| 1. |
- Dubicke, Aurelija, et al.
(författare)
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High-mobility group box protein 1 and its signalling receptors in human preterm and term cervix
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Reproductive Immunology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1872-7603 .- 0165-0378. ; 84:1, s. 86-94
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objective of this study was to identify possible changes in mRNA and protein expression of high-mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1) and its suggested receptors - receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) and Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR4 - in human cervix during pregnancy, term and preterm labor. Cervical biopsies were taken from 58 women: 20 at preterm labor, 24 at term labor, 10 at term not in labor and 4 from non-pregnant women. Real-time RT-PCR was used to quantify mRNA expression, and immunohistochemistry and ELISA for protein analysis. HMGB1, RAGE, TLR2 and TLR4 proteins were localized and their mRNA expression was detected in the cervix. There was more extranuclear HMGB1 in the cervical epithelium and stroma in preterm and term labor compared to the term not in labor. TLR2 mRNA expression was upregulated 5-fold in term labor and 3-fold in preterm labor compared to term not in labor and non-pregnant controls. There was lower expression of TLR2 and TLR4 mRNAs in preterm labor compared to term. Lower mRNA expression of HMGB1 was found in the subgroup with preterm premature rupture of membranes than in the rest of the preterm group, where levels were significantly higher than in term labor. In conclusion, extranuclear expression of HMGB1 during labor suggests a possible role of HMGB1 during the process of cervical ripening. Changes in expression of mRNAs encoding HMGB1, TLR2 and TLR4 in preterm labor suggest differences in the mechanism of cervical ripening at preterm and term delivery. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 2. |
- Dubicke, Aurelija, et al.
(författare)
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Pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in human preterm and term cervical ripening
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Reproductive Immunology. - : Elsevier. - 0165-0378 .- 1872-7603. ; 84:2, s. 176-185
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cervical ripening is necessary for successful delivery. Since cytokines are believed to be involved in this process, the aim of this study was to investigate possible changes in the mRNA and protein expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin (IL)-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-12, IL-18) and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-10, IL-13)in the human cervix during pregnancy, term and preterm labor. Cervical biopsies were taken from 59 women: 21 at preterm labor, 24 at term labor, 10 at term not in labor and 4 from non-pregnant women. mRNA was analyzed with real-time RT-PCR and protein expression and/or secretion with immunohistochemistry and ELISA. There was an upregulation of mRNA for IL-10, IL-13, IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta in the laboring groups, while mRNA for IL-12 and IL-18 was downregulated. IL-4 mRNA was detected more frequently, while IL-12 mRNA expression was lower, in the preterm labor group than in the term labor group. The protein levels of IL-4 and IL-12 were lower and IL-18 tended to be higher in the labor groups, while IL-10 protein levels were unaffected by labor. IL-4 protein levels were significantly higher in the preterm subgroup with bacterial infection than in the non-infected group. IL-10 had higher expression in squamous epithelium at preterm labor than at term. In conclusion, the major changes in pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine mRNA and protein expression in cervix occur during the labor process irrespective of the length of gestation. Our results indicate that dysregulation of anti-inflammatory cytokines in the human cervix could be involved in the pathogenesis of preterm labor.
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| 3. |
- Ekström, Magnus Pär, et al.
