Mesoporous silica nanoparticles accommodating electrospun nanofibers as implantable local drug delivery system processed by cold atmospheric plasma and spin coating approaches.

Nanofibers (NF) and nanoparticles are attractive for drug delivery to improve the drug bioavailability and administration. Easy manipulation of NF as macroscopic bulk material give rise to potential usages as implantable local drug delivery systems (LLDS) to overcome the failures of systemic drug delivery systems such as unmet personalized needs, side effects, suboptimal dosage. In this study, poly(ethylene glycol) polyethyleneimine (mPEG:PEI) copolymer blended poly-caprolactone NFs, NFaccommodating mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) as the implantable LLDS was achieved by employing spin coating and cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) as the post-process for accommodation on NF.

Diagnostic Importance of PAX2, ARID1A, and FOXA1 Biomarkers in Atypical Endometrial Hyperplasia.

Objective: To evaluate the contribution of PAX2, ARID1A, and FOXA1 biomarkers to diagnosis in cases with atypical endometrial hyperplasia (AEH).

Study Design: Descriptive Study. Place and Duration of the Study: Pathology Department of Umraniye Training and Research Hospital, from January 2018 to December 2020.

Opportunities for Pedagogical Change in Turkish Medical Education Revealed in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

: As the first stage of a large-scale educational design research (EDR) study focused on the complex problem of providing authentic experiential "hands-on, minds-in" learning opportunities online during a pandemic or other exigency, we conducted a literature review and we interviewed Turkish academic staff and students about their experiences during the first year of the COVID-19 Pandemic. We interviewed faculty members, faculty members of medical education departments, and medical students from both public and private medical schools in Türkiye between October 1 and December 31, 2020. Working in pairs, we analyzed the transcripts of 49 interviews using open qualitative coding methods with satisfactory levels of coefficients of agreement.

Diagnosis of COVID-19 in Patients with Acute Pulmonary Embolism.

Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) and coronavirus disease -2019 (COVID-19) are life-threatening diseases associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Yet little is known about their co-existence.This study explored clinical and laboratory differences between PE patients who tested positive with real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR+) and those who tested negative (PCR-) for SARS-CoV-2.

Senescent-like Blood Lymphocytes and Disease Progression in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Background And Objectives: Aging is known to exacerbate neuroinflammation, and in the neurodegenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an older age is associated with a worse prognosis. We have previously shown the activation of cell senescence pathways in the proteome of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and the increase of proinflammatory cytokines in blood from individuals living with ALS. In this single-center, retrospective study, we investigated the expression of senescent-like blood mononuclear cells in ALS.

The effect of omentectomy on the blood levels of adipokines in obese patients with endometrial cancer.

Objective: To investigate the blood levels of adipokines in obese patients with endometrial cancer who have and have not undergone omentectomy.

Methods: Between September 2017 and September 2019, the study recruited 54 patients with endometrial cancer. Measurements were taken of blood levels of human leptin, perilipin-1, adiponectin, adipolin, resistin, visfatin, and estrone preoperatively and postoperatively before adjuvant therapy or at the end of one month.

The Expression of Active CD11b Monocytes in Blood and Disease Progression in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Monocytes expressing the inflammation suppressing active CD11b, a beta2 integrin, may regulate neuroinflammation and modify clinical outcomes in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In this single site, retrospective study, peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 38 individuals living with ALS and 20 non-neurological controls (NNC) were investigated using flow cytometry to study active CD11b integrin classical (CM), intermediate (IM) and non-classical (NCM) monocytes during ALS progression. Seventeen ALS participants were sampled at the baseline (V1) and at two additional time points (V2 and V3) for longitudinal analysis.

Multicentre appraisal of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis biofluid biomarkers shows primacy of blood neurofilament light chain.

