Vitamin D and cardiovascular disease: potential role in health disparities.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), which includes coronary artery disease and stroke, is the leading cause of mortality in the nation. Excess CVD morbidity and premature mortality in the African American community is one of the most striking examples of racial/ ethnic disparities in health outcomes. African Americans also suffer from increased rates of hypovitaminosis D, which has emerged as an independent risk factor for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.

Neighborhood location, rurality, geography, and outcomes of peritoneal dialysis patients in the United States.

Background: The adjusted 5-year survival for dialysis patients in the United States is 33%-35%, and patients treated with peritoneal dialysis (PD) have a high risk of transfer to hemodialysis (HD). No data are available on the effect of neighborhood characteristics or regional differences on the outcomes of PD patients in the United States.

Methods: We analyzed the relationships of selected patient demographics, socio-economic characteristics of the dialysis unit's neighborhood, "rurality," and geographic location with transfer to HD and with a composite outcome of transfer to HD or death, for all PD patients in the United States who, between 2004 and 2009, used supplies manufactured by Baxter Healthcare (n = 58 700).

Fine-needle aspiration cytology of primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the urinary bladder: a case report.

Primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs) are malignant small round cell tumors, which exhibit a variable degree of neural differentiation. These tumors are usually found in the extraosseous soft tissue and rarely in bones. Occasional cases of PNETs of the urinary bladder have been reported on histopathology.

Choice of dialysis modality.

Few medical decisions have as profound an impact on every aspect of a patient's life as the selection of dialysis modality by a patient with end-stage renal disease. It remains uncertain whether the outcome differences seen between hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients, if any, in observational studies are attributable to the dialysis modality. Such studies, thus, are insufficient to deny patients a choice in selecting their dialysis modality.

Association of pretransplant serum phosphorus with posttransplant outcomes.

Background And Objectives: Serum phosphorus levels are associated with mortality, cardiovascular disease, and renal function loss in individuals with and without chronic kidney disease. The association of pretransplant serum phosphorus levels with transplant outcomes is not clear.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: Data of the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) up to June 2007 were linked to the database (2001 through 2006) of one of the U.

Role of functional polymorphism of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (-1306 C/T and -168 G/T) and MMP-9 (-1562 C/T) promoter in oral submucous fibrosis and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in an Indian population.

The aim of this study was to explore the association of MMP-2 (-1306 C/T and -168 G/T) and MMP-9 (-1562 C/T) promoter polymorphisms in oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cases. These SNP were genotyped by PCR-RFLP. Total of 1260 individuals were recruited, of which 412 OSMF, 422 HNSCC and 426 were controls.

FTIR and circular dichroism spectroscopic study of interaction of 5-fluorouracil with DNA.

5-Fluorouracil (5FU) is an anticancer chemotherapeutic drug which exerts cytotoxic effect by inhibiting cellular DNA replication. In the present study, we explore the binding of 5FU with DNA and resulting structural and conformational changes on DNA duplex. UV-visible, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopic techniques were employed to explore these interactions.

Exciting new advances in oral cancer diagnosis: avenues to early detection.

The prognosis for patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma remains poor in spite of advances in therapy of many other malignancies. Early diagnosis and treatment remains the key to improved patient survival. Because the scalpel biopsy for diagnosis is invasive and has potential morbidity, it is reserved for evaluating highly suspicious lesions and not for the majority of oral lesions which are clinically not suspicious.

Pentoxifylline therapy in the management of oral submucous fibrosis.

Objectives: Oral submucous fibrosis is a common premalignant condition in the Indian subcontinent and is caused by chewing areca nut and other irritants in various forms. Its medical treatment is not yet fully standardized. In this study we compared the efficacy of Pentoxifylline as compared to placebo.

Association of hemoglobin and survival in peritoneal dialysis patients.

Background And Objectives: Interventional trials and some observational studies show target hemoglobin >13 g/dl to be associated with higher mortality in erythropoiesis-stimulating agent-treated (ESA-treated) hemodialysis patients; data for peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients are limited.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: We tested our hypothesis that higher and lower achieved hemoglobin levels are associated with increased mortality in 9269 ESA-treated PD patients from all DaVita dialysis clinics during the time period July 2001 through June 2006 followed through June 2007 using a time-dependent analysis.

Results: Lower hemoglobin was associated with significantly higher all-cause mortality in ESA-treated PD patients: with hemoglobin of 11.

The role of cytopathology in diagnosing HPV induced oropharyngeal lesions.

