| 1. |
- Frisk, Jessica, et al.
(författare)
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Acupuncture improves health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) and sleep in women with breast cancer and hot flushes
- 2012
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Ingår i: Supportive Care in Cancer. - : Springer. - 0941-4355 .- 1433-7339. ; 20:4, s. 715-724
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: Evaluate effects of electro-acupuncture (EA) and hormone therapy (HT) on health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) and sleep in breast cancer survivors with vasomotor symptoms. METHODS: Forty-five women, randomized to EA (n = 27) for 12 weeks or HT (n = 18) for 24 months, were followed for up to 2 years. Distress caused by, and numbers of, hot flushes, hours slept and times woken up/night, Psychological and General Well-being Index (PGWB) and Women's Health Questionnaire (WHQ) were registered before and during treatment and at 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months after start of treatment. RESULTS: After 12 weeks of EA (n = 19), WHQ improved from 0.32 (IQR 0.23-0.53) at baseline to 0.24 (IQR 0.12-0.39; p < 0.001) and PGWB from 78 (IQR 53-89) to 79 (IQR 68-93; p = 0.002). All sleep parameters improved and Hot Flush Score (HFS) decreased by 80%. At 12 months, WHQ, PGWB and all sleep parameters remained significantly improved (n = 14) and HFS decreased by 65%. After 12 weeks of HT (n = 18), WHQ improved from 0.29 (IQR 0.15-0.44) at baseline to 0.15 (IQR 0.05-0.22; p = 0.001), PGWB from 75 (IQR 59-88) to 90 (62-97; p = 0.102) and three of five sleep parameters improved. CONCLUSION: Both EA and HT increased HRQoL and sleep, probably through decreasing numbers of and distress by hot flushes. Although flushes decreased less in the EA group than in the HT group, HRQoL improved at least to the same extent maybe due to other effects of EA, not induced by HT, e.g. on anxiety, vitality and sleep, supported by subscale analyses. EA should be further evaluated as treatment for women with breast cancer and climacteric complaints, since HT no longer can be recommended for these women.
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| 2. |
- Nilsonne, Gustav, et al.
(författare)
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Learning in a simple biological system : a pilot study of classical conditioning of human macrophages in vitro
- 2011
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Ingår i: Behavioral and Brain Functions. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1744-9081. ; 7, s. 47-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent advances in cell biology and gene regulation suggest mechanisms whereby associative learning could be performed by single cells. Therefore, we explored a model of classical conditioning in human macrophages in vitro. In macrophage cultures, bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS; unconditioned stimulus) was paired once with streptomycin (conditioned stimulus). Secretion of interleukin-6 (IL-6) was used as response measure. At evocation, conditioning was not observed. Levels of IL-6 were higher only in those cultures that had been exposed to LPS in the learning phase (p's < .05), regardless whether they received the conditioned stimulus or not at evocation. However, habituation was evident, with a 62% loss of the IL-6 response after three LPS presentations (p < .001). If further experiments confirm that simple learning can occur in immune cells, this may have bearings not only on immune regulation, but also on the brain response to molecular signals detected in the periphery. Importantly, whether capacities for simple learning in single cells extend beyond habituation, and how this would be demonstrated, remain open questions.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Risto, Olof, et al.
(författare)
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Elderly men with a history of distal radius fracture have significantly lower calcaneal bone density and free androgen index than age-matched controls
- 2012
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Ingår i: The Aging Male. - : Informa Healthcare. - 1368-5538 .- 1473-0790. ; 15:1, s. 59-62
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Age related bone loss is widely accepted as related to decreased serum levels of circulating sex hormones. Epidemiological data also show distal radius fractures in men to be a sensitive marker of bone fragility. The aim of this study was to assess if men with a history of distal radius fracture have lower bone mass density (BMD), lower free androgen index (FAI), lower total testosterone (T) and lower bio-available testosterone (Bio-T) than healthy age-matched controls. Patients and methods: A case-control study is based on consecutive cases treated for low energy distal radius fracture at our department and age-matched controls. Thirty-nine men treated between 1997-2004 and 45 age-matched controls underwent calcaneal bone density measurements (t-score) and analyses of T, Bio-T and serum hormone binding globulin (SHBG). Results: The fracture group had lower BMD (p andlt; 0.01) and lower FAI (p = 0.01). Linear regression analysis showed a correlation between Bio-T and t-scores (p = 0.03). Using analysis of covariance, a significant difference with lower Bio-T in the fracture group was shown. Conclusion: Bio-T seems to correlate with BMD in elderly men and may serve as a marker for increased fracture risk in this patient group.
