Relationship Between Urolithiasis and Fatty Liver Disease: Findings in Computed Tomography.

There are no studies that allow a joint diagnostic or therapeutic intervention for the treatment of fatty liver and urolithiasis, perhaps because it is not known if there is an association between these 2 diseases. We aimed to identify a relationship between renal lithiasis and fatty liver disease by examining for common factors that could be used to reduce their incidence and complications. Our study supports the association of fatty liver and urolithiasis.

Validation of the Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale in Mexican Psychiatric Patients.

The Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale (BSDS) is widely validated and used as a screening tool for bipolar disorder. However, there is no BSDS validated version for its use in Mexican population. The aim of the present study was to examine the BSDS diagnostic capacity, and to evaluate its criterion validity and internal consistency for its use in Mexican psychiatric patients.

Low-intensity red and infrared lasers affect mRNA expression of DNA nucleotide excision repair in skin and muscle tissue.

Lasers emit light beams with specific characteristics, in which wavelength, frequency, power, fluence, and emission mode properties determine the photophysical, photochemical, and photobiological responses. Low-intensity lasers could induce free radical generation in biological tissues and cause alterations in macromolecules, such as DNA. Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate excision repair cross-complementing group 1 (ERCC1) and excision repair cross-complementing group 2 (ERCC2) messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in biological tissues exposed to low-intensity lasers.

DNA damage in blood cells exposed to low-level lasers.

Background And Objective: In regenerative medicine, there are increasing applications of low-level lasers in therapeutic protocols for treatment of diseases in soft and in bone tissues. However, there are doubts about effects on DNA, and an adequate dosimetry could improve the safety of clinical applications of these lasers. This work aimed to evaluate DNA damage in peripheral blood cells of Wistar rats induced by low-level red and infrared lasers at different fluences, powers, and emission modes according to therapeutic protocols.

Caspase-3 activation and increased procollagen type I in irradiated hearts.

The caspase-3-cleaved presence was evaluated in this study in the heart of irradiated rats, during the decline of ventricular function. Female Wistar rats were irradiated with a single dose of radiation (15 Gy) delivered directly to the heart and the molecular, histological and physiological evaluations were performed at thirteen months post-irradiation. The expressions of procollagen type I, TGF-ß1 and caspase-3-cleaved were analyzed using Western blotting.

Chemotherapy and radiation regimens to breast cancer treatment induce changes in mRNA levels of renin-angiotensin system related genes in cardiac tissue.

Background And Aim: Cardiovascular complications are one limitation of breast cancer treatment. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether the renin-angiotensin related genes could be altered by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, using a rat model.

Methods: Female rats were divided into three groups: control, chemotherapy + irradiation (TC+IR) and irradiation (IR).

Frequency of intrusive luxation in deciduous teeth and its effects.

The aims of this study were three-fold: First, to determine the prevalence of partial and total intrusion of the primary anterior teeth. Second, to investigate the sequelae of total and partial intrusive luxation in the primary anterior teeth and in their successors and finally, to establish whether the sequelae on both deciduous and permanent teeth were related to the child's age at the time of the intrusion. Data collected from records of 169 boys and 138 girls, all between the ages of zero and 10 years, who were undergoing treatment during the period of March 1996 to December 2004.

Prevalence of sequelae in the permanent anterior teeth after trauma in their predecessors: a longitudinal study of 8 years.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of sequelae in the permanent anterior teeth following trauma in their predecessors, and also to verify the existence of association between the sequelae in the permanent teeth and the type of injury in their predecessors according to the age group at the time of injury. This study was performed based on data from the records of 169 boys and 138 girls who received assistance at the dental clinic of the State University of Rio de Janeiro from March 1996 to December 2004. The sample was collected from 753 traumatized deciduous teeth of children aged 0-10 years.

Thyroid morphology and function in adults with untreated isolated growth hormone deficiency.

Objective: GH influences thyroid function and anatomy. Although goiter is frequent in acromegalic patients, the effects of GH deficiency (GHD) are difficult to assess, because hypopituitaric subjects who lack GH often also have a partial or complete deficit of TSH.

Study Design: We studied thyroid morphology and serum levels of thyroid hormones in adult members of a large Brazilian kindred with untreated isolated GHD due to a homozygous mutation in the GHRH receptor gene (GHRHR; nine men and 15 women; GHD group) and compared them to subjects heterozygous for the same mutation (eight men and 10 women; HET group) and subjects homozygous for the wild-type allele [seven men and 11 women; control (CO) group].