BACKGROUND: High doses of aspirin counteract the beneficial effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. It is not known how low-dose aspirin, with concomitant ACE-inhibitor treatment, affects renal function. AIM: To study renal effects of different doses of aspirin in elderly healthy volunteers who had an activated renin-angiotensin system. METHODS: Sixteen subjects each received tw

Many endocarditis pathogens activate human platelets and this has been proposed to contribute to virulence. Here we report for the first time that many clinical isolates of Enterococcus faecalis, a common pathogen in infective endocarditis, aggregate human platelets. 84 isolates from human blood and urine were screened for their ability to aggregate platelets from four different donors. Platelet a

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore how persons with severe mental illness (SMI) experience oral health problems (especially dry mouth), and weigh the support they received in this regard from professionals and staff at community-based congregate housing through a controlled intervention programme. Oral health problems and dry mouth are found in association with apathy and indifferen

Cystatin C and cathepsins could play a role in almost all processes involved in atherosclerotic lesion formation by their degradation of extracellular matrix proteins and apolipoprotein B100, the protein moiety of LDL. Several cysteine cathepsins are upregulated in human lesions accompanied by a decrease in cystatin C, the major inhibitor of cysteine cathepsins. Recent research show that atheroscl

Acute dissection of the descending thoracic aorta is often a life threatening disease. If complicated by rupture or organ malperfusion, immediate invasive treatment is mandatory to prevent death. Open surgery by interposition grafting or visceral fenestration is complex and associated with high morbidity and mortality. The introduction of endovascular stentgraft repair has offered a minimally inva

BACKGROUND: The first year of university studies is associated with increased levels of alcohol drinking and stress. This study examines the one-year outcome of both primary and secondary interventions of one alcohol programme and one stress intervention programme at an intervention university in comparison with a control university. METHODS: At the intervention university all freshmen were offere

Pre-eclampsia is a pregnancy complication characterized by hypertension and proteinuria. There are several factors associated with an increased risk of developing pre-eclampsia, one of which is increased uterine artery resistance, referred to as "notching". However, some women do not progress into pre-eclampsia whereas others may have a higher risk of doing so. The placenta, central in pre-eclamps

Abstract Microalbuminuria is an early sign of diabetic nephropathy. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the changes of the glomerular filtration barrier in early experimental diabetes are due to size- or charge-selective alterations. Wistar rats, made diabetic by streptozotocin (STZ) and having their blood glucose maintained at approximately 20 mM for 3 or 9 wk, were compared w

Although the direction of loads applied to the proximal human femur is unpredictable during sideways fall, most in vitro and numerical simulations refer to a single loading condition (15° internal rotation; 10° adduction), which has been anecdotally suggested in the 1950s. The aim of the present study was to improve in vitro simulations of sideways falls on the proximal femur. An in vitro setup w

Bacterial infections represent a serious health care problem, and all multicellular organisms have developed defense mechanisms to eliminate pathogens that enter the host via different paths including wounds. Many invertebrates have an open circulatory system, and effective coagulation systems are in place to ensure fast and efficient closure of wounds. It was proposed early on that coagulation sy

Objective To investigate the reproductive and oncologic outcome following robotic radical trachelectomy for early stage cervical cancer. Methods All women with early stage cervical cancer planned for fertility-sparing robotic trachelectomy between December 2007 and April 2015 at two tertiary referral centers in Sweden were identified. Perioperative- and follow-up data was retrieved from prospectiv

Summary: Progress in the evidence-based care of haemophilia A and B worldwide has been historically challenged by the dearth of evaluable outcome data, including but not limited to the safety and effectiveness of therapeutic interventions. These challenges are partially rooted in the inherent difficulty of conducting prospective clinical trials and observational studies with statistically meaningf

Previous Icelandic studies reported that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the phosphodiesterase 4D (PDE4D) region and the 5-lipoxygenase activating protein ALOX5AP were associated with ischaemic stroke, whereas other studies reported ambiguous findings. We examined 932 ischaemic stroke patients from a Swedish population-based stroke register, and 396 control subjects. We assessed possible

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) technique is a dual-channel electrotherapy system designed specifically for the treatment of pharyngeal dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the outcome of NMES versus traditional swallowing therapy (TT) in stroke patients. Three European swallowing centers participated in this randomized trial. Twenty-five patients (16 men

The aim of the present investigation was to elucidate the elastic properties of the myofilaments during tetanic activity in striated muscle. The study was carried out on intact single muscle fibres from the anterior tibialis muscle of Rana temporaria (2.0-2.5 degrees C). The instantaneous stiffness was measured as the change in force that occurred in response to a high-frequency (2-4 kHz) length o

Respiratory chain Complex I or NADH:quinone oxidoreductase catalyzes oxidation of NADH in the mitochondrial matrix or bacterial cytoplasm and reduction of quinone in the membrane, coupled to pumping of 4H+/2e- across the membrane. The same enzyme complex is also capable of the reverse reaction, i.e. @D@mH+-supported NAD+ reduction. The molecular mechanism that couples electron transfer to proton p

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (Il-1ra) and interleukin-1beta (Il-1beta) can be detected in human carotid artery tissue, and whether their presence is related to evidence of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection, risk factors for atherosclerosis, and clinical data. SETTING: Departments of Vascular Diseases and Surgical Pathophysiology, University Hospital, Malmö,