A prospective split-face double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial to assess the efficacy of methyl aminolevulinate + red-light in patients with facial photodamage.

BACKGROUND: To date, there is no gold standard therapy for skin photoageing. In the last decade, laser technologies have offered great promise among skin-rejuvenation therapies; however, both non-ablative and ablative fractional resurfacing modalities have their own benefits and drawbacks. More recently, open-label studies and few controlled trials have suggested that photodynamic therapy may have therapeutic potential in photodamage. OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of methyl aminolevulinate + red-light on facial photodamage in a double-blind split-face randomized placebo-controlled trial. METHODS: Subjects had initially two split-face treatments 2-3 weeks apart in which half of the face was treated with MAL + red-light compared with placebo + red-light. Primary outcome was the assessment of global photodamage 1 month after session 2. Secondary outcomes included the assessment of fine lines, mottled pigmentation, tactile roughness, sallowness, erythema and telangiectasia 1 month after session 2, according to severity scores rated as failure, improvement or success. RESULTS: Based on the intention-to-treat analysis, a total of 48 patients (96 split-faces) were included. Facial global photodamage success or improvement had occurred in 94 split-faces and in no split-faces receiving placebo (RR: 0.02; 95% confidence interval, 0.0-0.14; P = 0.0000). One patient had an adverse event that led to the discontinuation of the therapy after session 1. CONCLUSIONS: Methyl aminolevulinate + red-light demonstrated significantly superior efficacy in global facial photodamage compared with placebo. This therapy was also useful for all other specific secondary outcomes, except for telangiectasia. Overall, MAL + red-light sessions were well tolerated and resulted in high/total patient satisfaction in the majority of subjects (80.4%).

Identification of circulating miRNAs profiles that distinguish malignant pleural mesothelioma from lung adenocarcinoma.

Accurate diagnosis of malignant pleura mesothelioma (MPM) is challenging. Differential diagnosis of MPM versus lung adenocarcinoma (AD) is particularly difficult, yet clinically important since the two neoplasias call for different treatment approaches. Circulating miRNA-profiling to identify miRNAs that can be used to distinguish MPM from AD has not been reported. We conducted a wide screening study of miRNA profiles in serum pools of MPM patients (N = 11), AD patients (N = 36), and healthy subjects (N = 45) to identify non-invasive biomarkers for differential diagnosis of MPM and AD, using deep sequencing. Sequencing detected up to 300 known miRNAs and up to 25 novel miRNAs species in the serum samples. Among known miRNAs, 7 were upregulated in MPM and 12 were upregulated in AD compared to healthy controls. Of these, eight were distinctive for AD and three were unique for MPM. Direct comparison of the miRNA profiles for MPM and AD revealed differences in miRNA levels that could be useful for differential diagnosis. No differentially expressed novel miRNAs were found. Further bioinformatics analysis indicated that three upregulated miRNAs in MPM are associated with the p38 pathway. There are unique alterations in serum miRNAs in MPM and AD compared to healthy controls, as well as differences between MPM and AD profiles. Differing miRNA levels between MPM and AD may be useful for differential diagnosis. A potential association to p38 pathway of three upregulated miRNAs in MPM was revealed.

Comparación delpperfil lipídico por sexo y edad en ovinos / Comparson of lippid profile by sex and age in sheeps

Se comparó el perfil lipídico y la correlación entre los componentes lipídicos del suero en cuatro grupos de ovinos. A tal fin, se tomaron muestras de sangre de 98 ovinos en ayuno, diferenciados por género y edad (23 machos y 25 hembras mayores de un año de edad; 22 machos y 28 hembras menores a un año). Se determinaron las concentraciones séricas de: triglicéridos, colesterol total (CT) y colesterol de lipoproteínas de alta densidad (C-HDL) mediante el método enzimítico colorimétrico. El colesterol de lipoproteína de muy baja densidad (C-VLDL) y de baja densidad (C-LDL) se determinó usando la fórmula de Friedewald. Las medias para CT, triglicéridos, C-HDL, C-VLDL y C-LDL (mg/dL) fueron de 86.19, 21.57, 39.32, 4.31 y 42.55, respectivamente. En el grupo de adultos existe diferencia significativa (P <0.05) en los niveles de: CT (P <0.0003), C-HDL (P < 0.0007) y C-LDL (P <0.0133), siendo más alto en hembras; las hembras jóvenes presentaron elevado el C-HDL (49.02 mg/dL). Hay diferencias en los machos en el CT (P <0.0138 ) y C-LDL (P <0.0006) y en hembras sólo en el CT (P <0.015). Los valores de triglicéridos y C-VLDL en hembras (P >0.90 para ambos), machos (P >0.405 para ambos), jóvenes (P >0.487 para ambos) y adultos (P >0.179 para ambos) no mostraron diferencias significativas (P -valor >0.05) con un nivel de confianza del 95.0%. En conclusión, debido a las diferencias estadísticamente significativas en las comparaciones del perfil lipídico entre grupos de ovinos, pueden ser considerados cuatro perfiles lipídicos: machos adultos, hembras adultas, machos jóvenes y hembras jóvenes.

To objective was to compare the lipid profile in sheep and to analyze the relationship between serum lipids levels of four groups. Blood samples from 98 sheep were obtained in fasting state, differentiated by gender and age (23 males and 25 female aged over 12 months; 22 males and 28 females aged under 12 months). Serum concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured using enzymatic colorimetric method; levels of very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were determined using Friedewald equation. Mean for TC, triglycerides, HDL-C, VLDL-C and LDL-C were: 86.19, 21.57, 39.32, 4.31, 42.55 mg/dL respectively. The group of adults was differ (P < 0.05) for TC (P <0.0003), HDL-C (P <0.0007) and LDL-C (P <0.0133), being increased in females. In young females HDL-C was higher (49.02 mg/ dL). In males significant differences were observed in TC (P <0.0138), and LDL-C (P <0.0006) and females in TC (P <0.015). Triglycerides and VLDL-C in females (P >0.90 for both), in males (P <0.405 for both), in young (P >0.487 for both) and adults (P >0.179 for both) showed no significant differences (P-value >0.05) with a confidence level of 95.0%. In Conclusion given the differences in the comparisons between groups for the lipid profile in sheep, can be considered four lipid profiles as follows: adult males, adult females, young males and young females.