FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH PAROXYSMAL VERTIGO AMONG URBAN-DWELLERS AGED 55 YEARS AND OVER IN THE MALAYSIAN ELDERS LONGITUDINAL RESEARCH (MELOR) STUDY Background: Paroxysmal Vertigo (PV) negatively affects life quality and increases in prevalence with age, but the risk factors remain inconclusive. Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the risk factors of PV among a multi-ethnic urban population in late mid-life and late life within a middle-income Southeast-Asian country. Methods: Cross-sectional data from the first wave of the Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research (MELoR) study were utilized for this study involving randomly sampled participants aged 55 years and over. Socio-demographics, comorbidities, and psychological status were obtained through home-based computer-assisted interviews. Results: Based on an analysis of 1530 participants, mean age (SD) = 68.81 (7.49), 64.9% female; 32.9% Malay, 34.6% Chinese), the lifetime prevalence of PV was 12.1%. The risk factors associated based on multivariate analysis were hypertension, osteoarthritis, depression, and vitamin B12 Deficiency. Chinese ethnicity (OR = 0.582; 95% CI = 0.390 to 0.870) and smoking (OR = 0.377; 95% CI = 0.223 to 0.637) were protective factors against PV. Conclusions: While the risk factors reported are similar to other studies, the lower prevalence of PV among ethnic Chinese and smokers had not previously been reported. Our study highlighted potential genetic and lifestyle links to PV which should be evaluated in future studies.

Objective:To construct a rat model of hypothalamic obesity by two point electrical damage to the ventromedial hypothalamus and arcuate nucleus.Methods:Twenty adult male SD rats of SPF grade were randomly divided into experimental group and sham operation group.A 25GA (0.45 mm) solid iron needle was used, the needle was coated with an insulating layer, and the tip exposed a 0.5 mm conductive area.With reference to The Rat Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates and using the stereotactic instrument (AP: -2.6 mm, ML: ± 0.6 mm, DV: -9.6 mm) as the coordinate, 1.5 mA current was continuously applied for 25 s, the ventromedial nucleus (VMH) and arcuate nucleus (ARC) of bilateral brain in SD rats was damaged.During the experiment, the body weight(BW), food intake(FI) and water intake(WI) of the two groups were recorded regularly.The rats were sacrificed on the 28th day after the operation, and the changes of periprenal fat mass and body length were measured.The changes of liver and adipose tissue were detected by HE staining method, leptin by ELISA, leptin receptor(LEPR) by Western blot.Results:(1) The body weight of rats in the experimental group ((427.5±17.7)g) and weight gain ((208.5±14.8)g) were significantly increased compared with the rats in the control group((349.2±17.7)g), ((136.2±21.4)g)on the 28th day after operation ( t=7.661, 6.806, both P<0.001). (2) The daily food intake of rats in the experimental group ((44.2±6.6)g) on the 28th day after surgery was significantly higher than that in the control group ((23.0±3.6)g) ( t=6.918, P<0.001). There was no significant difference of the daily drinking water of rats between experimental group((37.5±12.1)ml) and the control group ((35.0±11.8)ml) ( t=0.361, P=0.726). (3) Perikidney fat mass of experimental group rats ((13.4±2.7)g) significantly increased 28 days after operation compared with control group rats((6.3±0.9)g)( t=4.250, P<0.05). The naso-anal length of experimental group((21.8±0.4)cm) was significantly decreased compared with the control group ((23.4±0.2)cm) ( t=-6.788, P<0.01). The Lee index of the experimental group (348.9±8.5) was significantly higher than that of the control group(305.5±4.3)( t=7.898, P<0.01). (4) The serum leptin content ((8 324.10±159.00)μg/L) of the experimental group rats at 28 days after surgery was significantly higher than that of the control group((2 705.31±407.10)μg/L) ( t=25.712, P<0.001). The lateral hypothalamus area (LHA) LEPR protein expression (1.3±0.1) in the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the control group (0.9±0.1) ( t=4.932, P<0.01). Conclusion:Two-point electrical damage to bilateral VMH and ARC of rats can establish hypothalamic obese rat model.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanism by which doublecortin promotes the recovery of cytoskeleton in arginine vasopressin (AVP) neurons in rats with electrical lesions of the pituitary stalk (PEL). METHODS: Thirty-two SD rats were randomized into PEL group with electrical lesions of the pituitary stalk through the floor of the skull base (=25) and sham operation group (=7), and the daily water consumption (DWC), daily urine volume (DUV) and urine specific gravity (USG) of the rats were recorded. Four rats on day 1 and 7 rats on each of days 3, 7 and 14 after PEL as well as the sham-operated rats were sacrificed for detection of the expressions of β-Tubulin (Tuj1), doublecortin and caspase- 3 in the AVP neurons of the supraoptic nucleus using immunofluorescence assay and Western blotting. RESULTS: After PEL, the rats exhibited a typical triphasic pattern of diabetes insipidus, with the postoperative days 1-2 as the phase one, days 3-5 as the phase two, and days 6-14 as the phase three. Immunofluorescent results indicated the repair of the AVP neurons evidenced by significantly increased doublecortin expressions in the AVP neurons following PEL; similarly, the expression of Tuj1 also increased progressively after PEL, reaching the peak level on day 7 after PEL. The apoptotic rates of the AVP neurons exhibited a reverse pattern of variation, peaking on postoperative day 3 followed by progressive reduction till day 14. Western blotting showed that the expressions of c-Jun and p-c-Jun were up-regulated significantly on day 3 ( < 0.05) and 7 ( < 0.01) after PEL, while an upregulated p-JNK expression was detected only on day 3 ( < 0.05), as was consistent with the time-courses of neuronal recovery and apoptosis after PEL. CONCLUSIONS JNK/c-Jun pathway is activated after PEL to induce apoptosis of AVP neurons in the acute phase and to promote the repair of neuronal cytoskeleton by up-regulation of doublecortin and Tuj1 expressions.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Arginine Vasopressin ; pharmacology ; Cytoskeleton ; metabolism ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; Neurons ; cytology ; Pituitary Gland ; cytology ; injuries ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Regeneration ; Tubulin ; metabolism

