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Open Veterinary Journal Sep 2023Precursor-targeted immune-mediated anemia (PIMA) has been described in dogs presenting with nonregenerative anemia and evidence of ineffective erythropoiesis. Although...
BACKGROUND
Precursor-targeted immune-mediated anemia (PIMA) has been described in dogs presenting with nonregenerative anemia and evidence of ineffective erythropoiesis. Although it has been suggested that its occurrence may be related to the immune targeting of erythroid precursors, this pathogenesis has not been established. PIMA is mainly treated with glucocorticoids, and in cases where glucocorticoids alone are not effective, immunosuppressants are also used as combination therapy. However, not all cases of PIMA go into remission after these treatments.
CASE DESCRIPTION
Two dogs with severe nonregenerative anemia diagnosed as PIMA based on the results of clinical pathological examinations, including bone marrow examination, were treated with whole-blood transfusion and immunosuppressive doses of prednisolone, mycophenolate mofetil, and cyclosporine. However, these treatments failed to achieve remission of PIMA. Therefore, concomitant administration of oclacitinib, which is a Janus kinase-1 inhibitor that has been applied recently to the treatment of immune-mediated diseases, was performed; this combined regimen improved the anemia and achieved complete remission of PIMA.
CONCLUSION
Oclacitinib may be an option for the treatment of PIMA in dogs failing to achieve remission with conventional immunosuppressive therapy.
Topics: Dogs; Animals; Cyclosporine; Prednisolone; Potassium Iodide; Immunosuppressive Agents; Anemia; Dog Diseases
PubMed: 37842117
DOI: 10.5455/OVJ.2023.v13.i9.16 -
Heliyon Sep 2023A feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effect of fermented soybean meal with bacteria on growth performance, feed utilization, carcass composition, and...
A feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effect of fermented soybean meal with bacteria on growth performance, feed utilization, carcass composition, and hematological, and histological section of the liver and intestine of Nile tilapia fingerlings. Commercial soybean meal (SBM) containing 44% Crude Protein (CP) was fermented using the solid-state fermentation method which depended on autoclaving of SBM, then bacterial treatment injection by , and finally incubation at 40C for 72 h then autoclaved to stop the growth of bacteria. Five isonitrogenous (25% crude protein) and isocaloric (4.4 kcal\g gross energy) experimental fish meal-free diets were formulated to compare with a common control diet containing fishmeal and unfermented soybean meal. Diets without fish meal contain fermented soybean meal (FSM) as a sole protein, FSM with corn gluten (CG), FSM with free amino acid methionine (Meth), FSM with corn gluten and methionine, and unfermented soybean meal. Eighteen glass aquaria, 80-L net volume, were used to stock 10 fingerlings (10.0 ± 0.1 g/fish) in each aquarium in the replicates group. The feed amount was given three times daily, six days a week throughout the 98 days experimental period. Fish were weighed biweekly and feed amounts were adjusted based on the new fish weight. Bacterial fermentation enhanced the protein content of commercial soybean meals by 6%. The crude protein of fermented soybean meal increased from 43.44% to 50.67%. Used of FSM as a sole dietary protein source resulted in a decrease in growth rate and feed utilization. However, the incorporation of FSM with corn gluten, and/or methionine amino acid led to an improvement in the performance of fish. Finally, the best final body weight, weight gain, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio, and protein productive value were recorded by a fish-fed mixed plant protein diet (FSM + CG + Meth). Also, Hematocrit and red blood cells were not significantly affected including the FSM.
PubMed: 37809758
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19602 -
Scientific Reports Oct 2023Photodynamic therapy (PDT) fundamentally relies on local generation of PDT precursor states in added photosensitizers (PS), particularly triplet and photo-radical...
