Diseases Commons^™

Building Capacity For Dementia Care In Latin America And The Caribbean, Francisco J. Gonzalez, Ciro Gaona, Marialcira Quintero, Carlos A. Chavez, Joyce Selga, Gladys E. Maestre

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have limited facilities and professionals trained to diagnose, treat, and support people with dementia and other forms of cognitive impairment. The situation for people with dementia is poor, and worsening as the proportion of elderly in the general population is rapidly expanding. We reviewed existing initiatives and provided examples of actions taken to build capacity and improve the effectiveness of individuals, organizations, and national systems that provide treatment and support for people with dementia and their caregivers. Regional barriers to capacity building and the importance of public engagement are highlighted. Existing programs need to …

It Is Time To Focus On An Underestimated Epidemic, Gladys E. Maestre, Ricardo Nitrini

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Contemporary dementia research has spurred remarkable interest and endogenous efforts by clinical and research teams in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The combination of unprecedented high burden of dementia, low resource settings, and wide acceptance of age-related cognitive changes has put thousands of individuals and families in a vulnerable situation that requires immediate attention. This issue of Dementia & Neuropsychologia is dedicated to cognitive impairment and dementia in LAC, and presents a timely series of fourteen reviews and original articles from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Many of …

Metformin And Erlotinib Synergize To Inhibit Basal Breast Cancer, Ying-Ka Ingar Lau, Xing Du, Vinayak Rayannavar, Benjamin Hopkins, Jacquelyn Shaw, Eliana Bessler, Tiffany Thomas, Maira M. Pires, Megan Keniry

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Basal-like breast cancers (BBCs) are enriched for increased EGFR expression and decreased expression of PTEN. We found that treatment with metformin and erlotinib synergistically induced apoptosis in a subset of BBC cell lines. The drug combination led to enhanced reduction of EGFR, AKT, S6 and 4EBP1 phosphorylation, as well as prevented colony formation and inhibited mammosphere outgrowth. Our data with other compounds suggested that biguanides combined with EGFR inhibitors have the potential to outperform other targeted drug combinations and could be employed in other breast cancer subtypes, as well as other tumor types, with activated EGFR and PI3K signaling. Analysis …

Analysis Of High Fat Diet Induced Genes During Mammary Gland Development: Identifying Role Players In Poor Prognosis Of Breast Cancer, Raquel C. Martinez-Chacin, Megan Keniry, Robert Dearth

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background

Epidemiological studies have shown that consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD) increases the risk of developing breast cancer (BC). Studies in rodents have shown HFD causes changes in the genetic programming of the maturing mammary gland (MG) increasing the susceptibility of developing the disease. Less is known about how HFD induced genes impact BC development. HFD exposure two weeks before conception to six weeks of age was previously shown to dramatically change MG gene expression in 10 week old mice. Therefore, we investigated these differentially expressed HFD-induced genes for their expression in BC using the NKI 295 breast tumor …

Ambulatory Hypertension Subtypes And 24-Hour Systolic And Diastolic Blood Pressure As Distinct Outcome Predictors In 8341 Untreated People Recruited From 12 Populations, Yan Li, Fang-Fei Wei, Lutgarde Thijs, José Boggia, Kei Asayama, Tine W. Hansen, Masahiro Kikuya, Kristina Björklund-Bodegård, Takayoshi Ohkubo, Gladys E. Maestre

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Background—Data on risk associated with 24-hour ambulatory diastolic (DBP24) versus systolic (SBP24) blood pressure are scarce.

Methods and Results—We recorded 24-hour blood pressure and health outcomes in 8341 untreated people (mean age, 50.8 years; 46.6% women) randomly recruited from 12 populations. We computed hazard ratios (HRs) using multivariable-adjusted Cox regression. Over 11.2 years (median), 927 (11.1%) participants died, 356 (4.3%) from cardiovascular causes, and 744 (8.9%) experienced a fatal or nonfatal cardiovascular event. Isolated diastolic hypertension (DBP24≥80 mm Hg) did not increase the risk of total mortality, cardiovascular mortality, or stroke (HRs≤1.54; P≥0.18), but was associated with a …

Mri Characterization Of Cobalt Dichloride-N-Acetyl Cysteine (C4) Contrast Agent Marker For Prostate Brachytherapy, Tze Yee Lim, R. Jason Stafford, Rajat J. Kudchadker, Madhuri Sankaranarayanapillai, Geoffrey Ibbott, Arvind Rao, Karen S. Martirosyan, Steven J. Frank

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Brachytherapy, a radiotherapy technique for treating prostate cancer, involves the implantation of numerous radioactive seeds into the prostate. While the implanted seeds can be easily identified on a CT image, distinguishing the prostate and surrounding soft tissues is not as straightforward. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) offers superior anatomical delineation, but the seeds appear as dark voids and are difficult to identify, thus creating a conundrum. Cobalt dichloride-N-acetylcysteine (C4) has previously been shown to be promising as an encapsulated contrast agent marker. We performed spin-lattice relaxation time (T1) and spin-spin relaxation time (T2) measurements of C4 solutions with varying cobalt dichloride …

Biological Basis For Cerebral Dysfunction In Schizophrenia In Contrast With Alzheimer’S Disease, Rodrigo O. Kuljis, Luis V. Colom, Leonel E. Rojo

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease are two disorders that, while conceptualized as pathophysiologically and clinically distinct, cause substantial cognitive and behavioral impairment worldwide, and target apparently similar – or nearby – circuitry in regions such as the temporal and frontal lobes.We review the salient differences and similarities from selected historical, nosological, and putative mechanistic viewpoints, as a means to help both clinicians and researchers gain a better insight into these intriguing disorders, for which over a century of research and decades of translational development was needed to begin yielding treatments that are objectively effective, but still very far from entirely satisfactory. …

Outcome-Driven Thresholds For Ambulatory Pulse Pressure In 9938 People Recruited From 11 Populations, Yu-Mei Gu, Lutgarde Thijs, Yan Li, Kei Asayama, José Boggia, Tine W. Hansen, Yan-Ping Liu, Takayoshi Ohkubo, Kristina Björklund-Bodegård, Gladys E. Maestre

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Evidence-based thresholds for risk stratification based on pulse pressure (PP) are currently unavailable. To derive outcome-driven thresholds for the 24–h ambulatory PP, we analyzed 9938 people randomly recruited from 11 populations (47.3% women). After age stratification (≥60 years) and using average risk as reference, we computed multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) to assess risk by tenths of the PP distribution or risk associated with stepwise increasing (+1 mm Hg) PP levels. All adjustments included mean arterial pressure. Among 6028 younger participants (68,853 person-years), the risk of cardiovascular (HR, 1.58; P=0.011) or cardiac (HR, 1.52; P=0.056) events increased only in the top …