Androgen deprivation therapy improves the in vitro capacity of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) to receive cholesterol and other lipids in patients with prostate carcinoma

The relationships between thyroid functions of short-term rapid hypothyroidism and blood lipid levels in post-thyroidectomy patients of differentiated thyroid cancer

Objective

To explore the relationship between short-term rapid hypothyroidism and blood lipid levels in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC).

Methods

Seventy-five DTC patients scheduled to receive radioactive iodine ablation were enrolled. Levels of thyroid hormone and serum lipids were tested at two time points: the euthyroid before thyroidectomy, and the hypothyroid (off thyroxine). Then the collected data were analyzed.

Results

Totally 75 DTC patients enrolled, among them, 5o were female (66.67%) and 25 were male (33. 33%), with an average age of 52.24 ± 1.24 years old. The short-term rapid severe hypothyroidism induced by thyroid hormone withdrawal significantly aggravated dyslipidemia, particularly in patients with dyslipidemia before thyroidectomy (All P < 0.01). However, there was no significant differences between blood lipid levels with different thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. And our study showed significant negative correlations between free triiodothyronine levels and the changes from euthyjroidism to hypothyroidism in total cholesterol (r=-0.31, P=0.03), triglycerides (r=-0.39, P=0.006), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) (r=-0.29, P=0.042), and significant positive correlations between free thyroxine and the changes of HDL-C (r=-0.32, P=0.027) were identified in females, however, which were not observed in males.

Conclusion

Short-term rapids severe hypothyroidism caused by thyroid hormone withdrawal can lead to rapid significant changes in blood lipid levels. It is necessary to pay attention to dyslipidemia and its long-term effects after thyroid hormone withdrawal, especially in patients with dyslipidemia before thyroidectomy.

Clinical trial registration

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03006289?term=NCT03006289&draw=2&rank=1, identifier NCT03006289.

Hydroxychloroquine increased cholesterol transfer to high-density lipoprotein in systemic lupus erythematosus: A possible mechanism for the reversal of atherosclerosis in the disease

INTRODUCTION

The beneficial effect of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in decreasing LDL levels on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is well defined. The influence of this drug on HDL levels is still under debate and information about its effect on cholesterol reverse transport is lacking.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effects of HCQ on HDL levels and the transfer of lipids to this lipoprotein in SLE.

METHODS

Nineteen SLE patients using only HCQ (SLE WITH HCQ), 19 SLE patients without any therapy (SLE WITHOUT THERAPY), and 19 healthy controls (CONTROL) were included. All three groups were premenopausal women age- and gender-matched. Serum lipids and apolipoproteins were determined by commercial kits. An in vitro transfer of four lipids (¹⁴C-Phospolipid, ³H-Cholesteryl ester, ³H-Triglyceride, and ¹⁴C-Unesterified cholesterol) from a radioactively labeled nanoemulsion donor to HDL was performed in all participants.

RESULTS

Groups had comparable mean age, weight, height, BMI(body mass index), and waist circumference (p > .05). Mean HDL levels were higher in SLE WITH HCQ group compared to SLE WITHOUT THERAPY(58.37 ± 14.04 vs 49.79 ± 8.0 mg/dL; p < .05) but lower than CONTROL (58.37 ± 14.04 vs 68.58 ± 9.99 mg/dL; p < .05). Total cholesterol (TC) and LDL levels were also significantly lower in SLE WITH HCQ compared SLE WITHOUT THERAPY(148.16 ± 16.43 vs 167.11 ± 30.18 mg/dL; p < .05, 75.05 ± 22.52 vs 96.05 ± 25.63 mg/dL; p < .05) and CONTROL (148.16 ± 16.43 vs 174.11 ± 23.70 mg/dL; p < .05, 75.05 ± 22.52 vs 88.53 ± 20.24 mg/dL; p < .05). The in vitro lipid transfer to HDL study revealed a significant difference among the three groups (p = .002) with a higher transfer of unesterified cholesterol(UC) in SLE WITH HCQ compared to SLE WITHOUT THERAPY(5.40 ± 1.05% vs. 4.44 ± 1.05%; p < .05). The latter was significantly decreased compared to CONTROL (5.40 ± 1.05% vs. 5.99 ± 1.71%; p < .05).The percentages of transfer of triacylglycerol (4.93 ± 0.69% vs. 4.50 ± 0.69% vs. 5.14 ± 1.01%; p = .054), esterified cholesterol (5.24 ± 0.70% vs. 4.96 ± 0.89% vs. 5.69 ± 1.27%; p = .079), and phospholipid (15.67 ± 1.03% vs. 15.34 ± 1.44% vs. 16.47 ± 1.89%; p = .066) were similar among groups.

CONCLUSION

The present study is the first to demonstrate that HCQ promoted a higher transfer of unesterified cholesterol which may account for the increased HDL levels in lupus patients under HCQ. This desirable effect may underlie the reported reduced atherosclerosis in SLE.

A multi-step blind source separation approach for the attenuation of artifacts in mobile high-density electroencephalography data

Objective.Electroencephalography (EEG) is a widely used technique to address research questions about brain functioning, from controlled laboratorial conditions to naturalistic environments. However, EEG data are affected by biological (e.g. ocular, myogenic) and non-biological (e.g. movement-related) artifacts, which-depending on their extent-may limit the interpretability of the study results. Blind source separation (BSS) approaches have demonstrated to be particularly promising for the attenuation of artifacts in high-density EEG (hdEEG) data. Previous EEG artifact removal studies suggested that it may not be optimal to use the same BSS method for different kinds of artifacts.Approach.In this study, we developed a novel multi-step BSS approach to optimize the attenuation of ocular, movement-related and myogenic artifacts from hdEEG data. For validation purposes, we used hdEEG data collected in a group of healthy participants in standing, slow-walking and fast-walking conditions. During part of the experiment, a series of tone bursts were used to evoke auditory responses. We quantified event-related potentials (ERPs) using hdEEG signals collected during an auditory stimulation, as well as the event-related desynchronization (ERD) by contrasting hdEEG signals collected in walking and standing conditions, without auditory stimulation. We compared the results obtained in terms of auditory ERP and motor-related ERD using the proposed multi-step BSS approach, with respect to two classically used single-step BSS approaches.Main results. The use of our approach yielded the lowest residual noise in the hdEEG data, and permitted to retrieve stronger and more reliable modulations of neural activity than alternative solutions. Overall, our study confirmed that the performance of BSS-based artifact removal can be improved by using specific BSS methods and parameters for different kinds of artifacts.Significance.Our technological solution supports a wider use of hdEEG-based source imaging in movement and rehabilitation studies, and contributes to the further development of mobile brain/body imaging applications.