(författare)
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The association of body mass index, weight gain and central obesity with activity-related breathlessness : the Swedish Cardiopulmonary Bioimage Study
- 2019
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Ingår i: Thorax. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 0040-6376 .- 1468-3296. ; 74:10, s. 958-964
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Breathlessness is common in the population, especially in women and associated with adverse health outcomes. Obesity (body mass index (BMI) >30 kg/m(2)) is rapidly increasing globally and its impact on breathlessness is unclear.Methods: This population-based study aimed primarily to evaluate the association of current BMI and self-reported change in BMI since age 20 with breathlessness (modified Research Council score >= 1) in the middle-aged population. Secondary aims were to evaluate factors that contribute to breathlessness in obesity, including the interaction with spirometric lung volume and sex.Results: We included 13 437 individuals; mean age 57.5 years; 52.5% women; mean BMI 26.8 (SD 4.3); mean BMI increase since age 20 was 5.0 kg/m(2); and 1283 (9.6%) reported breathlessness. Obesity was strongly associated with increased breathlessness, OR 3.54 (95% CI, 3.03 to 4.13) independent of age, sex, smoking, airflow obstruction, exercise level and the presence of comorbidities. The association between BMI and breathlessness was modified by lung volume; the increase in breathlessness prevalence with higher BMI was steeper for individuals with lower forced vital capacity (FVC). The higher breathlessness prevalence in obese women than men (27.4% vs 12.5%; p<0.001) was related to their lower FVC. Irrespective of current BMI and confounders, individuals who had increased in BMI since age 20 had more breathlessness.Conclusion: Breathlessness is independently associated with obesity and with weight gain in adult life, and the association is stronger for individuals with lower lung volumes.
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| 4. |
- Petursdottir, Dagbjort H., et al.
(författare)
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Early-Life Human Microbiota Associated With Childhood Allergy Promotes the T Helper 17 Axis in Mice
- 2017
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Immunology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-3224. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The intestinal microbiota influences immune maturation during childhood, and is implicated in early-life allergy development. However, to directly study intestinal microbes and gut immune responses in infants is difficult. To investigate how different types of early-life gut microbiota affect immune development, we collected fecal samples from children with different allergic heredity (AH) and inoculated germ-free mice. Immune responses and microbiota composition were evaluated in the offspring of these mice. Microbial composition in the small intestine, the cecum and the colon were determined by 16S rRNA sequencing. The intestinal microbiota differed markedly between the groups of mice, but only exposure to microbiota associated with AH and known future allergy in children resulted in a T helper 17 (Th17)-signature, both systemically and in the gut mucosa in the mouse offspring. These Th17 responses could be signs of a particular microbiota and a shift in immune development, ultimately resulting in an increased risk of allergy.
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| 5. |
- Sohlberg, Ebba, 1982-, et al.
(författare)
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CMV Seropositive Children Show Inhibition of In Vitro EBV Infection that is Associated with CD8+CD57+ T-cell Enrichment and IFN-g
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a human herpesvirus, is commonly acquired during childhood and persists latently in B cells. EBV seropositivity has been connected to immune modulatory effects such as altered T- and NK-cell functional responses as well as protection against early IgE-sensitization, but due to the asymptomatic presentation during childhood little is known regarding the infection process in children of different ages. Here, we used mononuclear cells from cord blood, 2-year and 5-year old EBV-naïve children for in vitro EBV infection. We show that the degree of EBV-induced B-cell activation and expansion differs between age groups and in particular in relation to IFN-g production capacity. EBV infection induced redistribution between B-cell subsets with enrichment of IgD+CD27+ cells (commonly referred to as non-switched memory) in infected cord blood cell cultures, and of IgD-CD27+ cells (switched memory) in cell cultures of older children. We also related results to serostatus to cytomegalovirus (CMV), a persistent herpesvirus that can affect differentiation status of T- and NK cells. As compared to CMV- children, the EBV-induced enrichment of IgD-CD27+ B cells was significantly reduced in infected cell cultures from CMV+ children. This effect was associated with high levels of IFN-g and frequencies of highly mature CD8+CD57+ T cells in CMV+ children. Our results demonstrate that both a child’s age and serostatus to CMV will have an impact on EBV-induced B-cell activation and expansion, and points to the ability of viruses with immune-modulatory functions, like CMV, to impact on immune responses within the host system.
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| 6. |
- Sohlberg, Ebba, et al.
