Complementary and alternative medicine for children with sickle cell disease: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a popular alternative to opioid and other analgesics in sickle cell disease (SCD). We review the effectiveness, prevalence, and factors associated with CAM use in the pediatric SCD population.

METHODS

The review protocol was created based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. A literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Web of Science.

RESULTS

Twenty-four studies were examined. The prevalence of CAM use in pediatric patients with SCD ranged from 36 to 84.5%. Common inpatient CAM interventions were yoga, virtual reality, and acupuncture, which decreased pain scale scores. Outpatient CAMs were consisted of cognitive behavioral therapy, massage therapy, and guided-imagery, which increased pain tolerability and decreased pain scale scores.

CONCLUSIONS

CAM modalities can decrease pain scale scores. However, the impact of specific CAM modalities on emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and school absences were inconclusive.

The ghrelin O-acyltransferase structure reveals a catalytic channel for transmembrane hormone acylation

Integral membrane proteins represent a large and diverse portion of the proteome and are often recalcitrant to purification, impeding studies essential for understanding protein structure and function. By combining co-evolutionary constraints and computational modeling with biochemical validation through site-directed mutagenesis and enzyme activity assays, we demonstrate here a synergistic approach to structurally model purification-resistant topologically complex integral membrane proteins. We report the first structural model of a eukaryotic membrane-bound O-acyltransferase (MBOAT), ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT), which modifies the metabolism-regulating hormone ghrelin. Our structure, generated in the absence of any experimental structural data, revealed an unanticipated strategy for transmembrane protein acylation with catalysis occurring in an internal channel connecting the endoplasmic reticulum lumen and cytoplasm. This finding validated the power of our approach to generate predictive structural models for other experimentally challenging integral membrane proteins. Our results illuminate novel aspects of membrane protein function and represent key steps for advancing structure-guided inhibitor design to target therapeutically important but experimentally intractable membrane proteins.

Role of endoscopic ultrasound in pancreatic diseases: a systematic review

AIM

Since its introduction, endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) has been increasingly gaining more attention for diagnosing various gastrointestinal conditions. We aim to systematically review the literature and highlight the benefit of using EUS in different pancreatic diseases by primarily reviewing its importance in diagnosing, treating pancreatic pathologies, comparing its accuracy to other modalities and determining its limitations and complications.

METHODS

Using defined (MeSH) terms and keywords; two reviewers conducted a MEDLINE search through August 2014, in addition to manually searching relevant bibliographies cited in the included studies. All case reports, case series, letters, non-English and non-human articles were excluded.

RESULTS

Total of (N.=2144) potentially relevant citations were identified and screened, of which (N.=525) fulfilled eligibility criteria and grouped into seven pancreatic disease categories: chronic pancreatitis (N.=72), acute pancreatitis (N.=75), autoimmune pancreatitis (N.=31), pancreatic cancer (N.=179), neuroendocrine pancreatic tumors (N.=48), pancreatic cysts (N.=111) and pancreatic divisum (N.=9).

CONCLUSION

EUS sensitivity to diagnose chronic pancreatitis is greater than endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and CT, but using EUS-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is not diagnostic. In acute biliary pancreatitis, EUS is superior to CT and to magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) for detection of microlithiasis. EUS-guided pseudocyst drainage is safe with a high success rate. Contrast-enhanced EUS is more valuable than EUS in autoimmune pancreatitis and EUS-FNA is not recommended. EUS is superior to MRCP and multiple detector CT in evaluating pancreatic divisum. Cystic carcinoembryonic antigen level obtained using EUS-FNA is the most accurate test to exclude malignant pancreatic cyst.