{"id":6,"date":"2018-12-14T17:20:20","date_gmt":"2018-12-14T17:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/rritt001\/?p=6"},"modified":"2018-12-14T17:20:20","modified_gmt":"2018-12-14T17:20:20","slug":"research-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/rritt001\/2018\/12\/14\/research-paper\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most interesting aspect of this article is that the researchers can use one of the most dangerous toxins on the planet to help people instead of hurting them. Research like this shows that through determination, creativity, and hard work there is a treatment for everything and the ability to use what is found in nature for our own purposes. Botulinum toxin is a neurotoxin produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum<\/em> (Nigam and Nigam, 2010). It is one of the most dangerous biological agents in the world, with type A being the most potent (Nigam and Nigam, 2010). The toxin binds to nerve endings and prevents the release of acetylcholine, resulting in paralysis (Wheeler and Smith, 2013). Botulinum toxin A, when used in non-toxic clinical doses, selectively paralyzes low amplitude spasms by blocking the production of adenosine triphosphate, the release of substance P, calcitonin gene-related peptide, and lowering the amount of nerve growth factor (Juszczak et al., 2018). \u00a0In \u201cClinical outcomes of intravesical injections of botulinum toxin type A in patients with refractory idiopathic overactive bladder\u201d researchers used botulinum toxin type A to improve quality of life for sufferers of the disease.<\/p>\n

The study used 22 female patients and the success of the treatment was measured using 2 questionnaires, the Kings Health Questionnaire and the Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (Juszczak et al., 2018). \u00a0The toxin was injected into the bladder walls at 20 sites, anterior, lateral, and posterior (Juszczak et al., 2018). \u00a0The injections were given once, and the data from questionnaires was collected before injection, after 3 months, after 6 months, and after 9 months (Juszczak et al., 2018).<\/p>\n

The results of the study indicate success. When comparing the questionnaire results before and after injections the answers received show a positive impact overall. The results do show less improvement at the 9-month interval compared to the 3-month and 6-month intervals, which indicates that the results are not lasting and that injections may need to be done at regular intervals to keep quality of life improved over a lifetime. The most greatly effected aspect of life improvements can be seen in role limitations, physical limitations, social limitations, personal relationships, and emotional. There is a large improvement in incontinence, however, there was still incontinence experienced, which implies that the treatment is not a cure and only lessens the severity of symptoms. I would be interested in reading a study using this treatment combined with other treatments, such as antimuscarinic drugs. I believe that a combination of treatments could show even more promise in giving patients improved quality of life.<\/p>\n

This relates to cell biology because the treatment is affecting the patients on a cellular level. The toxin is a protein that connects to nerve cells and interrupts extracellular communication between nerve cells and muscle cells by changing the structure of affected cells, which changes their function. This change in function leads to the tissue not being able to act abnormally. It also affects adenosine triphosphate production, which is required for energy. The blocking of this mechanism does not allow the muscle the energy it was consuming pre-treatment, which helps to stabilize it, leading to reduced spasticity. This study shows how in multicellular organisms the communication between cells is highly regulated and important. This communication being unbalanced lead to the disease initially, and by using the binding properties of the toxic protein to neurological cells a modulation can be reached and some balance restored.<\/p>\n

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References<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Juszczak, K., Adamczyk, P., Maciukiewicz, P. and Drewa, T. (2018). Clinical outcomes of intravesical injections of botulinum toxin type A in patients with refractory idiopathic overactive bladder.\u00a0Pharmacological Reports<\/em>, 70(6), pp.1133-1138.<\/p>\n

Nigam, P. and Nigam, A. (2010). Botulinum toxin.\u00a0Indian Journal of Dermatology<\/em>, 55(1), p.8.<\/p>\n

Wheeler, A. and Smith, H. (2013). Botulinum toxins: Mechanisms of action, antinociception and clinical applications.\u00a0Toxicology<\/em>, 306, pp.124-146.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The most interesting aspect of this article is that the researchers can use one of the most dangerous toxins on the planet to help people instead of hurting them. Research like this shows that through determination, creativity, and hard work… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11670,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/rritt001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/rritt001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/rritt001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/rritt001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11670"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/rritt001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/rritt001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7,"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/rritt001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6\/revisions\/7"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/rritt001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/rritt001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/student.wp.odu.edu\/rritt001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}