The effect of smell training on COVID-19 induced smell loss.

Objective: while smell training appears to be effective for post viral smell loss, its effectiveness in COVID-19 induced smell loss is currently not well known. Therefore, we aim to investigate the potential effect of smell training on patients with COVID-19 induced smell loss.

Methods: we conducted a case-control study with two comparable cohorts.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma Antigen in the Follow-up of Patients With Head and Neck Cancer.

Objective: to determine if the tumor marker squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag) observed over time may contribute to the early detection of recurrence, metastasis, and second primary tumors in the follow-up of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Study Design: A retrospective analysis of patients with HNSCC and at least one SCC-Ag measurement was conducted. Hazard ratios (HRs) were used to determine the correlation between SCC-Ag and an event.

Prednisolone does not improve olfactory function after COVID-19: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Prednisolone has been suggested as a treatment for olfactory disorders after COVID-19, but evidence is scarce. Hence, we aimed to determine the efficacy of a short oral prednisolone treatment on patients with persistent olfactory disorders after COVID-19.

Methods: We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-centered trial in the Netherlands.

COCOS trial: rticosteroids for VID-19-induced loss of mell-protocol for a single-centred, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

Introduction: Hyposmia and anosmia are common in COVID-19. Most patients regain normal smell within 4 weeks, but severe loss of smell persists roughly in 20% after 2 months and may last up to a year or longer. These persistent smell disorders greatly influence daily life.

Allergenicity attributes of different peanut market types.

Four different market classes of peanut (Runner, Virginia Spanish, and Valencia) are commonly consumed in Western countries, but for some consumers peanuts are a main cause of food-induced anaphylaxis. Limited information is available on the comparative allergenicity of these distinct market classes. The aim of this study was to compare allergenicity attributes of different peanut cultivars.

Cardiac tamponade and pericardial effusion due to venous umbilical catheterization.

Aim: We present three cases of neonatal cardiac tamponade due to umbilical venous catheterization, a rare, but potentially fatal complication.

Methods: Timely diagnosis was made by echocardiography, and an urgent pericardiocentesis revealed TPN fluid. Perforation of the cardial wall was proven by contrast X-ray showing contrast diffusing into the pericardial space.

The correlation of preoperative CT, MR imaging, and clinical staging (FIGO) with histopathology findings in primary cervical carcinoma.

The aim of this study was to compare the preoperative findings of abdominal/pelvic CT and MRI with the preoperative clinical International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO) staging and postoperative pathology report in patients with primary cancer of the cervix. Thirty-six patients with surgical-pathological proven primary cancer of the cervix were retrospectively studied for preoperative staging by clinical examination, CT, and MR imaging. Studied parameters for preoperative staging were the presence of tumor, tumor extension into the parametrial tissue, pelvic wall, adjacent organs, and lymph nodes.

Trauma of the pediatric ankle and foot.

This article presents a brief overview of the injuries to the ankle and foot encountered in children and adolescents. Trauma to the ankle or foot may result from acute, chronic, or repetitive forces. The role of the different imaging modalities in the assessment of ankle and foot trauma in the growing patient is discussed.

Hereditary neuromuscular diseases.

This article presents the actual classification of neuromuscular diseases based on present expansion of our knowledge and understanding due to genetic developments. It summarizes the genetic and clinical presentations of each disorder together with CT findings, which we studied in a large group of patients with neuromuscular diseases. The muscular dystrophies as the largest and most common group of hereditary muscle diseases will be highlighted by giving detailed information about the role of CT and MRI in the differential diagnosis.

Astrocyte-enhanced neuronal survival is mediated by scavenging of extracellular reactive oxygen species.

The survival of cultured neurons is promoted by the presence of antioxidants or astrocytes. This indicates that extracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) impair neuronal survival and suggests that astrocytes exert their survival-enhancing effect through inactivation of these toxicants. However, to our knowledge, data supporting this hypothesis are lacking.

Transient uterine contraction mimicking adenomyosis on MRI.

Transient myometrial contraction as a physiological phenomenon may simulate pathological conditions, such as a focal or diffuse adenomyosis. Clinicians should be aware of the potential presence of this phenomenon and imaging should be repeated after a suitable interval when the nature of a bulge or a region of low intensity in the myometrium is in doubt. In this paper, we report a transient myometrial contraction that mimics an adenomyosis, but disappears in repeated series.

