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Researchers have determined that a copper compound known for decades may form the basis for a therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig
Pregnant women with obstructive sleep apnea are more than five times as likely to die in the hospital than those without the sleep disorder, a comprehensive national study by University of South Florida researchers found.
Among delivery-related hospital discharges, sleep apnea was also associated with an increase in severe medical conditions that are top causes of maternal death, including pre-eclampsia, eclampsia, an enlarged heart and pulmonary blood clots.
Dr. Judette Louis, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, led the large-scale national study appearing in the journal SLEEP. She specialises in maternal-foetal medicine, working out of Tampa General Hospital.
Sleep apnea causes repeated awakenings and pauses in breathing during the night. Previous smaller studies have found that the condition increases the risk for poor pregnancy outcomes, including pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure in pregnancy associated with loss of protein in the urine), restricted growth of the foetus, preterm delivery and gestational diabetes. Obesity appears to contribute to the adverse effects.
However, the USF study provided the first large-scale U.S. analysis of the association between sleep apnea and maternal deaths.
‘The astounding association with maternal death was surprising,’ said lead author Judette Louis, MD, MPH, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine who works out of Tampa General Hospital. ‘I did not expect to find such a difference in mortality between pregnant women who had sleep apnea and those who did not, especially when we controlled for obesity and other complicating factors.
While more study is needed, the increased likelihood of death for those with sleep apnea may be explained in part by the physiological demands of pregnancy, she said. ‘Underlying damage or chronic disease caused by sleep apnea may be exacerbated by the stresses of pregnancy.’
Maternal death rates have increased slightly in recent years, and obesity is one suspected reason.
‘Our study indicates that sleep apnea may also play a role, whether a woman is obese or not,’ said Dr. Louis, who holds a joint appointment in the USF College of Public Health
Following ischemic stroke, the integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which prevents harmful substances such as inflammatory molecules from entering the brain, can be impaired in cerebral areas distant from initial ischemic insult. This disruptive condition, known as diaschisis, can lead to chronic post-stroke deficits, University of South Florida researchers report.
In experiments using laboratory rats modelling ischemic stroke, USF investigators studied the consequences of the compromised BBB at the chronic post-stroke stage.
‘Following ischemic stroke, the pathological changes in remote areas of the brain likely contribute to chronic deficits,’ said neuroscientist and study lead author Svitlana Garbuzova-Davis, PhD, associate professor in the USF Health Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair. ‘These changes are often related to the loss of integrity of the BBB, a condition that should be considered in the development of strategies for treating stroke and its long-term effects.’
Edward Haller of the USF Department of Integrative Biology, the co-author who performed electron microscopy and contributed to image analysis, emphasised that ‘major BBB damage was found in endothelial and pericyte cells, leading to capillary leakage in both brain hemispheres.’ These findings were essential in demonstrating persistence of microvascular alterations in chronic ischemic stroke.
While acute stroke is life-threatening, the authors point out that survivors often suffer insufficient blood flow to many parts of the brain that can contribute to persistent damage and disability. Their previous investigation of subacute ischemic stroke showed far-reaching microvascular damage even in areas of the brain opposite from the initial stroke injury. While most studies of stroke and the BBB explore the acute phase of stroke and its effect on the blood-brain barrier, the present study revealed the longer-term effects in various parts of the brain.
The pathologic processes of stroke-induced vascular injury tend to occur in a ‘time-dependent manner,’ and can be separated into acute (minutes to hours), subacute (hours to days), and chronic (days to months). BBB incompetence during post-stroke changes is well-documented, with some studies showing the BBB opening can last up to four to five days after stroke. This suggests that harmful substances entering the brain during this prolonged BBB leakage might increase post-ischemic brain injury.
In this study, the researchers used laboratory rats modelling ischemic stroke and observed injury not only in the primary area of the stroke, but also in remote areas, where persistent BBB damage could cause chronic loss of competence.
The primary focus for therapy development could be restoring endothelial and/or astrocytic integrity towards BBB repair, which may be ‘beneficial for many chronic stroke patients,’ senior authors Cesar V. Borlongan and Paul R. Sanberg suggest. The researchers also recommend that cell therapy might be used to replace damaged endothelial cells.
