Acute Effects of Near Infrared Light Therapy on Brain State in Healthy Subjects as Quantified by qEEG Measures.

Acute Effects of Near Infrared Light Therapy on Brain State in Healthy Subjects as Quantified by qEEG Measures.

Photomed Laser Surg. 2016 Nov 17;

Authors: Grover F, Weston J, Weston M

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Recent investigation suggests that near infrared (NIR) light may improve symptoms from mild traumatic brain injury. In addition, quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) has shown measures correlating with concussion: P300, reaction time, and amplitude. The objective of this study was to determine whether NIR light treatment has an acute effect on brain state in healthy patients as measured by EEG.
METHODS: A total of 31 healthy volunteers, between the ages of 14 and 65, underwent qEEG event-related response tests before and after a 20-min NIR light head treatment. The treatment device is composed of 784 NIR GaAIAs LEDs covering 360 cm(2) on the head in a cap covering occipital, left temporal, right temporal frontal, and parietal lobes. The fluence rate was 1 J/cm(2)·min for a power density of 16.67 mW/cm(2). Peak spectral wavelength at steady-state temperature (42.2°C) is 903 nm. The device delivered a total dose of 20 J/cm(2). Two to four months later, 18 subjects returned for a second round of qEEG measurements, with a 20-min rest period in place of the NIR light treatment as a control arm.
RESULTS: Change in reaction time significantly differed between treated and control, with a mean of 23.8 msec improvement compared with controls (p = 0.035). Amplitude increased an average of 0.81 μV in treatment versus 0.22 μV in controls and did not reach significance. However, subanalysis of 14 treated subjects and 8 controls displaying initially low amplitude showed a mean increase in amplitude of 1.83 μV (30%) in treated subjects versus 0 μV in controls (p = 0.08). P300 measures did not show significant differences between groups.
CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that NIR light may have an acute effect on reaction time and amplitude in certain subject subsets. There were no adverse events registered across the 31 subjects in the treatment group, nor in the 18 evaluable control group subjects.

PMID: 27855264 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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"English Disease": Historical Notes on Rickets, the Bone-Lung Link and Child Neglect Issues.

"English Disease": Historical Notes on Rickets, the Bone-Lung Link and Child Neglect Issues.

Nutrients. 2016 Nov 15;8(11):

Authors: Zhang M, Shen F, Petryk A, Tang J, Chen X, Sergi C

Abstract
Nutritional or classical rickets (here labeled as "rickets") is a worldwide disease involving mostly infants and young children having inadequate sunlight exposure, often associated with a low dietary intake of Vitamin D. Rickets targets all layers of society independently of economic status with historical information spanning more than two millennia. Vitamin D is critical for the absorption of calcium and prevention of rickets in children as well as osteomalacia in adults. The initial and misleading paradigm of the 19th and 20th centuries that rickets may have been the consequence of infection has been, indeed, reversed following the identification of the Vitamin D molecule's important role in the function of the immune system. Although traditionally considered limited to osteopathology, Vitamin D deficiency is now known to be linked to infection, inflammation, and carcinogenesis. In this review, we consider the key historical (Whistler, pre-Whistler and post-Whistler descriptors) and social facts around rickets; highlight the osteo-pathological features of rickets and the pathology of the upper and lower respiratory tract, stressing the fact that lungs remain the main secondary organ affected by Vitamin D deficiency; and emphasize the public health role in identifying the cases of child neglect or abuse based on the evaluation of the costochondral region.

PMID: 27854286 [PubMed - in process]

http://ift.tt/2fb4wuu

Beneficial therapeutic effects of vitamin C on recurrent respiratory tract infections in children: preliminary data.

Beneficial therapeutic effects of vitamin C on recurrent respiratory tract infections in children: preliminary data.

Minerva Pediatr. 2016 Nov 17;

Authors: Ferrara P, Ianniello F, Bianchi V, Quintarelli F, Cammerata M, Quattrocchi E, Terranova GM, Miggiano GA, Casale M

Abstract
BACKGROUND: To demonstrate whether supplementation of vitamin C has a beneficial effect in the prevention of recurrent respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in children. Moreover, we evaluate the main risk factors that predispose to the development of this disease.
METHODS: Sixty children have been enrolled in the study and randomized into two groups: the control group (G1 n = 33) and the group at risk of recurrent RTIs (G2 n = 27). To G2 group was administered every day 100% orange juice with the content of vitamin C 70 mg.
RESULTS: Significant reduction in the incidence rate of RTIs (episodes pre-treatment: 182-6.75 episodes/child, after-treatment: 71-2.62 episodes/child, P <0.05), were observed in G2 group.
CONCLUSIONS: The administration of vitamin C had a beneficial effect in our group of children with recurrent RTIs, reducing the number of infective episodes.

