Effect of continuous positive airway pressure versus nasal cannula on late preterm and term infants with transient tachypnea of the newborn.

OBJECTIVE: To compare continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) with nasal cannula (NC) as primary noninvasive respiratory therapy in hypoxic infants for transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN). STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study of infants born at ≥34 weeks of gestation between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2018. RESULT: After adjusting for gestational age and birth weight, the maximum fractional inspired oxygen (FiO2) was significantly lower in the CPAP group with an incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 0.85 (95% CI: 0.76-0.96). Although nonsignificant, the CPAP group needed 32% fewer hours on oxygen with an IRR of 0.68 (95% CI: 0.38-1.22). The duration of respiratory support and the incidence of pneumothorax were similar between both groups. CONCLUSION: Comparing CPAP with NC as initial noninvasive respiratory therapy for TTN, significantly lower maximum FiO2 was observed in the infants of CPAP group without increase in the incidence of pneumothorax.

The taste of heat: How humoral qualities act as a cultural filter for chemosensory properties guiding herbal medicine.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Organoleptic properties, and more specifically chemosensory cues, have been shown to guide therapeutic applications of medicinal plants. Humoral qualities, on the other hand, are widely believed to be an abstract concept, mainly applied post hoc to validate therapy. However, the nexus between humoral qualities, chemosensory properties, and medicinal plant uses has never been systematically assessed. AIM OF THE STUDY: To systematically analyse the correlations between chemosensory properties, humoral qualities, and medicinal uses of selected botanical drugs. METHODS: The issue was approached experimentally via an organoleptic testing panel, consisting of Zoque healers in Chiapas, Mexico. The healers smelled and tasted 71 selected herbal drugs and subsequently commented on their humoral qualities and therapeutic uses. The resulting dataset is analysed for correlations between these variables using Bayesian statistics. Qualitative data on the characteristics and role of the hot-cold dichotomy complement the quantitative analysis, facilitating meaningful interpretation. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The results reproduce and extend the findings of previous studies, which established specific correlations between chemosensory cues and nosological units. The key predictors of drugs' therapeutic uses, however, are their humoral qualities, which are themselves conditioned by taste and smell. These findings appear to be valid for drug samples known to the participants as well as for unfamiliar samples. Thus, this study establishes the role of the hot-cold dichotomy as an important cultural filter connecting organoleptic properties and therapeutic uses of herbal drugs. CONCLUSIONS: There is considerable cross-cultural consensus in Mesoamerica for the specific correlations described in this study. Given the continued pervasiveness of the hot-cold dichotomy, humoral qualities and the underlying organoleptic properties ought to be increasingly considered in the design of pharmaceutical products as well as public health strategies. Such culturally appropriate adjustments may considerably improve the perceived quality and effectiveness of healthcare.

Acculturation and ethnomedicine: A regional comparison of medicinal plant knowledge among the Zoque of southern Mexico.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: In rural areas of Mexico the impact of modernization has changed healthcare and health seeking behaviour to varying degrees. This has rarely been accounted for when discussing and comparing medicinal floras. The ethnomedical system of the Zoque has never before been systematically studied. AIM OF THE STUDY: The objective of this study was to document medical practices and medicinal plant knowledge of the Zoque of Chiapas and Oaxaca, the latter being more strongly affected by acculturation. The medicinal floras are compared in order to detect similarities and differences and establishing links to the cultural transformation. METHODS: Research was carried out in a total of nine Zoque municipalities, attempting to adequately represent the cultural and ecological diversity of the Zoque territory. Standard anthropological and ethnobotanical methods were used for data collection. The recorded medicinal uses were classified into 17 disease categories according to emic medical concepts. In each category, the recorded taxa were rank-ordered based on number of use-reports and the informant consensus factor was calculated. The characteristics of the disease categories and the most salient taxa were compared across the two field sites. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A total of 6598 use-reports on 544 species have been collected. With the strongly acculturated Zoque of Oaxaca we have documented a considerably less extensive medicinal flora. The ethnopharmacopoeias of the two Zoque groups share 144 species. These species are of over-proportionate salience, accounting for two-thirds of the total use-reports. In both field sites gastrointestinal disorders are of particular importance, followed by women's diseases, respiratory diseases and musculoskeletal ailments. Children's and spiritual illnesses seem to have lost their importance in Oaxaca, as the underlying concepts are often considered backwards and superstitious. CONCLUSION: While it is difficult to establish a quantitative causal relation between acculturation and medicinal plant knowledge, in qualitative terms there are clear indicators for the changes acculturation has brought about in the medical system of the Zoque of Oaxaca. The results suggest the development of an increasingly homogenized pan-Mesoamerican medicinal flora.