The routine clinical integration of individualized objective markers of disease activity in those diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a key requirement for therapeutic development. A large, multicentre, clinic-based, longitudinal cohort was used to systematically appraise the leading candidate biofluid biomarkers in the stratification and potential therapeutic assessment of those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Incident patients diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( = 258), other neurological diseases ( = 80) and healthy control participants ( = 101), were recruited and followed at intervals of 3-6 months for up to 30 months.

Subcutaneous cladribine to treat multiple sclerosis: experience in 208 patients.

Objective: To report on safety and effectiveness of subcutaneous cladribine (Litak) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

Methods: Litak was offered to MS-patients irrespective of disease course. Litak 10 mg was administered for 3-4 days during week 1.

Humoral response to neurofilaments and dipeptide repeats in ALS progression.

Objective: To appraise the utility as biomarkers of blood antibodies and immune complexes to neurofilaments and dipeptide repeat proteins, the products of translation of the most common genetic mutation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Methods: Antibodies and immune complexes against neurofilament light, medium, heavy chains as well as poly-(GP)-(GR) dipeptide repeats were measured in blood samples from the ALS Biomarkers (n = 107) and the phenotype-genotype biomarker (n = 129) studies and in 140 healthy controls. Target analyte levels were studied longitudinally in 37 ALS cases.

Socioeconomic status and disease-modifying therapy prescribing patterns in people with multiple sclerosis.

Aims: To examine the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and disease-modifying therapy (DMT) prescribing patterns in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (pwRRMS).

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted among pwRRMS treated with a DMT in the neuroinflammation service at The Royal London Hospital (Barts Health NHS Trust). Study data were collected between July and September 2017.

Serum NADPH oxidase concentrations and the associations with iron metabolism in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis.

Background: Overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and impaired iron metabolism are considered to be possible factors in the pathogenesis of Multiple sclerosis (MS). Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidases are the primary sources of regulated ROS production. The NADPH oxidase (NOX) family consists of seven catalytic homologues, NOX1-5 and two dual oxidases.

Treating the ineligible: Disease modification in people with multiple sclerosis beyond NHS England commissioning policies.

Background: Whilst there is a broad selection of drugs licensed as disease modifying treatments (DMTs) for people with relapsing multiple sclerosis (pwRMS), access to DMTs remains restricted, particularly for people with progressive MS (pwPMS). Cladribine has shown efficacy at all stages of MS. Following withdrawal from the market of oral cladribine in 2011, partly due to issues associated with lymphopenia, and following a thorough risk assessment, we started using subcutaneously injected cladribine (Litak) to treat both pwRMS and pwPMS.

Tissue-enhanced plasma proteomic analysis for disease stratification in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Background: It is unclear to what extent pre-clinical studies in genetically homogeneous animal models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an invariably fatal neurodegenerative disorder, can be informative of human pathology. The disease modifying effects in animal models of most therapeutic compounds have not been reproduced in patients. To advance therapeutics in ALS, we need easily accessible disease biomarkers which can discriminate across the phenotypic variants observed in ALS patients and can bridge animal and human pathology.

Cladribine: Off-label disease modification for people with multiple sclerosis in resource-poor settings?

Background: A considerable number of people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) live in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), where lack of resource adversely affects access to effective disease-modifying treatment.

Objective: The objective of this commentary is to propose a useful cost-effective disease-modifying treatment option for pwMS in LMIC with potential high efficacy and high convenience to the pwMS and treating physician.: We propose using generic 2-chloro-2'-deoxyadenosine (cladribine), a small molecule licensed for treatment of people with hairy cell leukaemia, as a solution of this significant equity imbalance.

Varicella zoster virus infections in neurological patients: a clinical study.

Background: Varicella zoster virus (VZV) reactivation is a common infectious disease in neurology and VZV the second most frequent virus detected in encephalitis. This study investigated characteristics of clinical and laboratory features in patients with VZV infection.

Methods: Two hundred eighty two patients with VZV reactivation that were hospitalized in the department of neurology in the time from 2005 to 2013 were retrospectively evaluated.

