Osteoporosis and hearing loss: findings from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009-2011 / Osteoporose e perda auditiva: resultados da Pesquisa Nacional do Exame de Saúde e Nutrição da Coreia de 2009 a 2011

Abstract Introduction: Age-related hearing impairment is the most common sensory dysfunction in older adults. In osteoporosis, the mass of the ossicles will be decreased, affecting the bone density of the cochlea, and interfering with the sound transmission to the cochlea. Age related hearing loss might be closely related to osteoporosis. Objective: To determine the relationship between age-related hearing impairment and osteoporosis by investigating the relationship between hearing loss and cortical bone density evaluated from femur neck bone mineral density. Methods: We used data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to examine the associations between osteoporosis and age-related hearing impairment from 2009 to 2011. Total number of participants was 4861 including 2273 men and 2588 women aged 50 years or older. Osteoporosis was defined as a bone mineral density 2.5 standard deviations below according to the World Health Organization diagnostic classification. Age-related hearing impairment was defined as the pure-tone averages of test frequencies 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz at a threshold of 40 dB or higher on the more impaired hearing side. Results: Total femur T-score (p < 0.001), lumbar-spine T-score (p < 0.001) and, femur neck T-score (p < 0.001) were significantly lower in the osteoporosis group compared to the normal group. Thresholds of pure-tone averages were significantly different in normal compared to osteopenia, and osteoporosis groups. In addition, there were significantly higher pure-tone averages thresholds in the osteoporosis group compared to other groups (p < 0.001). After adjusting for all covariates, the odds ratio for hearing loss was significantly increased by 1.7 fold with reduced femur neck bone mineral density (p < 0.01). However, lumbar spine bone mineral density was not statistically associated with hearing loss (p = 0.22). Conclusion: Our results suggest that osteoporosis is significantly associated with a risk of hearing loss. In addition, femur neck bone mineral density was significantly correlated with hearing loss, but lumbar spine bone mineral density was not.

Resumo Introdução: A perda auditiva associada ao envelhecimento é a disfunção sensorial mais comum em idosos. Na osteoporose, a massa dos ossículos diminui e afeta a densidade óssea da cóclea, o que irá interferir na transmissão do som para a mesma. A perda auditiva associada à idade pode estar intimamente relacionada à osteoporose. Objetivo: Determinar a relação entre deficiência auditiva relacionada à idade e osteoporose, investigar a relação entre perda auditiva e densidade óssea cortical avaliada a partir da densidade mineral óssea do colo do fêmur. Método: Utilizamos dados da Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey para examinar as associações entre osteoporose e perda auditiva associada ao envelhecimento de 2009 a 2011. O número total de participantes foi de 4.861, incluiu 2.273 homens e 2.588 mulheres com 50 anos ou mais. A osteoporose foi definida como densidade mineral óssea com 2,5 desvios-padrão abaixo da média, de acordo com a classificação diagnóstica da Organização Mundial da Saúde. A perda auditiva associada ao envelhecimento foi definida como as médias de tom puro das frequências de teste de 0,5, 1, 2 e 4 kHz a um limiar de 40 dB ou superior no lado da audição mais afetado. Resultados: O T-score total do fêmur (p < 0,001), o T-score da coluna lombar (p < 0,001) e o T-score do colo do fêmur (p < 0,001) foram significantemente menores no grupo com osteoporose em comparação ao grupo normal. Os limiares de médias de tom puro foram significantemente diferentes nos grupos normais em comparação com aqueles com osteopenia e osteoporose. Além disso, houve limiares significantemente maiores de médias de tom puro no grupo com osteoporose em comparação com os outros grupos (p < 0,001). Após o ajuste para todas as covariáveis, a odds ratio da perda auditiva mostrou estar significantemente aumentada em 1,7 vez com densidade mineral óssea reduzida no colo do fêmur (p < 0,01). No entanto, a densidade mineral óssea da coluna L não se associou estatisticamente à perda auditiva (p = 0,22). Conclusão: Nossos resultados sugerem que a osteoporose está significantemente associada ao risco de perda auditiva. Além disso, a densidade mineral óssea da coluna lombar não se correlacionou com a perda auditiva, apenas a densidade mineral óssea do colo do fêmur foi significantemente correlacionada.

