| 1. |
- Abadpour, S., et al.
(författare)
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Inhibition of the prostaglandin D-2-GPR44/DP2 axis improves human islet survival and function
- 2020
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Ingår i: Diabetologia. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0012-186X .- 1432-0428. ; 63, s. 1355-1367
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims/hypothesis Inflammatory signals and increased prostaglandin synthesis play a role during the development of diabetes. The prostaglandin D-2 (PGD(2)) receptor, GPR44/DP2, is highly expressed in human islets and activation of the pathway results in impaired insulin secretion. The role of GPR44 activation on islet function and survival rate during chronic hyperglycaemic conditions is not known. In this study, we investigate GPR44 inhibition by using a selective GPR44 antagonist (AZ8154) in human islets both in vitro and in vivo in diabetic mice transplanted with human islets. Methods Human islets were exposed to PGD(2) or proinflammatory cytokines in vitro to investigate the effect of GPR44 inhibition on islet survival rate. In addition, the molecular mechanisms of GPR44 inhibition were investigated in human islets exposed to high concentrations of glucose (HG) and to IL-1 beta. For the in vivo part of the study, human islets were transplanted under the kidney capsule of immunodeficient diabetic mice and treated with 6, 60 or 100 mg/kg per day of a GPR44 antagonist starting from the transplantation day until day 4 (short-term study) or day 17 (long-term study) post transplantation. IVGTT was performed on mice at day 10 and day 15 post transplantation. After termination of the study, metabolic variables, circulating human proinflammatory cytokines, and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) were analysed in the grafted human islets. Results PGD(2) or proinflammatory cytokines induced apoptosis in human islets whereas GPR44 inhibition reversed this effect. GPR44 inhibition antagonised the reduction in glucose-stimulated insulin secretion induced by HG and IL-1 beta in human islets. This was accompanied by activation of the Akt-glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta signalling pathway together with phosphorylation and inactivation of forkhead box O-1and upregulation of pancreatic and duodenal homeobox-1 and HGF. Administration of the GPR44 antagonist for up to 17 days to diabetic mice transplanted with a marginal number of human islets resulted in reduced fasting blood glucose and lower glucose excursions during IVGTT. Improved glucose regulation was supported by increased human C-peptide levels compared with the vehicle group at day 4 and throughout the treatment period. GPR44 inhibition reduced plasma levels of TNF-alpha and growth-regulated oncogene-alpha/chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 and increased the levels of HGF in human islets. Conclusions/interpretation Inhibition of GPR44 in human islets has the potential to improve islet function and survival rate under inflammatory and hyperglycaemic stress. This may have implications for better survival rate of islets following transplantation.
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| 2. |
- Abdul-Sattar Aljabery, Firas, et al.
(författare)
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Treatment and prognosis of patients with urinary bladder cancer with other primary cancers: a nationwide population-based study in the Bladder Cancer Data Base Sweden (BladderBaSe)
- 2020
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Ingår i: BJU International. - : Wiley. - 1464-4096 .- 1464-410X. ; 126:5, s. 625-632
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective To study how patients with urinary bladder cancer (UBC) with previous or concomitant other primary cancers (OPCs) were treated, and to investigate their prognosis. Patients And Methods Using nationwide population-based data in the Bladder Cancer Data Base Sweden (BladderBaSe), we analysed the probability of treatment with curative intent, and UBC-specific and overall survival (OS) in patients with UBC diagnosed in the period 1997-2014 with or without OPC. The analyses considered the patient's characteristics, UBC tumour stage at diagnosis, and site of OPC. Results There were 38 689 patients, of which 9804 (25%) had OPCs. Those with synchronous OPCs more often had T2 and T3 tumours and clinically distant disease at diagnosis than those with UBC only. Patients with synchronous prostate cancer, female genital cancer and lower gastro-intestinal cancer were more often treated with curative intent than patients with UBC only. When models of survival were adjusted for age at diagnosis, marital status, education, year of diagnosis, Charlson Comorbidity Index and T-stage, UBC-specific survival was similar to patients with UBC only, but OS was lower for patients with synchronous OPC, explained mainly by deaths in OPC primaries with a bad prognosis. Conclusions OPC is common in patients with UBC. Treatment for UBC, after or in conjunction with an OPC, should not be neglected and carries just as high a probability of success as treatment in patients with UBC only. The needs of patients with UBC and OPC, and optimisation of their treatment considering their complicated disease trajectory are important areas of research.
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| 3. |
- Adnan, Ali, et al.