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) fundamentally relies on local generation of PDT precursor states in added photosensitizers (PS), particularly triplet and photo-radical states. Monitoring these states in situ can provide important feedback but is difficult in practice. The states are strongly influenced by local oxygenation, pH and redox conditions, often varying significantly at PDT treatment sites. To overcome this problem, we followed local PDT precursor state populations of PS compounds, via their fluorescence intensity response to systematically varied excitation light modulation. Thereby, we could demonstrate local monitoring of PDT precursor states of methylene blue (MB) and IRdye700DX (IR700), and determined their transitions rates under different oxygenation, pH and redox conditions. By fiber-optics, using one fiber for both excitation and fluorescence detection, the triplet and photo-radical state kinetics of locally applied MB and IR700 could then be monitored in a tissue sample. Finally, potassium iodide and ascorbate were added as possible PDT adjuvants, enhancing intersystem crossing and photoreduction, respectively, and their effects on the PDT precursor states of MB and IR700 could be locally monitored. Taken together, the presented procedure overcomes current methodological limitations and can offer feedback, guiding both excitation and PDT adjuvant application, and thereby more efficient and targeted PDT treatments.
Topics: Photosensitizing Agents; Photochemotherapy; Feedback
PubMed: 37803073
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-43625-6 -
BMC Bioinformatics Oct 2023The rising risk of diabetes, particularly in emerging countries, highlights the importance of early detection. Manual prediction can be a challenging task, leading to...
The rising risk of diabetes, particularly in emerging countries, highlights the importance of early detection. Manual prediction can be a challenging task, leading to the need for automatic approaches. The major challenge with biomedical datasets is data scarcity. Biomedical data is often difficult to obtain in large quantities, which can limit the ability to train deep learning models effectively. Biomedical data can be noisy and inconsistent, which can make it difficult to train accurate models. To overcome the above-mentioned challenges, this work presents a new framework for data modeling that is based on correlation measures between features and can be used to process data effectively for predicting diabetes. The standard, publicly available Pima Indians Medical Diabetes (PIMA) dataset is utilized to verify the effectiveness of the proposed techniques. Experiments using the PIMA dataset showed that the proposed data modeling method improved the accuracy of machine learning models by an average of 9%, with deep convolutional neural network models achieving an accuracy of 96.13%. Overall, this study demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed strategy in the early and reliable prediction of diabetes.
Topics: Humans; Deep Learning; Potassium Iodide; Neural Networks, Computer; Machine Learning; Diabetes Mellitus
PubMed: 37784049
DOI: 10.1186/s12859-023-05488-6 -
International Dental Journal Feb 2024Staining after silver diamine fluoride (SDF) treatment limits treatment acceptability but is also used as a clinical indicator of lesion stability. Potassium iodide (KI)...
BACKGROUND
Staining after silver diamine fluoride (SDF) treatment limits treatment acceptability but is also used as a clinical indicator of lesion stability. Potassium iodide (KI) has been postulated to modify SDF staining. Understanding the natural history and resultant shade of SDF/KI-treated lesions will inform clinical decision-making. This study describes the change in colour of carious lesions in primary teeth treated with SDF and KI.
METHODS
One hundred carious lesions in primary teeth were treated with SDF + KI (Riva Star, SDI) and followed up over 6 months. Lesion shade was determined using standardised intraoral photography and broadly categorised into 4 shades: yellow, light brown, dark brown, and black. Lesions were digitally isolated, and colour was evaluated using CIELAB (L*: lightness, a*/b*: hue) and perceptible colour change (ΔE).
RESULTS
One hundred valid observations were analysed on 129 lesions included in the study. Lesions were excluded if subsequently restored (n = 15), teeth exfoliated (n = 2), exhibited pulpal exposure (n = 1), or failed to attend at follow-up visits (n = 11). At baseline, the shade of carious lesions was yellow (n = 22), light brown (n = 19), dark brown (n = 29), or black (n = 30). The changes in shade between baseline and 6 months were clinically perceptible to the human eye, with the mean ΔE being 12.2 (SD = 6.9). Neither tooth type, lesion severity, nor baseline shade was statistically associated with the degree of perceptible change at 6 months.
