Annals of medicine
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Meta Analysis
Effects of intensive glucose control on incidence of cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis.
The effects of intensive glucose control over conventional glucose control on cardiovascular outcomes of patients with type 2 diabetes remain uncertain. ⋯ An intensive glucose control strategy can effectively reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events but at the expense of a significantly increased risk of severe hypoglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes.
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Selected inflammatory conditions increase the risk of cancer. An inflammatory component is present also in the micro-environment of tumours epidemiologically unrelated to inflammation. ⋯ Emerging evidence also suggests that cancer-related inflammation promotes genetic instability. Thus, cancer-related inflammation represents a target for innovative diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
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Abstract Suicide is a major public health concern. The etiology and pathogenic mechanisms associated with suicidal behavior are poorly understood. Recent research on the biological perspective of suicide has gained momentum and appears to provide a promising approach for identifying potential risk factors associated with this disorder. ⋯ Recent studies also demonstrate abnormalities in the functioning of BDNF, because its cognate receptors (tropomycin receptor kinase B and pan75 neurotrophin receptor) are abnormally active and/or expressed in the post-mortem brains of suicide subjects. There is further evidence of the role of BDNF in suicide as numerous studies show a strong association of suicidal behavior with BDNF functional polymorphism. Overall, it appears that abnormalities in BDNF signaling may serve as an important biological risk factor in the etiology and pathogenesis of suicide.
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Learned safety is established by negatively correlating the occurrence of a neutral stimulus and a noxious stimulus, which renders the previously neutral stimulus a 'safety signal'. While the neurophysiological and molecular mechanisms have been characterized in mice, it is currently not known how the neural substrates involved compare between mice and people. ⋯ We present a translational bridge between mouse and human models of learned safety in which cellular and molecular insights from animal experiments are extended to the human neural circuitry. This study provides an example of how animal experiments can be used to inform and target human studies, which in turn can corroborate results obtained in experimental animals.
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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by an uncontrolled spread of destructive joint inflammation resembling malignancy. Epidemiological studies have established strong correlation between inflammation and predisposition for cancer. Here we assess the predictive role of the circulating proto-oncogene survivin for clinical and radiological outcome of early RA. ⋯ Detection of survivin in early RA predicted joint destruction and failure of achieving remission after 5 years in patients with early RA.