Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Endocrinol Diabetes Metab Case Rep 2021 Feb 26;2021. Epub 2021 Feb 26.

Endocrinology Department, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário do Porto, EPE, Porto, Portugal.

Summary: Pituitary metastasis (PM) can be the initial presentation of an otherwise unknown malignancy. As PM has no clinical or radiological pathognomonic features, diagnosis is challenging. The authors describe the case of a symptomatic PM that revealed a primary lung adenocarcinoma. Read More

Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2021 Apr 14;557:166-173. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Department of Nephrology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai, China. Electronic address:

Background: Renal ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) has become a growing concern in clinical practice with high morbidity and mortality rates. There is currently no effective prophylactic regimen available to prevent its occurrence and to improve its clinical prognosis. Dl-3-n-butylphthalide (NBP) has been used for stroke treatment in China for years. Read More

Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2021 Apr 14;557:159-165. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

College of Information Engineering, Shanghai Maritime University, 1550 Haigang Ave., Shanghai, 201306, PR China. Electronic address:

Studies have shown that the specific entry of peripheral cells into the brain parenchyma caused by BBB injury and the imbalance of the immune microenvironment in the brain are closely related to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Because of the difficulty of obtaining data inside the brain, it is urgent to find out the relationship between the peripheral and intracerebral data and their influence on the development of AD by machine learning methods. However, in the actual algorithm design, it is still a challenge to extract relevant information from a variety of data to establish a complete and accurate regulatory network. Read More

Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2021 Apr 14;557:143-150. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Laboratory of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Biopolis, 41500, Larissa, Greece. Electronic address:

Hypoxia-inducible factor 2 (HIF-2), is essential for cellular response to hypoxia and holds an important role in erythropoiesis, angiogenesis, tissue invasion and metastasis, thus, constituting an important therapeutic target. Maximal HIF-2 transcriptional activation requires HIF-2α phosphorylation by ERK1/2 that impairs its CRM1-mediated nuclear export. Herein, we reveal a novel interaction of HIF-2α with Reptin52, a multifunctional protein involved in cellular functions orchestrated both in the nucleus and the cytoplasm. Read More

Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2021 Apr 14;557:127-134. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Department of General Medicine, The Sixth Annex Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Wulumuqi, 830002, China. Electronic address:

Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) has high morbidity and mortality worldwide, but the underlying mechanisms have not been entirely understood. TRIM27 is one of the Tri-domain proteins (TRIM) family proteins with crucial roles in numerous life processes. In the study, we attempted to explore the effects of heart-conditional knockout of TRIM27 (TRIM27) on MI/R progression both in vivo and in vitro. Read More

Clin Neurol Neurosurg 2021 Apr 2;205:106632. Epub 2021 Apr 2.

Section of Neurology, Institute for Neurosciences, St. Luke's Medical Center, Quezon City, Philippines; Movement Disorders Service and Section of Neurology, Institute for Neurosciences, St. Luke's Medical Center, Quezon City, Philippines; Department of Neurosciences, College of Medicine - Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines Manila, Philippines; Movement Disorders Service and Section of Neurology, Institute for Neurosciences, St. Luke's Medical Center, Global City, Philippines. Electronic address:

Background: Hemifacial spasm (HFS) is a chronic, potentially disabling disorder that often requires long-term management with botulinum toxin (BoNT). In a country where healthcare costs limit compliance to medical follow-up and treatment, the study aims to provide a real-world experience on the use of BoNT for HFS among Filipinos.

Methods: We retrospectively collected data from 162 HFS patients who received 1138 botulinum toxin (BoNT) injections from 2006 to 2019 in our movement disorders center in the Philippines. Read More

Drug Alcohol Depend 2021 Apr 10;223:108707. Epub 2021 Apr 10.

Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157, United States. Electronic address:

Background: Although most individuals with cocaine use disorder also abuse alcohol, little is known about the behavioral and pharmacological mechanisms that promote co-abuse. For example, it is unclear whether prior experience with alcohol renders individuals more sensitive to cocaine when it is subsequently experienced.

