Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.10.2 (focal adhesion kinase)
 44,029 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Two cases are described of treatment-resistant vulvodynia that responded well to gabapentin. Gabapentin, an anti-epileptic drug, has been used in the treatment of neuropathic pain such as diabetic neuropathy and post-herpetic neuralgia. However, there has been little experience of its use in the relief of symptoms in vulvodynia and we add our observations to the one report of its use in these circumstances that has been published so far.
Int J STD AIDS 2002 Mar
PMID:Vulvodynia--new and more effective approaches to therapy. 1186 Jul

This study examined experimentally the effectiveness of preparatory information provided by parents in creating accurate expectations and reducing children's procedural pain. Ear piercing was used as an analogue to minor painful medical procedures. Sixty children, aged 5-12 years, requesting ear piercing and accompanied by their parents, were randomly assigned to a parental information or contact-control condition. Parents in the information group were asked to read their child a description of the procedures and sensations of ear piercing. Parents in the contact-control condition played picture games for the same amount of time. Expected pain was measured on a visual analogue scale (VAS) and the Faces Pain Scale-Revised (FPS-R) before and after the parental information or contact-control procedure. Experienced pain was measured on the same two scales immediately after the ear piercing. Prepared children had more accurate expectations and reported significantly less pain (M=27.3) than non-prepared children (M=49.8). The validity of the measures was supported by strong correlations (r=0.87 to 0.96) between the VAS and FPS-R. The findings suggest that parental provision of preparatory information creates accurate expectations and reduces pain for children.
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PMID:Expected and reported pain in children undergoing ear piercing: a randomized trial of preparation by parents. 1186 36

The aim of the study was to assess adherence with antiretroviral medication in a sample of HIV patients in Hong Kong and identify predictors of adherence. The study used a cross-sectional correlational design. Adherence behaviour was assessed with the use of self-reports. Other scales assessed knowledge with HIV medication, coping, health locus of control, anxiety, depression and fatigue. A blood sample was also obtained to assess CD4+ counts and viral load. Sociodemographic characteristics and medical information were obtained from the medical records. A high adherence rate was found in this sample of 136 predominantly Chinese patients. There were only 13.7% of the patients being classified as non-adherent. Predictors of adherence included high self-efficacy in terms of being certain that the medication schedule will be followed all or most of the time as directed, low tension-anxiety scores, and low intensity of nausea and vomiting (R2=0.304). An expanded regression model revealed additional factors influencing adherence, including coping variables, pain and numbness in the hands and feet, age, disease stage, internal locus of control, fatigue, family support and taking medication twice daily. This model explained 49% of the variance in adherence. The results suggest that adherence is a multidimensional concept. Every effort should be made to assess in individuals those variables found to affect adherence and alter them whenever possible. Continuous support of patients and individualized medication programmes that will help patients adjust their treatment to their lifestyle are recommended.
Int J STD AIDS 2002 May
PMID:Factors associated with adherence to antiretroviral medication in HIV-infected patients. 1197 33

Morphine is used to treat pain in several medical conditions including cancer. Here we show that morphine, in a concentration typical of that observed in patients' blood, stimulates human microvascular endothelial cell proliferation and angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. It does so by activating mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation via Gi/Go-coupled G protein receptors and nitric oxide in these microvascular endothelial cells. Other contributing effects of morphine include activation of the survival signal PKB/Akt, inhibition of apoptosis, and promotion of cell cycle progression by increasing cyclin D1. Consistent with these effects, morphine in clinically relevant doses promotes tumor neovascularization in a human breast tumor xenograft model in mice leading to increased tumor progression. These results indicate that clinical use of morphine could potentially be harmful in patients with angiogenesis-dependent cancers.
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PMID:Morphine stimulates angiogenesis by activating proangiogenic and survival-promoting signaling and promotes breast tumor growth. 1215 60

