Background: Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a major health problem, representing the main cause of hospitalization in people over 65 years of age. Several studies have associated the Mediterranean diet with a cardioprotective function, improving prognoses in patients with high cardiovascular risk. Our main objective is to determine whether higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with a lower severity of CHF, based on the number of decompensations and disease complications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Med (Lausanne)
July 2024
Introduction And Objectives: Corticosteroids are among the drugs demonstrating a mortality benefit for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The RECOVERY trial highlighted that dexamethasone reduced 28-day mortality for hospitalized COVID-19 patients requiring either supplemental oxygen or mechanical ventilation. It is noted that approximately 30% of COVID-19 patients, initially presenting with mild symptoms, will advance to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), especially those with detectable laboratory markers of inflammation indicative of disease progression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To describe the impact of different doses of corticosteroids on the evolution of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, based on the potential benefit of the non-genomic mechanism of these drugs at higher doses.
Methods: Observational study using data collected from the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry. We evaluated the epidemiological, radiological and analytical scenario between patients treated with megadoses therapy of corticosteroids vs low-dose of corticosteroids and the development of complications.
Clin Nutr
February 2022
Background & Aims: Lifestyle and dietary habits influence kidney function, playing an important role in the prevention and development of chronic kidney disease (CKD). The effectiveness of the Mediterranean diet in preserving kidney function has been seen in primary prevention. However, no scientific evidence is currently available to determine which dietary pattern is more effective in the management of CKD in secondary cardiovascular disease prevention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIndividuals with evening chronotypes are prone to suffer chronodisruption and display worse lifestyle habits than morning-types, exhibiting higher cardiovascular diseases (CVD). However, it is unknown whether CVD patients, who are evening chronotypes, have higher cardiometabolic risk than morning-types. This study explored whether individual chronotypes were associated with cardiometabolic risk in patients from the CORDIOPREV study (n = 857).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Purpose: Lifestyle and diet affect cardiovascular risk, although there is currently no consensus about the best dietary model for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. The CORDIOPREV study (Coronary Diet Intervention With Olive Oil and Cardiovascular Prevention) is an ongoing prospective, randomized, single-blind, controlled trial in 1002 coronary heart disease patients, whose primary objective is to compare the effect of 2 healthy dietary patterns (low-fat rich in complex carbohydrates versus Mediterranean diet rich in extra virgin olive oil) on the incidence of cardiovascular events. Here, we report the results of one secondary outcome of the CORDIOPREV study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report the fabrication of polyaniline nanofiber (PANI)-modified screen-printed electrode (PANI/SPE) incorporated in a poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic channel for the detection of circulating tumor cells. We employed this device to detect melanoma skin cancer cells through specific immunogenic binding of cell surface biomarker melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) to anti-MC1R antibody. The antibody-functionalized PANI/SPE was used in batch-continuous flow-through fashion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Anti-angiogenic treatment failure is often attributed to drug resistance, unsuccessful drug delivery, and tumor heterogeneity. Recent studies have speculated that anti-angiogenic treatments may fail due to characteristics inherent to tumor-associated blood vessels. Tumor-associated blood vessels are phenotypically different from their normal counterparts, having defective or permeable endothelial monolayers, abnormal sprouts, and abnormal vessel hierarchy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe inhale respiratory pathogens continuously, and the subsequent signaling events between host and microbe are complex, ultimately resulting in clearance of the microbe, stable colonization of the host, or active disease. Traditional in vitro methods are ill-equipped to study these critical events in the context of the lung microenvironment. Here we introduce a microscale organotypic model of the human bronchiole for studying pulmonary infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMultipotent stromal cells (MSCs, often called mesenchymal stem cells) have garnered significant attention within the field of regenerative medicine because of their purported ability to differentiate down musculoskeletal lineages. Given the inherent heterogeneity of MSC populations, recent studies have suggested that cell morphology may be indicative of MSC differentiation potential. Toward improving current methods and developing simple yet effective approaches for the morphological evaluation of MSCs, we combined passive pumping microfluidic technology with high-dimensional morphological characterization to produce robust tools for standardized high-throughput analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMethods Mol Biol
January 2018
Microscale 3D in vitro systems have attracted significant interest as tools for cancer research because the microscale systems offer better organization of the cellular microenvironment and enhance throughput of the systems by lowering costs and reducing the amount of reagents and cells. Lumens (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To describe the features of computer program to support the activity of the responsible for surveillance of medical devices. To evaluate their use after one year of implementation in a hospital.
Method: The stages of the process were: description of the activities of medical devices surveillance and implant registration, definition of functionality and data processing, creation of databases, implementation in a private hospital which manages PS, validation of the program and analysis of their usefulness.
Adv Healthc Mater
January 2016
In vitro biomimetic modeling of physio-logical structures bridges the gap between 2D in vitro culture and animal models. Lumens (tubular structures) are ubiquitous in vivo, being present in blood vessels, mammary ducts, and the lymphatic system. A method 'LumeNEXT' is presented here that allows the fabrication of 3D embedded lumens where size, structure, distance, and configuration can be controlled using standard poly-dimethylsiloxane micromolding methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) is autologous plasma with higher concentration of platelet than basal level, because of an extracting and concentration process. PRP therapeutical use, as osteinductor role, is a controversial issue, due to there are no clinical studies with rigorous design and no firm conclusions can be drawn regarding its uses. Propose: To provide information about methods to obtain PRP, legal considerations about its extraction and use, molecular mechanism of action, as well as available evidence about security and tolerance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPoly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels are highly biocompatible materials extensively used for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications, controlled drug release, and tissue engineering. In this work, PEG cross-linked hydrogels, synthesized under various conditions, were used to grow lysozyme crystals by the counterdiffusion technique. Crystallization experiments were conducted using a three-layer arrangement.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdvances in tissue engineering and microtechnology have enabled researchers to more easily generate in vitro tissue models that mimic the tissue geometry and spatial organization found in vivo (e.g., vessel or mammary duct models with tubular structures).
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