HC

BACKGROUND: In this study, we aimed at investigating the possible association of urinary symptoms with whole-brain MRI resting-state functional connectivity (FC) alterations from distinct striatal subregions in a large cohort of early PD patients. METHODS: Seventy-nine drug-naive PD patients (45 PD-urinary+ /34 PD-urinary- ) and 38 healthy controls (HCs) were consecutively enrolled. Presence/absence of urinary symptoms were assessed by means of the Nonmotor Symptom Scale - domain 7...

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical characteristics and risk factors of cytomegalovirus(CMV) and Epstein-Barr virus(EBV) co-reactivation after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) and its influence on prognosis. METHODS: The clinical data of 222 patients who received allo-HSCT from January 2015 to December 2020 were collected, and the patients were divided into groups according to the occurrence of CMV and EBV infection. Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis, and Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to analyze the risk factors of co-reactivation of CMV and EBV...

PURPOSE: Endothelial dysfunction is a key mechanism in the development of hypertension and is closely linked to impairment of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and hyperhomocysteinemia. Genetic polymorphisms of eNOS (rs1799983 and rs2070744) are strongly associated with the risk of hypertension in individuals of Asian ethnicities. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between these polymorphisms and the risk of hypertension associated with homocysteine levels. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: For this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 370 Thai men aged 40-60 years from the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand cohort study for both variants genotyping by TaqMan allelic discrimination analysis...

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) have a critical role in recognizing pathogenic patterns and initiating immune responses against TB and HIV. Previously, studies described the gene expression of TLRs in patients with TB and HIV. Here, we demonstrated TLRs protein expressions and their association with clinical status and plasma markers in TB, HIV, and TB/HIV coinfection. The phenotyping of TLR2, TLR4, and TLR9 on CD14+ monocytes and their subsets were determined by multicolor flow cytometry. Host plasma biomarkers and microbial indices were measured using Luminex Multiplex assay and standard of care tools, respectively...

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neuropsychological disorder that occurs in children and is characterized by inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Early and accurate diagnosis of ADHD is very important for effective intervention. The aim of this study is to develop a computer-aided approach to detecting ADHD using electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. Specifically, we explore a Gabor filter-based statistical features approach for the classification of EEG signals into ADHD and healthy control (HC)...

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Many researchers have investigated parameters that could independently predict difficult laryngeal exposure (DLE) in suspension laryngoscopy; however, inconsistent results and conclusions have been reported in previous studies. We conducted a meta-analysis of the existing literature to determine the parameters that are significant for a standardized preoperative DLE prediction system. METHODS: The literature was retrieved systematically from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, China national knowledge infrastructure (CNKI), and Wangfang until October 2022...

BACKGROUND: Distinguishing untreated major depressive disorder without medication (MDD) from schizophrenia with depressed mood (SZDM) poses a clinical challenge. This study aims to investigate differences in fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) and cognition in untreated MDD and SZDM patients. METHODS: The study included 42 untreated MDD cases, 30 SZDM patients, and 46 healthy controls (HC). Cognitive assessment utilized the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS)...

BACKGROUND: Lateral ventricular enlargement represents a canonical morphometric finding in chronic patients with schizophrenia; however, longitudinal studies elucidating complex dynamic trajectories of ventricular volume change during critical early disease stages are sparse. METHODS: We measured lateral ventricular volumes in 113 first-episode schizophrenia patients (FES) at baseline visit (11.7 months after illness onset, SD = 12.3) and 128 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) using 3T MRI...

Elevated hippocampal perfusion has been observed in people at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR-P). Preclinical evidence suggests that hippocampal hyperactivity is central to the pathophysiology of psychosis, and that peripubertal treatment with diazepam can prevent the development of psychosis-relevant phenotypes. The present experimental medicine study examined whether diazepam can normalize hippocampal perfusion in CHR-P individuals. Using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design, 24 CHR-P individuals were assessed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on two occasions, once following a single oral dose of diazepam (5 mg) and once following placebo...

We conducted a comprehensive survey of Foods with Function Claims (FFC) submitted from April to August 2022 to examine the scientific reliability of the systematic review (SR), which is the basis for functional claims. The results of the review of 611 functional claims for 398 products showed that there were 121 functionally active substances and 87 health claims (Hc) that were labeled, with some functionally active substances having multiple functions. SRs, meta-analyses, and clinical studies were submitted as the basis of functionality for 87%, 10%, and 3% of the reports, respectively...

