Biomedical subjects

Mari Palta

Publications and source records attributed to Mari Palta.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2002

HLA-DR3 and DR4 and their relation to the incidence and progression of diabetic retinopathy.

PURPOSE: Cross-sectional data from the Wisconsin Epidemiologic Study of Diabetic Retinopathy indicated that patients with HLA-DR4, but not DR3, were more likely to have prevalent proliferative retinopathy than those without both antigens. We describe the relation of HLA-DR3 and DR4 antigens to the 14-year incidence and progression of diabetic retinopathy and macular edema in this cohort. DESIGN: A population-based cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: A probability sample of male and female patients receiving primary care for diabetes in 11 counties of southern Wisconsin. METHODS: Participants were invited for a baseline examination in 1980 to 1982, with follow-up examinations at 4, 10, and 14 years later. At the 4-year examination, a random sample of participants (n = 428) diagnosed with diabetes before the age of 30 and taking insulin were selected for HLA-DR typing. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Fourteen-year incidence and progression of diabetic retinopathy and macular edema based on masked stereoscopic fundus photographic grading. RESULTS: There was no relation between HLA-DR3 and DR4 status with the 14-year incidence and progression of diabetic retinopathy, progression to proliferative retinopathy, and incidence of macular edema. Patients with either HLA-DR3 or DR4 were less likely to progress to proliferative retinopathy compared with those who were negative for both, although these relations were not statistically significant. The associations did not vary after adjusting for hypertension status, baseline retinopathy, and glycosylated hemoglobin levels, or after stratifying by duration of diabetes (less than 10 years vs. 10 years or more) and age at diagnosis of diabetes (less than 15 years vs. 15 years or more). Furthermore, 10-year mortality and 14-year nephropathy rates did not differ by HLA-DR3 or DR4 status, suggesting that selective mortality did not explain the pattern of associations seen. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to the initial cross-sectional findings, these data suggest that HLA-DR3 or DR4 status is unrelated to 14-year incidence and progression of diabetic retinopathy. The discrepancy may be related to increasing homogeneity of retinopathy and diminishing power to detect small differences, but it may also reflect the uncertain and inconsistent effects of HLA-DR3 or DR4 on the development and progression of diabetic retinopathy.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Relation of blood homocysteine and its nutritional determinants to age-related maculopathy in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

BACKGROUND: Blood homocysteine and its nutritional determinants folate and cyanocobalamin (vitamin B-12) have been shown to affect the risk of vascular disease. The pathogenesis of age-related maculopathy (ARM) is related to adverse vascular changes. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to evaluate the associations between homocysteine, its nutritional determinants, and ARM in persons aged >or= 40 y participating in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. DESIGN: A nonmydriatic fundus photograph of one eye, taken in a mobile examination center, was used to ascertain ARM status. Phlebotomy was performed for measurement of homocysteine, cyanocobalamin, and erythrocyte folate in participants of phase 2 of the survey (n = 3828). Logistic regressions were used to compute odds ratios and 95% CIs by quintile of serum analyte by using sample weights and jackknife replication methods to adjust for the complex survey design. The final analyses were adjusted for potential risk factors that influenced odds ratios. RESULTS: Total serum homocysteine, red blood cell folate, and serum cyanocobalamin were unrelated to ARM in the overall sample. However, red blood cell folate was inversely related to one type of early ARM lesion (soft drusen) in non-Hispanic blacks. CONCLUSIONS: ARM does not appear to be associated with homocysteine or its dietary determinants in this survey. There is a need for further investigation to rule out potential associations in subgroups with low folate status that may not have been detected because of the cross-sectional survey design.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

The effect of correction of sleep-disordered breathing on BP in untreated hypertension.

OBJECTIVES: To compare BP response to 3 weeks of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in hypertensive patients with and without sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). DESIGN: A controlled, interventional trial of nasal CPAP in patients with and without SDB. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Twenty-four men, aged 30 to 60 years, with mild to moderate untreated hypertension recruited from employee health and primary care clinics. METHODS: Based on in-laboratory polysomnography, 14 hypertensive patients had SDB, defined by five or more episodes of apnea and hypopnea per hour of sleep (apnea-hypopnea index [AHI], > or = 5), and 10 had no SDB (AHI, < 5). We performed 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring on all patients at baseline, during CPAP, and after CPAP treatment. In patients with an AHI > or = 5, nasal CPAP was titrated to reduce the AHI to < 5. Patients with an AHI < 5 received CPAP of 5 cm H(2)O to control for any potential effect of CPAP per se on BP. Both groups received CPAP for 3 weeks. RESULTS: After adjusting for age and body mass index, the mean nocturnal systolic and diastolic BP changes after CPAP treatment in the SDB group were significantly different from those in the no-SDB group: -7.8 vs +0.3 mm Hg (p = 0.02), and -5.3 vs -0.7 mm Hg (p = 0.03), respectively. There was a similar, although statistically insignificant, difference in the adjusted mean daytime systolic and diastolic BP changes after CPAP treatment between the two groups (-2.7 vs +0.4 mm Hg and -2.3 vs -1.7 mm Hg, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Three weeks of nasal CPAP treatment of SDB in hypertensive men caused the lowering of nocturnal systolic and diastolic BP values, suggesting that increased nocturnal BP in persons with hypertension was causally related to the apnea and hypopnea events of SDB.

Adult↗