Is abuse causally related to urologic symptoms? Results from the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) Survey.

Objectives: We investigated (1) whether sexual, physical, or emotional abuse experienced either as a child or as an adolescent/adult is associated with symptoms of urinary frequency, urgency, and nocturia, and (2) the extent to which the observed association between abuse and urologic symptoms may be causal.

Methods: Analyses are based on data from the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) survey, a community-based epidemiologic study of many different urologic symptoms and risk factors. BACH used a multistage stratified cluster sample to recruit 5506 adults, aged 30-79 yr (2301 men, 3205 women; 1770 black [African American], 1877 Hispanic, and 1859 white respondents).

Prevalence of painful bladder symptoms and effect on quality of life in black, Hispanic and white men and women.

Purpose: The prevalence of painful bladder symptoms is poorly defined, especially in racial and ethnic minority groups. We estimated the prevalence of painful bladder symptoms in a community based sample, assessed symptom variation by age, gender, race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status, and estimated their impact on quality of life.

Materials And Methods: A population based cross-sectional survey of individuals was done in the Boston area using a multistage stratified cluster sample.

The association of nocturia with cardiac disease, diabetes, body mass index, age and diuretic use: results from the BACH survey.

Purpose: We examined the association of nocturia with age, race/ethnicity, gender, cardiac disease, diabetes, body mass index and diuretic use.

Materials And Methods: Data were obtained from the Boston Area Community Health study, which used a multistage, stratified, cluster random sample design to recruit 5,506 adults at ages 30 to 79 years from Boston. Nocturia was defined as fairly often or more frequently arising up to urinate more than once nightly in the last month and/or going to the bathroom more than once nightly in the last week.

Beyond the lower urinary tract: the association of urologic and sexual symptoms with common illnesses.

Objective: In addition to being prevalent and bothersome, urologic and sexual symptoms may be related to chronic medical illnesses. We investigate the relationship between ten urologic and sexual symptoms and four major illnesses (type II diabetes, cardiac disease, hypertension, and depression).

Methods: We analyzed data from the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) survey, a community-based epidemiologic study of urologic symptoms and risk factors.

Sources of variation in physician adherence with clinical guidelines: results from a factorial experiment.

Background: Health services research has documented the magnitude of health care variations. Few studies focus on provider level sources of variation in clinical decision making-for example, which primary care providers are likely to follow clinical guidelines, with which types of patient.

Objectives: To estimate: (1) the extent of primary care provider adherence to practice guidelines and the unconfounded influence of (2) patient attributes and (3) physician characteristics on adherence with clinical practice guidelines.

The impact of lower urinary tract symptoms and comorbidities on quality of life: the BACH and UREPIK studies.

Objectives: To investigate the effect of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) on quality of life (QoL) and to determine its extent across a variety of cultures, and the confounding effects of self-reported comorbidities and demographics.

Subjects And Methods: Data were obtained from two population-based studies in five cities: UREPIK (Boxmeer, the Netherlands; Auxerre, France; Birmingham, UK; and Seoul, Korea) and the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) study (Boston, USA). UREPIK used stratified random samples of men aged 40-79 years.

Care seeking and treatment for urinary incontinence in a diverse population.

Purpose: We examined care seeking and treatment for urine leakage in the Boston Area Community Health Survey, a racially and ethnically diverse, community based study of urological and gynecological symptoms and their correlates.

Materials And Methods: Boston Area Community Health Survey used a multistage, stratified cluster design to enroll 5,506 black, Hispanic and white adults. Subjects were 30 to 79 years old and residents of Boston, Massachusetts.

The effect of mode of delivery, parity, and birth weight on risk of urinary incontinence.

