University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

About: University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston is a education organization based out in Houston, Texas, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 27309 authors who have published 42520 publications receiving 2151596 citations. The organization is also known as: UTHealth & The UT Health Science Center at Houston.

Memantine for the prevention of cognitive dysfunction in patients receiving whole-brain radiotherapy: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Abstract: Radiotherapy is a proven curative and palliative therapeutic tool in the treatment of a wide variety of primary and metastatic brain tumors in adults, and recent advances in multimodality therapy have led to improvements in survival. As survival has improved, more attention has been directed toward long-term treatment-related morbidity. Specifically, the effect of cerebral radiotherapy on long-term cognitive performance is a major concern.1 The vascular hypothesis of radiation injury attributes radiation-induced accelerated atherosclerosis and mineralizing microangiopathy to the vascular insufficiency and infarction that can develop after radiotherapy.2 Therefore, the mechanisms of radiation-induced injury are similar to the small vessel disease seen with vascular dementia.3,4 For this reason, there is great interest in studying vascular dementia treatments to prevent or reduce radiation-induced cognitive injury. Additionally, because treatment of cognitive decline after radiation is limited, new approaches aimed at preventing the detrimental cognitive effect of whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) should be developed. Glutamate is the principal excitatory amino acid neurotransmitter in cortical and hippocampal neurons.5 One of the receptors activated by glutamate is the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, which is involved in learning and memory.6 Ischemia can induce excessive NMDA stimulation and lead to excitotoxicity, suggesting that agents that block pathologic stimulation of NMDA receptors may protect against further damage in patients with vascular dementia.7 One such agent is memantine, an NMDA receptor antagonist. Memantine is a noncompetitive, low-affinity, open-channel blocker that has been shown to be neuroprotective in preclinical models.8–10 In 2 placebo-controlled phase III trials, memantine was well tolerated and effective in treating vascular dementia, especially in patients with small vessel disease.11,12 The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) therefore initiated a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized trial to evaluate the potential protective effect of memantine on neurocognitive function in patients receiving WBRT.

Treatment of Cryptococcal Meningitis Associated with the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Abstract: Background Treatment with low-dose amphotericin B (0.4 mg per kilogram of body weight per day) or oral azole therapy in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and cryptococcal meningitis has been associated with high mortality and low rates of cerebrospinal fluid sterilization. Methods In a double-blind multicenter trial we randomly assigned patients with a first episode of AIDS-associated cryptococcal meningitis to treatment with higher-dose amphotericin B (0.7 mg per kilogram per day) with or without flucytosine (100 mg per kilogram per day) for two weeks (step one), followed by eight weeks of treatment with itraconazole (400 mg per day) or fluconazole (400 mg per day) (step two). Treatment was considered successful if cerebrospinal fluid cultures were negative at 2 and 10 weeks or if the patient was clinically stable at 2 weeks and asymptomatic at 10 weeks. Results At two weeks, the cerebrospinal fluid cultures were negative in 60 percent of the 202 patients receiving amphotericin ...

Intramyocardial lipid accumulation in the failing human heart resembles the lipotoxic rat heart

Abstract: In animal models of lipotoxicity, accumulation of triglycerides within cardiomyocytes is associated with contractile dysfunction. However, whether intramyocardial lipid deposition is a feature of human heart failure remains to be established. We hypothesized that intramyocardial lipid accumulation is a common feature of non-ischemic heart failure and is associated with changes in gene expression similar to those found in an animal model of lipotoxicity. Intramyocardial lipid staining with oil red O and gene expression analysis was performed on heart tissue from 27 patients (9 female) with non-ischemic heart failure. We determined intramyocardial lipid, gene expression, and contractile function in hearts from 6 Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) and 6 Zucker lean (ZL) rats. Intramyocardial lipid overload was present in 30% of non-ischemic failing hearts. The highest levels of lipid staining were observed in patients with diabetes and obesity (BMI>30). Intramyocardial lipid deposition was associated with an up-regulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) -regulated genes, myosin heavy chain beta (MHC-beta), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). Intramyocardial lipid overload in the hearts of ZDF rats was associated with contractile dysfunction and changes in gene expression similar to changes found in failing human hearts with lipid overload. Our findings identify a subgroup of patients with heart failure and severe metabolic dysregulation characterized by intramyocardial triglyceride overload and changes in gene expression that are associated with contractile dysfunction.

RNA stabilization by the AU‐rich element binding protein, HuR, an ELAV protein

Abstract: An important paradigm for post‐transcriptional regulation is the control of cytoplasmic mRNA stability mediated by AU‐rich elements (AREs) in the 3′ untranslated region of transcripts encoding oncoproteins, cytokines and transcription factors. While many RNA‐binding proteins have been shown to bind to AREs in vitro , neither the functional consequences nor the physiological significance of their interactions are known. Here we demonstrate a role for the embryonic lethal abnormal visual (ELAV) RNA‐binding protein HuR in mRNA turnover in vivo . The ELAV family of RNA‐binding proteins is highly conserved in vertebrates. In humans, there are four members; HuR is expressed in all proliferating cells, whereas Hel‐N1, HuC and HuD are expressed in terminally differentiated neurons. We show that elevation of cytoplasmic HuR levels inhibits c‐ fos ARE‐mediated RNA decay but has little effect on rapid decay directed by c‐ jun ARE. It appears that HuR has little effect on deadenylation but delays onset of decay of the RNA body and slows down its subsequent decay. We also show that HuR can be induced to redistribute from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and that this redistribution is associated with an altered function. Modulation of the ARE‐mediated decay pathway through controlling distribution of the ELAV proteins between nucleus and cytoplasm may be a mechanism by which cell growth and differentiation is regulated.