An association between abnormal bone turnover, systemic inflammation, and osteoporosis in patients with chronic pancreatitis: a case-matched study.

Introduction: Because of deteriorating exocrine function, malabsorption renders chronic pancreatitis (CP) patients at risk of osteoporosis and fracture. However, the pathogenesis of low bone mineral density (BMD) has not been characterized. We hypothesized that bone turnover is elevated in CP, and we sought to investigate an association between bone metabolism and systemic inflammation.

Discovery and confirmation of a protein biomarker panel with potential to predict response to biological therapy in psoriatic arthritis.

Objective: Biological therapies, which include antitumour necrosis factor-α and T-cell inhibitors, are potentially effective treatments for psoriatic arthritis (PsA) but are costly and may induce a number of side effects. Response to treatment in PsA is variable and difficult to predict. Here, we sought to identify a panel of protein biomarkers that could be used to predict which patients diagnosed with PsA will respond to biologic treatment.

Alcoholic liver disease in the intensive care unit: outcomes and predictors of prognosis.

Background: An increasing number of patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) are being referred for critical care support, but limited information is available on their short- and medium-term outcomes. This study aimed to determine mortality rates, identify optimal predictors of prognosis, and determine the appropriate time to apply these predictors in patients with ALD admitted to intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods: In this retrospective study, patients admitted to ICU between 2009 and 2012 with a primary diagnosis of ALD were included.

Vitamin D dose response is underestimated by Endocrine Society's Clinical Practice Guideline.

Objective: The recommended daily intakes of vitamin D according to the recent Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) of the Endocrine Society are three- to fivefold higher than the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report. We speculated that these differences could be explained by different mathematical approaches to the vitamin D dose response.

Methods: Studies were selected if the daily dose was ≤2000 IU/day, the duration exceeded 3 months, and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) concentrations were measured at baseline and post-therapy.

A brief cookery skills intervention is no more effective than written information alone in reducing body mass index in overweight cardiac rehabilitation patients [corrected].

Overweight and obesity are common health risks, but it can be difficult to effect weight change. This randomized controlled trial examined the effects of a novel Cookery skills intervention on body mass index (BMI) in overweight and obese patients with cardiovascular disease, who had previously attended a cardiac rehabilitation programme. Patients with BMI >27 kg/m(2) were randomized to either a 5-week cookery skills course with written educational materials, or to written materials only.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices in the provision of nutritional care.

The nutritional care of patients is one of the primary responsibilities of all registered nurses (Persenius et al, 2008). A poor nutritional status can lead to malnutrition, which can have serious consequences for an individual's quality of life (Field and Smith, 2008). This paper commences with an introduction to the concept of nutrition, provides an overview of nutritional guidelines and nutritional screening tools which identify those at risk of malnutrition.

Changes in endometrial natural killer cell expression of CD94, CD158a and CD158b are associated with infertility.

Problem: Cycle-dependent fluctuations in natural killer (NK) cell populations in endometrium and circulation may differ, contributing to unexplained infertility.

Method Of Study: NK cell phenotypes were determined by flow cytometry in endometrial biopsies and matched blood samples.

Results: While circulating and endometrial T cell populations remained constant throughout the menstrual cycle in fertile and infertile women, circulating NK cells in infertile women increased during the secretory phase.