Measurement of quality of life is crucial to assess the full impact of antiretroviral therapy on patient morbidity. No quality of life instruments have been validated in an Asian HIV-infected patient population, but it is important to do so given the increasing involvement of the region in clinical trials. We set out to validate the Medical Outcomes Study HIV Health Survey (MOS-HIV) in HIV infected patients in Singapore. Clinically stable outpatients were asked to complete the 30-item MOS-HIV (English or Chinese translation). Patients were also asked about the frequency of selected disease symptoms, and clinical and demographic data were recorded from the case sheet. 163 patients (90% Chinese, 96% male, mean age 38 years, mean CD4 count 159 cells/mm(3)) participated in the study and completed the questionnaire to a satisfactory standard. The questionnaire showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha >0.7 in all cases). There were significant differences in quality of life scores between Centers for Disease Control disease stages, and significant correlations with CD4 count and symptom score, confirming the discriminant validity of the MOS-HIV. Factor analysis revealed two components corresponding to physical and mental health which were similar to those of studies in Western countries except that pain was more closely related to mental than physical health. Linear regression analysis identified symptom burden as the major predictor of physical and mental health. We concluded that the MOS-HIV is a valid measure of quality of life in this HIV patient population in Singapore, and is therefore likely to be useful in future clinical trials in the region. In the era of chronic HIV disease, close attention to symptoms (disease or drug-related) is warranted due to their major adverse influence on mental and physical aspects of quality of life.
Int J STD AIDS 2002 Jul
PMID:Validation of the Medical Outcomes Study HIV Health Survey as a measure of quality of life in HIV-infected patients in Singapore. 1217 64

The representative from the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) at the 15th Asian Parliamentarians' Meeting addressed the issue of negative consequences of the failure to meet the goals set at the ICPD. Global statistics on sexual and reproductive health are as follows: millions of women and men do not have access to safe and reliable family planning methods; thousands of women continue to die in pregnancy and childbirth; many suffer pain, ill health and permanent disability as a result of pregnancy and childbirth complications; up to 20 million unsafe abortions are performed on women, of whom 70,000 die every year; many young women and girls become unfactionally pregnant and lose the chance of an education and employment; pregnancy and childbirth are major killers of young women aged 15-19 years; a significant proportion of young women contract an STD; 70% of the world's 1.3 billion people living in absolute poverty are women. These women are also at risk during pregnancy and are least able to protect themselves from violence and rape, STDs and HIV/AIDS, unsafe abortion, and sexual exploitation. In conclusion, all the above concerns need support in moving governments toward better service organization and more frankness in a field where life and death are dangerously close to one another.
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PMID:Failure to meet ICPD goals will affect global stability, health of environment, and well-being, rights and potential of people. 1234 6

Quality of life (QoL) changes among 56 adult patients living with HIV/AID (PHA) were assessed following two years of care in which most had received highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). The sample was stratified by initial disease stage; subjects were classified 'asymptomatic' if they had no HIV-related constitutional symptoms, 'symptomatic' if they had at least one symptom, and 'AIDS' if symptomatic with a history of opportunistic infections and/or CD4 count less than 200 cells/ micro L. For the overall group, changes in mean QoL (Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form-36 [SF-36]) ratings were non-significant, irrespective of initial disease stage or prior HAART exposure. Although overall there were health status improvements over the two-year period, clinical changes were generally unrelated to changes in QoL ratings. Patients with better immunologic/virologic outcomes showed slight improvements in mean QoL ratings, while those with poorer clinical outcomes showed slight deterioration. These within-group changes over time were statistically non-significant. The corresponding between-group differences in changes in SF-36 social and psychological dimensions were significant. Statistically significant differences among the three disease stage groups on a number of subscales at baseline (Physical Function, Body Pain, Vitality, Role Limitations due to Physical Problems) became non-significant (i.e. nullified) at follow-up. Significant increases in mean number of symptoms for the asymptomatic and symptomatic groups were not associated with two-year changes in QoL ratings. Overall, wellbeing was moderately stable over the two-year follow-up period, although somewhat affected by symptom changes and immunologic/virologic outcome. The study results contrast with pre-HAART longitudinal research, in which deterioration in all areas of QoL occurred.
Int J STD AIDS 2002 Oct
PMID:Evaluating health-related wellbeing outcomes among outpatient adults with human immunodeficiency virus infection in the HAART era. 1239 38

