Archives of Medical Science : AMS

INTRODUCTION: Osteoarthritis of the hip or knee has been reported to be linked to an increased risk of frailty. However, a definitive conclusion about whether hip or knee osteoarthritis increases susceptibility to frailty remains elusive. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The instrumental variables (IVs) used in this analysis were sourced from publicly available genome-wide association study (GWAS) datasets. We used a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis to evaluate the plausible causal nexus between hip or knee osteoarthritis and frailty...

INTRODUCTION: Advanced glycation end-products (AGE) are involved in the pathogenesis of many diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The aim of the study was to evaluate the intensity of the protein glycation process in patients with multiple sclerosis and its possible involvement in disease activity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study group ( n = 45) consisted of patients suffering from MS, and the control group ( n = 31) consisted of healthy adults...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

INTRODUCTION: Ferritin has been implicated in body physiology and pathology. Smoking cigarettes (Cg) alters ferritin metabolism. Waterpipe (Wp) smoking has recently reemerged as a global epidemic and is linked to the most devastating diseases. However, the effect of smoking Wp on ferritin is not known. Therefore, the current study compared plasma ferritin in adolescents smoking Cg, Wp, both (CgWp) versus never smoked. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Self-reported smoking status and plasma ferritin levels were obtained from 849 boys ( n = 470) and girls ( n = 379) in the 7th -10th grade (age range = 13-17 years)...

INTRODUCTION: Uterine fibroids (UFs) are benign tumors of the female reproductive system originating from the smooth muscle of the uterus. Currently, progesterone is known to play a key role in the differentiation of the myometrial tissue to form UFs and their abnormal growth. The mechanism of action of progesterone in UF tumorigenesis involves its effect on increasing the concentrations and dysregulation of selected growth factors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed to evaluate and compare tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) serum concentrations in patients with UFs without prior hormonal treatment, patients with UFs treated with a 3-month standard ulipristal acetate (UPA - a type of selective progesterone receptor modulator) scheme (5 mg/day) and in control patients without UFs...

INTRODUCTION: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, autoimmune disease, often characterised by severe course and unclear etiopathogenesis. The reaction of protein glycoxidation, also known as glycation, may be linked to etiopathogenesis of SLE. Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) exhibit cytotoxic properties, affect cellular signalling, impair functions of extracellular proteins, and may act as neoepitopes. Glucosone (GS), glyoxal (GO), and methylglyoxal (MGO) are examples of α-dicarbonyl compounds (α-DCs) partaking in glycoxidation...

INTRODUCTION: Mesenchymal stem cells can develop into osteoblasts, making them a promising cell-based osteoporosis treatment. Despite their therapeutic potential, their molecular processes are little known. Bioinformatics and experimental analysis were used to determine the molecular processes of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC) therapy for postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO). MATERIAL AND METHODS: We used weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to isolate core gene sets from two GEO microarray datasets (GSE7158 and GSE56815)...

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to evaluate the predictive value of color Doppler ultrasound for the diagnosis of aberrant right subclavian artery (ARSA) with a co-occurring non-recurrent right laryngeal nerve (NRLN). MATERIAL AND METHODS: In the present study, 58 patients with ARSA (ARSA group) and 1,280 patients without ARSA (controls) were diagnosed by ultrasonography. In addition, 32 patients with ARSA (ARSA operation group) and controls underwent thyroidectomy with surgical exploration with or without NRLN...

INTRODUCTION: Patient-reported treatment burden (TBN) refers to the patient's time and effort invested in the management of their chronic health conditions. The aim of this research was to explore TBN in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: Consecutive patients with chronic medical condition(s) were invited to complete the study questionnaires (TBN and EQ-5D). RESULTS: Of 514 enrolled patients, 116 (22.6%) patients had CAD...

INTRODUCTION: Thymomas and thymic carcinoma (TC) are the most common neoplasms localised in the thymus. These diseases are poorly understood, but progress made in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology has provided novel data on their molecular pathology. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Genomic DNA was isolated from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumour tissue. We investigated somatic variants in 35 thymoma patients using amplicon-based TruSeq Amplicon Cancer Panel (TSACP) that covers 48 cancer related genes...

