Investigation of Friction-induced Damage to the Pig Cornea.

Mechanical friction causes damage to the cornea. A friction measurement device with minimal intervention with the pig cornea tear film revealed a low friction coefficient of 0.011 in glycerine solution.

High urinary homoarginine excretion is associated with low rates of all-cause mortality and graft failure in renal transplant recipients.

Renal transplant recipients (RTR) have an increased cardiovascular risk profile. Low levels of circulating homoarginine (hArg) are a novel risk factor for mortality and the progression of atherosclerosis. The kidney is known as a major source of hArg, suggesting that urinary excretion of hArg (UhArg) might be associated with mortality and graft failure in RTR.

Plasma ADMA associates with all-cause mortality in renal transplant recipients.

Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is a key endogenous inhibitor of endothelial NO synthase that affects endothelial function, blood pressure and vascular remodeling. Increased plasma levels of ADMA are associated with worse outcome from cardiovascular disease. Due to endothelial dysfunction before and after kidney transplantation, renal transplant recipients (RTR) are at high risk for the alleged deleterious effects of ADMA.

Genetic Factors for the Severity of ACPA-negative Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2 Cohorts of Early Disease: A Genome-wide Study.

Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that is negative for anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) is a subentity of RA, characterized by less severe disease. At the individual level, however, considerable differences in the severity of joint destruction occur. We performed a study on genetic factors underlying the differences in joint destruction in ACPA-negative patients.

Incomplete Restoration of Angiotensin II-Induced Renal Extracellular Matrix Deposition and Inflammation Despite Complete Functional Recovery in Rats.

Some diseases associated with a temporary deterioration in kidney function and/or development of proteinuria show an apparently complete functional remission once the initiating trigger is removed. While it was earlier thought that a transient impairment of kidney function is harmless, accumulating evidence now suggests that these patients are more prone to developing renal failure later in life. We therefore sought to investigate to what extent renal functional changes, inflammation and collagen deposition are reversible after cessation of disease induction, potentially explaining residual sensitivity to damage.

The association between orthostatic hypotension, falling and successful rehabilitation in a nursing home population.

Purpose Of The Study: Our objectives were to identify the prevalence of orthostatic hypotension (OH) in frail, elderly nursing home residents, and assess its possible association with falling and chances of successful rehabilitation.

Materials And Methods: A prospective observational cohort study. A total of 290 patients participated in this study, of which 128 were admitted to the rehabilitation department.

A web-based self-help intervention for partners of cancer patients based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: a protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

Background: There is a growing recognition that cancer not only affects the lives of the patients, but also the lives of their partners. Partners of cancer patients are highly involved in the illness trajectory by providing informal care and they often experience distress. However, supporting interventions for this group are scarce and existing interventions bear several limitations.

The relationship between N-terminal prosomatostatin, all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (ZODIAC-35).

Background: The hormone somatostatin inhibits growth hormone release from the pituitary gland and is theoretically linked to diabetes and diabetes related complications. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between levels of the stable somatostatin precursor, N-terminal prosomatostatin (NT-proSST), with mortality in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients.

Methods: In 1,326 T2DM outpatients, participating in this ZODIAC prospective cohort study, Cox proportional hazards models were used to investigate the independent relationship between plasma NT-proSST concentrations with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.

Causal path analyses of the association of protein intake with risk of mortality and graft failure in renal transplant recipients.

The effect of a low protein intake on survival in renal transplant recipients (RTR) is unknown. A low protein intake may increase risks of malnutrition, low muscle mass, and death. We aimed to study associations of protein intake with mortality and graft failure and to identify potential intermediate factors.

Assessment of Cotinine Reveals a Dose-Dependent Effect of Smoking Exposure on Long-term Outcomes After Renal Transplantation.

Background: Smoking is a risk factor for poor late outcomes in renal transplant recipients (RTR). Smoking exposure can be assessed by self-report and cotinine measurements. We investigated whether use of cotinine as a biomarker for smoking exposure can serve as an alternative for self-report and to compare associations of smoking exposure by self-report and cotinine with outcomes in RTR and assess dose dependency.

The dynamics of the human infant gut microbiome in development and in progression toward type 1 diabetes.

Colonization of the fetal and infant gut microbiome results in dynamic changes in diversity, which can impact disease susceptibility. To examine the relationship between human gut microbiome dynamics throughout infancy and type 1 diabetes (T1D), we examined a cohort of 33 infants genetically predisposed to T1D. Modeling trajectories of microbial abundances through infancy revealed a subset of microbial relationships shared across most subjects.

The incidence of type 1 diabetes is still increasing in the Netherlands, but has stabilised in children under five (Young DUDEs-1).

Aim: This study described the incidence and prevalence of type 1 diabetes in children in the Netherlands in 2010-2011 and to compare these results with earlier studies.

