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Significant Illness (significant + illness)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	75%

Selected Abstracts

Recent Research on Impulsivity in Individuals With Drug Use and Mental Health Disorders: Implications for Alcoholism

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 8 2010
Robert D. Rogers
Alcohol misuse and dependence, and many of its accompanying psychological problems, are associated with heightened levels of impulsivity that both accelerate the development of clinically significant illness and complicate clinical outcome. This article reviews recent developments in our understanding of impulsivity as they relate to brain circuitry that might underlie these comorbid factors, focusing upon the clinical features of substance use (and dependence), bipolar disorder, and pathological gambling. Individuals who are affected by these disorders exhibit problems in several domains of impulsive behavior including deficient response or "motor" control, and the tolerance of prolonged delays prior to larger rewards at the expense of smaller rewards ("delay-discounting"). These populations, like alcoholic dependents, also exhibit impairments in risky decision-making that may reflect dysfunction of monoamine and catecholamine pathways. However, several areas of uncertainty exist including the specificity of impairments across disorders and the relationship between impulse control problems and altered evaluation of reward outcomes underlying observed impairments in action selection. [source]

Congenital rubella pneumonitis complicated by Pneumocystis jiroveci infection with positive long term respiratory outcome: A case report and literature review

PEDIATRIC PULMONOLOGY, Issue 12 2009
M.O. Sanchez MD
Abstract Rubella remains to be a significant illness in the developing countries because of limited access to immunizations. In congenital rubella syndrome, lung involvement becomes evident within the few months of life, as a manifestation of the "late onset rubella syndrome." The lungs and other organs become involved secondary to immunopathologic mechanisms and immunodeficiency predisposes affected patients to opportunistic pathogens. We report the clinical, respiratory and immunologic data of a young boy who developed rubella pneumonitis and concomitant infection with Pneumocystis jiroveci. Despite the complicated clinical course, the child survived. At follow-up he has a normal pulmonary examination, mild hyperinflation only on his chest radiograph, normal immunology and normal respiratory reactance and resistance. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2009; 44:1235,1239. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Tissue HHV6 and 7 determination in pediatric solid organ recipients , a pilot study

PEDIATRIC TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 6 2003
M. Gupta
Abstract:, Herpes virus infections remain a major challenge in solid organ transplantation. HHV6 and 7 blood viral load was associated with pathology after renal transplantation. Little is known about the significance of tissue HHV6 and 7 infections. A total of 18 tissue biopsies (13 kidney, three GI and two BAL) from nine pediatric transplant patients (five kidney, two liver, one combined liver and kidney and one bone marrow transplant) were subjected to blood HHV6 IgG and IgM testing. In addition, tissue HHV6 and 7 semi-quantitative PCR analysis with subsequent detection by ELISA and quantitative methods were applied to the same samples. We also studied four native kidney biopsies of children with other kidney disease. The results of the biopsies were correlated with clinical data. Of the transplant patients, 78% were HHV6 IgG positive. Six of nine had a positive IgM on at least one occasion, however, only two of nine transplant patients were symptomatic with a mixed CMV/EBV septic picture of multi-organ failure. Only these two patients had a significant tissue viral load for HHV6. Additionally, a very significant tissue viral load for HHV6 was detected in an immunocompromised patient 3 wk after a roseola-like febrile illness. The HHV6 copies were 31, 88 and 206 per 10 ,L of DNA, respectively. In the patient who also had the fourth positive ELISA for HHV6 PCR product, the Multiplex PCR and restriction enzyme assay on its PCR product revealed a significant contribution by HHV7, while the HHV6-B signal was rather weak. Significant tissue HHV6 loads can be found in tissue biopsies from organ recipients with significant illness and also in native kidneys after primary infection. This may explain the high prevalence of HHV6 in transplanted kidneys. Further studies on HHV6 and 7 using molecular techniques should be supported. [source]

A gel-free quantitative proteomics approach to investigate temperature adaptation of the food-borne pathogen Cronobacter turicensis 3032

PROTEINS: STRUCTURE, FUNCTION AND BIOINFORMATICS, Issue 18 2010
Paula Carranza
Abstract The opportunistic food-borne pathogen Cronobacter sp. causes rare but significant illness in neonates and is capable to grow at a remarkably wide range of temperatures from 5.5 to 47°C. A gel-free quantitative proteomics approach was employed to investigate the molecular basis of the Cronobacter sp. adaptation to heat and cold-stress. To this end the model strain Cronobacter turicensis 3032 was grown at 25, 37, 44, and 47°C, and whole-cell and secreted proteins were iTRAQ-labelled and identified/quantified by 2-D-LC-MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS. While 44°C caused only minor changes in C. turicensis growth rate and protein profile, 47°C affected the expression of about 20% of all 891 identified proteins and resulted in a reduced growth rate and rendered the strain non-motile and filamentous. Among the heat-induced proteins were heat shock factors, transcriptional and translational proteins, whereas proteins affecting cellular morphology, proteins involved in motility, central metabolism and energy production were down-regulated. Notably, numerous potential virulence factors were found to be up-regulated at higher temperatures, suggesting an elevated pathogenic potential of Cronobacter sp. under these growth conditions. Significant alterations in the protein expression profile and growth rate of C. turicensis exposed to 25°C indicate that at this temperature the organism is cold-stressed. Up-regulated gene products comprised cold-shock, DNA-binding and ribosomal proteins, factors that support protein folding and proteins opposing cold-induced decrease in membrane fluidity, whereas down-regulated proteins were mainly involved in central metabolism. [source]