BACKGROUND: Asthma is characterized by phenotypes of different clinical, demographic, and pathological characteristics. Identifying the profile of exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in asthma phenotypes may facilitate establishing biomarkers and understanding asthma background pathogenesis. This study aimed to identify exhaled VOCs that characterize severe asthma phenotypes among patients with asthma. METHODS: This was a multicenter cross-sectional study of patients with severe asthma in Japan...

OBJECTIVE: Epilepsy is a chronic disease that requires long-term monitoring and treatment. It is suspected that there is a interaction between the use of anti-seizure medications and the risk of cardiovascular disease. The aim of the study is to investigate the association between the intake of phenobarbital, carbamazepine and valproic acid and their serum drug concentrations (SDC) with various cardiovascular risk parameters (homocysteine, folic acid, vitamin B12, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides, high- and low-density lipoprotein (LDL))...

Here, we characterized the p.Arg583His (R583H) Kv7.1 mutation, identified in two unrelated families suffered from LQT syndrome. This mutation is located in the HС-HD linker of the cytoplasmic portion of the Kv7.1 channel. This linker, together with HD helix are responsible for binding the A-kinase anchoring protein 9 (AKAP9), Yotiao. We studied the electrophysiological characteristics of the mutated channel expressed in CHO-K1 along with KCNE1 subunit and Yotiao protein, using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique...

IMPORTANCE: It is usually assumed that an individual's classification as a patient or a healthy person is determined by the presence or absence of disease, but little is known about whether the mere awareness of being a patient or a healthy control can play an important role for reporting outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether assignment to the role of a patient or a healthy control has an effect on patient-reported outcomes. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This single center, double-blind, 3-group randomized clinical trial included consecutive patients from a tertiary headache clinic based at a single center in Germany who were invited to participate between October 2019 and June 2023...

Objective. Abnormal lipid profile and obesity increase the risk of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PCOS patients may have a greater risk of infertility, metabolic syndrome (MetS) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) due to abnormal lipid profile and obesity. The aim of the study was to find the association between abnormal lipid profile and obesity in patients with PCOS. Methods. In this case-control study, a total of 102 female subjects (51 diagnosed PCOS and 51 age-matched healthy controls) were enrolled, aged between 20-40 years...

OBJECTIVE: To study the postnatal growth at 64 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA) in preterm neonates born at ≤ 34 weeks gestational age. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted between August, 2019 and November, 2021, wherein, we took anthropometric measurements of neonates (delivered at ≤ 34 weeks' gestation) at 64 (± 2) weeks PMA. The rapidity of postnatal growth was categorized according to change in the z-score of anthropometric measures, viz, weight-for-age, length-for-age and head circumference-for-age, between birth and 64 weeks PMA...

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to explore the transcriptomic profile of premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) by investigating alterations in gene expression. METHODS: A total of sixty-one women, comprising 31 individuals with POI in the POI group and 30 healthy women in the control group (HC group), aged between 24 and 40 years, were recruited for this study. The transcriptomic profiles of peripheral blood samples from all study subjects were analyzed using RNA-sequencing...

PURPOSE: To verify corneal biomechanical changes, poststromal augmentation using myopic small-incision lenticule extraction's (SMILEs) lenticules in advanced keratoconus (KCN) through Corvis ST (Oculus, Wetzlar, Germany). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A clinical trial enrolled 22 advanced KCN patients. We implanted lenticules exceeding 100 μ according to a nomogram and evaluated biomechanical factors through Corvis ST at 3-, 6-, and 24-month postimplantation. We examined parameters during the first applanation (A1), second applanation (A2), highest concavity (HC)/max concavity events, and Vinciguerra screening parameters, as recently established criteria derived from the ideal blend of diverse biomechanical and ocular factors and formulated through the application of logistic regression...

INTRODUCTION: Azoospermia, characterized by an absence of sperm in the ejaculate, represents the most severe form of male infertility. While surgical sperm retrieval in obstructive azoospermia (OA) is successful in the majority of cases, patients with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) show retrieval rates of only about 50% and thus frequently have unnecessary surgery. Surgical intervention could be avoided if patients without preserved spermatogenesis are identified preoperatively. This prospective study aimed to discover biomarkers in seminal plasma that could be employed for a non-invasive differential diagnosis of OA/NOA in order to rationalize surgery recommendations and improve success rates...

BACKGROUND: Discovering biological markers is essential for understanding and treating mental disorders. Despite the limitations of current non-invasive methods, neural progenitor cells from the olfactory epithelium (hNPCs-OE) have been emphasized as potential biomarker sources. This study measured soluble factors in these cells in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), and healthy controls (HC). METHODS: We assessed thirty-five participants divided into MDD (n=14), BPD (n=14), and HC (n=7)...