To examine the relationship between symptoms of urinary incontinence (UI) and mode of delivery, parity, and birth weight, data were obtained from a population-based random sample of 3,205 black, Hispanic, and white women age 30-79 in the Boston Area Community Health Survey. Measures include UI symptoms [>or=3 (moderate/severe) Sandvik's severity index]; reproductive history [live birth(s), no live births, never pregnant]; mode of delivery for live births (>or=1 vaginal birth, cesarean delivery only); parity (1, 2, >or=3); and maximum birth weight of live births (<4,000 g, >or=4,000 g). Using logistic regression, women having >or=1 vaginal delivery had twice the odds of UI compared to women with no pregnancies (P = 0.

The bacterial second messenger cyclic diGMP exhibits potent adjuvant properties.

The identification of new adjuvants is a critical need in vaccinology. In this work, it is demonstrated that bis-(3',5')-cyclic dimeric guanosine monophosphate (cdiGMP) exhibits potent adjuvant properties. Subcutaneous co-administration of cdiGMP with beta-galactosidase (beta-Gal) to mice resulted in the elicitation of significantly higher antigen-specific serum IgG titres than in animals receiving beta-Gal alone.

Amyloid-beta-induced pathological behaviors are suppressed by Ginkgo biloba extract EGb 761 and ginkgolides in transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans.

Amyloid-beta (Abeta) toxicity has been postulated to initiate synaptic loss and subsequent neuronal degeneration seen in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We previously demonstrated that the standardized Ginkgo biloba extract EGb 761, commonly used to enhance memory and by AD patients for dementia, inhibits Abeta-induced apoptosis in neuroblastoma cells. In this study, we use EGb 761 and its single constituents to associate Abeta species with Abeta-induced pathological behaviors in a model organism, Caenorhabditis elegans.

Prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms and effect on quality of life in a racially and ethnically diverse random sample: the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) Survey.

Background: Previous studies of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) have focused on men, with few studies including minority populations. The Boston Area Community Health (BACH) Survey is designed to study the prevalence and impact of LUTS among both men and women in a racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse population.

Methods: The BACH Survey used a stratified 2-stage cluster design to randomly sample 5506 adults aged 30 to 79 from the city of Boston, Mass (2301 men, 3205 women, 1770 blacks, 1877 Hispanics, and 1859 whites).

How do doctors in different countries manage the same patient? Results of a factorial experiment.

Objective: To determine the relative contributions of: (1) patient attributes; (2) provider characteristics; and (3) health care systems to health care disparities in the management of coronary heart disease (CHD) and depression.

Data Sources/study Setting: Primary experimental data were collected in 2001-2 from 256 randomly sampled primary care providers in the U.S.

High-throughput fluorescent screening of transgenic animals: phenotyping and haplotyping.

Background: Methods for genotyping transgenic animals currently consist of extracting genomic DNA from blood or tissue followed by PCR or Southern blot analysis. These methods when used to screen large numbers of animals can be time consuming and expensive. Therefore, we developed a novel method that allows high-throughput screening of phenotypic changes on leukocytes, resulting from the transgenic genotype.

C. elegans models of age-associated neurodegenerative diseases: lessons from transgenic worm models of Alzheimer's disease.

Caenorhabditis elegans has been used to model aspects of a number of age-associated neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases. These models have typically involved the transgenic expression of disease-associated human proteins. Here I describe my laboratory's specific experience engineering C.

The effect of changes in adiposity on testosterone levels in older men: longitudinal results from the Massachusetts Male Aging Study.

Objective: Changes in adiposity affecting total testosterone (TT) and free testosterone (FT) levels have not been examined in a population-based survey. We aimed to determine whether changes in adiposity predict follow-up levels and rates of change in TT, FT and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) in men.

Design: The Massachusetts Male Aging Study is a randomly sampled, population-based cohort interviewed at baseline (T(1), 1987-1989; n = 1,709; aged 40-70 years) and followed-up approximately 9 years later (T(2), 1995-1997; n = 1,156).

Serum androgen levels in black, Hispanic, and white men.

Context: Racial/ethnic differences in androgen levels could account for differences in prostate cancer risk, body composition, and bone loss.

Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate racial/ethnic variations in testosterone, bioavailable testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), SHBG, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) levels.