(författare)
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Health-related quality of life among tonsillar carcinoma patients in Sweden in relation to treatment and comparison with quality of life among the population
- 2020
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Ingår i: Head and Neck-Journal for the Sciences and Specialties of the Head and Neck. - : Wiley. - 1043-3074 .- 1097-0347. ; 42:5, s. 860-872
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background The health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of tonsillar carcinoma survivors was explored to investigate any HRQOL differences associated with tumor stage and treatment. The survivors' HRQOL was also compared to reference scores from the population. Methods In this exploratory cross-sectional study patients were invited 15 months after their diagnosis and asked to answer two quality of life questionnaires (EORTC QLQ- C30, EORTC QLQ- HN35), 405 participated. Results HRQOL was associated with gender, with males scoring better than females on a few scales. Patients' HRQOL was more associated with treatment than tumor stage. Patients' HRQOL was worse than that in an age- and sex-matched reference group from the normal population, the largest differences were found for problems with dry mouth followed by problems with sticky saliva, senses, swallowing and appetite loss. Conclusions The tonsillar carcinoma patients had a worse HRQOL compared to the general population one year after treatment.
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| 4. |
- Ahonen, Pasi, et al.
(författare)
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Writing resistance together
- 2020
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Ingår i: Gender, Work and Organization. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0968-6673 .- 1468-0432. ; 27:4, s. 447-470
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This piece of writing is a joint initiative by the participants in the Gender, Work and Organization writing workshop organized in Helsinki, Finland, in June 2019. This is a particular form of writing differently. We engage in collective writing and embody what it means to write resistance to established academic practices and conventions together. This is a form of emancipatory initiative where we care for each other as writers and as human beings. There are many author voices and we aim to keep the text open and dialogical. As such, this piece of writing is about suppressed thoughts and feelings that our collective picket line allows us to express. In order to maintain the open-ended nature of the text, and perhaps also to retain some 'dirtiness' that is essential to writing, the article has not been language checked throughout by a native speaker of English.
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| 5. |
- Alehagen, Urban, 1951-, et al.
(författare)
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Genetic variance and plasma concentration of CD93 is associated with cardiovascular mortality : Results from a 6.7-year follow-up of a healthy community-living elderly population
- 2020
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Ingår i: Molecular Medicine Reports. - : Spandidos Publications. - 1791-2997 .- 1791-3004. ; 22:6, s. 4629-4636
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Inflammation is one of the fundamental processes in numerous diseases. Cluster of differentiation (CD) 93, a glycoprotein, has been reported to be associated with a number of these diseases. There are reports indicating that a high plasma level of CD93 is associated with adverse events in ischaemic heart disease. Additionally, there are reports indicating different cardiovascular risks between different single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of CD93. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine whether the plasma concentration of CD93 and polymorphism of rs2749812 in CD93 were associated with clinical conditions and mortality in an elderly population. In 470 healthy elderly community-living individuals a novel clinical examination involving echocardiography and blood sampling was performed. The population was followed for 6.7 years. Plasma levels of CD93 and SNP analyses of rs2749812 of CD93 using PCR methodology were used. During the follow-up period, 106 (22.6%) all-cause and 61 (13.0%) cardiovascular deaths were registered. Those with the highest plasma concentration had markedly higher all-cause mortality. Evaluating the A/A, A/G and G/G genotypes, the G/G group exhibited significantly higher cardiovascular mortality (P=0.026), and an almost two-fold increased risk in a multivariate Cox regression model compared with the A/G genotype. Evaluation of subgroups with respect to sex, diabetes and hypertension revealed markedly increased cardiovascular risk in the G/G genotype in all subgroups. All results persisted in the multiple models used. In the present study, the glycoprotein CD93 was demonstrated to have prognostic cardiovascular information, with increased risk for those with a high plasma concentration. Furthermore, the G/G genotype of rs2749812 of CD93 has a significantly higher cardiovascular risk, as demonstrated here, and could therefore be regarded as a possible cardiovascular risk biomarker that might in the future be used to offer optimised cardiovascular patient handling. However, this was a small study, and more research is required.
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| 6. |
- Alehagen, Urban, et al.