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| 5. |
- Spetz, Anna-Clara, et al.
(författare)
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Change in testosterone concentrations over time is a better predictor than the actual concentrations for symptoms of late onset hypogonadism
- 2011
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Ingår i: The Aging Male. - : Informa Healthcare. - 1368-5538 .- 1473-0790. ; 14:4, s. 249-256
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background. Symptoms of late-onset hypogonadism (LOH) and concentrations of testosterone (T) and bioavailable testosterone (BT) were studied in relation to the data from the same men 5 years earlier. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanMethods. In 2008, 282 men, aged 60-82 years, answered a questionnaire regarding demographic data, medical history, different symptoms of LOH and the 10 questions from the Androgen Decline in Aging Males (ADAM)-questionnaire. Blood samples were analysed for concentrations of T and calculations were made for BT. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanResults. A total of 87.2% of the questionnaires were returned and analysed, and 75.2% of the responders gave blood samples. The oldest third of the men were most affected by LOH symptoms (p andlt; 0.05). Both T and BT concentrations decreased during the 5 years (p andlt; 0.05) but only the symptom less strong erections changed significantly (p andlt; 0.05). Men reporting one of the four specific symptoms from the ADAM-questionnaire for the first time in 2008 had a higher loss of T and BT than men who had unchanged or fewer symptoms than that reported in 2003. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanConclusions. The magnitude of the decrease in concentrations is a better predictor of LOH than are the actual concentrations of T and BT. A combination of symptoms predicts LOH better than any single symptom.
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| 6. |
- Spetz, Anna-Clara, et al.
(författare)
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Symptoms of testosterone deficiency in early middle aged men
- 2012
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Ingår i: The Aging Male. - : Informa Healthcare. - 1368-5538 .- 1473-0790. ; 15:2, s. 78-84
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Symptoms of testosterone deficiency and concentrations of testosterone (T) and bioavailable testosterone (BT) were studied in 35-and 45-year-old men. Methods: A questionnaire, was sent to all 35-and 45-year-old men in Linkoping, Sweden (n = 1998). The questionnaire has earlier been used for 55- to 75-year-old men and included demographic data, medical history, different symptoms possibly of T deficiency and the 10 questions from the "ADAM-questionnaire". Totally 200 men randomly selected among the men who answered the questionnaire were asked to give blood samples for analysis of T-and BT-concentrations. Results: A total of 38.7% of the questionnaires were returned and analysed, and 43.5% of the 200 randomly selected men gave blood samples. The older age group reported more symptoms that may be connected to low B and BT and had lower T-and BT-concentrations. Less strong erections and higher alcohol consumption were associated with lower concentrations of BT in 45-year-old men. Conclusions: The burden of symptoms possibly related to low T concentrations were higher in 45-year-old men, and BT and T were lower. However, due to the low answer frequency and number of blood samples analyzed no general conclusions can be drawn.