Astrocyte-mediated enhancement of neuronal survival is abolished by glutathione deficiency.

Astrocytes promote the survival of neurons. Conditions characterized by loss of neurons, such as aging and aging-related neurodegenerative disorders, are accompanied by both disturbances in astrocyte-neuron interactions and signs of oxidative damage. Neuronal glutathione, a major antioxidant in the brain, is maintained by astrocytes and brain levels of glutathione are reduced in named conditions.

Anethole dithiolethione prevents oxidative damage in glutathione-depleted astrocytes.

Astrocytes protect neurons against reactive oxygen species such as hydrogen peroxide, a capacity which reportedly is abolished following loss of the antioxidant glutathione. Anethole dithiolethione, a sulfur-containing compound which is used in humans, is known to increase cellular glutathione levels and thought thereby to protect against oxidative damage. In the present study we found that anethole dithiolethione increased the glutathione content of cultured rat striatal astrocytes.

Glutathione is involved in the granular storage of dopamine in rat PC 12 pheochromocytoma cells: implications for the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by degeneration of dopamine (DA)-containing nigro-striatal neurons. Loss of the antioxidant glutathione (GSH) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of PD. Previously, we showed that the oxidant hydrogen peroxide inhibits vesicular uptake of DA in nigro-striatal neurons.

Presence of glutathione immunoreactivity in cultured neurones and astrocytes.

Although glutathione (GSH) is considered an important antioxidant in the brain, its cellular localization is unclear. In general, neurones are supposed to contain considerably less GSH than astrocytes. We determined biochemically and immunocytochemically the presence of GSH in cultured neurones and astrocytes from the cortex, mesencephalon and striatum.

Differential sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide of dopaminergic and noradrenergic neurotransmission in rat brain slices.

Oxidative stress, induced by hydrogen peroxide, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. Only scarce information is available if and how hydrogen peroxide, a side product of catecholamine (CA) breakdown, interferes with CAergic neurotransmission. Therefore, we investigated the effect of hydrogen peroxide on the release of [3H]dopamine (DA) and [3H]noradrenaline (NA) from rat striatal and cortical tissue slices, respectively.

Cultured rat striatal and cortical astrocytes protect mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons against hydrogen peroxide toxicity independent of their effect on neuronal development.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS), including hydrogen peroxide, are supposed to be involved in the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease. The potential role of astrocytes against neurotoxic effects of ROS was studied in cocultures of rat mesencephalic neurons and rat striatal or cortical astrocytes. Neuronal [3H]dopamine uptake, a marker of dopaminergic neuron integrity, was enhanced by striatal astrocytes, but not by cortical astrocytes, compared to uptake in mesencephalic neurons cultured alone.

Sustained activation does not desensitize the dopamine D2 receptor-mediated control of evoked in vitro release of radiolabeled acetylcholine from rat striatum.

Striatal acetylcholine release is decreased on activation of D2 dopamine receptors. In the present study, it was investigated whether sustained activation of these receptors would reduce their capacity to mediate this effect. It was shown that activation for up to 2 h with high concentrations of either the endogenous ligand, dopamine, or the selective D2 receptor agonist, LY 171555, did not induce desensitization of the D2 receptor-mediated inhibited of electrically evoked [3H]acetylcholine release from rat striatal tissue slices.

Lack of a dopamine autoreceptor selective profile of B-HT 920 in functional in vitro model systems of D2 receptors in rat striatum.

Based on the results of in vivo studies, the thiazoloazepine derivative B-HT 920 has been proposed to be a selective agonist of dopamine autoreceptors. In the present study, we investigated the effects of B-HT 920 in two functional in vitro model systems of D2 receptors and compared these effects with the effects of the classical D2 agonist LY 171555. B-HT 920 and LY 171555 concentration dependently inhibited the electrically evoked release of radiolabeled dopamine and acetylcholine and the forskolin-induced stimulation of adenylate cyclase activity in rat striatal tissue slices with comparable efficacies.

Bacteroides gingivalis stimulates bone resorption via interleukin-1 production by mononuclear cells. The relative role for B. gingivalis endotoxin.

Supernatants of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells cultured in the presence of B. gingivalis, showed a strong osteoclast stimulating activity as measured by 45Ca release from fetal mouse long bones in vitro. These supernatants also contained a high concentration of bioactive and immunoreactive interleukin-1 (IL-1), but tumor necrosis factor (TNFa), another osteoclast-activating cytokine, was not detected.