Effects of a community-based healthy heart program on increasing healthy women's physical activity: a randomized controlled trial guided by Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR)

Background  

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading killer of women in most developed areas of the world. Rates of physical inactivity and poor nutrition, which are two of the most important modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease in women, are substantial. This study sought to examine the effectiveness of a community-based lifestyle-modification program on increasing women's physical activity in a randomized trial guided by community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods.     

Low back pain education and short term quality of life: a randomized trial

Background  

Different interventions can reduce the burden of the chronic low back pain. One example is the use of a 'Back School Programme'. This is a brief therapy that uses a health education method to empower participants through a procedure of assessment, education and skill development. This study aimed to evaluate to what extent the programme could improve quality of life in those who suffer from the condition.     

Factors affecting coronal fracture of anterior teeth in North Jordanian children

Abstract –  The aims of this study were to investigate the incidence of coronal fracture of the anterior teeth in North Jordanian schoolchildren and to study the main predisposing factors and the factors that may affect the severity of this fracture. A study group (958) comprising schoolchildren aged 13–15 years was chosen by a simple random method from five geographical areas in Irbid Governate, Jordan. All children completed a questionnaire related to history of trauma to their anterior teeth before they had a clinical examination for lip competence, lip line and amount of fracture. Overjet was recorded from a study cast made for each student. Statistical analysis was performed using chi-square test. The results showed a prevalence of 11% of coronal fracture with female-male ratio of 1:1. An increase in the overjet more than 3 mm doubled the incidence of coronal fracture while overjet more than 6 mm increased the incidence fourfold. There was higher incidence of coronal fracture associated with lip incompetence and low lip line ( P  < 0.01). The severity of fracture increased in children with a larger overjet ( P  < 0.001). It was concluded that overjet, lip competence and lip line were important predisposing factors to coronal fracture of the anterior teeth while the severity of the fracture was mainly determined by overjet.     

Effects of Maharishi Amrit Kalash 5 as an Ayurvedic herbal food supplement on immune functions in aged mice

Background  

Maharishi Amrit Kalash (MAK) 5, one of the Ayurvedic food supplements, belongs to a group of substances known as Rasayana. MAK5 and other Rasayanas are believed to enhance the body's resistance to infections and disease, and enhance longevity. In this study, we determined the effects of administration of MAK5, one of the Ayurvedic food supplements on immune functions in young and old mice.     

Analysis of genomic downsizing on the basis of region-of-difference polymorphism profiling of Mycobacterium tuberculosis patient isolates reveals geographic partitioning

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the etiological agent of tuberculosis, has lost many coding and noncoding regions in its genome during the course of evolution. We performed region-of-difference (RD) analysis using PCR-based genotyping of 131 M. tuberculosis clinical isolates obtained from four different countries, namely, India, Peru, Libya, and Angola. Our studies revealed that RD patterns are often distinct for strains circulating in specific geographical regions and can be used to trace the descent and spread of an isolate from its original reservoir. We describe our findings, which show that no single isolate from the four countries (n = 131) had all the 15 RDs either deleted or retained. Tuberculosis-specific deletion 1 (TbD1) was found to be conserved in 23% of the Indian isolates, indicating their possible ancient origin. RD9 was the most conserved region, RD11 was predominantly deleted, and RD6 was the most variable among the isolates in our collection irrespective of their geographic region. In contrast to earlier reports, our results demonstrate that the deletion of RD1 does not correlate with a decrease in the virulence potential of M. tuberculosis, as Indian isolates (n = 30) examined by us were from diseased individuals and yet had lost the RD1 region. Our results further illustrated that the intactness of the RD5 region may be associated with increased virulence of the organism. This study highlights that the RDs in M. tuberculosis genomes are geographically distributed and specific and may possibly be associated with virulence spectrum.     

Analysis of cytogenetic aberrations in esthesioneuroblastomas by comparative genomic hybridization

Esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB) are rare tumors originating from the olfactory epithelium of the superior nasal cavity. This lesion is morphologically closely related to Ewing sarcoma and other peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumors (pPNET). The affiliation of ENB to the pPNET family is still under discussion. Only very limited and contradictory cytogenetic data are available on ENB and only one patient has been analyzed by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), so far. In the present study, genomic imbalances of three ENB were analyzed by CGH to evaluate (1) a recurrent pattern of imbalances, and (2) its relation to the pPNET family. The CGH analysis of three ENB revealed multiple recurrent aberrations including DNA overrepresentations of chromosomal material of the entire chromosome 19, partial gains of the long arms of chromosomes 8, 15, and 22, and deletions of the entire long arm of chromosome 4. Beside these common aberrations, several single gains and losses occurred, that is, gains on 6p, 10q, 1p, 9q, and 13q. We confirmed the former observation of amplified genetic material on chromosome 8 and found several new, currently not described recurrent genetic aberrations distinct from those described for pPNET. Our findings give evidence that ENB is not part of the pPNET family. We suggest that the combined gain of genetic material on 15q, 22q, and chromosome 8 might be indicative for ENB. To verify our findings and to define prognosis-related aberrations, a larger number of cases needs to be studied.     