Monocyte/high-density lipoprotein ratio predicts the mortality in ischemic stroke patients.

Objective: The inflammatory process is a very important stage in the development and prognosis of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). The monocyte to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio (MHR) is accepted as a novel marker for demonstrating inflammation. However, the role of MHR as a predictor of mortality in patients with AIS remains unclear.

Gain-of-function STAT1 mutations are associated with intracranial aneurysms.

Chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis, characterized by persistent or recurrent fungal infections, represents the clinical hallmark in gain-of-function (GOF) signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) mutation carriers. Several cases of intracranial aneurysms have been reported in patients with GOF STAT1 mutation but the paucity of reported cases likely suggested this association still as serendipity. In order to endorse this association, we link the development of intracranial aneurysms with STAT1 GOF mutation by presenting the two different cases of a patient and her mother, and demonstrate upregulated phosphorylated STAT4 and IL-12 receptor β1 upon stimulation in patient's blood cells.

Fingolimod Associated Bilateral Cystoid Macular Edema-Wait and See?

Fingolimod 0.5-mg once-daily is an approved therapy for patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). Several pivotal and real-world studies have demonstrated that fingolimod is associated with the development of macular edema (ME).

Importance of cerebrospinal fluid analysis in the era of McDonald 2010 criteria: a German-Austrian retrospective multicenter study in patients with a clinically isolated syndrome.

The majority of patients presenting with a first clinical symptom suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS) do not fulfill the MRI criteria for dissemination in space and time according to the 2010 revision of the McDonald diagnostic criteria for MS and are thus classified as clinically isolated syndrome (CIS). To re-evaluate the utility of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis in the context of the revised McDonald criteria from 2010, we conducted a retrospective multicenter study aimed at determining the prevalence and predictive value of oligoclonal IgG bands (OCBs) in patients with CIS. Patients were recruited from ten specialized MS centers in Germany and Austria.

Administration of oral medication by parents at home.

Aims And Objective: The objective of this study was to determine parents' experiences and problems with administering medication to their children at home.

Background: Parents' experiences and access to information for the treatment of their children's illnesses at home is necessary for their children's safety.

Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study.

A DWI study of the contralateral hemisphere in cerebral hemiatrophy.

Background And Aim: Cerebral hemiatrophy (CHA) is a congenital or acquired loss of volume in one hemisphere of the brain. The MR findings of the affected hemisphere have been a subject of many studies, however, the contralateral hemisphere has not been investigated. There is, in fact, an integrity between two hemispheres of the brain through transverse connection fibers.

Deregulation of microRNA-181c in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with clinically isolated syndrome is associated with early conversion to relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

Background: MiRNA-181c, miRNA-633 and miRNA-922 have been reported to be deregulated in multiple sclerosis.

Objectives: To investigate the association between miRNA-181c, miRNA-633 and miRNA-922 and conversion from clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) to relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS); and to compare microRNAs in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum with regard to dysfunction of the blood-CSF barrier.

Methods: CSF and serum miRNA-181c, miRNA-633 and miRNA-922 were retrospectively determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in CIS patients with (CIS-RRMS) and without (CIS-CIS) conversion to RRMS within 1 year.

CSF Levels of Angiopoietin-2 Do Not Differ between Patients with CSF Fluid Leakage Syndrome and Controls.

CSF abnormalities have been reported in CSF leakage syndrome. However, the mechanism for these CSF changes is actually unknown and they may indicate impaired CSF flow or blood-CSF barrier. Angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2), a protein which is expressed and released by endothelial cells, has been associated with increased vascular permeability.

Acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis (Weston-Hurst syndrome) in a patient with relapse-remitting multiple sclerosis.

Acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis is a fulminant demyelinating disease and commonly considered as a rare and severe variant of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. Here, we report the clinical, magnetic resonance imaging, and brain biopsy findings of a 35-year-old female with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, who developed acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed symmetrical hemorrhagic lesions in the basal ganglia including the thalami.