BACKGROUNDA high mortality rate of pancreatic cancer becomes a bottleneck for further treatment with long-term efficacy. It is urgent to find a new mean to predict the early onset of pancreatic cancer accurately. The authors hypothesized that genetic variants of cationic trypsinogen (PRSS1) gene could affect trypsin expression/function and result in abnormal activation of protease activated receptor-2 (PAR-2), then lead to pancreatic cancer. The aim of this study was to elaborate some novel mutations of PRSS1 gene in the patients with pancreatic cancer.

METHODSTotally 156 patients with pancreatic cancer and 220 unrelated individuals as controls were enrolled in this study. The mutations of PRSS1 gene were analyzed by direct sequencing. K-ras Mutation Detection Kit was used to find the general k-ras gene disorder in the pancreatic cancer tissue. Then the clinical data were collected and analyzed simultaneously.

RESULTSThere were two patients who carried novel mutations which was IVS 3 + 157 G > C of PRSS1 gene in peripheral blood specimens and pancreatic cancer tissue. What's more, it was surprising to find a novel complicated mutation of exon 3 in PRSS1 gene (c.409 A > G and c.416 C > T) in another young patient. The complicated mutation made No. 135 and No. 137 amino acid transfer from Thr to Ala and Thr to Met respectively. No any mutation was found in the normal controls while no mutations of k-ras gene were detected in the three patients.

CONCLUSIONMutations of PRSS1 gene may be an important factor of pancreatic cancer.

Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mutation ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; genetics ; Trypsin ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo analyze the expression of DD3 mRNA in the prostate tissues.

METHODSDD3 mRNA was detected by realtime fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (FQ-RT-PCR) based on the Taqman technique in the tissues of 27 patients with non-prostate cancer( NPCa), 21 prostate cancer( PCa), 39 benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and 15 normal prostate (NP). The ROC curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of DD3 mRNA.

RESULTSDD3 mRNA expression was not detected in the NPCa tissues. The median expressions of DD3 mRNA in PCa, BPH and NP tissues were 7. 2 x 10(6), 2. 5 x 10(4) and 1.5 x 10(4) copies/mg tissue, respectively. The DD3 mRNA expression levels were significantly different between nonmalignant and malignant tissues (P < 0.01). No significant differences in DD3 mRNA expression were detected between the NP and BPH tissues and no significant correlation was found between the DD3 mRNA expression and clinical pathological parameters. The AUC-ROC was 0.937 (95% CI: 0.879 - 0.995) at cutoff value 1.4 x 10(5) copies/mg tissue. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood ratio for DD3 were 90.5%, 85.0%, 86.7%, 76.0%, 94.3%, 6.03 and 0.11 respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe DD3 mRNA expression is confined to prostate tissues and highly upregulated in PCa tissues. It has a potential application value in the early diagnosis of prostate cancer and the follow-up of the patient.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antigens, Neoplasm ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; metabolism ; pathology ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; ROC Curve ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction