5,947 results match your criteria: "Democritus University[Affiliation]"

MIR27A rs895819 CC Genotype Severely Reduces miR-27a Plasma Expression Levels.

Genes (Basel)

November 2024

Laboratory of Pharmacology, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, Dragana Campus, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece.

rs895819 polymorphism has emerged as a potential additional pharmacogenomic marker of fluoropyrimidine response. Current evidence on its potential effect on miR-27a expression, which represses DPD activity, leading to DPD deficiency and increased fluoropyrimidine-associated toxicity risk, is scarce and inconsistent. We have analyzed the effect of rs895819 polymorphism on miR-27a-3p plasma expression levels under different models of inheritance to contribute further evidence on its plausible biological role in miR-27a expression.

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The purpose of this prospective case-control study is to investigate the correlation of the miR-143 gene rs353292 polymorphism in Caucasian women with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) compared to a matched control group with at least one live birth and without pregnancy losses. In total, 110 women with recurrent pregnancy losses and 95 control women were recruited. Peripheral blood was collected from all women, and the isolation of DNA was performed with Monarch Genomic DNA Purification.

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Aim: Electronic prescribing has allowed for the collection of prescription data in real time in Greece for the first time. Hence, the aim of the current study was to present the characteristics of prescriptions for the Greek population during the period from 2015 to 2021.

Methods: This retrospective study was based on data extracted from the nationwide Greek electronic prescription database between January 2015 and December 2021.

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Background/objectives: Embryo implantation is a highly complex process that requires the precise regulation of numerous molecules to be orchestrated successfully. Micro RNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression and play a crucial role in the regulation of embryo implantation. This article aims to summarize the key findings of the literature regarding the role of miRNAs in human embryo implantation, emphasizing their involvement in critical stages such as decidualization, endometrial receptivity and trophoblast adhesion.

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Maturation is a key factor in sports participation and often determines the young athletes' characterization as a talent. However, there is no evidence of practical models for understanding the factors that discriminate children according to maturity. Hence, this study aims to deepen the understanding of the factors that affect maturity in 11-year-old Team Sports Athletes by utilizing explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) models.

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Fungi play a fundamental role in the marine environment, being promising producers of bioactive molecules in the pharmacological and industrial fields, which have demonstrated potential health benefits against cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. This review pertains to the analysis of the lipid compositions across various species of marine fungi and their constantly discovered substances, as well as their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antithrombotic effects. The health-promoting aspects of these microorganisms will be explored, through the investigation of several mechanisms of action and interference of their bioactives in biochemical pathways.

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Pulmonary Endometriosis: A Systematic Review.

J Pers Med

October 2024

N.S. Christeas Laboratory of Experimental Surgery and Surgical Research, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece.

: Endometriosis is characterized by the presence of ectopic endometrial-like glands and stroma outside the endometrial cavity, which mainly occurs in the pelvic cavity. Pulmonary endometriosis, or thoracic endometriosis syndrome (TES), describes the rare presence of endometrial-like cells in the thoracic cavity and includes catamenial pneumothorax, catamenial hemothorax, hemoptysis, and lung nodules. Our aim is to summarize the results of all reported cases of TES.

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Purpose: The European Medicines Agency (EMA) issued regulatory actions and communications in 2021 on thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) associated with adenovirus vector vaccines Vaxzevria or Jcovden. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of these actions on awareness, knowledge and implementation in practises of healthcare professionals (HCP).

Methods: Web-based cross-sectional surveys were conducted on HCPs engaged in the vaccination, monitoring or counselling about the vaccines.

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Article Synopsis
  • * There were five in-hospital deaths among ICU patients (3.5% fatality rate) compared to three in non-ICU patients (0.1%), indicating significantly higher risks for those admitted to ICUs.
  • * Significant factors leading to ICU admission included obesity, diabetes, pneumonia, ARDS, and other comorbidities, highlighting the importance of existing health conditions in pediatric COVID-19 cases.
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Beneficial Impact of Vaccination Against SARS-CoV-2 on the Mental Health of IPF Patients.

Adv Respir Med

November 2024

2nd Pulmonary Medicine Department, General University Hospital "Attikon", Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece.

Article Synopsis
  • Depression and anxiety are common issues for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), negatively impacting their quality of life, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • A study aimed to evaluate how COVID-19 vaccination affects these mental health issues in IPF patients, using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to measure changes before and after vaccination.
  • Results showed a significant improvement in both anxiety and depression scores one month after vaccination, indicating that the vaccine may have beneficial effects on mental health for IPF patients, regardless of factors like age or previous mental health history.
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Triple inhaled therapy in asthma: Beliefs, behaviours and doubts.

Pulm Pharmacol Ther

December 2024

Respiratory Diseases and Allergy Department, IRCCS Polyclinic Hospital San Martino, Genoa, Italy; Department of Internal Medicine (DiMI), University of Genoa, Italy. Electronic address:

Long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA) in association with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) plus long-acting beta-2 agonists (LABA) are recommended by the GINA report as further option in step 4 and first choice in step 5 treatment. Despite consistent evidence of its efficacy and safety, inhaled triple therapy (ITT) is still not largely used in patients with asthma. With the aim to explore belief and behaviours of asthma specialists, an ad hoc survey has been developed by a panel of Interasma Scientific Network (INESnet) experts and subsequently defined by two Delphi rounds among an international group of physicians.

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Introduction: Risk minimisation measures (RMMs) aim to ensure safe use of medicines, but their implementation in clinical practice is complicated by the diversity of stakeholders whose clinical decision making they seek to inform. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are considered integral in clinical decision making.

Objectives: To determine the extent to which RMMs are included in the relevant CPGs and to describe factors that determine RMM inclusion.

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Article Synopsis
  • The STEPINCOPD study investigated the factors influencing the escalation or de-escalation of inhaled COPD therapies in clinical practice, especially after updated guidelines were released in 2019 and 2020.
  • Conducted over 12 weeks with 1429 patients from various centers in Greece, the study focused on understanding why patients had changes in their inhaled medication based on GOLD's 2021 recommendations.
  • Findings revealed that reasons for treatment changes included lack of response to previous treatment and COPD exacerbations, with a high adherence rate (over 80%) to the GOLD recommendations among physicians, influenced by factors such as their age and patients' CAT scores.
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Diabetic neuropathy is one of the commonest complications of diabetes mellitus. Its most frequent form is diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). Currently, there is no established and widely used biomarker for diagnosis and clinical staging of DPN.

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Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is critical for humanity nowadays, but it can be beneficial by developing engineered systems that valorize CO into commodities, thus mimicking nature's wisdom. Purple phototrophic bacteria (PPB) naturally accept CO into their metabolism as a primary redox sink system in photo-heterotrophy. Dedicated use of this feature for developing sustainable processes (e.

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Inflammation-attenuating effect of carbon dioxide versus room-air environment in a rat laparotomy model.

Surg Endosc

January 2025

Laboratory of Experimental Surgery and Surgical Research, Department of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, Building 12, 68100, Alexandroupolis, Dragana, Greece.

Background: The mechanism by which laparoscopic operations induce lower post-operative inflammatory response compared to open surgery was investigated with regard to the effect of the type of gas environment.

Methods: Rats were subjected to midline laparotomy at either CO (group CO) or room-air environment (group Air) or to anesthesia only (group Control) under atmospheric pressure conditions. At various timepoints after surgery (1, 3, 6, 24, or 48 h), the expression of inflammation biomarkers interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), and nuclear factor-κΒ (NFκΒ) were assessed immunohistochemically in tissue samples excised from the liver, intestine, and kidneys, accompanied by histopathologic analysis, and their levels were measured by ELISA in blood samples.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study introduces a new hybrid photocatalytic nanomaterial made from porphyrin-carbon dot conjugates that generates hydrogen using visible light.
  • The researchers created M-TCPP-NCDots hybrids through amide coupling of metallated tetra-carboxyphenyl porphyrins with nitrogen-doped carbon dots, enabling hydrogen production without needing expensive metallic co-catalysts.
  • Key findings highlight that the covalent attachment and zinc-metallation of the porphyrin component are crucial for improving the system's efficiency, presenting a novel method for artificial photosynthesis.
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Article Synopsis
  • Sleep apnea, specifically obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), is linked to tooth loss (edentulism), which can worsen breathing during sleep, showing a positive relationship across 23 clinical studies reviewed from 1999 to 2023.
  • The severity of OSA tends to increase with the extent and duration of tooth loss, with edentulous patients showing significantly higher apnea-hypopnea index scores compared to those with teeth.
  • While there is evidence supporting the association between edentulism and OSA, the research is limited and sometimes inconsistent, indicating the need for more extensive studies to clarify these findings.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by a new, highly pathogenic severe-acute-respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that infects human cells through its transmembrane spike (S) glycoprotein. The receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the S protein interacts with the angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE2) receptor of the host cells. Therefore, pharmacological targeting of this interaction might prevent infection or spread of the virus.

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Background: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is a major public health problem among children worldwide. Iron deficiency without anemia (IDWA) is at least twice as common as IDA. Some studies propose that oral iron fortification can modify the infant's gut microbiome, leading to intestinal inflammation.

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Aim: The present study aimed to explore the impact of transactional leadership and psychological empowerment on Greek nurses' job satisfaction.

Methods: Α cross-sectional study was conducted in five Greek public general hospitals between January 1 and March 30, 2022. Participants were 608 nurses.

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Cilostazol for the treatment of distal symmetrical polyneuropathy in diabetes mellitus: Where do we stand?

J Diabetes Complications

December 2024

Diabetes Centre-Diabetic Foot Clinic, Second Department of Internal Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, University Hospital of Alexandroupolis, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece. Electronic address:

Introduction: Diabetic Neuropathy (DN) is one of the most frequent chronic complications of diabetes mellitus. Its commonest form, distal symmetrical polyneuropathy (DSPN), is characterised by slowly progressing length-dependent nerve damage in the lower limbs, increasing the risk of foot ulcerations and leading to symptoms like tingling, pain, or numbness.

Aim: The aim of this review was to discuss the utility of cilostazol, a phosphodiesterase inhibitor with known antiplatelet, vasodilatory, anti-inflammation properties, in the treatment of DSPN.

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Background: Clinical trials and real-world experience have provided evidence for the clinical benefits of mepolizumab, an anti-IL-5 biologic, in severe asthma. However, limited data exist regarding the impact of mepolizumab on airway remodeling.

Objective: We sought to investigate the effect of mepolizumab on airway structural remodeling in patients treated for severe asthma in routine clinical care.

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