(författare)
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Increased cardiovascular mortality in females with the a/a genotype of the SNPs rs1478604 and rs2228262 of thrombospondin-1
- 2020
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Ingår i: BMC Medical Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2350. ; 21:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundCardiovascular diseases are still the major cause of death in the Western world, with different outcomes between the two genders. Efforts to identify those at risk are therefore given priority in the handling of health resources. Thrombospondins (TSP) are extracellular matrix proteins associated with cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate variations in single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of TSP-1 and plasma expression, and associations with mortality from a gender perspective.MethodsA population of 470 community-living persons were invited to participate. The participants were followed for 7.9 years and underwent a clinical examination and blood sampling. SNP analyses of TSP-1 rs1478604 and rs2228262 using allelic discrimination and plasma measurement of TSP-1 using ELISA were performed,ResultsDuring the follow-up period, 135 (28.7%) all-cause and 83 (17.7%) cardiovascular deaths were registered.In the female population, the A/A genotype of rs2228262 and the T/T genotype of rs1478604 exhibited significantly more cardiovascular deaths compared with the A/G and G/G, or the T/C and C/C genotypes amalgamated (rs2228262: 13.7% vs 2.0%; Χ2:5.29; P = 0.02; rs1478604:17.7% vs 4.7%; Χ2:9.50; P = 0.002). Applied in a risk evaluation, the A/A, or T/T genotypes exhibited an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality (rs2228262: HR: 7.1; 95%CI 1.11–45.8; P = 0.04; rs1478604: HR: 3.18; 95%CI 1.35–7.50; p = 0.008). No differences among the three genotypes could be seen in the male group.ConclusionIn this study the female group having the A/A genotype of rs2228262, or the T/T genotype of rs1478604 of TSP-1 exhibited higher cardiovascular mortality after a follow-up of almost 8 years. No corresponding genotype differences could be found in the male group. Genotype evaluations should be considered as one of the options to identify individuals at risk. However, this study should be regarded as hypothesis-generating, and more research in the field is needed.
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| 7. |
- Alehagen, Urban, et al.
(författare)
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Selenium and Coenzyme Q10 Supplementation Improves Renal Function in Elderly Deficient in Selenium : Observational Results and Results from a Subgroup Analysis of a Prospective Randomised Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nutrients. - : MDPI AG. - 2072-6643. ; 12:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A low selenium intake is found in European countries, and is associated with increased cardiovascular mortality. There is an association between selenium level and the severity of kidney disease. An association between inflammation and selenium intake is also reported. The coenzyme Q10 level is decreased in kidney disease. The aim of this study was to examine a possible association between selenium and renal function in an elderly population low in selenium and coenzyme Q10, and the impact of intervention with selenium and coenzyme Q10 on the renal function. The association between selenium status and creatinine was studied in 589 elderly persons. In 215 of these (mean age 71 years) a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled prospective trial with selenium yeast (200 µg/day) and coenzyme Q10 (200 mg/day) (n = 117) or placebo (n = 98) was conducted. Renal function was determined using measures of glomerular function at the start and after 48 months. The follow-up time was 5.1 years. All individuals were low on selenium (mean 67 μg/L (SD 16.8)). The changes in renal function were evaluated by measurement of creatinine, cystatin-C, and the use of the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) algorithm, and by the use of T-tests, repeated measures of variance and ANCOVA analyses. An association between low selenium status and impaired renal function was observed. Intervention causes a significantly lower serum creatinine, and cystatin-C concentration in the active treatment group compared with those on placebo (p = 0.0002 and p = 0.001 resp.). The evaluation with CKD-EPI based on both creatinine and cystatin-C showed a corresponding significant difference (p < 0.0001). All validations showed corresponding significant differences. In individuals with a deficiency of selenium and coenzyme Q10, low selenium status is related to impaired renal function, and thus supplementation with selenium and coenzyme Q10 results in significantly improved renal function as seen from creatinine and cystatin-C and through the CKD-EPI algorithm. The explanation could be related to positive effects on inflammation and oxidative stress as a result of the supplementation.
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| 8. |
- Alehagen, Urban, 1951-, et al.
(författare)
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Significant decrease of von Willebrand factor and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 by providing supplementation with selenium and coenzyme Q10 to an elderly population with a low selenium status
- 2020
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Ingår i: European Journal of Nutrition. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1436-6207 .- 1436-6215. ; 59:8, s. 3581-3590
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: Endothelial dysfunction and inflammation are conditions which fuel atherosclerosis and ischaemic heart disease. We have previously reported reduced cardiovascular (CV) mortality following supplementation with selenium and coenzyme Q10 to 443 elderly individuals with low selenium status (mean 67 μg/L) for 4 years. Here, we wanted to evaluate a possible association between the supplementation and the plasma concentrations of the von Willebrand factor (vWf), and the plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), as they, besides other functions, are also strongly associated with endothelial function.METHODS: In this sub-study, 308 individuals (active substance: 157, placebo: 151) were included. Blood samples were drawn after 6 and 36 months and vWf and PAI-1 were determined in plasma by ELISA. Changes in concentrations of the biomarkers were evaluated by the use of T tests, repeated measures of variance, and ANCOVA analyses.RESULTS: The active treatment group presented a lower level of vWf after 36 months compared with the placebo group (1.08 U/mL vs. 5.10 U/mL; p = 0.0007). The results were validated through the repeated measures of variance evaluation. The PAI-1 levels showed an equally significant decrease in the active group (26.2 ng/mL vs. 49.2 ng/mL; p = 0.0002) and were also validated through repeated measures of variance evaluation.CONCLUSION: In this sub-study on elderly receiving selenium and coenzyme Q10, or placebo we found significantly lower levels of vWf and PAI-1 in the active treatment group as compared to the placebo group. We interpret this as a better endothelial function because of the intervention, which accords with a previous finding of reduced CV mortality.