PMID: 27854116 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

http://ift.tt/2g26Wcx

Smoke-free legislation and child health.

Smoke-free legislation and child health.

NPJ Prim Care Respir Med. 2016 Nov 17;26:16067

Authors: Faber T, Been JV, Reiss IK, Mackenbach JP, Sheikh A

Abstract
In this paper, we aim to present an overview of the scientific literature on the link between smoke-free legislation and early-life health outcomes. Exposure to second-hand smoke is responsible for an estimated 166 ,000 child deaths each year worldwide. To protect people from tobacco smoke, the World Health Organization recommends the implementation of comprehensive smoke-free legislation that prohibits smoking in all public indoor spaces, including workplaces, bars and restaurants. The implementation of such legislation has been found to reduce tobacco smoke exposure, encourage people to quit smoking and improve adult health outcomes. There is an increasing body of evidence that shows that children also experience health benefits after implementation of smoke-free legislation. In addition to protecting children from tobacco smoke in public, the link between smoke-free legislation and improved child health is likely to be mediated via a decline in smoking during pregnancy and reduced exposure in the home environment. Recent studies have found that the implementation of smoke-free legislation is associated with a substantial decrease in the number of perinatal deaths, preterm births and hospital attendance for respiratory tract infections and asthma in children, although such benefits are not found in each study. With over 80% of the world's population currently unprotected by comprehensive smoke-free laws, protecting (unborn) children from the adverse impact of tobacco smoking and SHS exposure holds great potential to benefit public health and should therefore be a key priority for policymakers and health workers alike.

PMID: 27853176 [PubMed - in process]

http://ift.tt/2fb8aUZ

The Potential for Low Pathogenic Avian H7 Influenza A Viruses to Replicate and Cause Disease in a Mammalian Model.

The Potential for Low Pathogenic Avian H7 Influenza A Viruses to Replicate and Cause Disease in a Mammalian Model.

J Virol. 2016 Nov 16;:

Authors: Zanin M, Koçer ZA, Poulson RL, Gabbard JD, Howerth EW, Jones CA, Friedman K, Seiler J, Danner A, Kercher L, McBride R, Paulson JC, Wentworth DE, Krauss S, Tompkins SM, Stallknecht DE, Webster RG

Abstract
H7 subtype influenza A viruses are widely distributed and have been responsible for human infections and numerous outbreaks in poultry with significant impact. Despite this, the disease-causing potential of the precursor low pathogenic (LP) H7 viruses from the wild bird reservoir has not been investigated. Our objective was to assess the disease causing potential of 30 LP H7 viruses isolated from wild avian species in the USA and Canada, using the DBA/2J mouse model. Without prior mammalian adaptation, the majority of viruses, 27 (90%), caused mortality in mice. Of these, 17 (56.7%) caused 100% mortality and 24 were of similar pathogenicity to A/Anhui/1/2013 (H7N9), which is highly pathogenic in mice. Viruses of duck-origin were more pathogenic than those of shorebird-origin, as 13 of 18 (72.2%) duck-origin viruses caused 100% mortality whilst 4 of 12 (33.3%) shorebird-origin viruses caused 100% mortality, despite there being no difference in mean lung viral titers between these groups. Replication beyond the respiratory tract was also evident, particularly in the heart and brain. Of the 16 viruses studied for fecal shedding, 11 were detected in fecal samples. These viruses exhibited a strong preference for avian-type α2,3-linked sialic acids, however, binding to mammalian-type α2,6-linked sialic acids was also detected. These findings indicate that LP avian H7 influenza A viruses are able to infect and cause disease in mammals without prior adaptation and therefore pose a potential public health risk.
IMPORTANCE: Low pathogenic (LP) avian H7 influenza A viruses are widely distributed in the avian reservoir and are the precursors of numerous outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses in commercial poultry farms. However, unlike highly pathogenic H7 viruses, the disease-causing potential of LP H7 viruses from the wild bird reservoir has not been investigated. To address this we studied 30 LP avian H7 viruses isolated from wild avian species in the USA and Canada using the DBA/2J mouse model. Surprisingly, the majority of these viruses, 90%, caused mortality in mice without prior mammalian adaptation and 56.7% caused 100% mortality. There was also evidence of spread beyond the respiratory tract and fecal shedding. Therefore, the disease-causing potential of LP avian H7 influenza A viruses in mammals may be underestimated and these viruses therefore pose a potential public health risk.