(författare)
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Cytomegalovirus-Seropositive Children Show Inhibition of In Vitro EBV Infection That Is Associated with CD8(+)CD57(+) T Cell Enrichment and IFN-gamma
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Immunology. - : The American Association of Immunologists. - 0022-1767 .- 1550-6606. ; 191:11, s. 5669-5676
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- EBV, a human herpesvirus, is commonly acquired during childhood and persists latently in B cells. EBV seropositivity has been connected to immunomodulatory effects such as altered T and NK cell functional responses as well as protection against early IgE sensitization; however, owing to the asymptomatic presentation during childhood little is known regarding the infection process in children of different ages. In this study, we used mononuclear cells from cord blood and from 2- and 5-y-old EBV-naive children for in vitro EBV infection. We show that the degree of EBV-induced B cell activation and expansion differs between age groups and in particular in relationship to IFN-gamma production capacity. EBV infection induced redistribution between B cell subsets with enrichment of IgD(+)CD27(+) cells (commonly referred to as non-switched memory) in infected cord blood cell cultures, and of IgD(-)CD27(+) cells (switched memory) in cell cultures from older children. We also related results to serostatus to CMV, a persistent herpesvirus that can affect differentiation status of T and NK cells. As compared with CMV- children, the EBV-induced enrichment of IgD(-)CD27(+) B cells was significantly reduced in infected cell cultures from CMV+ children. This effect was associated with high levels of IFN-gamma and frequencies of highly mature CD8(+)CD57(+) T cells in CMV+ children. Our results demonstrate that both a child's age and serostatus to CMV will have an impact on EBV-induced B cell activation and expansion, and they point to the ability of viruses with immunomodulatory functions, such as CMV, to affect immune responses within the host system.
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| 7. |
- Spreckels, Johanne, et al.
(författare)
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Lactobacillus reuteri Colonisation of Extremely Preterm Infants in a Randomised Placebo-Controlled Trial
- 2021
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Ingår i: Microorganisms. - : MDPI AG. - 2076-2607. ; 9:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 supplementation reduces morbidities in very low birth weight infants (<1500 g), while the effect on extremely low birth weight infants (ELBW, <1000 g) is still questioned. In a randomised placebo-controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT01603368), head growth, but not feeding tolerance or morbidities, improved in L. reuteri-supplemented preterm ELBW infants. Here, we investigate colonisation with the probiotic strain in preterm ELBW infants who received L. reuteri DSM 17938 or a placebo from birth to postmenstrual week (PMW) 36. Quantitative PCR was used on 582 faecal DNA samples collected from 132 ELBW infants at one, two, three, and four weeks, at PMW 36, and at two years of age. Human milk oligosaccharides were measured in 31 milk samples at two weeks postpartum. At least 86% of the ELBW infants in the L. reuteri group were colonised with the probiotic strain during the neonatal period, despite low gestational age, high antibiotic pressure, and independent of infant feeding mode. Higher concentrations of lacto-N-tetraose, sialyl-lacto-N-neotetraose c, and 6 '-sialyllactose in mother's milk weakly correlated with lower L. reuteri abundance. Within the L. reuteri group, higher L. reuteri abundance weakly correlated with a shorter time to reach full enteral feeding. Female sex and L. reuteri colonisation improved head growth from birth to four weeks of age. In conclusion, L. reuteri DSM 17938 supplementation leads to successful colonisation in ELBW infants.
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| 8. |
- Sysoev, Oleg, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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PSICA : Decision trees for probabilistic subgroup identification with categorical treatments
- 2019
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Ingår i: Statistics in Medicine. - : Wiley. - 0277-6715 .- 1097-0258. ; 38:22, s. 4436-4452
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Personalized medicine aims at identifying best treatments for a patient with given characteristics. It has been shown in the literature that these methods can lead to great improvements in medicine compared to traditional methods prescribing the same treatment to all patients. Subgroup identification is a branch of personalized medicine, which aims at finding subgroups of the patients with similar characteristics for which some of the investigated treatments have a better effect than the other treatments. A number of approaches based on decision trees have been proposed to identify such subgroups, but most of them focus on two-arm trials (control/treatment) while a few methods consider quantitative treatments (defined by the dose). However, no subgroup identification method exists that can predict the best treatments in a scenario with a categorical set of treatments. We propose a novel method for subgroup identification in categorical treatment scenarios. This method outputs a decision tree showing the probabilities of a given treatment being the best for a given group of patients as well as labels showing the possible best treatments. The method is implemented in an R package psica available on CRAN. In addition to a simulation study, we present an analysis of a community-based nutrition intervention trial that justifies the validity of our method.