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| 7. |
- Willander, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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MDM2 SNP309 promoter polymorphism, an independent prognostic factor in chronic lymphocytic leukemia
- 2010
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Ingår i: European Journal of Haematology. - : Wiley. - 1600-0609 .- 0902-4441. ; 85:3, s. 251-256
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The single nucleotide polymorphism SNP309 with a change from T to G in the promoter region of the MDM2 gene is shown to increase the MDM2 protein levels and attenuate the p53 levels and associates with disease progression in several tumors. Objective: In this study, the role of the polymorphism was investigated with regard to the clinical outcome in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). Patients: A total of 210 patients with B-CLL were followed for up to 19 yr. Results: The overall survival (OS) of patients with at least one G-allele was significantly shorter when compared with those with two T-alleles (P = 0.024) with a more pronounced difference in patients below the median age. Age at onset of B-CLL was similar irrespective of MDM2 status. The presence of a G-allele in combination with TP53 mutations or unmutated IgVH gene status resulted in an additive risk of death. Conclusion: In this report, with a high proportion of B-CLL patients with an advanced Binet stage and with an unmutated IgVH gene, MDM2 SNP309 was found to be independently associated with OS. The survival difference was more pronounced in younger patients.
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| 8. |
- Willander, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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NOTCH1 mutations influence survival in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients
- 2013
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Ingår i: BMC Cancer. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2407. ; 13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: NOTCH1 PEST domain mutations in chronic lymphocytic leukemia have recently been shown to be of prognostic relevance. Both NOTCH1 and NOTCH2 are constitutively activated in B-cell CLL but not expressed in normal B cells and may be involved in survival and resistance to apoptosis in CLL. We screened for mutations in different parts of both NOTCH1 and NOTCH2 genes and related the changes to survival and other known risk factors. Methods: In a cohort of 209 CLL patients, we used single strand conformation analysis to determine which of the samples carrying the NOTCH mutations and direct dideoxy sequencing was used to determine the exact nucleotide changes. Kaplan-Meier curves and log rank test were used to determine overall survival for NOTCH1 mutated cases and Cox regression analysis was used to calculate hazardous ratios. Results: In the present study, we found NOTCH1 PEST domain mutations in 6.7% of the cases. A shorter overall survival was found in patients with NOTCH1 mutations compared to wildtype (p = 0.049). Further, we also examined the extracellular and the heterodimerisation domains of the NOTCH1 gene and the PEST domain and heterodimerisation domain of the NOTCH2 gene, but no mutations were found in these regions. NOTCH1 mutations were most commonly observed in patients with unmutated IGHV gene (10/14), and associated with a more aggressive disease course. In addition, NOTCH1 mutations were almost mutually exclusive with TP53 mutations. In the combined group of NOTCH1 (6.7%) or TP53 (6.2%) mutations, a significant difference in overall survival compared to the wildtype NOTCH1 and TP53 was found (p = 0.002). Conclusions: Both NOTCH1 and TP53 mutations seem to be independent predictive markers for worse outcome in CLL-patients and this study emphasizes the contention that NOTCH1 mutations is a novel risk marker.
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| 9. |
- Ågren, Thomas, et al.
(författare)
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Effective Connectivity of Fear Circuitry and Emotion Regulation in Specific Phobia
- 2011
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: The aim of the present study was to characterize effective brain connectivity patterns in patients with specific phobia. Methods: Sixteen patients with specific phobia were exposed to phobic and fear-relevant but non-phobic stimuli while regional cerebral blood flow was measured using [15O]-labelled water and positron emission tomography. Self reported state anxiety was also evaluated using the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S). Different connectivity architectures were built based on five regions of interest (ROIs): the amygdala; subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sACC) area 25; anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC) area 24; insular cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) area 8. The ROIs were chosen based on their role in generating and attenuating fear. Structural equations modelling and Bayesian inference were used to assign probabilities to all possible architectures. Results: Top ranking models reveal different connectivity patterns resulting from phobic and non-phobic exposure. When exposed to phobic stimuli sACC appear to be driving the network. In contrast, when exposed to non-phobic stimuli the DLPFC is more active and dampen amygdala activity. This could reflect successful reappraisal processes during non-phobic exposure. The DLPFC correlated negatively (r=-0.49) with STAI-S during non-phobic exposure, but not phobic exposure also suggesting that emotional regulation fails in phobia. No direct correlation between amygdala activity and STAI-S was evident during either phobic or non-phobic conditions. Conclusions: These results suggest that emotional control processes operative when exposed to fear-relevant, but non-phobic cues are impaired during exposure to phobic stimuli.
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| 10. |
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