tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Abstract 34: Serum Dietary Antioxidants in Young Adulthood and Incident Cardiovascular Disease in Middle Age: The CARDIA Study
Authors: Andrew O Odegaard, David R Jacobs, Lyn M Steffen, Linda Van Horn, James M Shikany, Myron D Gross
Journal: Circulation (2014)

Introduction: Serum levels of carotenoids and tocopherols are objective measures of dietary intakes, including fruits and vegetables (carotenoids and the carotenoid index), nuts/seeds and vegetable oils (α-tocopherol (α-toc)), and oils, margarines, salad dressing and other related foods (γ-tocopherol (γ-toc)). Little research has examined these serum measures in young adulthood as predictors of the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in middle age. Hypothesis: Circulating carotenoids and tocopherols in young adulthood are inversely associated with incident CVD during middle-age. Methods: Participants from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study (CARDIA, N=5,115) with serum measures of carotenoids and tocopherols at year 0 of the study and concurrent risk factor data were included in the analysis (N=4,810, mean age 25). CVD events (n=167, coronary heart disease, stroke, and heart failure, adjudicated based on medical records) were ascertained over 25 years of follow up. Multivariable Poisson regression (PROC Genmod) was used to estimate the incidence density of CVD over 25 years according to quintiles of the carotenoid index (sum of 4 variables, defined in Table), α-toc and γ-toc with adjustment for demographic, lifestyle, and clinical covariates. Results: There was a strong inverse association between higher levels of the carotenoid index and incidence of CVD, a suggestive inverse association between higher levels of α-toc and incident CVD, and a positive association between γ-toc and incident CVD (Table). The carotenoid, lycopene, did not predict incident CVD. Conclusions: The results for the carotenoids and α-tocopherol underscore how a nutrient rich, plant based dietary pattern in young adulthood may inversely associate with CVD events through middle age. The divergent γ-toc results may reflect the kinetics of its metabolism, a poorer dietary pattern, or higher intake of a food from the food supply (e.g. margarine in 1985-6) that may increase risk.
Cycling and health promotion
Authors: D. Carnall
Journal: BMJ (2000)

The consensus that regular physical exercise is a vital part of maintaining health and wellbeing has existed for at least a decade.1 The human body is made to exercise, yet our increasingly motorised existence means that we now walk an average of eight miles less each day than our forebears 50 years ago.2 Cycling has shown a similar decline: in 1949 34% of miles travelled using a mechanical mode were by bicycle; today only 1-2% are.2

The car, weighing the best part of a ton and often conveying only one person and a briefcase, is a highly inefficient mode of transport. The fumes cars expel cause appreciable mortality3 and are a major contributor to …
Livedoid vasculopathy associated with heterozygous protein C deficiency
Authors: A. Boyvat, N. KundakC¸i, M.O.A. Babikir, E. Gürgey
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (2000)

Livedoid vasculopathy is characterized by recurrent painful ulceration of the feet, ankles and legs that heals with residual white atrophic scars. For many years, livedoid vasculopathy has been considered to be a primary vasculitic process. Recently, however, there has been a trend towards considering livedoid vasculopathy as an occlusive vasculopathy due to a hypercoagulable state. Livedoid vasculopathy (under the designation livedo vasculitis) was first reported to be associated with protein C deficiency in 1992. We describe an additional patient with livedoid vasculopathy associated with heterozygous protein C deficiency. This second reported case suggests that protein C deficiency may be one cause of the hypercoagulable condition in these patients and demonstrates the necessity for further investigation of thrombogenic factors underlying the disease.
Influence of Pregnancies on the Histogenesis of Mammary Cancer in the RIII/Dm/Se Substrain of Mice2
Authors: Maria Olivi
Journal: JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute (1960)