HPV detection in fine needle aspirates from suspected head and neck metastasis may be useful in clinching the diagnosis of HPV related oral squamous cell carcinoma. Ascertaining the HPV status of a particular tumor on cytological specimens could be useful for prognostication as HPV-related tumors appear to have a better prognosis and clinical outcome. The various techniques of detection are reviewed.

Implications of a nephrology workforce shortage for dialysis patient care.

Recent dramatic decreases in US medical graduate and International Medical Graduate interest in nephrology as a career suggest that delivery of care to the vulnerable population of dialysis patients in the United States could be negatively affected in coming years. Demographic shifts and changes to national health policy are also likely to exacerbate challenges to provide adequate care to people on dialysis or at risk of end-stage renal disease. Training an adequate number of nephrologists is imperative and will require both reconfiguring current approaches to training and certain aspects of care delivery as well as highlighting bright spots of innovation within the field of nephrology.

Racial and ethnic differences in the association of body mass index and survival in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

Background: In maintenance hemodialysis (HD) patients, overweight and obesity are associated with survival advantages. Given the greater survival of maintenance HD patients who are minorities, we hypothesized that increased body mass index (BMI) is associated more strongly with lower mortality in blacks and Hispanics relative to non-Hispanic whites.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Diets and enteral supplements for improving outcomes in chronic kidney disease.

Protein-energy wasting (PEW), which is manifested by low serum levels of albumin or prealbumin, sarcopenia and weight loss, is one of the strongest predictors of mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Although PEW might be engendered by non-nutritional conditions, such as inflammation or other comorbidities, the question of causality does not refute the effectiveness of dietary interventions and nutritional support in improving outcomes in patients with CKD. The literature indicates that PEW can be mitigated or corrected with an appropriate diet and enteral nutritional support that targets dietary protein intake.

Serum albumin as a predictor of mortality in peritoneal dialysis: comparisons with hemodialysis.

Background: Serum albumin level predicts mortality in dialysis patients and is used to assess their health status and the quality of delivered care. Whether the threshold level of serum albumin at which mortality risk increases in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients is the same as for hemodialysis (HD) patients has not been studied.

Study Design: Observational cohort study of dialysis patients undertaken to determine the survival-predictability of serum albumin level in PD patients and compare it with that in HD patients.

Condensin phosphorylated by the Aurora-B-like kinase Ark1 is continuously required until telophase in a mode distinct from Top2.

Condensin is a conserved protein complex that functions in chromosome condensation and segregation. It has not been previously unequivocally determined whether condensin is required throughout mitosis. Here, we examined whether Schizosaccharomyces pombe condensin continuously acts on chromosomes during mitosis and compared its role with that of DNA topoisomerase II (Top2).

Associations of pretransplant serum albumin with post-transplant outcomes in kidney transplant recipients.

The association between pretransplant serum albumin concentration and post-transplant outcomes in kidney transplant recipients is unclear. We hypothesized that in transplant-waitlisted hemodialysis patients, lower serum albumin concentrations are associated with worse post-transplant outcomes. Linking the 5-year patient data of a large dialysis organization (DaVita) to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, we identified 8961 hemodialysis patients who underwent first kidney transplantation.

An update on the comparisons of mortality outcomes of hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients.

The number of dialysis patients continues to grow. In many parts of the world, peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a less expensive form of treatment. However, it has been questioned whether patients treated with PD can have as good a long-term outcome as that achieved with hemodialysis (HD).

p16 immunocytochemistry on cell blocks as an adjunct to cervical cytology: Potential reflex testing on specially prepared cell blocks from residual liquid-based cytology specimens.

Background: p16 (INK4a) (p16) is a well-recognized surrogate molecular marker for human papilloma virus (HPV) related squamous dysplasia. Our hypothesis is that the invasive interventions and related morbidities could be avoided by objective stratification of positive cytologic interpretations by p16 immunostaining of cell block sections of cytology specimens.

Materials And Methods: Nuclear immunoreactivity for p16 was evaluated in cell block sections in 133 adequate cases [20 negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy, 28 high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL), 50 low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL), 21 atypical squamous cells, cannot exclude HSIL (ASC-H), and 14 atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS)] and analyzed with cervical biopsy results.

Designer promoter: an artwork of cis engineering.

Advances in systematic computational biology and rapid elucidation of synergistic interplay between cis and trans factors governing transcriptional control have facilitated functional annotation of gene networks. The generation of data through deconstructive, reconstructive and database assisted promoter studies, and its integration to principles of synthetic engineering has started an era of designer promoters. Exploration of natural promoter architecture and the concept of cis engineering have not only enabled fine tuning of single or multiple transgene expression in response to perturbations in the chemical, physiological and environmental stimuli but also provided researchers with a unique answer to various problems in crop improvement in the form of bidirectional promoters.