Methods: This was a retrospective nationwide cohort study of Dutch children aged 14 years or younger. Patients were identified using health insurance reimbursement registries for hospital care and invoices for insulin.

Diagnosis and Prediction of CKD Progression by Assessment of Urinary Peptides.

Progressive CKD is generally detected at a late stage by a sustained decline in eGFR and/or the presence of significant albuminuria. With the aim of early and improved risk stratification of patients with CKD, we studied urinary peptides in a large cross-sectional multicenter cohort of 1990 individuals, including 522 with follow-up data, using proteome analysis. We validated that a previously established multipeptide urinary biomarker classifier performed significantly better in detecting and predicting progression of CKD than the current clinical standard, urinary albumin.

Plasma IL-5 concentration and subclinical carotid atherosclerosis.

Objective: Genetic variants robustly associated with coronary artery disease were reported in the vicinity of the interleukin (IL)-5 locus, and animal studies suggested a protective role for IL-5 in atherosclerosis. Therefore, we set this work to explore IL-5 as a plasma biomarker for early subclinical atherosclerosis, as determined by measures of baseline severity and change over time of carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT).

Methods: We used biobank and databases of IMPROVE, a large European prospective cohort study of high-risk individuals (n = 3534) free of clinically overt cardiovascular disease at enrollment, in whom composite and segment-specific measures of cIMT were recorded at baseline and after 15 and 30 months.

The influence of body mass index on the accumulation of advanced glycation end products in hemodialysis patients.

Background/objectives: The level of skin autofluorescence (AF) at a given moment is an independent predictor of mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Skin AF is a measure of the accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). The aim of the study was to estimate the influence of nutrition on the 1-year increase of skin AF (ΔAF) in HD patients.

DISC1 gene and affective psychopathology: a combined structural and functional MRI study.

The gene Disrupted-In-Schizophrenia-1 (DISC1) has been indicated as a determinant of psychopathology, including affective disorders, and shown to influence prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus functioning, regions of major interest for affective disorders. We aimed to investigate whether DISC1 differentially modulates brain function during executive and memory processing, and morphology in regions relevant for depression and anxiety disorders (affective disorders). 128 participants, with (n = 103) and without (controls; n = 25) affective disorders underwent genotyping for Ser704Cys (with Cys-allele considered as risk-allele) and structural and functional (f) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) during visuospatial planning and emotional episodic memory tasks.

Consequence of restaging after neoadjuvant treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer.

Background: Locally advanced rectal cancer is customarily treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by a total mesorectal excision. During the course of CRT, previously non-detectable distant metastases can appear. Therefore, a restaging CT scan of the chest and abdomen was performed prior to surgery.

AI-2 of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans inhibits Candida albicans biofilm formation.

Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, a Gram-negative bacterium, and Candida albicans, a polymorphic fungus, are both commensals of the oral cavity but both are opportunistic pathogens that can cause oral diseases. A. actinomycetemcomitans produces a quorum-sensing molecule called autoinducer-2 (AI-2), synthesized by LuxS, that plays an important role in expression of virulence factors, in intra- but also in interspecies communication.

Fish and omega-3 fatty acid intake in relation to circulating fibroblast growth factor 23 levels in renal transplant recipients.

Background And Aims: A high circulating fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) level is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular mortality in renal transplant recipients and the general population. N-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) may contribute to cardiovascular risk reduction. We investigated whether fish and EPA-DHA intake are related to FGF23 levels in renal transplant recipients.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation reveals two functionally distinct stages of motor cortex involvement during perception of emotional body language.

Studies indicate that perceiving emotional body language recruits fronto-parietal regions involved in action execution. However, the nature of such motor activation is unclear. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) we provide correlational and causative evidence of two distinct stages of motor cortex engagement during emotion perception.

Cost-effectiveness of an electronic medication ordering system (CPOE/CDSS) in hospitalized patients.

Introduction: Prescribing medication is an important aspect of almost all in-hospital treatment regimes. Besides their obviously beneficial effects, medicines can also cause adverse drug events (ADE), which increase morbidity, mortality and health care costs. Partially, these ADEs arise from medication errors, e.

Extracellular adenosine triphosphate affects systemic and kidney immune cell populations in pregnant rats.

Problem: Changes in the systemic immune response are found in preeclampsia. This may be related to high extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels. The question arose whether ATP could affect immune responses in pregnancy.

Nonextracorporeal methods for decreasing uremic solute concentration: a future way to go?

The uremic milieu is consequential to a disrupted balance between availability of retention solutes and the excretory capacity of the kidneys. Although metabolism is the prime contributor to the internal milieu, a significant fraction of uremic retention solutes originates from other sources. The main route of entrance is via the intestinal tract, directly from the diet and indirectly from commensal microbial metabolism.