An attempt was made to demonstrate how pregnancies affect histogenesis of mammary cancer in RIII mice. The behavior, incidence, number, and relationship of precancerous lesions to the age and reproductive life are compared in virgin, normal-bred, and force-bred mice. The results indicate that pregnancies enhance development of cancer through a promoting action on precancerous lesions. Data are presented which suggest that pregnancies give rise to the nodules both through a subinvolution of the functioning lobule and through a new growth of alveoli—the latter always occurring in the mammary glands of virgins. Both methods operate in the breeders, and the number of nodules in their mammary glands is higher than in the mammary glands of the virgins. Moreover, pregnancies enhance the cancerization of the nodules. Mammary glands of old breeders were not studied because they die of mammary cancer before they reach an advanced age. In the resting mammary tissue of the mammary glands of very old virgins occasional nodules are found which do not become cancers because of the lack of hormonal stimuli that promotes the change from preneoplastic lesions into cancer. Pregnancies provide the quantity of hormones sufficient to promote the cancerization of most nodules. Evidence is accumulating that pregnancies give rise to the precancerous lesion, the plaque, in which growth takes place during the second half of the pregnancy and regression occurs after parturition. The plaques represent the second source of mammary-cancer development in our force-bred mice of the RIII substrain.
Cardiomyocyte-specific overexpression of beta3-adrenoceptors attenuates the hypertrophic response to catecholamines in vivo
Authors: Catharina Beige, Jean-Louis Vanoverschelde, Jean-Luc Balligand, Belaid Sekkali, Genevieve Tavernier, Anne-Catherine Pouleur, Luc Bertrand, Denise Hilfiker-Kleiner, Dominique Langin
Journal: Circulation (2007)
Abstract 19307: Exercise Oscillatory Ventilation in Patients with Fontan Physiology
Authors: Ashwin Nathan, Brittani Loukas, Lilamarie Moko, Fred Wu, David Systrom, Gregory Lewis, Ana Ubeda Tikkanen, Jonathan Rhodes, Keri Shafer, Michael Landzberg, Alexander Opotowsky
Journal: Circulation (2014)

Background: Exercise oscillatory ventilation (EOV) refers to the presence of regular oscillations in minute ventilation (VE) during exercise. Several studies have shown EOV to correlate with disease severity and prognosis in acquired heart failure. We evaluated the prevalence and predictive value of EOV in patients with Fontan physiology. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis and prospective survival analysis of patients who had undergone a Fontan procedure and had continuous ramp cycle ergometry cardiopulmonary exercise testing between 2001 and 2013. EOV was defined as regular oscillations continuing for >60% of exercise duration with amplitude>15% of average VE using software developed with MATLAB R2013a (MathWorks, Natick, MA). Clinical data was reviewed for baseline characteristics and mortality or heart transplant. Survival analysis was performed using univariate and multivariable Cox regression to evaluate the predictive value of EOV status. Results: We analyzed 253 patients with Fontan p...
Diagnostics of the latent TBC infection (LTBI) activity in children
Authors: Nataliya Stavitskaya, Alla Doroschenkova, Roman Khanferyan
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2011)

Material and methods: Under observation there were 118 children with LTBI and 129 diseased children with local forms of lung tuberculosis. The concentration of key cytokines IFNr, IL4, IL10, IL18 in blood serum was identified with immunoferment method.

Results: To comparatively study the correlation of functioning of Th1 and Th2 cells in the immune response, we introduced the notion of “Cytokine index”. Accordingly, the secretorious activity of T-helpers of the 1 and 2 type we determined by quantitative correlation of the key cytokines IFNr/IL4 and IL18/IL10. It was determined that in comparison with a control group (30 noninfectious children) average values of IFNr content increased in diseased children in 2,4 times, in healthy with LTBI – in 3,6 times. By analogy, the values of IL18 increased in the diseased in 2,9 and in healthy children with LTBI – in 4,5 times. The obtained results underline the oneway direction of the immune response to TBC infection, appeared in organism. In diseased children the quantitative index of correlation of the key cytokines IFNr/IL4 lessened to 1,4 times (in a control group – to 2,3). In infectious children this index was equal to 1,9. The correlation of the other two nonetheless important cytokines IL18/IL10 in the differentiating of T-lymphocites in very indicative: in both groups the cytokine index appeared to be lowered to 1,4 and 1,9, which was caused by the increase of IL10 almost in 5 times as compared with the control group (2,3).

