Medical Specialties Commons^™

Preparation And Characterization Of Anti-Hiv Nanodrug Targeted To Microfold Cell Of Gut-Associated Lymphoid Tissue, Upal Roy, Hong Ding, Sudheesh Pilakka-Kanthikeel, Andrea D. Raymond, Venkata Atluri, Adriana Yndart, Elena M. Kaftanovskaya, Elena Batrakova, Marisela Agudelo, Madhavan Nair

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications

The human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) still remains one of the leading life-threatening diseases in the world. The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy has significantly reduced disease morbidity and mortality. However, most of the drugs have variable penetrance into viral reservoir sites, including gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). Being the largest lymphoid organ, GALT plays a key role in early HIV infection and host–pathogen interaction. Many different treatment options have been proposed to eradicate the virus from GALT. However, it becomes difficult to deliver traditional drugs to the GALT because of its complex physiology. In this regard, we developed a …

Role Of Mrp Transporters In Regulating Antimicrobial Drug Inefficacy And Oxidative Stress-Induced Pathogenesis During Hiv-1 And Tb Infections, Upal Roy, Paul Barber, Yuk-Ching Tse-Dinh, Elena V. Batrakova, Debasis Mondal, Madhavan Nair

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications

Multi-Drug Resistance Proteins (MRPs) are members of the ATP binding cassette (ABC) drug-efflux transporter superfamily. MRPs are known to regulate the efficacy of a broad range of anti-retroviral drugs (ARV) used in highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and antibacterial agents used in Tuberculus Bacilli (TB) therapy. Due to their role in efflux of glutathione (GSH) conjugated drugs, MRPs can also regulate cellular oxidative stress, which may contribute to both HIV and/or TB pathogenesis. This review focuses on the characteristics, functional expression, and modulation of known members of the MRP family in HIV infected cells exposed to ARV drugs and discusses …

Intramembranous Bone Healing Process Subsequent To Tooth Extraction In Mice: Micro-Computed Tomography, Histomorphometric And Molecular Characterization, Andreia Espindola Vieira, Carlos Eduardo Repeke, Samuel De Barros Ferreira Junior, Priscila Maria Colavite, Cláudia Cristina Biguetti, Rodrigo Cardoso Oliveira, Gerson Francisco Assis, Rumio Taga, Ana Paula Favaro Trombone, Gustavo P. Garlet

School of Podiatric Medicine Publications

Bone tissue has a significant potential for healing, which involves a significant the interplay between bone and immune cells. While fracture healing represents a useful model to investigate endochondral bone healing, intramembranous bone healing models are yet to be developed and characterized. In this study, a micro-computed tomography, histomorphometric and molecular (RealTimePCRarray) characterization of post tooth-extraction alveolar bone healing was performed on C57Bl/6 WT mice. After the initial clot dominance (0 h), the development of a provisional immature granulation tissue is evident (7 d), characterized by marked cell proliferation, angiogenesis and inflammatory cells infiltration; associated with peaks of growth factors …

Urinary Phthalate Metabolite Concentrations And Blood Glucose Levels During Pregnancy, Candace A. Robledo, Jennifer D. Peck, Julie A. Stoner, Antonia M. Calafat, Hélène Carabin, Linda Cowan, Jean R. Goodman

School of Medicine Publications

Purpose: To examine associations between phthalate metabolite urinary concentrations during early pregnancy and blood glucose levels obtained at the time of screening for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Methods: Upon initiation of prenatal care, women with a mean gestational age of 12.8 weeks were recruited for a study of environmental chemical exposures (n = 110) and provided a spot urinary specimen. Blood glucose concentrations (mg/dl) were obtained from the electronic medical record for those patients who did not experience a pregnancy loss and did not transfer care to another facility prior to glucose screening (n = 72). Urinary concentrations of nine …

Association Of Insurance Status With Health Outcomes Following Traumatic Injury: Statewide Multicenter Analysis, Vatsal Chikani, Maureen Brophy, Anne Vossbrink, Khaleel Hussaini, Christopher Salvino, Jeffrey Skubic, Rogelio Martinez

School of Medicine Publications

Introduction: Recognizing disparities in definitive care for traumatic injuries created by insurance status may help reduce the higher risk of trauma-related mortality in this population. Our objective was to understand the relationship between patients' insurance status and trauma outcomes.