El factor de crecimiento del hepatocito disminuye la expresión vascular de mediadores inflamatorios y la hipertensión en ratas espontáneamente hipertensas / The hepatocyte growth factor reduces vascular inflammatory mediators and hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Objetivo: Este estudio fue diseñado para examinar el efecto del HGF sobre la inflamación vascular e hipertensión en ratas SHR. Nosotros especulamos que la disminución vascular del HGF puede desempeñar un papel fundamental en la patogénesis de la hipertensión arterial en SHR, y que el incremento de los niveles de HGF puede producir una disminución en la presión arterial a través de la reducción de la inflamación vascular. Materiales y métodos Se utilizaron SHR de 14 semanas de edad, a las cuales se les administró el gen del HGF humano (1 mg/kg) por vía hidrodinámica (SHR-pCMV-HGF, n = 6) o el vector vacío (SHR-pcDNA3.1, n = 6) por 6 semanas. Los controles fueron WKY (n = 6). La presión arterial sistólica fue medida semanalmente. La activación del factor NF-kB fue evaluada en la fracción nuclear mediante Western blot, la expresión de mediadores proinflamatorios mediante RT-qPCR y Western blot. Resultados La presión arterial, la activación del NF-κB y la expresión de IL-6, MCP-1 y RANTES fueron significativamente más elevadas en SHR que en WKY. La terapia génica con el HGF normalizó la actividad vascular del NF-κB, suprimió la expresión de los mediadores inflamatorios y redujo la HTA. Conclusión Este estudio sugiere que la disminución en la concentración de HGF en la aorta ejerce un papel importante en la activación de mediadores proinflamatorios observados en SHR y sugiere que el HGF puede representar un potencial agente terapéutico en el tratamiento de la HTA (AU)

Objective: This study was designed to examine the effects of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)gene delivery on vascular inflammation and hypertension in spontaneously hypertensiverats (SHR). We speculated that HGF deficiency could play a key role in the pathogenesis of hypertension in SHR, and that increasing HGF levels will produce prolonged decreases in blood pressure due to reduced vascular inflammation. Materials and methods: Fifteen-week old male SHRs received weekly hydrodynamic injec tions of a naked plasmid containing human HGF (pCMV-HGF) (1mg/kg) or empty vector(pcDNA3.1) for 6 weeks. Two groups of Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats were used as controls (n= 6)and treated in the same manner. The activation of NF-B was assessed by Western blot and mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines by real-time PCR and Western blot. Results: Blood pressure, NF-B activation and expression of IL-6, MCP-1 and RANTES were significantly higher in SHR than in the control WKY. The HGF gene therapy normalized NF-B activity, pro-inflammatory cytokines expression, and decreased the hypertension in SHR. Conclusion: These observations suggest that decreased aorta HGF concentration may have a role in the vascular inflammation observed in SHR, and demonstrate that increasing HGFis a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of hypertension (AU)

Overexpression of HGF transgene attenuates renal inflammatory mediators, Na(+)-ATPase activity and hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Renal inflammation and oxidative stress are constantly present in experimental hypertension. Since the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) has reduced levels of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), which suppresses the activation of the proinflammatory nuclear transcription factor kappa B (NF-κB), we speculated that HGF deficiency could play a key role in the pathogenesis of hypertension in the SHR. To test this hypothesis we increased HGF in the SHR by HGF gene delivery. We found that kidneys of 15-week-old SHR had an important reduction in HGF mRNA and protein expression. Adult SHRs were randomly assigned to receive weekly hydrodynamic injection (1mg/kg) of a naked plasmid containing human HGF (hHGF) gene associated with a cytomegalovirus promoter (pCMV-HGF) or empty vector (pcDNA3.1) during 6weeks. WKY rats treated with pcDNA3.1 and pCMV-HGF served as controls. The kidneys in the hypertensive SHR untreated and treated with the empty vector had increased NF-κB activation, elevated mRNA and protein expression of RANTES, MCP-1 and IL-6 and increased oxidative stress. Activity of Na(+)-ATPase was increased while activity of Na(+), K(+)-ATPase was normal. hHGF gene therapy normalized renal NF-κB activity, proinflammatory cytokines, antioxidant status (GSH, SOD and CAT), Na(+)-ATPase activity, reduced renal injury and ameliorated hypertension. Our results suggest that reduction in HGF production plays a major role in the pathogenesis of hypertension in the SHR and increasing HGF is a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of hypertension.

Plasma total homocysteine quantification: an improvement of the classical high-performance liquid chromatographic method with fluorescence detection of the thiol-SBD derivatives.

A rapid, shorter, isocratic high-performance liquid chromatographic method is described for the determination of plasma total homocysteine. In this method the sample preparation was modified for reduction of the time of the thiolic reduction from 30 at room temperature to 10 min at 37 degrees C with tris-(2-carboxyethyl) phosphine (TCEP), reduction the time of derivatization from 60 to 10 min at 60 degrees C and elution of the SBD-thiols derivative by a shorter HPLC-column which is commercially available. The SBD-homocysteine derivative was eluted at 3.7 min. The method was equally precise and faster for quantification of tHcy in plasma as other previously described method and should be very useful for epidemiological studies in which large numbers of samples have to be analyzed