Conclusion: The IL18/IL10 obtained results allow of IL18/IL10 introducing into clinical practice quantitative evaluation of correlation of Th1 and Th2 hence to diagnose the LTBI progress.
Abstract 13286: Non-Specific Intraventricular Conduction Delay and Risk of Sudden Death
Authors: Audrey Uy-Evanado, Carmen Teodorescu, Kyndaron Reinier, Kumar Narayanan, Harpriya Chugh, Karen Gunson, Jonathan Jui, Sumeet S Chugh
Journal: Circulation (2014)

Introduction: We and others have reported an independent association between prolonged QRS duration and risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in the general population. Left and right bundle branch block have been studied previously, but there is little information regarding non-specific intraventricular conduction delay and risk of SCD. Hypothesis: Completed conduction defects, including non-specific IVCD, are associated with increased SCD risk. Methods: Sudden cardiac death cases and controls from an ongoing large population based study in the Northwestern US (2002 to 2010) were included if age ≥ 35 years with a non-paced 12-lead ECG (recorded prior and unrelated to SCD in cases). QRS morphology was subcategorized as normal, intermediate [left anterior fascicular block (LAFB), left posterior fascicular block (LPFB), and incomplete right or left bundle branch block (IRBBB/ILBBB)] or completed conduction defects [left bundle branch block (LBBB), right bundle branch block (RBBB), or nonspecific intraventricular conduction delay (IVCD)]. Comparisons were conducted using chi-square tests for categorical variables and independent samples t-tests for continuous variables. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the association of QRS morphology with SCD. Results: We evaluated 761 SCD cases (64% male) and 539 controls (65% male). Cases were significantly older (69.7 vs 66.3 years, p&lt;0.0001) with greater QRS duration (102 vs. 98 ms, p=0.001). For conduction categories, intermediate or completed conduction defects were significantly more common in cases whereas normal QRS morphology was more common among controls (p=0.01). And for specific morphology overall, QRS morphology patterns differed between cases and controls (p=0.03); abnormal QRS morphologies were more frequent in cases than controls except for LAFB. After adjustment for age and gender, however, only a finding of LBBB or non-specific IVCD remained a significant predictor of SCD [OR 1.34 (95% CI 1.03-1.75)]. Conclusions: LBBB and non-specific IVCD, but not RBBB, are significant predictors of SCD in the general population. These findings contribute to the utility of the 12-lead EKG for SCD risk stratification.
Clinical and inflammatory features of occupational asthma caused by persulphate salts in comparison with asthma associated with occupational rhinitis
Authors: G. Moscato, G. Pala, L. Perfetti, M. Frascaroli, P. Pignatti
Journal: Allergy (2009)

The relationships between asthma and rhinitis are still a crucial point in respiratory allergy and have scarcely been analysed in occupational setting. We aimed to compare the clinical and inflammatory features of subjects with occupational asthma only (OA) to subjects with OA associated to occupational rhinitis (OAR) caused by persulphate salts.The clinical charts of 26 subjects diagnosed in our Unit as respiratory allergy caused by ammonium persulphate (AP), confirmed by specific inhalation challenge (SIC), were reviewed. Twenty-two out of twenty-six patients underwent pre-SIC-induced sputum challenge test (IS) and 24/26 underwent nasal secretion collection and processing.Twelve out of twenty-six patients received a diagnosis of OA-only and 14/26 of OAR. Duration of exposure before diagnosis, latency period between the beginning of exposure and asthma symptom onset, basal FEV(1), airway reactivity to methacholine and asthma severity did not differ in the two groups. Eosinophilic inflammation of upper and lower airways characterized both groups. Eosinophil percentage in IS tended to be higher in OAR [11.9 (5.575-13.925)%] than in OA-only [2.95 (0.225-12.5)%] (P = 0.31). Eosinophilia in nasal secretions was present both in subjects with OAR [55 (46-71)%] and in subjects with OA-only [38 (15-73.5)%], without any significant difference.Our results indicate that OA because of ammonium persulphate coexists with occupational rhinitis in half of the patients. Unexpectedly, rhinitis did not seem to have an impact on the natural history of asthma. The finding of nasal inflammation in subjects with OA-only without clinical manifestations of rhinitis supports the united airway disease concept in occupational respiratory allergy as a result of persulphates.
Abstract 18054: Does the Presence of Obesity Influence Endothelial Function Favorably in Patients Who Have Undergone Percutaneous Coronary Intervention?
Authors: Hiroki Teragawa, Naoya Mitsuba, Tatsuya Maruhashi, Kenji Nishioka, Ken Ishibashi, Satoshi Kurisu, Yukihito Higashi, Yasuki Kihara
Journal: Circulation (2010)
When I use a word: A medical alphabet
Authors: J. Aronson
Journal: BMJ (2000)

In the 1720s Jonathan Swift was challenged to the game of combining all the letters of the Greek alphabet with the word “guinea.” He rose to the challenge, using excruciating puns, slang, and hidden words; for example:

α: half a guinea;

κ: I cap a guinea;

σ: I seek my guinea.

