| 1. |
- Butt, Salma, et al.
(författare)
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Genetic predisposition, parity, age at first childbirth and risk for breast cancer.
- 2012
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Ingår i: BMC Research Notes. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1756-0500. ; 5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Recent studies have identified several single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with the risk of breast cancer and parity and age at first childbirth are well established and important risk factors for breast cancer. The aim of the present study was to examine the interaction between these environmental factors and genetic variants on breast cancer risk.METHODS: The Malmö Diet and Cancer Study (MDCS) included 17 035 female participants, from which 728 incident breast cancer cases were matched to 1448 controls. The associations between 14 SNPs and breast cancer risk were investigated in different strata of parity and age at first childbirth. A logistic regression analysis for the per allele risk, adjusted for potential confounders yielded odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).RESULTS: Six of the previously identified SNPs showed a statistically significant association with breast cancer risk: rs2981582 (FGFR2), rs3803662 (TNRC9), rs12443621 (TNRC9), rs889312 (MAP3K1), rs3817198 (LSP1) and rs2107425 (H19). We could not find any statistically significant interaction between the effects of tested SNPs and parity/age at first childbirth on breast cancer risk after adjusting for multiple comparisons.CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study are in agreement with previous studies of null interactions between tested SNPs and parity/age at first childbirth with regard to breast cancer risk.
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| 2. |
- Bölenius, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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A content validated questionnaire for assessment of self reported venous blood sampling practices
- 2012
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Ingår i: BMC Research Notes. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1756-0500. ; 5, s. 39-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Venous blood sampling is a common procedure in health care. It is strictly regulated by national and international guidelines. Deviations from guidelines due to human mistakes can cause patient harm. Validated questionnaires for health care personnel can be used to assess preventable "near misses"--i.e. potential errors and nonconformities during venous blood sampling practices that could transform into adverse events. However, no validated questionnaire that assesses nonconformities in venous blood sampling has previously been presented. The aim was to test a recently developed questionnaire in self reported venous blood sampling practices for validity and reliability.FINDINGS: We developed a questionnaire to assess deviations from best practices during venous blood sampling. The questionnaire contained questions about patient identification, test request management, test tube labeling, test tube handling, information search procedures and frequencies of error reporting. For content validity, the questionnaire was confirmed by experts on questionnaires and venous blood sampling. For reliability, test-retest statistics were used on the questionnaire answered twice. The final venous blood sampling questionnaire included 19 questions out of which 9 had in total 34 underlying items. It was found to have content validity. The test-retest analysis demonstrated that the items were generally stable. In total, 82% of the items fulfilled the reliability acceptance criteria.CONCLUSIONS: The questionnaire could be used for assessment of "near miss" practices that could jeopardize patient safety and gives several benefits instead of assessing rare adverse events only. The higher frequencies of "near miss" practices allows for quantitative analysis of the effect of corrective interventions and to benchmark preanalytical quality not only at the laboratory/hospital level but also at the health care unit/hospital ward.
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| 3. |
- Cipriano, Mariateresa, et al.
(författare)
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The influence of monoacylglycerol lipase inhibition upon the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor in human PC-3 prostate cancer cells.
- 2014
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Ingår i: BMC Research Notes. - : BioMed Central. - 1756-0500. ; 7, s. 441-447
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: It has been reported that direct activation of the cannabinoid CB1 receptor in epidermal growth factor (EGR)-stimulated PC-3 prostate cancer cells results in an anti-proliferative effect accompanied by a down-regulation of EGF receptors (EGFR). In the present study, we investigated whether similar effects are seen following inhibition of the endocannabinoid hydrolytic enzyme monoacylglycerol lipase (MGL).Results: CB1 receptor expression levels were found to differ greatly between two experimental series conducted using PC-3 cells. The monoacylglycerol lipase inhibitor JZL184 increased levels of 2-arachidonoylglycerol in the PC-3 cells without producing changes in the levels of anandamide and related N-acylethanolamines. In the first series of experiments, JZL184 produced a small mitogenic effect for cells that had not been treated with EGF, whereas an anti-proliferative effect was seen for EGF-treated cells. An anti-proliferative effect for the EGF-treated cells was also seen with the CB receptor agonist CP55,940. In the second batch of cells, there was an interaction between JZL184 and CB1 receptor expression densities in linear regression analyses with EGFR expression as the dependent variable.Conclusions: Inhibition of MGL by JZL184 can affect EGFR expression. However, the use in our hands of PC-3 cells as a model to investigate the therapeutic potential of MGL inhibitors and related compounds is compromised by their variability of CB1 receptor expression.