CONCLUSIONS
Carious lesions exhibited clinically significant changes in colour after application of SDF + KI, primarily attributed to differences in L* of lesions over the 6 months.
Topics: Humans; Potassium Iodide; Prospective Studies; Fluorides, Topical; Dental Caries; Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; Staining and Labeling; Silver Compounds
PubMed: 37748963
DOI: 10.1016/j.identj.2023.07.006 -
Methods and Applications in Fluorescence Oct 2023Photo-induced dark transient states of fluorophores can pose a problem in fluorescence spectroscopy. However, their typically long lifetimes also make them highly...
Photo-induced dark transient states of fluorophores can pose a problem in fluorescence spectroscopy. However, their typically long lifetimes also make them highly environment sensitive, suggesting fluorophores with prominent dark-state formation yields to be used as microenvironmental sensors in bio-molecular spectroscopy and imaging. In this work, we analyzed the singlet-triplet transitions of fluorescein and three synthesized carboxy-fluorescein derivatives, with one, two or four bromines linked to the anthracence backbone. Using transient state (TRAST) spectroscopy, we found a prominent internal heavy atom (IHA) enhancement of the intersystem crossing (ISC) rates upon bromination, inferred by density functional theory calculations to take place via a higher triplet state, followed by relaxation to the lowest triplet state. A corresponding external heavy atom (EHA) enhancement was found upon adding potassium iodide (KI). Notably, increased KI concentrations still resulted in lowered triplet state buildup in the brominated fluorophores, due to relatively lower enhancements in ISC, than in the triplet decay. Together with an antioxidative effect on the fluorophores, adding KI thus generated a fluorescence enhancement of the brominated fluorophores. By TRAST measurements, analyzing the average fluorescence intensity of fluorescent molecules subject to a systematically varied excitation modulation, dark state transitions within very high triplet yield (>90%) fluorophores can be directly analyzed under biologically relevant conditions. These measurements, not possible by other techniques such as fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, opens for bio-sensing applications based on high triplet yield fluorophores, and for characterization of high triplet yield photodynamic therapy agents, and how they are influenced by IHA and EHA effects.
Topics: Fluorescent Dyes; Fluorescein; Spectrometry, Fluorescence
PubMed: 37726005
DOI: 10.1088/2050-6120/acfb59 -
Cancer & Metabolism Sep 2023Tissue environment is critical in determining tumour metabolic vulnerability. However, in vivo drug testing is slow and waiting for tumour growth delay may not be the...
BACKGROUND
Tissue environment is critical in determining tumour metabolic vulnerability. However, in vivo drug testing is slow and waiting for tumour growth delay may not be the most appropriate endpoint for metabolic treatments. An in vivo method for measuring energy stress would rapidly determine tumour targeting in a physiologically relevant environment. The sodium-iodide symporter (NIS) is an imaging reporter gene whose protein product co-transports sodium and iodide, and positron emission tomography (PET) radiolabelled anions into the cell. Here, we show that PET imaging of NIS-mediated radiotracer uptake can rapidly visualise tumour energy stress within minutes following in vivo treatment.
METHODS
We modified HEK293T human embryonic kidney cells, and A549 and H358 lung cancer cells to express transgenic NIS. Next, we subjected these cells and implanted tumours to drugs known to induce metabolic stress to observe the impact on NIS activity and energy charge. We used [F]tetrafluoroborate positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to non-invasively image NIS activity in vivo.
