitude of potential conflicts of interest among editorial board members of five leading spine journals. ⋯ This finding confirms that potential conflicts of interest exist in editorial boards which might influence the peer review process and can result in bias. Academia and medical journals in particular should be aware of this and strive to improve transparency of the review process. We emphasize recommendations that contribute to achieving this goal.
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Pimecrolimus (Elidel, SDZ ASM 981) is an anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory 33-epichloro-derivative of macrolactam ascomycin, with low potential for affecting systemic immune responses compared with other calcineurin inhibitors, cyclosporin A and tacrolimus. Despite numerous studies focused on the mechanism of pimecrolimus action on mast cells, only the single report has addressed pimecrolimus effects on other typical FcεRI-expressing cells, the basophils. Patients allergic to birch pollen (n = 20), hymenopteran venoms (n = 23) and 10 non-allergic volunteers were examined. ⋯ The inhibition was concentration-dependent; approximately half of the basophils were inhibited in the presence of 2.5 mMol pimecrolimus. Pimecrolimus is a valuable new tool for the inhibition of hyper-reactive basophils in patients with pollen allergy and a history of anaphylactic reactions to bee or wasp venoms. Further research should address short-term use of pimecrolimus in vivo in a wide spectrum of allergic diseases.
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The NF-κB pathway and chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 5 (CCL5) are involved in pain modulation; however, the precise mechanisms of their interactions in chronic neuropathic pain have yet to be established. ⋯ The inhibition of spinal CCL5 expression may provide a new method to prevent and treat nerve injury-induced neuropathic pain.