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| 4. |
- Clendenen, Tess V, et al.
(författare)
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Temporal reliability of cytokines and growth factors in EDTA plasma
- 2010
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Ingår i: BMC research notes. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1756-0500. ; 3:1, s. 302-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Cytokines are involved in the development of chronic diseases, including cancer. It is important to evaluate the temporal reproducibility of cytokines in plasma prior to conducting epidemiologic studies utilizing these markers. FINDINGS: We assessed the temporal reliability of CRP, 22 cytokines and their soluble receptors (IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-1Ra, IL-2, sIL-2R, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, sIL-6R, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p40, IL-12p70, IL-13, IL-15, IL-17, TNFalpha, sTNF-R1, sTNF-R2, IFNalpha, IFNgamma) and eight growth factors (GM-CSF, EGF, bFGF, G-CSF, HGF, VEGF, EGFR, ErbB2) in repeated EDTA plasma samples collected an average of two years apart from 18 healthy women (age range: 42-62) enrolled in a prospective cohort study. We also estimated the correlation between serum and plasma biomarker levels using 18 paired clinical samples from postmenopausal women (age range: 75-86). Twenty-six assays were able to detect their analytes in at least 70% of samples. Of those 26 assays, we observed moderate to high intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs)(ranging from 0.53-0.89) for 22 assays, and low ICCs (0-0.47) for four assays. Serum and plasma levels were highly correlated (r > 0.6) for most markers, except for seven assays (r < 0.5). CONCLUSIONS: For 22 of the 31 biomarkers, a single plasma measurement is a reliable estimate of a woman's average level over a two-year period.
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| 5. |
- Kwamin, Francis, et al.
(författare)
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Interactions of extracts from selected chewing stick sources with Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans
- 2012
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Ingår i: BMC Research Notes. - : BioMed Central. - 1756-0500. ; 5, s. 203-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans produces a leukotoxin that activates a pro-inflammatory death of human monocytes/macrophages. A specific clone of this bacterium (JP2) has a 530-base pair deletion in the leukotoxin promoter gene that causes a significantly enhanced expression of leukotoxin. This specific clone of A. actinomycetemcomitans is common in some African populations and has a strong association with periodontal attachment loss in adolescents in these populations. Chewing sticks of plant origin are commonly used as oral hygiene tool in Africa, but their role as a therapeutic agent in periodontal disease is poorly investigated. RESULTS: Ethanol extracts were made from 7 common plants used as chewing sticks in West-Africa. None of the tested extracts inhibited growth of A. actinomycetemcomitans. However, extracts from Psidium guajava (Guava) completely neutralized the cell death and pro-inflammatory response of human leukocytes induced by the leukotoxin. None of the six other tested chewing stick extracts showed this effect. CONCLUSIONS: The discovery that extracts from Guava efficiently neutralizes A. actinomycetemcomitans leukotoxicity might lead to novel therapeutic agents and strategies for prevention and treatment of aggressive forms of periodontitis induced by infections with the highly leukotoxic JP2 clone of this bacterium.
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| 6. |
- Merrick, Daniel, et al.
