Prevalence, incidence, and risk factors of primary open-angle glaucoma - a cohort study based on longitudinal data from a German public health insurance.

BACKGROUND: This study estimates the prevalence and incidence rates of primary open -angle glaucoma (POAG) as well as risk factors based on a dataset from the largest German health insurance company. METHODS: A random sample of 250,000 persons at age 50+ of the Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse (AOK) from 2010 to 2013 was used. Selected risk factors of POAG incidence were analyzed using multivariate Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: The age-standardized prevalence of POAG at age 50+ in 2010 was 2.79% (95%-CI: 2.72-2.85%). The age-standardized total incidence rate was 0.38 (0.36-0.39) per 100 person-years. Sex differences were significant for total prevalence and total incidence rates, with higher prevalence and incidence rates for women compared to men. The Cox model revealed a strong age effect, a significantly 19% higher incidence for women (p ≤ 0.001), injuries of the eye and orbit (175%, p ≤ 0.001), degeneration of iris and ciliary body (155%, p = 0.022), myopia (155%, p ≤ 0.001), retinal vascular occlusions (134%, p ≤ 0.001), hypertension (13%, p ≤ 0.001) and diabetes mellitus (23%, p ≤ 0.001). CONCLUSION: Health claims data are an important data source for estimating POAG occurrence and help overcome the problems of small sample sizes. These results may help to understand the causal pathways of POAG and to develop intervention strategies to increase the awareness of patients and physicians with the aim of reducing POAG incidence.

Spleen peptides (Polyerga) inhibit development of artificial lung metastases of murine mammary carcinoma and increase efficiency of chemotherapy in mice.

There are numerous attempts to find novel anticancer drugs or to improve therapeutic protocols based on application of chemotherapeutic agents and immunomodulators (biological response modifiers, cytokines, various plant or bacterial products). Among the preparations that have beneficial effects for the cancer bearing organism are preparations of spleen peptides (Polyerga). Hence, we analyzed if treatment with spleen oligopeptides GP-1 (active substance for the manufacture of Polyerga ampoules' solution injected as 0.5 microgram/kg every second day) if given alone or combined with chemotherapy (Endoxan 50 mg/kg single i.p. dose) of mice bearing artificial lung metastases of mammary carcinoma will have an impact on the metastases count and survival of the animals. The results obtained have shown that chemotherapy reduced metastases count and increased survival of the tumor bearing mice, while the use of GP-1 alone did not affect metastases development. However, combined GP-1 treatment and chemotherapy were more efficient in prevention of the metastases development than chemotherapy alone. Thus, in mice treated with GP-1 and Endoxan, the average metastases count was four times lower than in the mice treated by chemotherapy only, while 2/12 animals were without tumor nodules in the lungs. Finally, all the animals treated by chemotherapy alone died until the 42nd day after tumor transplantation, while at the same time, only 5/10 animals died receiving combined therapy. Thus, these results give an experimental support for the use of the spleen peptides in biotherapy (or combined therapy) of cancer.

Post-traumatic hormonal disturbances: prolactin as a link between head injury and enhanced osteogenesis.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) combined with fractures of long bones or large joints is often associated with enhanced osteogenesis (early fracture healing accompanied by hypertrophic callus formation and/or heterotopic ossifications). Humoral factors that cause enhanced osteogenesis in patients with TBI are not yet identified. The aim of this study was to reveal if post-traumatic change(s) of hormone levels in patients with TBI and bone fractures could be associated with the phenomenon of enhanced osteogenesis. The blood values of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), cortisol, growth hormone (GH), parathyroid hormone (PTH) and prolactin (PRL) were studied weekly over a period of three months after injury in patients with bone fractures only, those with TBI only or combined bone fractures and TBI (patients exerting enhanced osteogenesis). Stress-hormones, ACTH and cortisol, or the hormones related to the bone growth (GH and PTH) did not show any particular post-traumatic changes in the blood of patients with combined injury that could be associated with the enhanced osteogenesis. On the other hand, patients with combined bone fractures and TBI accompanied by enhanced osteogenesis had significantly elevated PRL levels in blood during the 5th week of the post-traumatic period. Thus, the maximal PRL values were measured at the time when in this group of patients fractures were in consolidation and hypertrophic callus or heterotopic ossifications were developing (as verified by x-ray imaging). Hence, PRL does not only influence physiology of the bone metabolism but also seems to be one of the humoral factors involved in the phenomenon of enhanced osteogenesis in patients with TBI.