Design: The Boston Area Community Health (BACH) Survey was a multistage stratified cluster random sample, recruiting from 2002 to 2005.

HIV-1 matrix protein p17 modulates in vivo preactivated murine T-cell response and enhances the induction of systemic and mucosal immunity against intranasally co-administered antigens.

HIV-1 p17 is a viral cytokine that acts on preactivated, but not on resting, human T cells promoting proliferation, proinflammatory cytokines release and HIV-1 replication, after binding to a cellular receptor (p17R). Here, we demonstrate that p17Rs are expressed on activated murine T cells, which respond to p17 stimulation similarly to their human counterpart. We developed a mouse model of abortive HSV-1 infection to induce T cell activation in vivo.

An SopB-mediated immune escape mechanism of Salmonella enterica can be subverted to optimize the performance of live attenuated vaccine carrier strains.

Salmonellae have evolved several mechanisms to evade host clearance. Here, we describe the influence on bacterial immune escape of the effector protein SopB, which is translocated into the cytosol through a type III secretion system. Wild-type bacteria, as well as the sseC and aroA attenuated mutants exerted a stronger cytotoxic effect on dendritic cells (DC) than their SopB-deficient derivatives.

Oxidative stress and glomerular filtration barrier injury: role of the renin-angiotensin system in the Ren2 transgenic rat.

TG(mRen2)27 (Ren2) transgenic rats overexpress the mouse renin gene, manifest hypertension, and exhibit increased tissue ANG II levels and oxidative stress. Evidence indicates that elevated tissue ANG II contributes to oxidative stress, increases in glomerular macromolecular permeability, and consequent albuminuria. Furthermore, angiotensin type 1 receptor (AT1R) blockers reduce albuminuria and slow progression of renal disease.

The HIV-1 matrix protein p17 can be efficiently delivered by intranasal route in mice using the TLR 2/6 agonist MALP-2 as mucosal adjuvant.

The HIV-1 matrix protein p17 is a structural protein essential in the life cycle of HIV, by acting as a virokine/immunomodulator that supports viral replication and spreading. The presence of p17-specific antibodies and CTL responses correlates with slower progression to AIDS. Intranasal vaccination with p17 and the TLR2/6 agonist MALP-2 stimulates strong humoral and cellular immune responses at systemic and mucosal levels.

Factors associated with participation in breast cancer treatment clinical trials.

Purpose: It is well established that recruitment to clinical trials (CTs) is difficult and time consuming. This article reports on factors related to CT participation among women who were invited to participate in a CT for breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: Breast cancer patients who were eligible for a CT were identified by 16 different cancer centers.

Co-expression of alpha(1,3)galactosyltransferase and Bacillus thuringiensis PIPLC enhances hyperacute rejection of tumor cells.

The use of alpha(1,3)galactosyltransferase (alphaGT) as a method of inducing hyperacute rejection of tumors has been gaining interest recently. However, the approach is based in part on the sensitivity of each tumor line to the effects of complement lysis. Tumors expressing complement resistance factors such as membrane cofactor (CD46), decay accelerating factor (CD55) and protectin (CD59) have been shown to be more resistant to complement mediated lysis.

Rat sodium iodide symporter allows using lower dose of 131I for cancer therapy.

Efficient gene delivery is a critical obstacle for gene therapy that must be overcome. Until current limits of gene delivery technology are solved, identification of systems with bystander effects is highly desirable. As an anticancer agent, radioactive iodine (131)I has minimal toxicity.

Efficient systemic and mucosal responses against the HIV-1 Tat protein by prime/boost vaccination using the lipopeptide MALP-2 as adjuvant.

A major goal of HIV-1 vaccine development is the induction of mucosal immune responses able to stop or reduce viral infection directly at the portal of entry. We established a heterologous prime/boost vaccination protocol based on intradermal priming with the HIV-1 Tat protein and intranasal boosting with the Tat protein co-administered with the mucosal adjuvant MALP-2. Strong Tat-specific humoral responses were elicited in vaccinated mice at both systemic and mucosal levels.