Vitamin D status in patients with knee or hip osteoarthritis in a Mediterranean country.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D plays an important role in bone mineralization, remodeling, and maintenance and therefore its deficiency may be implicated in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA). Vitamin D status was evaluated in patients with knee or hip OA scheduled for joint replacement. The impact of anthropometric parameters such as gender, age, and body mass index on vitamin D levels was also examined. The study was conducted in a Mediterranean country (Greece). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We included 164 patients with knee or hip OA scheduled for joint replacement in this study. Serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (vitamin D) were measured in routine blood samples taken from the patients at their pre-admission visit, a week before the operation, using radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: The majority of patients were vitamin D deficient (81.7 %); 15.2 % of them were vitamin D insufficient (hypovitaminosis). Only 3 % of patients were vitamin D sufficient. There was a significantly positive association between vitamin D levels and male gender. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate a large percentage of vitamin D deficient patients with knee or hip OA, which is unexpected considering the high annual insolation in northern Greece. Many other possible predisposing factors for OA should be taken into consideration. Whether treatment with vitamin D supplements may provide beneficial effects to these patients and the stage of disease in which this treatment should commence remains an issue for further scientific investigation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV.

Study of platelet-rich plasma injections in the treatment of androgenetic alopecia through an one-year period.

BACKGROUND: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is defined as an autologous concentration of plasma with a greater count of platelets than that of whole blood. Its action depends on the released growth factors from platelets. It has been investigated and used in numerous fields of medicine. Recently, PRP has received growing attention as a potential therapeutic tool for hair loss. AIMS: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of PRP injections in the scalp of patients with androgenetic alopecia. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 20 patients, 18 males and 2 females, with androgenetic alopecia were enrolled in the study. PRP was prepared using a single spin method (Regenlab SA). Upon activation, it was injected in the androgen-related areas of scalp. Three treatment sessions were performed with an interval of 21 days and a booster session at 6 months following the onset of therapy. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Statistical analysis of the data was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 19.0 (IBM, NY, USA). RESULTS: Hair loss reduced and at 3 months it reached normal levels. Hair density reached a peak at 3 months (170.70 ± 37.81, P < 0.001). At 6 months and at 1 year, it was significantly increased, 156.25 ± 37.75 (P < 0.001) and 153.70 ± 39.92 (P < 0.001) respectively, comparing to baseline. Patients were satisfied with a mean result rating of 7.1 on a scale of 1-10. No remarkable adverse effects were noted. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that PRP injections may have a positive therapeutic effect on male and female pattern hair loss without remarkable major side effects. Further studies are needed to confirm its efficacy.

Proteomic analysis of normal murine brain parts.

Murine brain is an excellent tool for studying protein expression and brain function in mammals. Although mice are an extensively used model to recapitulate various pathological conditions, the proteome of the normal mouse brain has not been yet reported. In the present study, we identified the total proteins of different parts of the brain of CB7BL/6 mice, a widely used strain, by applying proteomic methodologies. The adult mouse brain was dissected anatomically into the following regions: frontal cortex, olfactory bulb, hippocampus, midbrain, cerebellum, hypothalamus and medulla. Total protein extracts of these regions were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry, following in-gel digestion with trypsin. Protein identification was carried out by peptide mass fingerprint. Thus, 515 different single-gene products were identified in total, 54 expressed specifically in the olfactory bulb, 62 in the hippocampus, 36 in the frontal cortex, five in the cerebellum, nine in the midbrain, eight in the hypothamamus and 10 in the medulla. The majority of the proteins were enzymes, structural proteins and transporters. Moreover, the distribution of these molecules appears to exhibit direct correlation with the function of the brain regions where they were expressed. This study leads to the complete characterization of the normal mouse brain proteome as well as the protein expression profile of the different brain regions. These results will aid in addressing unmet scientific needs regarding physiological and pathological brain functions.

Expression of 6 common antigenic markers in invasive ductal breast carcinoma: potential clinical implications.

Expression of estrogen (ER) and progesterone receptors, c-erbB-2 oncogene, mutant p53 antioncogene (mp53), e-cadherin adhesion, and apoptotic caspase-8 antigens in tumor relative to matched normal tissue specimens from 102 unselected patients with primary ductal breast carcinoma of various tumor grades was assessed by immunohistochemistry and correlated with patient's biologic and clinical features, such as age, menstrual status, age of menarche, tumor grade and diameter, the presence or absence of metastases, and number of infiltrated lymph nodes. We observed association of e-cadherin adhesion, ER and progesterone antigen marker expression with low histologic grade tumors and limited number of lymph node metastases and of c-erbB-2, mp53, and casp-8 antigen marker expression with high histologic grade tumors and increased number of lymph node metastases. We also observed strong correlation (P<0.05) between 4 of the 6 biomarkers and 4 of the 7 patient/tumor parameters examined. Our findings support the hypothesis of independent expression of these 4 strong biomarkers and reveal that nearly 40% of all breast tumor cases studied express similar proportions of 2 major phenotypic combinations [ER/c-erbB-2/mp53/casp-8: +/+/-/+ (19.6%) & +/-/-/+ (17.8%)]. We conclude that, in agreement with earlier reports, our findings support the diagnostic and potential prognostic value of these markers in the clinical assessment of breast cancer.

