Search

Aim. This paper is a report of a study to identify the changes in poststroke quality of life and other clinical issues among older Chinese adults from 1 month to 6 months after stroke and the predictors of poststroke quality of life at 6 months. Background. Stroke survivors are known to suffer from prolonged and multiple impairments leading to a compromised quality of life, but few studies report early predictors for quality of life among older Chinese adults after active rehabilitation has been undertaken during the first 6 months after stroke. Method. A total of 214 patients with first-ever ischaemic stroke were interviewed by a research nurse at 1 month and 188 patients were interviewed again 6 months after hospital admission for stroke. Assessment of quality of life was done using the Modified Rankin Scale for Quality of Life. Changes in and relationships between quality of life and variables in five domains were explored: bio-anatomical, physical, emotional, cognitive, communicative and social support. The data were collected in 2004-2005. Results. Quality of life among two-thirds of participants was unchanged or lower when scores at 1 month and 6 months after stroke were compared. Length of hospital stay after admission for stroke and other 1-month factors - level of worry over current health, cognitive and self-care deficits - were identified as having independent effects on quality of life at 6 months. Conclusion. Clinicians need to observe for early signs of mild cognitive impairments and emotional needs of stroke survivors, as well as to consider longer-term interventions to enhance poststroke quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precise pathogenic mechanism of antituberculosis (anti-TB) drug-induced liver injury (ATLI) is poorly understood. It may be associated with drug-metabolizing enzymes, such as cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4, CYP2C9 and CYP2C19. The aim of the present study was to explore the role of tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (tSNPs) of CYP3A4, CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 in the risk of ATLI in a population-based anti-TB treatment cohort. A nested case-control study was designed. Each ATLI case was matched 1 : 4 with controls on the basis of age, gender, treatment history, disease severity and drug dosage. The tSNPs were selected using Haploview 4.2 based on the HapMap database of Han Chinese in Beijing and genotyped by TaqMan allelic discrimination technology. Eighty-nine patients with ATLI and 356 controls were included in the study. One tSNP in CYP3A4 (rs12333983), two in CYP2C9 (rs4918758, rs9332098) and two in CYP2C19 (rs11568732, rs4986894) were selected and genotyped. The minor allele frequencies of rs12333983, rs4918758, rs9332098, rs11568732 and rs4986894 were 36.0%, 41.4%, 1.1%, 5.7% and 35.7%, respectively, in the patients, compared with 31.7%, 42.9%, 3.4%, 8.9% and 35.1%, respectively, in the controls. No significant differences were observed in genotypes or allele frequencies of the five tSNPs between the two groups and none of the CYP2C9 or CYP2C19 haplotypes was significantly associated with the development of ATLI. Based on the Chinese anti-TB treatment cohort, we did not find a significant association between the risk of ATLI and genetic polymorphisms of CYP3A4, CYP2C9 and CYP2C19. None of the haplotypes exhibited a significant association with the development of ATLI in a Chinese tuberculosis population., (© 2013 The Authors Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.)

EUK4010 has been identified to exhibit an inhibitory effect on beta-amyloid (Abeta)(1-42)-induced loss of neuronal cell viability. Further studies demonstrated that EUK4010 attenuated the Abeta(1-42)-induced degeneration in both cultured rat hippocampal neurons and human neuroblastoma cells, as demonstrated by typical morphological changes, cell viability and the chip-based flow cytometric assay. Gene expression analysis using DNA microarray showed that the senescence marker calcium-binding protein, regucalcin (Rgn), GABA-A receptor pi subunit (Gabrp), the huntingtin binding protein, optineurin (Optn) and a semaphorin family plexin A3 similar protein (Plex-similar) changed their expression levels significantly in cultured neurons after Abeta(1-42) treatment. In this report, we have undertaken a chemical genetic approach to study the molecular basis of Abeta(1-42) effects on the neuronal degeneration. Our results demonstrate that EUK4010 completely blocked the Abeta(1-42)-induced up-regulation of GABA-A receptor pi subunit and the semaphorin family plexin A3 similar protein, and partially attenuated the down-regulation of senescence marker calcium-binding protein, regucalcin. These observations suggest that EUK4010 may prevent or reduce the Abeta toxicity by regulating the expression of genes involved in the Abeta induced neuronal degeneration. These genes may represent a promising target for the therapeutic drug development for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurological disorders. Furthermore, EUK4010 and its analogues could potentially be developed as neuronal protective agents for the treatment of these diseases.

Objective: The EMBU (Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran) is a self-report questionnaire for the assessment of one's memory of parental rearing experiences. We are interested in using this scale to determine the characteristics of perceived parenting styles in Japan., Method: The study subjects consisted of 1320 healthy Japanese volunteers, comprising 687 males (52%) and 633 females (48%). We investigated the relationship between demographics and the EMBU scale., Results: ANCOVA revealed that the subject's gender had a significant effect on paternal rejection scores (male > female), and both gender and birth-order position had significant effects on emotional warmth scores for both parents (female > male, and only-child > middle or last-born child). Birth-order position had significant effects on maternal over-protection, with the highest score being that of only children, and on the aspect of favouritism (favouring subjects), scores for both parents were highest from the last-born children. Rejection scores for the mother were significantly higher than those for the father from female subjects. Among both male and female subjects, emotional warmth scores and overprotection scores for the mother were significantly higher than those for the father. Among male subjects, scores for the mother on favouritism of the subject were significantly higher than those for the father. On the other hand, among female subjects, scores for the father on favouritism of the subject were higher than scores for the mother., Conclusion: Our results suggest that parenting styles have significant interrelationships with the gender and birth-order position of the subject.

Objective: The EMBU (Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran; (one's memories of upbringing') is a convenient and reliable instrument for the assessment of parental attitudes. The aim of the present study was to investigate the extent to which the factor structure of the EMBU, obtained in previous investigations, could be retrieved in a large Japanese sample., Method: The EMBU scale was administered to 1320 healthy Japanese volunteers. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed., Results: The first factor in the analysis, accounting for 9.9% (father) and 10.6% (mother) of the variance, consisted of rejection items. The second factor, accounting for 9.1% (father) and 8.6% (mother) of the variance, contained items relating to emotional warmth. The third factor appeared to represent overprotection, and accounted for 7.8% (father) and 7.8% (mother) of the variance. The fourth factor, which accounted for 3.7% (father) and 3.7% (mother) of the variance, included items classified under favouring subjects. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that this four-factor structure fitted our data very well for both the father and the mother. The results of factor analysis for four subscales showed three major factors for the EMBU., Conclusion: The results of this study confirmed that the EMBU yielded a factor structure in Japan similar to that found in European countries. The EMBU is useful for comparison of parenting attitudes in different societies or countries.

Cultural differences in parental attitudes and child-rearing practices among European countries have been demonstrated in previous studies using a scale for assessment of memories of upbringing (the EMBU). In this pilot study we evaluated the EMBU in two previously unstudied populations: a culturally homogeneous sample from Japan (n = 105) and a culturally mixed sample from Southern California (n = 73). The results suggest that, compared to European parents, Japanese parents are more emotionally distant from their children, while the Southern Californians as a group scored similarly to the Europeans. Further studies are needed in order to establish the EMBU as a transcultural tool for assessment of parental rearing behaviour.