Correlation between overactive bladder symptom score and neuropsychological parameters in Alzheimer's disease patients with lower urinary tract symptom

ABSTRACT Purpose To examine an association between the overactive bladder symptom score (OABSS) and neuropsychological parameters. Moreover, we investigate the factors that affect each item in the questionnaire. Materials and Methods A total of 376 patients (males: 184; females: 192) with probable Alzheimer’s disease (AD) were recruited. Cognitive testing was conducted using the Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE), Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale, Global Deterioration Scale (GDS), and Barthel Activities of Daily Living (ADL). Lower urinary tract symptom (LUTS) was assessed using OABSS and voiding diary. Results The prevalence of overactive bladder (OAB) (defined as OABSS ≥3 with an urgency score of ≥2) in patients with AD was 72.6%. Among the OAB subjects, the most common severity of symptom was moderate (72.6%), followed by mild (21.2%), and severe (5.8%). It was found that OABSS had a very high correlation with aging (r=0.75; p<0.001). When compared with neuropsychological parameters, it was found that OABSS was highly correlated with the CDR scores (r=0.446; p<0.001). However, no significant correlation was found between the changes in OABSS scores and those in other neuropsychological parameters. Based on the individual symptom scores, urgency incontinence was highly correlated with the CDR scores (r=0.43; p<0.001). Conclusions OABSS is a useful tool in assessing AD patients with LUTS. There was a consistent positive association between OABSS severity, including urgency incontinence, and CDR scores.

Structure-based drug design studies of the interactions of ent-kaurane diterpenes derived from Wedelia paludosa with the Plasmodium falciparum sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase PfATP6

Malaria is responsible for more deaths around the world than any other parasitic disease. Due to the emergence of strains that are resistant to the current chemotherapeutic antimalarial arsenal, the search for new antimalarial drugs remains urgent though hampered by a lack of knowledge regarding the molecular mechanisms of artemisinin resistance. Semisynthetic compounds derived from diterpenes from the medicinal plant Wedelia paludosa were tested in silico against the Plasmodium falciparum Ca2+-ATPase, PfATP6. This protein was constructed by comparative modelling using the three-dimensional structure of a homologous protein, 1IWO, as a scaffold. Compound 21 showed the best docking scores, indicating a better interaction with PfATP6 than that of thapsigargin, the natural inhibitor. Inhibition of PfATP6 by diterpene compounds could promote a change in calcium homeostasis, leading to parasite death. These data suggest PfATP6 as a potential target for the antimalarial ent-kaurane diterpenes.

Prognostic factor for Korean patients with renal cell carcinoma and venous tumor thrombus extension: application of the new 2009 TNM staging system

Purpose To study the surgical outcomes of radical nephrectomy with thrombectomy and to determine prognostic factors for survival of Korean patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and venous tumor thrombus. Materials and Methods A total of 124 patients with RCC and venous tumor thrombus who underwent radical nephrectomy and thrombectomy were included in this retrospective study. Cancer-specific survival (CSS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were analyzed retrospectively according to various prognostic factors. Results The median overall follow-up period for all patients was 29.0 months; the median survival period was 50.0 months. The 2-, 5- and 10-year CSS rates for all patients were 64.2%, 47.1% and 31.7%, respectively. Those for 76 patients (pN0/xM0) without metastasis at presentation were 80.9%, 64.5% and 44.9%, respectively. For all patients, lower body mass index (BMI), higher Fuhrman grade, presence of symptoms, perinephric fat invasion, invasion of inferior vena cava (IVC) wall, lymph node (LN) involvement and distant metastasis at presentation were independent predictors for decreased CSS on multivariate analysis, while thrombus level was not. For non-metastatic patients, lower BMI, presence of symptoms and tumor size were independently associated with decreased CSS. In terms of RFS, lower BMI, presence of perinephric fat invasion were prognostic factors for recurrence. Conclusions Our data suggest that obesity is independently associated with better survival or lower risk of tumor recurrence in Korean patients undergoing radical nephrectomy with tumor thrombectomy. Also, our results indicate that Fuhrman grade, presence of symptoms, perinephric fat invasion and invasion of IVC wall, LN involvement and distant metastasis at presentation are independent predictors for survival. .