Methods: We collected data on all patients involved in traumatic injury from eight Level I and 15 Level IV trauma centers, and four non-designated hospitals through Arizona State Trauma Registry between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011. Of 109,497 records queried, we excluded 29,062 (26.5%) due to missing data on primary payer, sex, race, zip code of residence, injury severity …

Analysis Of Multiple Cytokine Polymorphisms In Individuals With Untreated Deep Carious Lesions Reveals Il1b (Rs1143643) As A Susceptibility Factor For Periapical Lesions Development, Alisa Dill, Ariadne Letra, Letıcia Chaves De Souza, Mamatha Yadlapati, Cláudia Cristina Biguetti, Gustavo P. Garlet, Alexandre R. Vieira, Renato Menezes Silva

School of Podiatric Medicine Publications

Introduction

It has been proposed that individual genetic predisposition may contribute to persistent apical periodontitis. Cytokines are associated with levels of inflammation and are involved in caries, pulpal, and periapical tissue destruction. We hypothesized that polymorphisms in cytokine genes may contribute to an individual’s increased susceptibility to apical tissue destruction in response to deep carious lesions.

Methods

Subjects with deep carious lesions, with or without periapical lesions (≥ 3 mm) were recruited at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Texas at Houston. Genomic DNA samples of 316 patients were sorted into 2 groups: 136 cases with deep carious …

Statistical Modeling Of Microrna Expression With Human Cancers, Ke-Sheng Wang, Yue Pan, Chun Xu

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs (containing about 22 nucleotides) that regulate gene expression. MiRNAs are involved in many different biological processes such as cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, fat metabolism, and human cancer genes; while miRNAs may function as candidates for diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers and predictors of drug response. This paper emphasizes the statistical methods in the analysis of the associations of miRNA gene expression with human cancers and related clinical phenotypes: 1) simple statistical methods include chi-square test, correlation analysis, t-test and one-way ANOVA; 2) regression models include linear and logistic regression; 3) survival analysis approaches such as …

Genome-Wide Methylome Analyses Reveal Novel Epigenetic Regulation Patterns In Schizophrenia And Bipolar Disorder, Yongsheng Li, Cynthia Camarillo, Juan Xu, Tania Bedard Arana, Yun Xiao, Zheng Zhao, Hong Chen, Mercedes Ramirez, Juan Zavala, Michael A. Escamilla, Chun Xu

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications

Schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BP) are complex genetic disorders. Their appearance is also likely informed by as yet only partially described epigenetic contributions. Using a sequencing-based method for genome-wide analysis, we quantitatively compared the blood DNA methylation landscapes in SZ and BP subjects to control, both in an understudied population, Hispanics along the US-Mexico border. Remarkably, we identified thousands of differentially methylated regions for SZ and BP preferentially located in promoters 3'-UTRs and 5'-UTRs of genes. Distinct patterns of aberrant methylation of promoter sequences were located surrounding transcription start sites. In these instances, aberrant methylation occurred in CpG islands …

Simultaneous Analysis Of T Helper Subsets (Th1, Th2, Th9, Th17, Th22, Tfh, Tr1 And Tregs) Markers Expression In Periapical Lesions Reveals Multiple Cytokine Clusters Accountable For Lesions Activity And Inactivity Status, Ana Claudia Araujo-Pires, Carolina Favaro Francisconi, Cláudia Cristina Biguetti, Franco Cavalla, Andreza Maria Fabio Aranha, Ariadne Letra, Ana Paula Favaro Trombone, Marcelo Faveri, Renato Menezes Silva, Gustavo P. Garlet

School of Podiatric Medicine Publications

Previous studies demonstrate that the balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators determines the stable or progressive nature of periapical granulomas by modulating the balance of the osteoclastogenic factor RANKL and its antagonist OPG. However, the cytokine networks operating in the development of periapical lesions are quite more complex than what the simple pro- versus anti-inflammatory mediators' paradigm suggests. Here we simultaneously investigated the patterns of Th1, Th2, Th9, Th17, Th22, Thf, Tr1 and Tregs cytokines/markers expression in human periapical granulomas.