Thus was born the first comic phonetic alphabet. However, the idea didn't really catch on until the variety …
Abstract 19706: CD39/CD73 Pathway in End-stage Human Ischemic Cardiomyopathy
Authors: Tatiana Novitskaya, Yan Ru Su, Simon Maltais, Tarek S Absi, Richard J Gumina
Journal: Circulation (2014)

Introduction: CD39 (ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase) is a nucleotidase expressed on endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscles cells, and leukocytes. CD39 plays a key role in vascular homeostasis, hydrolyzing extracellular ATP or ADP to AMP. CD73 (ecto-5’-nculeotidase) hydrolyzes AMP to adenosine. Both CD39 and CD73 are key modulators of purinergic signaling and have been shown to be important in ischemic preconditioning and ischemia reperfusion in animal models. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that the expression of the purine nucleotide-metabolizing pathway consisting of CD39 and CD73 in human hearts with ischemic cardiomyopathy is unregulated in response to ischemia. Methods: We compared the expression of CD39 and CD73 in left ventricular samples from patients with end-stage ischemic cardiomyopathy and normal hearts. Left ventricular tissue obtained from 7 end-stage ischemic cardiomyopathy hearts and 7 normal hearts not used for transplantation were homogenized and the levels of CD39 and CD73 mRNA were measured by qRT-PCR. Using the same tissue, immunoblot analysis for the protein level of CD39 and CD73 was conducted. Furthermore, immunohistochemical analysis of CD39 and CD73 expression was conducted on left ventricular tissue from the same subjects. Results: The total mRNA levels of CD39 and CD73 were increased in patients with end-stage ischemic cardiomyopathy. However, while there was a reduction in the total CD73 protein levels that did not reach significance, there was a marked reduction in the the total protein level of CD39 in ICM hearts (Figure). Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that the expression pattern of CD39 was significantly different in ICM hearts compared to normal hearts. Conclusions: These data provide important evidence that the extracellular nucleotide metabolizing pathway is altered in ICM. CD39 protein levels are significantly reduced in human end-stage ischemic cardiomyopathy.
Identification of a gene, ABCG5, important in the regulation of dietary cholesterol absorption
Authors: Mi-Hye Lee, Kangmo Lu, Star Hazard, Hongwei Yu, Sergey Shulenin, Hideki Hidaka, Hideto Kojima, Rando Allikmets, Nagahiko Sakuma, Rosemary Pegoraro, Anand K. Srivastava, Gerald Salen, Michael Dean, Shailendra B. Patel
Journal: Nature Genetics (2001)
Early Exposure to Marijuana and Risk of Later Drug UseEarly Exposure to Marijuana and Risk of Later Drug Use
Authors: Peter Cummings
Journal: JAMA (2003)

To the Editor: Dr Lynskey and colleagues concluded that early cannabis use is associated with an increased risk for later use and dependence on other drugs. Although the authors used both monozygotic and dizygotic same-sex twins to ensure similar environmental influences, we are concerned that the sample may not be representative of the population, as there was an unusually high prevalence of alcohol dependence in both cannabis users and their co-twin controls compared with that of the general population. Early cannabis users in the study of Lynskey et al had a 42.8% prevalence of alcohol dependence, whereas their co-twin controls had a prevalence of 29.6%. By contrast, the prevalence of alcohol abuse among Australian adults has been reported to be about 6.5%, with a 4.1% prevalence of alcohol dependence. About 8.3% of Australians aged 14 years and older report daily alcohol use. Similarly, the prevalence of alcohol dependence in the United States has been estimated to be about 6% of men and 2% of women.
Abstract 14875: Estrogen-Induced Vasoprotection is Preserved After Prolonged Estrogen Deprivation
Authors: Fadi G Hage, Dongqi Xing, Yuanyuan Guo, Chad Colon, Alexander J Szalai, Yiu-Fai Chen, Suzanne Oparil
Journal: Circulation (2014)

