Online information on mandibular advancement device for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea: A content, quality and readability analysis.

Background: Despite increasing scientific interest in the effectiveness of mandibular advancement device (MAD) for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), laypeople lack knowledge about this treatment option.

Objectives: To investigate content, quality and readability of the online information regarding MAD.

Methods: Google, Yahoo and Bing were searched for 'sleep apnea', 'mandibular advancement device' and 'oral appliance'.

The impact of GABA receptors and their pharmacological stimulation on cocaine reinforcement and drug-seeking behaviors in a rat model of depression.

Depression and cocaine use disorder represent frequent co-current diagnoses and the GABA receptors are involved in both conditions. This research involved the application of the animal model of depression (bulbectomy, OBX) and cocaine use disorder (self-administration) to assess the efficiency of GABA receptor agonists, baclofen and SKF-97541, on cocaine rewarding property and reinforcement of seeking-behaviors in rats with depressive phenotype. Additionally, we applied immunoreactive techniques to determine changes in the expression of GABA receptor subunit 1 and 2 in rats with depression and cocaine addiction.

DNA repair polymorphisms modify bladder cancer risk: a multi-factor analytic strategy.

Objectives: A number of common non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in DNA repair genes have been reported to modify bladder cancer risk. These include: APE1-Asn148Gln, XRCC1-Arg399Gln and XRCC1-Arg194Trp in the BER pathway, XPD-Gln751Lys in the NER pathway and XRCC3-Thr241Met in the DSB repair pathway.

Methods: To examine the independent and interacting effects of these SNPs in a large study group, we analyzed these genotypes in 1,029 cases and 1,281 controls enrolled in two case-control studies of incident bladder cancer, one conducted in New Hampshire, USA and the other in Turin, Italy.

Intake of fruits and vegetables and polymorphisms in DNA repair genes in bladder cancer.

The objective is to investigate the relationships between fruit and vegetable intake, DNA repair gene polymorphisms and the risk of bladder cancer. We have analyzed a hospital-based case-control study of 266 individuals with incident, histologically confirmed bladder cancer diagnosed between 1994 and 2003. Controls (n = 193) were patients treated for benign diseases recruited daily in a random fashion from the same hospital as the cases.

Expression of DNA repair and metabolic genes in response to a flavonoid-rich diet.

A diet rich in fruit and vegetables can be effective in the reduction of oxidative stress, through the antioxidant effects of phytochemicals and other mechanisms. Protection against the carcinogenic effects of chemicals may also be exerted by an enhancement of detoxification and DNA damage repair mechanisms. To investigate a putative effect of flavonoids, a class of polyphenols, on the regulation of the gene expression of DNA repair and metabolic genes, a 1-month flavonoid-rich diet was administered to thirty healthy male smokers, nine of whom underwent gene expression analysis.

Polymorphisms/haplotypes in DNA repair genes and smoking: a bladder cancer case-control study.

Bladder cancer is associated with tobacco smoking and occupational exposure. The repair of DNA damage has a key role in protecting the genome from the insults of cancer-causing agents. We analyzed 13 polymorphisms in seven DNA repair genes belonging to different repair pathways [X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1): 26304C>T, 26651A>G, 28152A>G; xeroderma pigmentosum-D (XPD): 23591A>G, 35931A>C; excision repair complementing defective in Chinese hamster, group 1 (ERCC1): 19007C>T; XRCC3: 4541T>C, 17893A>G, 18067C>T; proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA): 6084G>C; ERCC4: 30028C>T, 30147A>G; and XRCC2-31479A>G] in 317 incident bladder cancer patients and 317 controls.

Interplay between scatter factor receptors and B plexins controls invasive growth.

Met and Ron tyrosine kinases are members of the Scatter Factor Receptor family. Met is the receptor for hepatocyte growth factor while Ron is that for macrophage stimulating protein. On ligand stimulation, activation of these receptors induces 'invasive growth', a complex biological response involved in tissue morphogenesis and, when deregulated, in tumor progression and metastasis.