Articles: disease.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Tamoxifen for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A randomized double-blind clinical trial.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common cause of motor neuron disease, and effective treatment for ALS is still lacking. Transactive response (TAR) -DNA-binding protein-43 (TDP-43) is aggregated in the neurons of ALS patients. Animal studies shown TDP-43 aggregation can be attenuated by enhancing autophagy by tamoxifen. However, its beneficial effects for ALS patients remain unknown. ⋯ Tamoxifen exerted only a modest effect on attenuate progression for 6 months in this small trial. Additional larger scale studies should be necessary to confirm whether enhancing autophagy can attenuate ALS progression.
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Comparative Study
A retrospective cohort study comparing pregnancy outcomes and neonatal characteristics between HIV-infected and HIV-non-infected mothers.
South Africa (SA) has a high disease burden of HIV/AIDS. Previously, studies have shown that HIV-infected women have adverse pregnancy outcomes. ⋯ HIV infection that has been treated does not appear to be an independent risk factor for fetal growth restriction or preterm delivery in an SA population.
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Observational Study
Characteristics of diffusion tensor imaging of central nervous system in children with tourette's disease.
To investigate the characteristics of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the central nervous system in children with Tourette syndrome (TS). Fifteen children with TS (TS group) and 15 normal children (control group) were studied, and all of them underwent DTI. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) parameters were calculated using the DTIStudio software. ⋯ No correlation was found between FA and ADC values in other brain regions and the YGTSS score (P > .05). After the DTI analyses, abnormalities were found in the left globus pallidus, right caudate nucleus, and bilateral thalamus in children with TS. Especially the changes in the left thalamus structure was crucial in the pathophysiological clock of TS.
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HCV infection is associated with chronic kidney disease due to several mechanisms. Patients treated with interferon-based regimens demonstrate improved renal function and reduced incidence of chronic kidney disease. There is scarce evidence on the effect of direct acting antiviral regimens (DAAs) on renal function. ⋯ There is no clinically relevant change in renal function among the majority of HCV-infected patients following completion of DAA-based treatments. Renal function does not influence the efficacy of DAA-based regimens. No consistent effect of DAA treatment and/or SVR on renal function was observed over a 2-year period following treatment completion.
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Aims to explore the interaction between serum selenium level and CYP4F2 and CTRP9 gene polymorphisms in the development of coronary artery disease (CAD). A total of 200 cases of CAD were selected from the Central Hospital of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hubei, China, and 200 healthy subjects cases were served as controls. The polymorphism of CYP4F2 and CTRP9 gene was detected by Sanger sequencing, and the serum selenium level was measured by hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry. ⋯ Low serum selenium level and CTRP9 rs9553238 CC genotype play a positive role in the occurrence of CAD. The serum selenium level is negatively correlated with CAD. The polymorphism of the CYP4F2 rs3093135 and CTRP9 rs9553238 was significantly related to the susceptibility of CAD, and there is a synergistic effect between the serum selenium level and the CTRP9 rs9553238 CC genotype, which significantly increases the risk of CAD.