A pilot and feasibility study investigating the abundance and activity of nitrate-reducing bacteria in women with pre-eclampsia.

Background: Oral health may influence blood pressure control by modulating the abundance and activity of nitrate-reducing bacteria, which are essential for enhancing nitrite and nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability. This study aimed to investigate the oral health and microbiome composition of women with pre-eclampsia (PET) compared to healthy controls (CN).

Methods: Ten PET and eleven CN women participated in this study, respectively.

Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Prevalence of Levator Ani Avulsion with Obstetric Anal Sphincter Injury and its Effects on Pelvic Floor Dysfunction.

Introduction And Hypothesis: The objective was to evaluate the prevalence of levator ani avulsion (LAA) among primiparous women with obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASI) and how this association could affect future pelvic floor dysfunction.

Methods: Three electronic databases (MEDLINE/PubMed/EMBASE) were searched in December 2018 and again in October 2022. Nine full-text articles were included in the analysis.

International Urogynecology Consultation Chapter 1 Committee 5: relationship of pelvic organ prolapse to associated pelvic floor dysfunction symptoms: lower urinary tract, bowel, sexual dysfunction and abdominopelvic pain.

Introduction And Hypothesis: This article from Chapter 1 of the International Urogynecology Consultation (IUC) on Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) establishes the prevalence of lower urinary tract disorders, bowel symptoms, vulvo-vaginal/lower abdominal/back pain and sexual dysfunction in women with POP.

Methods: An international group of nine urogynecologists/urologists and one medical student performed a search of the literature using pre-specified search terms in Ovid, MEDLINE, Embase and CINAHL from January 2000 to March 2019. Publications were eliminated if not relevant or they did not include clear definitions of POP or the symptoms associated with POP.

Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Two Novel Loci Associated with Female Stress and Urgency Urinary Incontinence.

Purpose: Genome-wide association studies have not identified replicable genetic risk loci for stress or urgency urinary incontinence.

Materials And Methods: We carried out a discovery stage, case control, genome-wide association study in 3 independent discovery cohorts of European women (8,979) for stress incontinence, urgency incontinence, and any incontinence phenotypes. We conducted replication in 6 additional studies of European ancestry (4,069).

Management of mid-urethral tape complications: a retrospective study.

Background/purpose Of The Study: Following mid-urethral tape insertion, for stress urinary incontinence (SUI), a proportion of women experience complications such as voiding dysfunction or tape erosion which fail to respond to conservative management approaches. These women thus require further surgical treatment. Our objective was to describe the outcomes of the surgical management of complications in these women.

Prospective comparative study of the effects of lidocaine on urodynamic and sensory parameters in bladder pain syndrome.

Introduction And Hypothesis: Intravesically administered lidocaine is used in patients with bladder pain syndrome (BPS) to test the hypothesis that symptoms have a peripheral versus central mechanism.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 24 female patients with BPS was performed. The Central Sensitisation Inventory (CSI) and Kings Health Questionnaire (KHQ) were completed.

Neuromodulation for Pelvic and Urogenital Pain.

Chronic pain affecting the pelvic and urogenital area is a major clinical problem with heterogeneous etiology, affecting both male and female patients and severely compromising quality of life. In cases where pharmacotherapy is ineffective, neuromodulation is proving to be a potential avenue to enhance analgesic outcomes. However, clinicians who frequently see patients with pelvic pain are not traditionally trained in a range of neuromodulation techniques.

Manipulating the extracellular matrix: an animal model of the bladder pain syndrome.

Bladder pain syndrome (BPS) is associated with breakdown of the protective uroepithelial barrier of the urinary bladder allowing urinary constituents access to bladder sensory neurons. Although there are several animal models of cystitis, none specifically relates to BPS. Here, we aimed to create such a model using enzymatic digestion of the barrier proteoglycans (PGs) in the rat.

The Expression of Inflammatory Mediators in Bladder Pain Syndrome.

Background: Bladder pain syndrome (BPS) pathology is poorly understood. Treatment strategies are empirical, with limited efficacy, and affected patients have diminished quality of life.

Objective: We examined the hypothesis that inflammatory mediators within the bladder contribute to BPS pathology.

Profibrotic phenotype of conjunctival fibroblasts from mucous membrane pemphigoid.

Ocular mucous membrane pemphigoid is an immunobullous disease in which excessive conjunctival fibrosis causes blindness, and the pathogenesis of scarring is incompletely understood. To establish whether profibrotic fibroblasts with an altered phenotype exist in ocular mucous membrane pemphigoid, we compared the functional characteristics of pemphigoid conjunctival fibroblasts to normal conjunctival fibroblasts with respect to cell division; migration; collagen contraction; matrix metalloproteinase, secretion of collagen and chemokines; and myofibroblast differentiation. We found that pemphigoid fibroblasts showed increased cell division (P = 0.

Conjunctival interleukin-13 expression in mucous membrane pemphigoid and functional effects of interleukin-13 on conjunctival fibroblasts in vitro.

Interleukin-13 (IL-13) is the dominant effector cytokine of fibrosis in pulmonary and liver disease. Excessive conjunctival fibrosis in the immunobullous disease ocular mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP) causes blindness; the pathogenesis of scarring in this disease is incompletely understood. To determine whether IL-13 is involved in conjunctival fibrosis in MMP, we studied the expression of IL-13 in ocular MMP patients before and after systemic immunosuppression and examined the effects of IL-13 on normal human conjunctival fibroblasts.

Immune mechanisms in allergic eye diseases: what is new?

Purpose Of Review: The purpose of this review will be to focus on new findings that expand our understanding of the immune mechanisms occurring in the various forms of allergic eye disease and in experimental models, and some novel therapeutic approaches.

Recent Findings: The novel data encompass three main areas: effector mechanisms in allergic eye disease; cytokines and chemokines in conjunctival responses; combinations of drugs for improving treatment options for allergic eye disease.

Summary: The term 'allergic eye disease' describes a spectrum of clinical conditions, ranging from the common, milder conditions of seasonal and perennial allergic conjunctivitis (SAC, PAC), to the rare and more severe diseases, vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) and atopic keratoconjunctivitis (AKC).

Delivery of oligodeoxynucleotides into human saphenous veins and the adjunct effect of ultrasound and microbubbles.

Therapy with naked oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs, molecular weight: 3000 to 7500) provides an elegant means of modulating gene expression without the problems associated with conventional gene therapy, but the relatively low transfer efficiency on intravascular administration is a limitation to clinical application. Ultrasound, which can be potentiated by microbubbles, shows promise as a method of delivering macromolecules such as plasmid DNA and other transgenes into cells. Since uptake of molecules into cells depends on their molecular weight, it might be expected that the delivery of ODNs, which are relatively small, will be facilitated by ultrasound and microbubbles.