We reported a study undertaken in a Sexually Transmitted Disease care unit in Antsiranana amongst two groups of patients: 299 prostitutes and 350 STD patients (204 women and 146 men). The 20-29 years old age group represented 50.3% of the patients. A 12 days average delay between appearance of first symptoms of STD and the visit to the care unit was recorded. The most important clinical signs were cervicovaginal discharge (83%), pelvic pains (67%), and pruritus (53%) in women, urethral discharge and urination pain (64%) in men. Among prostitutes on a routine visit, 22.7% had at least one STD clinical sign. Syphilis serology by TPHA showed a high prevalence among prostitutes (39%) and STD patients (32%). Direct examinations emphazed the major importance of gonorrhoea in more than 70% of STD patients, both men and women, and trichomonasis in women (22%). Chlamydia investigation could not be done. HIV antibodies were recorded in 4 prostitutes (1.3%) and in none of the STD patients. 79.3% of prostitutes and 39.4% of STD patients had at least 2 partners a week and 47.5% of prostitutes used a condom "every time" and only 21.1% STD patients "sometimes" used it. The role of STD care units must be reinforced for information, education and counselling of the population in a non medical context.
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PMID:[Epidemiological approach for sexually transmitted diseases in Antsiranana (north Madagascar). Between prevention and treatment, the choice of a strategy against sexually transmitted diseases]. 1246 7

Partial sciatic nerve ligation in mice caused a marked and persistent decrease in the latency of paw withdrawal from a thermal stimulus only on the ipsilateral side. This thermal hyperalgesia was abolished by repeated intrathecal pretreatment with a specific antibody to brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), but not neurotrophin-4, just before and after the nerve ligation. These results provide direct evidence that BDNF within the spinal cord may contribute to the development of thermal hyperalgesia caused by nerve injury in mice. We previously reported that protein level of full-length TrkB, which contains the cytoplasmic protein tyrosine kinase domain, were clearly increased on the ipsilateral side of spinal cord membranes obtained from sciatic nerve-ligated mice. In the present study, we further demonstrated that the increased in the protein level of full-length TrkB is completely reversed by concomitant intrathecal injection of BDNF antibody. Furthermore, thermal hyperalgesia induced by nerve ligation was completely suppressed by repeated intrathecal injection of a specific antibody to full-length TrkB and an inhibitor of the protein tyrosine kinase activity for the neurotrophin receptor, K-252a. However, repeated intrathecal injection of a specific antibody to truncated TrkB, which lacks the cytoplasmic protein tyrosine kinase domain, failed to reverse thermal hyperalgesia observed in nerve-ligated mice. These findings suggest the possibility that the binding of BDNF to full-length TrkB and subsequent its activation may play a critical role in the development of neuropathic pain-like thermal hyperalgesia induced by nerve injury in mice.
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PMID:Involvement of a spinal brain-derived neurotrophic factor/full-length TrkB pathway in the development of nerve injury-induced thermal hyperalgesia in mice. 1247 Aug 70

The aetiological importance of Chlamydia (C.) trachomatis in non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) is undisputed. Mycoplasma (M.) genitalium has been shown to be strongly associated with NGU and with mucopurulent cervicitis and also with acute endometritis independent of C. trachomatis. In this prevalence study we examined 946 patients, 445 women and 501 men, attending the STD clinic, for M. genitalium as well as C. trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. M. genitalium was detected in urethral samples from 17 (13.4 per cent) of 127 men with both symptoms and signs of urethritis and from 2 (1.3 per cent) of 160 men without (p < 0.001). Corresponding figures for M. genitalium in the women were 15 (11 per cent) of 136 women with symptoms and signs of urethritis or cervicitis compared to 3 (2.2 per cent) of 139 women without (p = 0.005). Examinations of partners of female and male index patients indicated that M. genitalium is sexually transmitted. Some M. genitalium infected patients had a history of irregular vaginal bleeding, lower genital tract pain, epididymitis and arthritis. Investigation of the aetiological role of M. genitalium in salpingitis, epididymitis and sexually acquired arthritis is urgently needed.
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PMID:[Chlamydia-like symptoms can have another etiology. Mycoplasma genitalium--an important and common sexually transmitted disease]. 1252 71


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