RESULTS
NIS activity was ablated by treating HEK293T cells in vitro, with the Na/K ATPase inhibitor digoxin, confirming that radiotracer uptake was dependent on the sodium-potassium concentration gradient. NIS-mediated radiotracer uptake was significantly reduced (- 58.2%) following disruptions to ATP re-synthesis by combined glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation inhibition in HEK293T cells and by oxidative phosphorylation inhibition (- 16.6%) in A549 cells in vitro. PET signal was significantly decreased (- 56.5%) within 90 min from the onset of treatment with IACS-010759, an oxidative phosphorylation inhibitor, in subcutaneous transgenic A549 tumours in vivo, showing that NIS could rapidly and sensitively detect energy stress non-invasively, before more widespread changes to phosphorylated AMP-activated protein kinase, phosphorylated pyruvate dehydrogenase, and GLUT1 were detectable.
CONCLUSIONS
NIS acts as a rapid metabolic sensor for drugs that lead to ATP depletion. PET imaging of NIS could facilitate in vivo testing of treatments targeting energetic pathways, determine drug potency, and expedite metabolic drug development.
PubMed: 37679822
DOI: 10.1186/s40170-023-00314-2 -
Journal of Pharmacological Sciences Oct 2023Pulmonary vessels play a pivotal role in oxygen circulation. We previously demonstrated that pimaric acid (PiMA) activated large-conductance Ca-activated K (BK) channels...
Pulmonary vessels play a pivotal role in oxygen circulation. We previously demonstrated that pimaric acid (PiMA) activated large-conductance Ca-activated K (BK) channels and inhibited voltage-dependent Ca channels (VDCCs). In the present study, PiMA attenuated vasoconstriction induced by high K or endothelin-1 in rat pulmonary arterial smooth muscles (PASMs). PiMA also reduced high K-induced cytosolic [Ca] increase in PASM cells. PiMA increased BK currents and decreased VDCC currents. BK channels and VDCCs were formed by the α/β and α/α/β/β subunits, respectively. These results indicate that PiMA induces vasorelaxation through the dual effects of BK channel activation and VDCC inhibition in PASMs.
Topics: Animals; Rats; Vasoconstriction; Calcium Channels, L-Type; Hypertension, Pulmonary; Potassium Iodide; Muscle, Smooth
PubMed: 37640473
DOI: 10.1016/j.jphs.2023.08.001 -
BMC Public Health Aug 2023School health staff lead and provide a variety of care for children in schools. As school districts have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, school health staff have faced...
BACKGROUND
School health staff lead and provide a variety of care for children in schools. As school districts have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, school health staff have faced unprecedented challenges in protecting the health of students and school staff. Our objective was to qualitatively characterize these pandemic challenges and experiences of school health staff in Pima County, Arizona to identify gaps in school health staff support for improving future emergency preparedness.
METHODS
We conducted two focus group discussions (FGDs) with 48 school health staff in Pima County, Arizona in two school districts using a discussion guide including ten open-ended questions. The FGDs were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. We used the socioecological model (SEM) to organize the thematic analysis and generate codes and themes; data were analyzed using Atlas.ti software.
FINDINGS
The pandemic has significantly challenged school health staff with new pandemic-related job tasks: managing isolation, vaccination, and developing/implementing new and evolving COVID-19 guidelines. School health staff also reported increased stress related to interactions with parents and school administration as well as frustrations with rapid changes to guidance from the health department and policy makers. A common issue was not having enough staff or resources to complete regular job responsibilities, such as providing care for students with non-COVID-19 related health issues.
CONCLUSIONS
Increased workload for school health staff resulted in physical burnout, mental distress, and disruption of core functions with long term implications for children's health. These focus groups highlight the need for improved emergency preparedness in schools during pandemics or infectious disease outbreaks. These include basic infrastructure changes (e.g., personnel support from health departments for tasks such as contact tracing to enable school nurses to continue core functions), and increased funding to allow for hazard pay and more school health personnel during emergency situations. In addition, basic school health infrastructure is lacking, and we should include a licensed school health nurse in every school.
Topics: Child; Humans; Potassium Iodide; Arizona; Pandemics; COVID-19; Burnout, Psychological
PubMed: 37626343
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-16532-8