Variation in serum electrolytes and enzyme concentrations in patients with sickle cell disease.

AIM--To assess levels of some biochemical variables in sickle cell disease patients from eastern Saudi Arabia during steady state and in crises states, with a view to comparing biochemical and clinical manifestations of the disease with those in other geographical locations. METHODS--Serum calcium, uric acid, total bilirubin, lactate dehydrogenase, hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase, and haemoglobin were measured in 110 sickle cell patients when in steady state. The same variables were measured on 30 of the patients when they went into crisis. RESULTS--Serum calcium tended to be lower in sickle cell patients than in healthy controls, while uric acid tended to be in the high normal range. Crises did not make any difference to serum calcium but they increased the uric acid level significantly. All the other variables measured were significantly abnormal and more so during crises. CONCLUSIONS--Although the abnormal levels obtained for these biochemical variables in patients with sickle cell disease from eastern Saudi Arabia were similar to those from other geographical locations, there were noticeable differences in the severity of the abnormalities, which probably explains the differences in the clinical manifestations of the disease between geographical locations. Values of some of these variables could be adapted for use to monitor crises.     

Postnatal development of dopamine receptor expression in rat peripheral blood lymphocytes.

Postnatal development in the expression of dopamine D1-like and D2-like receptors was investigated in peripheral blood lymphocytes of male Wistar rats aged 1, 3, 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age by radioligand binding assay techniques. Sample of frontal cortex, striatum and hippocampus were also investigated as reference tissues. The dopamine D1-like receptor antagonist [3H]SCH 23390 and the dopamine D2-like receptor agonist [3H]7-OH-DPAT were used as radioligands. The affinity (K(d)) of [3H]SCH 23390 or of [3H]7-OH-DPAT binding was unchanged in lymphocytes of rats of different age groups. The density (B(max)) of [3H]SCH 23390 binding sites increased from the 1st to the 3rd week of age, remained constant from the 3rd to the 8th week of age, and then increased slightly at 12 and 16 weeks of age. The B(max) value of [3H]7-OH-DPAT binding to lymphocytes increased from the 1st to the 3rd week of age, remained constant from the 3rd to the 4th week, increased again until the 12th week and then plateaued. Dopamine D1-like and D2-like receptor maturation in frontal cortex, hippocampus and striatum revealed an increased receptor density until the 4th week of age and a relative stabilization of receptor density values between the 4th to the 12th week depending on the area considered. Comparatively postnatal maturation of lymphocyte dopamine D1-like receptors displayed a pattern different from that of brain areas investigated, whereas maturation of D2-like receptors displayed a pattern similar to that of striatum. The quantitative and/or qualitative dissimilarities between development of lymphocyte and brain dopamine receptors suggest that from a developmental point of view lymphocyte dopamine receptors probably cannot be considered as a marker of homologous brain receptors.     

Photodynamic therapy induced Fas-mediated apoptosis in human carcinoma cells

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a clinical approach that utilizes light-activated drugs for the treatment of a variety of pathologic conditions. Human poorly (CNE2) and moderately differentiated (TW0-1) human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells undergo rapid apoptosis when treated with PDT sensitized with Hypocrellin A (HA) and Hypocrellin B (HB). It has been shown that these compounds have a strong photodynamic effect on tumors and viruses. The initiating events of PDT sensitized HA and HB-induced apoptosis are poorly defined. In the current study, we sought to determine whether Fas/FasL upregulation and involvement of mitochondrial events are an early event in HA and HB-treated PDT induced apoptosis. Loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, release of cytochrome c, involvement of caspases-8 and -3 and the status caspase-3 specific substrate PARP, were evaluated in PDT treated tumor cells. Photoactivation of HA and HB enhanced both CD95/CD95L expression and induced CD95-signaling dependent cell death in all tumor cell lines studied. CD95/ CD95L expression appeared within 2 h following light activation and appeared to be a primary event in PDT induced apoptosis. Furthermore, these results indicate that release of mitochondrial cytochrome c into the cytoplasm is a secondary event following the activation of initiator caspase-8 preceding caspase-3 activation, cleavage of PARP and DNA fragmentation. Cytochrome c appeared in the cytosol within 2-3 h post PDT. Cleavage of PARP was observed at 3-4 h following PDT and caspase-3 specific inhibitor DEVD-CHO and broad-spectrum caspases inhibitor z-VAD-fmk blocked caspase-3 activation and PARP cleavage suggesting that caspase-3 plays an important role in HA and HB-induced apoptosis.