Methods: This study examined the effects of chronic ethanol consumption on subsequent cocaine reinforcement in rhesus monkeys. Read More

ESMO Open 2021 Apr 14;6(3):100106. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Department of Drug Development and Innovation (D3i), Institut Curie, Paris, France; Inserm U900 Research Unit, Saint Cloud, France; Paris-Saclay University, Paris, France. Electronic address:

Squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) are among the most frequent solid tumors in humans. SCCs, related or not to the human papillomavirus, share common molecular features. Immunotherapies, and specifically immune checkpoint inhibitors, have been shown to improve overall survival in multiple cancer types, including SCCs. Read More

Nurse Educ Today 2021 Apr 9;101:104890. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Department of Nursing Science, Hospital District of Satakunta, 20014 University of Turku, Finland. Electronic address:

Background: The assessment of reasoning skills is recommended in undergraduate nursing student selection. Reasoning skills are crucial for sound decision-making, improving patient safety and are necessary from the very beginning of studies. Nursing applicants' reasoning skills based on the reasoning process have not been previously measured. Read More

Tuberculosis (Edinb) 2021 Apr 10;128:102082. Epub 2021 Apr 10.

DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research, South African Medical Research Council Centre for Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.

Host markers to monitor the response to tuberculosis (TB) therapy hold some promise. We evaluated the changes in concentration of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb)-induced soluble biomarkers during early treatment for predicting short- and long-term treatment outcomes. Read More

Public Health 2021 Apr 14;194:67-74. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, 43403, USA. Electronic address:

Objectives: Instagram artwork about mental illness was examined to learn how artists promote awareness about mental health and mental illness.

Study Design: Mixed methods predictive and descriptive analyses were conducted on a public dataset of artwork posts from Instagram.

Methods: One thousand art images were classified by media (painting, drawing, collage, photograph, digital art, printmaking, sculpture, jewelry, or other) and style (representational, nonrepresentational, and functional). Read More

Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 2021 Apr 7;312:111285. Epub 2021 Apr 7.

University of California, San Francisco, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, USA; San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, USA.

Individuals with schizophrenia exhibit widespread cortical thinning associated with illness severity and deficits in cognition. However, intact cortical thickness (CTh) may serve as a protective factor. The current study sought to examine changes in CTh in response to auditory targeted cognitive training (TCT) in individuals with recent onset schizophrenia. Read More

Sci Total Environ 2021 Apr 9;783:146991. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Graduate Program in Chemistry, Federal University of Santa Maria, 97105-900 Santa Maria, Brazil; Graduate Program in Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Santa Maria, 97105-900, Brazil. Electronic address:

Real hospital wastewater was effectively treated by a promising technology based on degradation reaction catalyzed by Fe under microwave irradiation in this work. Fe powders were synthesized and characterized by different techniques, resulting in a single-phase sample with spherical particles. Optimum experimental conditions were determined by a central composite rotatable design combined with a response surface methodology, resulting in 96. Read More

Sci Total Environ 2021 Apr 5;783:146894. Epub 2021 Apr 5.

Environmental Health and Radiation Safety, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Despite the modern ventilation and waste anesthetic gas (WAG) scavenging systems, occupational exposure to common volatile anesthesia, isoflurane, can occur in the hospital and veterinary settings, but limited information exists on potential exposure and health risk of isoflurane. We assessed exposure dose rates and risks among clinicians and veterinary professionals from occupational exposure to isoflurane. Through a critical review of open literature (1965 to 2020), we summarized potential adverse effects and exposure scenarios of isoflurane among the professional groups, including anesthetists, nurses, operating room personnel, researchers, and/or veterinarians. Read More

Sci Total Environ 2021 Apr 12;783:147059. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.

The detection and prediction of lake ecosystem responses to environmental changes are pressing scientific challenge of major global relevance. Specifically, an understanding of lake ecosystem stability over long-term scales is urgently needed to identify impending ecosystem regime shifts induced by human activities and improve lake ecosystem protection. This study investigated regime shifts in cyanobacterial and eukaryotic algal communities in a large shallow lake over a century in response to nutrient enrichment and hydrologic regulation using evidence from empirical state indicators and ecological network analyses of sedimentary-inferred communities. Read More

J Hazard Mater 2021 Apr 7;416:125830. Epub 2021 Apr 7.

Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry, Ministry of Education. School of Chemistry and Material Science, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, PR China. Electronic address:

The unique properties of heterostructure materials make them become a promising candidate for high-performance room-temperature (RT) NO sensing. Herein, a p-n heterojunction consisting of two-dimensional (2D) MoS nanoflakes vertically grown on one-dimensional (1D) SnO nanotubes (NTs) was fabricated via electrospinning and subsequent hydrothermal route. The sulfur edge active sites are fully exposed in the MoS@SnO heterostructure due to the vertically oriented thin-layered morphology features. Read More

Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 2021 Apr 8;203:111756. Epub 2021 Apr 8.

The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, 109 Xueyuan West Road, Wenzhou, 325027, PR China. Electronic address:

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic, idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease characterized by dysregulation of colon immune response. Curcumin (Cur) has strong anti-inflammatory activities, but the application is severely hindered by the extremely hydrophobicity and pitiful bioavailability. Alginate (Alg), a natural polysaccharide with ideal solubility and biosafety, was introduced to prepare the esterified alginate-curcumin conjugate (Alg-Cur) and constructed stable Alg-Cur micelle in physiological solutions. Read More

Virology 2021 Apr 9;559:100-110. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Tulane National Primate Research Center, Tulane University, Covington, LA, USA; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA. Electronic address:

While T cell immunity is an important component of the immune response to Zika virus (ZIKV) infection generally, the efficacy of these responses during pregnancy remains unknown. Here, we tested the capacity of CD8 lymphocytes to protect from secondary challenge in four macaques, two of which were depleted of CD8 cells prior to rechallenge with a heterologous ZIKV isolate. The initial challenge during pregnancy produced transcriptional signatures suggesting complex patterns of immune modulation as well as neutralizing antibodies that persisted until rechallenge, which all animals efficiently controlled, demonstrating that the primary infection conferred adequate protection. Read More

J Mech Behav Biomed Mater 2021 Apr 14;119:104506. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK.

An abnormal remodelling process of bones can lead to various bone disorders, such as osteoporosis, making them prone to fracture. Simulations of load-induced remodelling of trabecular bone were used to investigate its response to mechanical signal. However, the role of mechanostat in trabecular-bone remodelling has not yet been investigated in simulations underpinned by a longitudinal in-vivo study in humans. Read More

Eur J Radiol 2021 Apr 8;139:109701. Epub 2021 Apr 8.

Department of Radiology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Radiology, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Objectives: New markers are required to predict chemoradiation response in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) patients. This study evaluated the ability of magnetic resonance (MR) radiomics to predict locoregional control (LRC) and overall survival (OS) after chemoradiation and aimed to determine whether this has added value to traditional clinical outcome predictors.

Methods: 177 OPSCC patients were eligible for this study. Read More

J Pharm Biomed Anal 2021 Apr 10;200:114068. Epub 2021 Apr 10.

Bursa Uludag University, Faculty of Science and Arts, Department of Chemistry, 16059, Bursa, Turkey. Electronic address:

Oxidation of DNA due to exposure to reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a major source of DNA damage. ROS induced damage to DNA plays an important role in some diseases such as various cancers, aging and neurodegenerative diseases. The detection of DNA oxidation products plays a major role in assessing the mutagenicity potential of specific exposure. Read More

J Clin Virol 2021 Apr 10;139:104820. Epub 2021 Apr 10.

Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Zaloška 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Electronic address:

Background: Neutralization tests (NT) are the gold standard for detecting and quantifying anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies (NAb), but their complexity restricts them to research settings or reference laboratories. Antibodies against S protein receptor binding domain (RBD) have been shown to confer a neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2. Assays quantitatively measuring anti-S1-RBD-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies could be of great value for NAb screening of potential donors for convalescent-phase plasma therapy, assessing natural or vaccine-induced immunity, stratifying individuals for vaccine receipt, and documenting vaccine response. Read More

Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 2021 Apr 14;217:112230. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

College of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, 325035 Wenzhou, China. Electronic address:

Cadmium (Cd) has been widely used in industry and can accumulate in the water, soil, and food. Meretrix meretrix is one of the marine shellfishes cultivated for economic purpose in China. The increasing Cd levels in coastal marine water could adversely affect the economic benefits of shellfish cultivation. Read More

Free Radic Biol Med 2021 Apr 14. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Department of Cardiology, University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.