(författare)
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Five years post whiplash injury : symptom and psychological factors in recovered versus non-recovered
- 2010
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Ingår i: BMC Research Notes. - : BioMed Central. - 1756-0500. ; 3, s. 190-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Few studies have focused on the differences between persons who are recovered after whiplash injury and those who suffer from persistent disability. The primary aim of this study was therefore to examine differences in symptoms, psychological factors and life satisfaction between subjects classified as recovered and those with persistent disability five years after whiplash injury based on the Neck Disability Index (NDI). Methods A set of questionnaires was answered by 158 persons (75 men, 83 women) to assess disability (NDI), pain intensity (VAS), whiplash-related symptoms (Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire, RPQ), post-traumatic stress (Impact of Event Scale, IES), depression (Beck's depression inventory, BDI) and life satisfaction (LiSat-11). The participants were divided into three groups based on the results of the NDI: recovered (34.8%), mild disability (37.3%) and moderate/severe disability (27.3%). Results The moderate/severe group reported significantly higher VAS, BDI and IES scores and lower level of physical health and psychological health compared to the mild and the recovered groups. Less significant differences were reported between the mild and the recovered groups. Conclusions The group with the highest disability score reported most health problems with pain, symptoms, depression, post-traumatic stress and decreased life satisfaction. These findings indicate that classifying these subjects into subgroups based on disability levels makes it possible to optimize the management and treatment after whiplash injury.
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| 7. |
- Olsson, Lovisa A., 1950-, et al.
(författare)
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Renal function is a determinant of subjective well-being in active seniors but not in patients with subjective memory complaints
- 2014
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Ingår i: BMC Research Notes. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1756-0500. ; 7, s. 647-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: During our whole life span, factors influencing health and functioning are accumulated. In chronic kidney disease, quality of life is adversely affected. We hypothesized that biomarkers of renal function could also be determinants of subjective well-being (SWB) in Swedish elderly subjects. SWB was assessed by the Psychological General Well-Being index (PGWB index) in two study groups: Active seniors (AS) consisted of community-dwelling elderly Swedes leading an active life (n = 389), and the DGM cohort (n = 300) consisted of subjects referred to the Memory Unit at the Department of Geriatrics for memory problems, Serum creatinine, cystatin C, and eGFR (CKD-EPI) were used as biomarkers of renal function.RESULTS: There were no significant differences in cystatin C and eGFR values between the two cohorts: cystatin C medians 0.88 vs 0.86 mg/L and eGFR 73 vs 80 mL/min/1.73 m2 (AS vs DGM). In the AS cohort cystatin C was negatively related to PGWB index in women (P < 0.001, R2 ≈ 5%), and the covariates age and BMI did not improve the models. The renal biomarkers were unrelated to the PGWB index in the DGM cohort. Cystatin C in the AS cohort was adversely related to the PGWB subdimensions anxiety, depressed mood, positive well-being, and vitality in women, but in men only to depressed mood (P < 0.006; R2 ≈ 6%). In the DGM cohort, depressed mood in men was also significantly related to cystatin C (P = 0.050), but not in women.CONCLUSIONS: Renal function even within the normal range, measured by serum cystatin C concentration, has significant and sex specific associations with subjective well-being and its subdimensions in healthy elderly subjects. Maintenance of good renal function in aging may be of importance in maintaining a high subjective well-being.
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| 8. |
- Sjöling, Mats, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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Effectiveness of motivational interviewing and physical activity on prescription on leisure exercise time in subjects suffering from mild to moderate hypertension
- 2011
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Ingår i: BMC Research Notes. - : BioMed Central. - 1756-0500. ; 4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Physical inactivity is considered to be the strongest individual risk factor for poor health in Sweden. It has been shown that increased physical activity can reduce hypertension and the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. The objective of the present pilot study was to investigate whether a combination of Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Physical Activity on Prescription (PAP) would increase leisure exercise time and subsequently improve health-related variables.Methods: This pilot study was of a repeated measures design, with a 15 months intervention in 31 patients with mild to moderate hypertension. Primary outcome parameter was leisure exercise time and secondary outcome parameters were changes in blood pressure, Body Mass Index (BMI), waist circumference, lipid status, glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max). Assessments of the outcome parameters were made at baseline and after 3, 9 and 15 months.Results: Leisure exercise time improved significantly from < 60 min/week at baseline to a mean activity level of 300 ( 165) minutes/week at 15 months follow up. Furthermore, statistically significant improvements (p < 0.05) were observed in systolic (-14,5 8.3 mmHg) and diastolic blood pressure (-5,1 5.8 mmHg), heart rate (-4.9 8.7 beats/min, weight (-1.2 3.4 kg) BMI -0.6 1.2 kg/m2), waist circumference (-3.5 4.1 cm) as well as in VO2 max(2.94 3.8 ml/kg and 0.23, 0.34 lit/min) upon intervention as compared to baseline.Conclusions: A 15 month intervention period with MI, in combination with PAP, significantly increased leisure exercise time and improved health-related variables in hypertensive patients. This outcome warrants further research to investigate the efficacy of MI and PAP in the treatment of mild to moderate hypertension.
