Plos One
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The changes in and relationship between oxidative stress and the glutathione (GSH) antioxidant system in the plasma and tissues of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) before and after tumor resection have not been clearly determined. We investigated the changes in oxidative stress, GSH status and its dependent antioxidant enzyme activities in HCC patients before and after tumor resection, and to determine the association of oxidative stress with GSH and its dependent antioxidant enzyme activities in plasma and tissues. This study employed a cross-sectional design. ⋯ Pre-resection plasma GSH concentration was significantly correlated with GSH and TEAC level in HCC tissue. HCC patients had increased oxidative stress, decreased GSH, and lower dependent antioxidant capacities before tumor resection. However, hepatocellular tumor had increased GSH and TEAC levels as well as GSH peroxidase activities which might protect itself against increased oxidative stress.
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Physiological and functional parameters, such as body composition, or physical fitness are known to differ between men and women and to change with age. The goal of this study was to investigate how sex and age-related physiological conditions are reflected in the metabolome of healthy humans and whether sex and age can be predicted based on the plasma and urine metabolite profiles. In the cross-sectional KarMeN (Karlsruhe Metabolomics and Nutrition) study 301 healthy men and women aged 18-80 years were recruited. ⋯ Several metabolites important for this prediction could be identified including choline in plasma and sedoheptulose in urine. For women, classification according to their menopausal status was possible from metabolome data with > 80% accuracy. The metabolite profile of human urine and plasma allows the prediction of sex and age with high accuracy, which means that sex and age are associated with a discriminatory metabolite signature in healthy humans and therefore should always be considered in metabolomics studies.
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Observational Study
Utilisation of prehospital emergency medical services for hyperglycaemia: A community-based observational study.
This study examines prehospital Emergency Medical Service (EMS) utilisation and patterns of demand for hyperglycaemia management, including characteristics of individuals and factors related to hospital transport. ⋯ There is substantial utilisation of prehospital EMS for hyperglycaemia. With increased population prevalence of diabetes predicted, further research on opportunities for prevention, as well as optimal management in the prehospital environment is warranted.
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Patients with a Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) are hemodynamically stable but show an impaired exercise capacity. Aim of this work is to identify and to describe the limiting factors of exercise physiology with a VAD. We searched for data concerning exercise in heart failure condition and after VAD implantation from the literature. ⋯ The VAD can assure a proper hemodynamics at rest, but provides an insufficient unloading of the left ventricle and does not prevent wedge pressure from rising during exercise. Neither the VAD provides major benefits during exercise in terms of total cardiac output, which increases to a similar extend to an unassisted heart failure condition. VAD speed modulation can contribute to better unload the ventricle but the maximal flow reachable with the current devices is below the cardiac output observed in a healthy heart.
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Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is prevalent worldwide. Despite its limitations, serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) remains the most widely-used biomarker for the diagnosis of HCC. This study aimed to assess whether measurement of peripheral plasma Dickkopf-1 (DKK1) and Tie2-expressing monocytes (TEMs) could overcome the limitations of AFP and improve the diagnostic accuracy of HCC. ⋯ TEMs and DKK1 may prove to be potential complementary biomarkers for AFP in the diagnosis of HCC. TEMs rather than DKK1 could serve as a complementary biomarker for AFP in the differential diagnosis of AFP-negative HCC versus LC patients.