INTRODUCTION: Oral epithelial cells were recently shown to be able to differentiate into corneal epithelium, and the efficacy of cultured autologous oral mucosal epithelial cells (CAOMEC) has been suggested by the presence of epithelium replacement. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the treatment outcome in limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) by adding CAOMEC to regular amniotic membrane (AM) treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Eyes with LSCD were randomized to two groups to undergo either autologous oral mucosal epithelial cell sheet (CAOMECS) combined with AM transplantation (A group) or AM transplantation alone (B group)...

INTRODUCTION: The present study evaluated whether adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are significantly and independently associated with six key outcomes in the Polish general population: (1) lifetime suicide attempt, (2) self-mutilation, (3) potential problem drinking, (4) use of street drugs, (5) visiting a psychologist/psychotherapist, and (6) visiting a psychiatrist. We also investigated whether ACEs explain a significant proportion of variability in generalized self-efficacy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Six hundred and fifty-nine individuals completed the ACE Study questionnaire (physical, verbal, and sexual abuse; neglect; select family dysfunctions) and three additional questions [ACE (13) questionnaire]: witnessing (1) a family member's suicide attempt or (2) death due to any cause except completed suicide, and (3) a stranger's death due to any cause (e...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Central precocious puberty (CPP) is a rare disease of poorly understood etiology. The cause is mostly idiopathic. However, congenital and acquired structural changes in the central nervous system are also involved. Prevalent organic changes in the central nervous system, especially among boys, prompt imaging assessment in each case of CPP. In addition, genetic and environmental factors have been reported. Safe and effective treatment is available. The time of treatment implementation is crucial to the successful outcome...

INTRODUCTION: Testicular cancer (TC) is the most frequent cancer among men aged 14-44 years. The risk of erectile dysfunction (ED) in TC patients varied within a wide range across different studies. This study aims to estimate the risk of ED in TC patients by conducting a meta-analysis of case-control studies. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Relevant studies were searched using PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library up to June 2019. Case-control studies that reported the incidence of ED in TC patients were included...

INTRODUCTION: Recently, NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) and pyroptosis have been reported to be involved in traumatic brain injury-induced acute lung injury (TBI-ALI). Studies have shown that triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (TREM-1) may be one of the upstream molecules regulating NLRP3/pyroptosis, and 5-hydroxytryptamine type 3-receptor (5-HT3R) antagonists can inhibit NLRP3/pyroptosis. However, the role of TRME-1 in TBI-ALI, the therapeutic effect of 5-HT3R inhibition on TBI-ALI and its mechanism are still unclear...

INTRODUCTION: Understanding the effect of statins on epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is important as it may help reduce the negative impact of EAT-derived molecules on the cardiovascular system and consequently on coronary artery disease. Thus, we aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the impact of statin therapy on EAT. METHODS: The study utilized Scopus, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science to gather relevant studies on the impacts of statins on EAT until September 5th , 2023...

INTRODUCTION: Aortic stenosis (AS) is considered severe when the aortic valve area (AVA) is < 1.0 cm2 and the mean aortic valve gradient (mAVG) exceeds 40 mm Hg. Since many patients with AVA < 1.0 cm2 do not manifest an mAVG > 40 mm Hg, we sought to determine the AVA at which mAVG tends to exceed 40 mm Hg in a sample of subjects with varied transvalvular flow rates. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Our echocardiography database was queried for subjects with native valve AS...

INTRODUCTION: Accumulating evidence has proved that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in progression of glioma. Nevertheless, the role of TUBA4B in glioma remains unclear. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The expression of the target gene was measured by quantitative RT-PCR. The prognostic role of TUBA4B was analyzed by Meier survival analysis. Cell proliferation, colony formation, apoptosis, cell cycle, migration and invasion were detected by MTS, soft agar colony forming assay, flow cytometry, and transwell assay...

INTRODUCTION: Atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia are precursor lesions of gastric cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the usefulness of the biomarkers pepsinogen I(PgI), pepsinogen II (PgII), gastrin-17, and H. pylori antibodies in the identification of precursor lesions. METHODS: We studied 129 patients with gastric symptoms. The biomarker status was determined using GastroPanel by means of the ELISA-technique. RESULTS: Biomarkers detected atrophy in 14% of the subjects, and 49...