Cytogenetic damage after ischemia and reperfusion.

Tourniquets are often used to provide a bloodless operating field. However, they carry the risk of adverse effects caused by DNA damage from the free radicals generated during postischemic reperfusion of the blood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cytogenetic damage caused by postischemic reperfusion on peripheral lymphocytes of five women and six men undergoing total knee arthroplasty "bloodless" operation using samples received before, during, immediately, and 1 h after the operations. The sister chromatid exchange assay was applied to peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures and the levels of sister chromatid exchanges were analyzed as a quantitative index of genotoxicity, along with the values of mitotic index and proliferation rate index as qualitative indices of cytotoxicity and cytostaticity, respectively. We observed that postischemic reperfusion induced cytogenetic damages specifically through reperfusion. DNA effects were most pronounced after tourniquet release and declined afterward without returning to preischemic baseline values. Our findings suggest the presence of a functional association between postischemic reperfusion and cytogenetic damage that may have important clinical implications.

Correlation between maternal first trimester plasma leptin levels and birth weight among normotensive and preeclamptic women.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the connection between maternal first trimester serum leptin levels and newborn weight. METHODS: The study included 37 preeclamptic women and 53 normotensive women who considered the control group. Maternal blood samples were withdrawn at 13 weeks of gestation for the measurement of leptin concentrations. Birth weights were transformed to z-scores according to maternal and obstetrical features, based on customized centiles. Non-parametric tests, student's t-test, Pearson's correlation, Spearman's correlation and linear regression analysis were performed in our analysis. RESULTS: Pre-pregnancy body mass index and first trimester maternal plasma leptin levels were significantly higher among women with preeclampsia (p=0.015 and p<0.001, respectively). Birth weight z-score was negatively correlated with leptin levels (r= -0.570, p<0.001), in preeclamptic group and in control group (r= -0.477, p<0.001). The regression modelling demonstrated a significant negative association between birth weight z-scores and leptin for both groups. CONCLUSION: Maternal first trimester serum leptin demonstrates a significant negative association with neonatal weight in preeclamptic pregnancies and to a lesser extent in normotensive pregnancies. A possible leptin's involvement in pathophysiological adaptations that define the foetal growth potential can be supported.

Relation between first trimester maternal serum leptin levels and body mass index in normotensive and pre-eclamptic pregnancies--role of leptin as a marker of pre-eclampsia: a prospective case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: We measured first trimester plasma leptin concentrations in 37 women who subsequently developed pre-eclampsia and 53 normotensive controls to determine the interrelation between leptin and body mass index (BMI) in both groups. We further investigated the association between the risks for pre-eclampsia with maternal leptin levels. METHODS: Bloods samples were collected at 13 weeks. Non-parametric tests, Spearman's correlation, linear regression analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis were applied in our data. RESULTS: 1 kg/m(2) increase in pre-pregnancy BMI was related to a 2.747 (95% CI: 3.242-2.252) ng/ml rise in leptin concentration among cases and 2.502 (95% CI: 2.873-2.131) ng/ml rise in leptin concentrations among controls. Increased leptin concentration (>or=25.3 ng/ml ) in lean women is associated with a 18.8-fold increased risk of pre-eclampsia (adjusted OR: 18.8, CI: 1.8-194, p = 0.014 ). Leptin treated as a continuous variable is a significant predictor of pre-eclampsia (adjusted OR: 1.08, CI: 1.018-1.133, p = 0.009). CONCLUSION: Increased leptin concentration can definitely contribute to the prediction of pre-eclampsia in lean women, but this is not the case in overweight women. Further research in terms of longitudinal case-control studies is required to clarify the predictive value of pre-eclampsia.

Chromosome instability on children with asthma.

BACKGROUND: Asthma is a complex disease with multiple interactions between genetic and environmental factors. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to investigate the possible genetic instability in asthmatic patients (AP) with asthma in human cultured peripheral blood lymphocytes. Furthermore, the presence of either cytostaticity or cytotoxicity was demonstrated. METHODS: Human peripheral blood lymphocytes were cultured from 18 admitted children to the Pediatric Clinic of the University Hospital of Alexandroupolis (average age 7.2 years), and 9 healthy blood donors were used as control subjects (average age 6.5 years), none of whom was receiving drugs for medical or other reasons. RESULTS: A significant (p < 0.05) increase in spontaneous sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) frequency in asthmatic patients compared with control subjects was observed. No statistically significant modification in the spontaneous proliferation rate index (PRI) in AP compared with the controls was demonstrated. Finally, MMC induced a statistically significant increase in SCEs frequency both to controls and to AP, with the MMC-induced SCEs rates in AP being statistically (p < 0.01) higher compared to the MMC-induced SCEs in controls. CONCLUSION: We try to improve a new diagnostic process of possible genetic instability by a combination of genotoxic, cytostatic and cytotoxic effects of asthma on human peripheral lymphocytes.