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| 9. |
- Abdelmenan, Semira, et al.
(författare)
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Perception of affordable diet is associated with pre-school children's diet diversity in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia : the EAT Addis survey
- 2024
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Ingår i: BMC Nutrition. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 2055-0928. ; 10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Despite improvements in food access and nutrition security over the last few decades, malnutrition remains a major public health problem. One of the significant contributors to these problems is affordability of nutritious food. This study aimed to examine the association between perceived food affordability and pre-school children's diet diversity in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Methods: Cross-sectional data from 2017 to 18 were used for the analysis. A 24-hour dietary recall assessment was done to assess children's dietary diversity (DD). We used a modified operational definition of affordability indicator called perceived affordability of dietary diversity (afford-DD) to evaluate the impact of the food environment in terms of affordability at the household level. A sample (n 4,898) of children aged 6-59 months representative of households in Addis Ababa was randomly selected using a multistage sampling procedure including all districts in the city. Mixed-effects linear regression models were used to assess the association between children's DD and afford-DD.Results: The survey revealed that the mean (standard deviation [SD]) of children's DD was 3.9 [±1.4] while the mean [SD] of afford-DD was 4.6 [±2.1]. Overall, 59.8% of children met the minimum dietary diversity (≥ 4 food groups). White roots and tubers were the most commonly consumed food groups regardless of their affordability. Considerable variations were observed between households that reported the food item affordable and not affordable in consumption of Vitamin A rich vegetables and fruits, meat and fish, egg, and dairy. The children's DD was positively associated with afford-DD after adjusting for maternal education, household wealth status and other relevant confounding. Higher maternal education modified the association between affordability and children's diet diversity.Conclusions: This study suggests higher perceived food affordability was associated with better diet diversity in children. A higher level of maternal education had the potential to mitigate affordability challenges in meeting the children's dietary diversity needs. Our study emphasizes the need for inclusive food programs and nutrition interventions addressing social differences, intensifying efforts to make nutrient-rich diets affordable for the less privileged, and highlights the potential benefits of targeting maternal education in addressing child dietary diversity.
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| 10. |
- Abdelmenan, Semira, et al.
(författare)
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The Social Stratification of Availability, Affordability, and Consumption of Food in Families with Preschoolers in Addis Ababa : The EAT Addis Study in Ethiopia
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nutrients. - : MDPI AG. - 2072-6643. ; 12:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study was to understand the quality of diet being consumed among families in Addis Ababa, and to what extent social stratification and perceptions of availability and affordability affect healthy food consumption. Data were collected from 5467 households in a face-to-face interview with mothers/caretakers and analyzed using mixed effect logistic regression models. All family food groups, except fish were perceived to be available by more than 90% of the participants. The food groups cereals/nuts/seeds, other vegetables, and legumes were considered highly affordable (80%) and were the most consumed (>75%). Households with the least educated mothers and those in the lowest wealth quintile had the lowest perception of affordability and also consumption. Consumption of foods rich in micronutrients and animal sources were significantly higher among households with higher perceived affordability, the highest wealth quintile, and with mothers who had better education. Households in Addis Ababa were generally seen to have a monotonous diet, despite the high perceived availability of different food groups within the food environment. There is a considerable difference in consumption of nutrient-rich foods across social strata, hence the cities food policies need to account for social differences in order to improve the nutritional status of the community.
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