Takotsubo Syndrome (TTS) is characterized by a transient left ventricular dysfunction recovering spontaneously within days or weeks. Although the pathophysiology of TTS remains obscure, there is growing evidence suggesting TTS to be associated with increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which may be involved in causing transient coronary and peripheral endothelial dysfunction leading to a transient impairment of myocardial contraction due to stunning (apical ballooning). Endothelial dysfunction is mainly caused by decreased vascular and myocardial nitric oxide bioavailability in response to increased ROS production. Read More

Fish Shellfish Immunol 2021 Apr 14. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Salaya Campus, Phutthamonthon 4 Rd, Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand. Electronic address:

By using immunohistochemistry detection, yellow head virus (YHV) was found to replicate in granule-containing hemocytes including semi-granular hemocytes (SGC) and granular hemocytes (GC) during the early phase (24 hours post injection) of YHV-infected shrimp. Higher signal of YHV infection was found in GC more than in SGC. Comparative phosphoproteomic profiles between YHV-infected and non-infected GC reveal a number of phosphoproteins with different expression levels. Read More

Fish Shellfish Immunol 2021 Apr 14. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Ichthyobiology and Aquaculture in Gołysz, Zaborze, 43-520, Chybie, Poland. Electronic address:

Kinetoplastid parasites require transferrin (Tf), being the main source of iron, for growth and multiplication. This group of parasites developed a unique receptor-mediated system for acquiring host Tf which bears no structural homology with the host transferrin receptor. Trypanoplasma borreli, a blood parasite of common carp, probably uses a similar mechanism to sequester iron from host transferrin. Read More

Neurotoxicol Teratol 2021 Apr 14:106984. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Department of Biomedical Sciences and Center for Brain Repair, Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, FL 32306, United States of America. Electronic address:

Evidence supporting the use of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogues to pharmacologically treat disorders beyond type 2 diabetes and obesity is increasing. However, little is known about how activation of the GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) during pregnancy affects maternal and offspring outcomes. We treated female C57Bl/6 J mice prior to conception and throughout gestation with a long-lasting GLP-1R agonist, Exendin-4. Read More

Int J Infect Dis 2021 Apr 14. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Translational Research Unit, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani-IRCCS, Rome, Italy. Electronic address:

Objectives: To identify the best experimental approach to detect a SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell response using a whole-blood platform.

Methods: Whole-blood from 56 COVID-19 and 23 "NO-COVID-19" individuals were overnight stimulated with different concentrations (0.1 or 1 µg/mL) of SARS-CoV-2 PepTivator® Peptide Pools, including spike (pool S), nucleocapsid (pool N), membrane (pool M), and a MegaPool (MP) of these three peptide pools. Read More

J Endod 2021 Apr 14. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Member of the Endochat research group, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; Postgraduate Program in Dentistry, University of Grande Rio (UNIGRANRIO), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; Department of Dental Research, Faculty of Dentistry, Iguaçu University (UNIG), Nova Iguaçu, RJ, Brazil.

Introduction: This article shows the follow-up of several cases of maxillary sinusitis of dental (usually endodontic) origin, with different manifestations, diagnostic challenges and outcomes.

Methods: Cases from 14 patients from 3 countries and treated by 7 different endodontists are presented, all of them with inflammatory sinus changes represented by mucositis, osteoperiostitis, and partial/full obstruction.

Results: All cases showed dental and/or sinus signs/symptoms, that resolved after dental management. Read More

J Endod 2021 Apr 14. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Department of Basic Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), School of Dentistry, Araçatuba, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação Multicêntrico em Ciências Fisiológicas/SBFis, São Paulo State University (UNESP), School of Dentistry, Araçatuba, Brazil.

Introduction: Maternal apical periodontitis (AP) is associated with insulin resistance (IR) in adult offspring. Oxidative stress has been linked to IR. This study investigated insulin sensitivity (IS) and oxidative stress in the gastrocnemius muscle (GM) of adult offspring of rats with AP. Read More