‘A combination of cell therapy and the inhibition of inflammatory factors crossing the blood-brain barrier may be a beneficial treatment for stroke,’ Garbuzova-Davis said.
University of South Florida
Commonly used disinfectants do not kill human papillomavirus (HPV) that makes possible non-sexual transmission of the virus, thus creating a need for hospital policy changes, according to researchers from Penn State College of Medicine and Brigham Young University.
‘Because it is difficult to produce infectious HPV particles for research, little has been known about HPV susceptibility to disinfection,’ said Craig Meyers, Distinguished Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Penn State College of Medicine.
Use of disinfectants on HPV in health care settings has been based on what works on other viruses or what is thought should be effective.
Meyers collaborated with Richard Robison, an expert in microbial disinfectants at Brigham Young University.
HPV is estimated to be among the most common sexually transmitted diseases and is linked to cervical cancers. For this study, researchers grew HPV16, a specific strain that is responsible for up to 60 percent of all HPV-associated cancers. They then used 11 common disinfectants on the virus.
These disinfectants included ones made of ethanol and isopropanol because these are common ingredients in surface disinfectants and hand sanitises used in both public and health care settings. Study of these hand sanitises is important because other research has shown high levels of HPV DNA on fingers of patients with current genital infections. While HPV is susceptible to certain disinfectants, including hypochlorite and peracetic acid, it is resistant to alcohol-based disinfectants.
‘Chemical disinfectants in hand sanitiser are commonly used in the general population to prevent the spread of infectious diseases,’ Meyers said. ‘For flu or cold viruses they are very effective. But the data shows that they do nothing for preventing the spread of human papillomavirus.’
They also tested other common disinfectants, including glutaraldehyde, which is used for sterilisation in medical and dental facilities. Results show that glutaraldehyde is not effective at inactivating the HPV virus.
Other research has suggested that HPV could be transmitted non-sexually. The current study shows that medical instruments considered sterile could pose a risk for transmission.
‘Chemical disinfectants used in the hospitals and other healthcare settings have absolutely no effect on killing human papillomavirus,’ Meyers said. ‘So unless bleach or autoclaving is used in the hospital setting, human papillomavirus is not being killed and there is a potential spread of HPV through hospital acquired or instrument or tool infection.’
Meyers said the results suggest a need for a change in disinfectant use policies. Penn State University
New research identifies a new type of light sensor that could allow medical and security imaging, via low cost cameras. The team of researchers from the University of Surrey have developed a new
Men who show signs of chronic inflammation in non-cancerous prostate tissue may have nearly twice the risk of actually having prostate cancer than those with no inflammation, according to results of a new study led by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. The link between persistent inflammation and cancer was even stronger for men with so-called high-grade prostate cancer
Modifying how urine culture results are reported to clinicians can improve prescribing practices, pilot study suggests
A simple change in how the hospital laboratory reports test results may help improve antibiotic prescribing practices and patient safety, according to a pilot, proof-of-concept study. No longer routinely reporting positive urine culture results for inpatients at low risk for urinary tract infections (UTIs) greatly reduced unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions and did not affect the treatment of patients who did need antibiotics, the study authors found.
Urine cultures for hospitalised patients are often ordered unnecessarily. Positive culture results from patients without any UTI symptoms can lead to antibiotic prescriptions that are of no benefit and may cause harm to patients, including C. difficile infection and subsequent infection with more antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
In the study, conducted in 2013 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, urine culture results from non-catheterised inpatients
Your smartphone now can see what the naked eye cannot: A single virus and bits of material less than one-thousandth of the width of a human hair.
Aydogan Ozcan, a professor of electrical engineering and bioengineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, and his team have created a portable smartphone attachment that can be used to perform sophisticated field testing to detect viruses and bacteria without the need for bulky and expensive microscopes and lab equipment. The device weighs less than half a pound.
The first UK study of the use of ketamine intravenous infusions in people with treatment-resistant depression has been carried out in an NHS clinic by researchers at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Oxford.
April 2024
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