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| 9. |
- Thanikkal, Edvin, et al.
(författare)
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Interactions of the CpxA sensor kinase and cognate CpxR response regulator from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis
- 2012
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Ingår i: BMC Research Notes. - : BioMed Central. - 1756-0500. ; 5:1, s. 536-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundThe CpxA sensor kinase-CpxR response regulator two-component regulatory system is a sentinel of bacterial envelope integrity. Integrating diverse signals, it can alter the expression of a wide array of components that serve to shield the envelope from damage and to promote bacterial survival. In bacterial pathogens such as Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, this also extends to pathogenesis. CpxR is thought to dimerize upon phosphorylation by the sensor kinase CpxA. This phosphorylation enables CpxR binding to specific DNA sequences where it acts on gene transcription. As Cpx pathway activation is dependent on protein-protein interactions, we performed an interaction analysis of CpxR and CpxA from Y. pseudotuberculosis.ResultsCpxR full-length and truncated versions that either contained or lacked a putative internal linker were all assessed for their ability to homodimerize and interact with CpxA. Using an adenylate cyclase-based bacterial two hybrid approach, full-length CpxR readily engaged with CpxA. The CpxR N-terminus could also homodimerize with itself and with a full-length CpxR. A second homodimerization assay based upon the lamda cI repressor also demonstrated that the CpxR C-terminus could homodimerize. While the linker was not specifically required, it enhanced CpxR homodimerization. Mutagenesis of cpxR identified the aspartate at residue 51, putative N-terminal coiled-coil and C-terminal winged-helix-turn-helix domains as mediators of CpxR homodimerization. Scrutiny of CpxA full-length and truncated versions revealed that dimerization involved the N-terminus and an internal dimerization and histidine phosphotransfer domain.ConclusionsThis interaction analysis mapped regions of CpxR and CpxA that were responsible for interactions with self or with each other. When combined with other physiological and biochemical tests both hybrid-based assays can be useful in dissecting molecular contacts that may underpin Cpx pathway activation and repression.
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| 10. |
- Thomasson, Marcus, et al.
(författare)
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Gene expression pattern of the epidermal growth factor receptor family and LRIG1 in renal cell carcinoma
- 2012
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Ingår i: BMC Research Notes. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1756-0500. ; 5:216, s. 1-5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Previous studies have revealed altered expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-family members and their endogenous inhibitor leucine-rich and immunoglobulin-like domains 1 (LRIG1) in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In this study, we analyzed the gene expression levels of EGFR-family members and LRIG1, and their possible associations with clinical parameters in various types of RCC, individually.METHODS: Gene expression levels of EGFR-family members and LRIG1 were analyzed in 104 RCC samples, including 81 clear cell RCC (ccRCC), 15 papillary RCC (pRCC), and 7 chromophobe RCC (chRCC) by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Associations between gene expression levels and clinical data, including tumor grade, stage, and patient survival were statistically assessed.RESULTS: Compared to kidney cortex, EGFR was up-regulated in ccRCC and pRCC, LRIG1 and ERBB2 were down-regulated in ccRCC, and ERBB4 was strongly down-regulated in all RCC types. ERBB3 expression did not differ between RCC types or between RCC and the kidney cortex. The expression of the analyzed genes did not correlate with patient outcome.CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that the previously described up-regulation of EGFR and down-regulation of ERBB4 occurred in all analyzed RCC types, whereas down-regulation of ERBB2 and LRIG1 was only present in ccRCC. These observations illustrate the need to evaluate the different RCC types individually when analyzing molecules of interest and potential biological markers.
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