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| 9. |
- Alehagen, Urban, 1951-, et al.
(författare)
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Supplemental selenium and coenzyme Q10 reduce glycation along with cardiovascular mortality in an elderly population with low selenium status : A four-year, prospective, randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled trial
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0946-672X .- 1878-3252. ; 61
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: A low intake of selenium has been shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular mortality, and supplementation of selenium and coenzyme Q10 influences this. The mechanism behind is unclear although effects on inflammation, oxidative stress and microRNA expression have been reported. Fructosamine, a marker of long-term glycaemic control, is also a marker of increased risk of heart disease and death, even in non-diabetics.OBJECTIVE: To analyse the impact of selenium and coenzyme Q10 supplementation on the concentration of fructosamine. Also, the relation between pre-intervention serum selenium concentration and the effect on fructosamine of the intervention was studied.METHODS: Fructosamine plasma concentration was determined in 219 participants after six and 42 months of intervention with selenium yeast (200 μg/day) and coenzyme Q10 (200 mg/ day) (n = 118 of which 20 had diabetes at inclusion), or placebo (n = 101 of which 18 had diabetes at inclusion). Pre-intervention, the serum selenium levels were 67 μg/L (active treatment group: 66.6 μg/L; placebo group: 67.4 μg/L), corresponding to an estimated intake of 35 μg/day. Changes in concentrations of fructosamine following intervention were assessed by the use of T-tests, repeated measures of variance, and ANCOVA analyses.RESULTS: Post-intervention selenium concentrations were 210 μg/L in the active group and 72 μg/L in the placebo group. A lower concentration of fructosamine could be seen as a result of the intervention in the total population (P = 0.001) in both the males (P = 0.04) and in the females (P = 0.01) in the non-diabetic population (P = 0.002), and in both the younger (<76 years) (P = 0.01) and the older (≥76 years) participants (P = 0.03). No difference could be demonstrated in fructosamine concentration in the diabetic patients, but the total sample was small (n = 38). In subjects with a low pre-intervention level of serum selenium the intervention gave a more pronounced decrease in fructosamine compared with those with a higher baseline selenium level.CONCLUSION: A significantly lower concentration of fructosamine was observed in the elderly community-living participants supplemented with selenium and coenzyme Q10 for 42 months compared to those on the placebo. As oxidative mechanisms are involved in the glycation of proteins, less glycoxidation could be a result of the supplementation of selenium and coenzyme Q10, which could have contributed to lower cardiac mortality and less inflammation, as has earlier been reported.
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| 10. |
- Alfonsson, Sven, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Clinical supervision in cognitive behavior therapy improves therapists' competence : a single-case experimental pilot study
- 2020
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Ingår i: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1650-6073 .- 1651-2316. ; 49:5, s. 425-438
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Clinical supervision is a cornerstone in psychotherapists' training but there are few empirical evaluations on the effects of supervision on therapists' competencies. The aim of this study was therefore to evaluate the effects of standardized supervision on rater-assessed competency in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). Six therapists with basic training in CBT were provided with protocol-based clinical supervision in CBT in a single-case experimental multiple baseline design. The supervision focused on specific CBT competencies and used experiential learning methods such as role-play. Each therapist recorded weekly treatment sessions during phases without and with supervision. The therapists' CBT competence was assessed by third-party raters using the Revised Cognitive Therapy Scale (CTS-R). Statistical analyses showed that the therapists' CTS-R scores increased significantly during the phase with supervision with a mean item increase of M = 0.71 (range = 0.50-1.0) on the supervision focus areas. This is one of the first empirical studies that can confirm that supervision affect CBT competencies. The results also suggest that supervision can be manualized and that supervisees have a positive perception of more active training methods. Further studies are needed to replicate the results and to find ways to improve the impact of supervision.
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