Introduction:  17β-Estradiol (E2) offers cardiovascular protection in young female animals and peri-menopausal women. Clinical trials carried out in older women deprived of E2 for many years have shown harm or no cardiovascular benefit. We have recently demonstrated that E2 attenuates C-reactive protein (CRP)-driven inflammatory response in vascular smooth muscle cells and macrophages derived from young but not aged mice and reduces neointima formation in injured carotid arteries of young but not aged CRP transgenic mice (CRPtg).   Hypothesis:  After prolonged E2 deprivation, E2 will not attenuate neointimal response to vascular injury.   Methods and Results:  C57BL/6 non-transgenic (NTG) and CRPtg (10 wk old) mice underwent ovariectomy and then received vehicle (veh), uninterrupted E2 for 97 days (E2), or veh for 90 days followed by E2 for 7 days (E2, deprivation) delivered using subcutaneous pellets. Mice were then subjected to right common carotid artery ligation. At 28 days after injury, the carotid arteries were harvested, fixed, sectioned, stained, and subjected to computer-assisted morphometric analysis to assess the extent of the injury response. In veh treated mice, neointima formation was exaggerated in CRPtg compared to NTG (Figure). E2 treatment, whether continuous or after prolonged deprivation, was associated with greatly diminished neointima formation in both genotypes (2-way ANOVA interaction not significant). Importantly, the extent of neointima formation was not different between the two E2-treated groups (E2 vs. E2, deprivation).   Conclusions:  In mice, E2-induced vasoprotection abolishes CRP-mediated vascular injury and this effect is preserved even after prolonged E2 deprivation. In combination with our previous finding that the vasoprotective effects of E2 are age-dependent, the current data suggest that the lack of benefit associated with E2 seen in clinical trials is associated with advanced age rather than prolonged E2 deprivation.
Association of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the diamine oxidase gene with diamine oxidase serum activities
Authors: L. Maintz, C.-F. Yu, E. Rodríguez, H. Baurecht, T. Bieber, T. Illig, S. Weidinger, N. Novak
Journal: Allergy (2011)

To cite this article: Maintz L, Yu C-F, Rodríguez E, Baurecht H, Bieber T, Illig T, Weidinger S, Novak N. Association of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the diamine oxidase gene with diamine oxidase serum activities. Allergy 2011; 66: 893–902. Abstract Background: Histamine intolerance (HIT) is associated with an excess of histamine because of an impaired function of the histamine-degrading enzyme diamine oxidase (DAO). The genetic background of HIT is unknown yet. Methods: Case–control association study of all haplotype tagging and four previously reported DAO SNPs and one HNMT Single nucleotide polymorphism with symptoms of HIT and DAO serum activity in 484 German individuals including 285 patients with clinical symptoms of HIT and 199 controls. Results: Diamine oxidase serum activity was significantly associated with seven SNPs within the DAO gene. The minor allele at rs2052129, rs2268999, rs10156191 and rs1049742 increased the risk for a reduced DAO activity whereas showing a moderate protective effect at rs2071514, rs1049748 and rs2071517 in the genotypic (P = 2.1 × 10−8, 7.6 × 10−10, 8.3 × 10−10, 0.009, 0.005, 0.00001, 0.006, respectively) and allelic genetic model (P = 2.5 × 10−11, 5.4 × 10−13, 8.9 × 10−13, 0.00002, 0.006, 0.0003, 0.005, respectively). Reporter gene assays at rs2052129 revealed a lower promoter activity (P = 0.016) of the minor allele. DAO mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of homozygous carriers of the minor allele at rs2052129, rs2268999, rs10156191 was lower (P = 0.002) than homozygous carriers of the major allele. Diamine oxidase variants were not associated with the HIT phenotype per se, only with DAO activity alone and the subgroup of HIT patients displaying a reduced DAO activity. Conclusions: DAO gene variants strongly influence DAO expression and activity but alone are not sufficient to fully effectuate the potentially associated disease state of HIT, suggesting an interplay of genetic and environmental factors.