Effects of smoking on eustachian tube and hearing

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of tobacco use on the Eustachian tube and inner ear function. Study Design: Case-control study. Subjects and settings: Thirty-one nonsmoking volunteers and 34 smoking subjects recruited in an University Hospital, submitted to an audiological evaluation including pure tone audiometry, basal tympanogram, stapedial reflexes analysis, and nine-step eustachian tube (ET) function test. Results: Pure Tone Average (PTA) threshold at all frequencies tested was 12.5 dB in smokers and 3.7 in nonsmoking subjects. Nine smokers (27%) presented some degree of hearing loss versus none in the nonsmoker group. Linear regression analysis showed a higher degree of sensorineural hearing loss with age in smokers. Among the smokers, 20 subjects (59%) presented an impaired tubal function for the nine-step inflation/deflation tympanometric test, while only 6 (19%) subjects in the group of nonsmokers showed a tubal dysfunction. Conclusion: Tobacco use may reduce the ability to hear, mainly causing a sensorineural hearing loss for higher frequencies. We also found the presence of a high number of smokers suffering from tubal dysfunction. This has an important clinical relevance, not only because smoking increases the incidence of middle ear diseases, but also because tubal dysfunction may cause nonspecific symptoms characterised by ear fullness and difficulties in middle ear equalisation

The influence of specific aspects of occupational stress on security guards' health and work ability: detailed extension of a previous study

In our earlier study of security guards, we showed that higher occupational stress was associated with health impairments (metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases) and work disability. The aim of this study was to further explore the association of specific occupational stressors with health impairments and work disability parameters in 399 Serbian male security guards (aged 25-65 years). Ridge linear regression analysis revealed that, after controlling for age, body mass index, and smoking status, professional stressors including high demands, strictness, conflict/uncertainty, threat avoidance and underload were significant positive predictors of fasting glucose, triglycerides, total and LDL cholesterol, blood pressure, heart rate, Framingham cardiovascular risk score, and temporary work disability. The security profession is in expansion worldwide, and more studies are needed to establish precise health risk predictors, since such data are generally lacking

Targeting IL-23 and Th17-cytokines in inflammatory bowel diseases

Over the last 15 years, the use of various biological therapies has largely improved the way we manage patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBDs). Blockade of cytokine synthesis and/or activity is at the forefront of this new era with the success of inhibitors of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. These therapies are however not effective in all IBD patients and efficacy may wane. Moreover, patients treated with anti-TNF-α antibodies can develop severe side-effects and new immune-mediated diseases. Therefore, a new challenge is to elucidate new inflammatory networks in the IBD tissue and develop novel anti-cytokine compounds, which may act in patients who are resistant to or cannot receive anti-TNF-α therapies. In this article we review the available data supporting the pathogenic role of IL-23 and Th17-related cytokines in IBD, and discuss whether and how compounds that control the activity of these cytokines may enter into the therapeutic armamentarium of IBD

Quality of Sleep in Patients with Different Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RCD/TMD) Diagnoses

To assess clinical profiles of subjective sleep quality in patients with different Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) diagnoses using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), one of the most widely used standardized measures to evaluate subjective sleep quality, that generates a global score and scores seven components: subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleeping medication, and daytime dysfunction

Targeting IL-23 and Th17-cytokines in inflammatory bowel diseases

Over the last 15 years, the use of various biological therapies has largely improved the way we manage patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBDs). Blockade of cytokine synthesis and/or activity is at the forefront of this new era with the success of inhibitors of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. These therapies are however not effective in all IBD patients and efficacy may wane. Moreover, patients treated with anti-TNF-α antibodies can develop severe side-effects and new immune-mediated diseases. Therefore, a new challenge is to elucidate new inflammatory networks in the IBD tissue and develop novel anti-cytokine compounds, which may act in patients who are resistant to or cannot receive anti-TNF-α therapies. In this article we review the available data supporting the pathogenic role of IL-23 and Th17-related cytokines in IBD, and discuss whether and how compounds that control the activity of these cytokines may enter into the therapeutic armamentarium of IBD

Celiac disease-related inflammation is marked by reduction of Nkp44/Nkp46-double positive natural killer cells

Introduction and Aim: Natural killer (NK) cells are a first line of defence against viruses and down-regulation of NK cell cytotoxic receptors represents one of the strategies by which viruses escape the host's immune system. Since onset of celiac disease (CD), a gluten-driven enteropathy, has been associated with viral infections, we examined whether CD-associated inflammation is characterized by abnormal distribution of NK cell receptors involved in recognition of viral-infected cells. Materials and Methods: Intraepithelial mononuclear cells, isolated from duodenal biopsies of active and inactive CD patients and healthy controls (CTR) and jejunal specimens of obese subjects undergoing gastro-intestinal bypass, were analysed for NK cell markers by flow-cytometry. Expression of granzyme B, interleukin (IL)-22 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α was as assessed in freshly isolated and toll-like receptor (TLR) ligand-stimulated cells. Results: The percentages of total NK cells and NKT cells did not significantly differ between CD patients and CTR. In active CD, the fractions of NKp30+ NK cells, NKG2D+ NK cells and NKG2D+ NKT cells were significantly increased as compared to inactive CD patients and CTR. In contrast, CD-associated inflammation was marked by diminished presence of NKG2A+ NK cells and NKG2A+ NKT cells. The fractions of NK cells and NKT cells expressing either NKp44 or NKp46 did not differ between CD and controls, but in CD less NK cells and NKT cells co-expressed these receptors. NKp44/NKp46-double positive cells produced granzyme B and IL-22 but not TNF-α and responded to TLR ligands with enhanced expression of granzyme B. Conclusions: These data indicate that active phase of CD associates with reduced presence of NKp44/NKp46-double positive NK cells and NKT cells in the epithelial compartment