PMID: 27852855 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

http://ift.tt/2g29Huc

A retrospective study of the prevalence of calcium oxalate crystals in veterinary Aspergillus cases.

A retrospective study of the prevalence of calcium oxalate crystals in veterinary Aspergillus cases.

J Vet Diagn Invest. 2016 Nov 15;:

Authors: Payne CL, Dark MJ, Conway JA, Farina LL

Abstract
Fungi in the genus Aspergillus are some of the most common fungal pathogens in veterinary species, primarily affecting the respiratory tract. In both human and veterinary cases, calcium oxalate crystals have been documented in sites of Aspergillus infection. Cases in multiple species (16 birds, 15 horses, 5 dogs, 1 ox, and 1 dolphin) were identified that had either positive cultures for Aspergillus sp., or had conidiophores present that could be identified as belonging to the genus Aspergillus Histologic slides were examined to confirm the presence of oxalate crystals and how often they were identified on the original report. Calcium oxalate deposition was detected in 14 of 38 cases examined, including A. fumigatus, A. versicolor, A. niger, and unspecified Aspergillus sp. infections. Calcium oxalate crystals were identified in 11 of 16 avian cases, as well as in 1 of 1 bovine, 1 of 15 equine, and 1 of 5 canine cases. Crystals were described in only 3 of the 14 original pathology reports of these cases, indicating that identification and reporting of crystals in histologic specimens could be improved. All the tissues with crystals were respiratory tissues with air interfaces, including nasal sinus, trachea, syrinx, lung, and air sac. In cases with crystals identified on H&E-stained sections, crystals were frequently not present or were fewer in number in tissue sections stained with Gomori methenamine silver and periodic acid-Schiff. Routine polarization of slides of fungal infections, especially in the respiratory tract, should be considered to check for calcium oxalate crystals.

PMID: 27852812 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

http://ift.tt/2fb73or

The multi-target effects of CNI-1493: convergence of anti-amylodogenic and anti-inflammatory properties in animal models of Alzheimer's disease.

Related Articles

The multi-target effects of CNI-1493: convergence of anti-amylodogenic and anti-inflammatory properties in animal models of Alzheimer's disease.

Mol Med. 2016 Nov 15;22:

Authors: Sankowski R, Herring A, Keyvani K, Frenzel K, Wu J, Röskam S, Noelker C, Bacher M, Al-Abed Y

Abstract
After several decades of Alzheimer's disease (AD) research and failed clinical trials, one can speculate that targeting a single pathway is not sufficient. However, a cocktail of novel therapeutics will constitute a challenging clinical trial. A more plausible approach will capitalize on a drug that has relevant and synergistic multiple-target effects in AD. We have previously demonstrated the efficacy of CNI-1493 in the CRND8 transgenic AD mouse model. Similar to many anti-inflammatory drugs that were tested in preclinical model of AD, it was speculated that the significant effect of CNI-1493 is due to its established anti-inflammatory properties in rodents and humans. In the present study, we set out to elucidate the protective mechanism of CNI-1493 as a drug simultaneously targeting several aspects of AD pathology. Using C1213, a highly similar analogue of CNI-1493 that lacks anti-inflammatory properties, we show that both compounds directly interact with soluble and insoluble Amyloid β (Aβ) aggregates and attenuate Aβ cytotoxicity in vitro. Additionally, CNI-1493 and C1213 ameliorated Aβ-induced behavioral deficits in nematodes. Finally, C1213 reduced Aβ plaque burden and cognitive deficits in transgenic CRND8 mice to a similar extent as previously shown with CNI-1493. Taken together, our findings suggest anti-amyloidogenic activity as a relevant component for the in-vivo efficacy of CNI-1493 and its analogue C1213. Thus, CNI-1493, a drug with proven safety in humans, is a viable candidate for novel multi-target therapeutic approaches to AD.

PMID: 27847962 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

http://ift.tt/2f7Kn8F