Methods:

The expression of TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-17A, IL23, IL21, IL-33, IL-10, IL-4, IL-9, IL-22, FOXp3 markers (via RealTimePCR array) was …

Developmental Origins Of Cardiovascular Disease, Edwina H. Yeung, Candace Robledo, Nansi S. Boghossian, Cuilin Zhang, Pauline Mendola

School of Medicine Publications

Although cardiovascular disease has traditionally been viewed as a condition of aging individuals, increasing focus has turned to its developmental origins. Since birthweight has been related to cardiovascular disease risk, research into factors such as gravid conditions that affect fetal growth have grown. Associations between maternal diabetes and childhood obesity from sibling studies suggest a causal role but prospective studies of gestational diabetes remain mixed. Preeclampsia and increased offspring blood pressure has been consistently observed but evidence for other cardiovascular outcomes is lacking. While maternal obesity is associated with childhood obesity, causality remains unclear and paternal obesity should be investigated …

Horner's Syndrome Secondary To Neuroblastoma, Roberto A. Cruz, T. K. Tran, Nicky R. Holdeman, Christian Cajavilca, Rosa A. Tang

School of Medicine Publications

Horner’s syndrome is classically characterized by a triad of miosis, partial ptosis and anhidrosis. The etiology is due to an interruption in the sympathetic innervation to the eye. A prompt diagnosis is crucial, given that Horner’s syndrome could be a manifestation of a life-threatening condition. A thorough case history and clinical evaluation must be employed to arrive at the diagnosis. An important means for confirming Horner’s syndrome is pharmacological testing, which is also used to localize the level where the sympathetic chain is compromised. Following the diagnosis and localization of the lesion, an algorithm should be followed to determine the …

Management Options For Patients With Chronic Back Pain Without An Etiology, Lenny D. Salzberg, Eron G. Manusov

School of Medicine Publications

The treatment and management of low back pain is complex when there is no specific etiology such as cancer, fracture, or herniated disc. An organized approach to management that follows evidence based guidelines will facilitate care in a problem that reflects a lifetime prevalence of over 70 percent. The purpose of this review is to present a guideline to care for a common disabling process with a very heterogeneous etiology.

Is Bisphenol-A Exposure During Pregnancy Associated With Blood Glucose Levels Or Diagnosis Of Gestational Diabetes?, Candace A. Robledo, Jennifer D. Peck, Julie A. Stoner, Hélène Carabin, Linda Cowan, Holger M. Koch, Jean R. Goodman

School of Medicine Publications

Recent epidemiological studies indicate bisphenol A (BPA), an estrogenic chemical used in production of epoxy, polycarbonate, and plastic may increase risk of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Exposure to BPA during pregnancy may contribute to development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), a precursor to type 2 diabetes in women. This pilot study examined the association between BPA exposure, fasting blood glucose levels (FBG), and GDM diagnosis during pregnancy. Banked urine samples from 22 cases of GDM and 72 controls were analyzed for total (free BPA + conjugates) urinary BPA concentrations (μg/L). FBG levels (mg/dl) were obtained from 1-h 50-g …

Risk Of Dementia Associated With Elevated Plasma Homocysteine In A Latin American Population, Inara J. Chacon, Aldrín E. Molero, Gloria Pino-Ramírez, José A. Luchsinger, Joseph H. Lee, Gladys E. Maestre

School of Medicine Publications

The relationship between total homocysteine (tHcy) and dementia risk remains controversial, as the association varies among populations and dementia subtypes. We studied a Venezuelan population that has high prevalence of both elevated tHcy and dementia. We tested the hypotheses that (1) elevated tHcy is associated with increased dementia risk, (2) the risk is greater for vascular dementia (VaD) than for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and (3) a history of stroke may partly explain this association. 2100 participants (≥55 years old) of the Maracaibo Aging Study underwent standardized neurological, neuropsychiatric, and cardiovascular assessments. Elevated tHcy was significantly associated with dementia, primarily VaD. …

The Relationship Between Health Attitudes, Beliefs, Health Locus Of Control And Use Of Breast Cancer Screening Modalities In Elderly Hispanic Women, Debra Kay Gillett, Rosamaria Ortiz

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

A non-experimental design was used to examine the relationship between health attitudes, beliefs, locus of control and the use of breast cancer screening modalities in elderly Hispanic women in this pilot study. Leininger's Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality and the Health Belief Model were the supporting theoretical frameworks. Research was conducted at the Amigos del Valle senior centers in Hidalgo County and included 52 English-speaking elderly Hispanic volunteer participants. Instruments used for data collection were the Health Care Attitudes and Beliefs Scale and the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale. Results of this study revealed that there appears …