Recent studies have found hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of the majority of presumed recovered subjects. We investigated this unexpected finding using samples from patients whose HCV RNA and anti-HCV status had been serially confirmed. HCV RNA was detected in PBMCs from 66 of ...

To propose a common nomenclature to refer to individuals who fulfill the American College of Rheumatology classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) during childhood or adolescence. The medical literature was reviewed for studies conducted in the target population between 1960 and December 2011 to obtain information about the terms ...

To estimate the incidence and risk factors for gastrointestinal (GI) perforation among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Claims from employer health insurance plans were used to identify RA patients and those hospitalized for upper or lower GI perforation. GI perforation cases were identified using both a sensitive and a specific ...

To determine whether men with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are more likely to achieve remission compared to women. RA patients enrolled in the Consortium of Rheumatology Researchers of North America (CORRONA) cohort between October 2001 and January 2010 were selected for the present analyses. Detailed clinical, demographic, and drug utilization data ...

To define the musculoskeletal syndrome associated with use of aromatase inhibitors (AIs), specifically, to describe its incidence, time to onset, risk factors, and clinical presentation. Postmenopausal women with hormone-sensitive, nonmetastatic breast cancer starting AI therapy were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. They underwent complete rheumatologic evaluation and contrast-enhanced magnetic ...

Cigarette smoking has emerged as a risk factor for the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recent studies have suggested that cigarette smoking may lead to lower treatment response rates with methotrexate (MTX) and some biologic agents in RA. Knowledge of whether tobacco exposure reduces treatment efficacy is important, since smoking ...

Prior observational studies have shown an association between bisphosphonate adherence and fewer fractures. It is unclear if such studies reflect pharmacologic benefits or behavioral attributes, i.e., the healthy adherer effect. Our objective was to examine the association of therapy adherence and fracture risk among patients initiating therapies hypothesized to be ...

The mechanisms that mediate the initiation and development of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) associated with hepatitis B and C virus (HBV and HCV, respectively) infection remain largely unclear. In this study we conditionally coexpressed hepatitis B virus X (HBx) and hepatitis C virus core (HCP) proteins in zebrafish livers, which caused ...

Farnesoid X receptor (FXR), the primary bile acid-sensing nuclear receptor, also plays a role in the stimulation of liver regeneration. Whole body deletion of FXR results in significant inhibition of liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy (PHX). FXR is expressed in the liver and intestines, and recent reports indicate that FXR ...

Nuclear receptors (NRs) play crucial roles in the regulation of hepatic cholesterol synthesis, metabolism, and conversion to bile acids, but their actions in cholangiocytes have not been examined. In this study, we investigated the roles of NRs in cholangiocyte physiology and cholesterol metabolism and flux. We examined the expression of ...

This prospective case-cohort study aimed to map the distribution of bone density in the proximal femur and examine its association with hip fracture. We analyzed baseline quantitative computed tomography (QCT) scans in 250 men aged 65 years or older, which comprised a randomly-selected subcohort of 210 men and 40 cases ...

Chronic pain affects approximately 20% of people worldwide and places a large economic and social burden on society. Despite the availability of a range of analgesics, this condition is inadequately treated, with complete alleviation of symptoms rarely occurring. In the past 30 years, the voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) have been ...

Wnt signaling is essential for osteogenesis and also functions as an adipogenic switch, but it is not known if interrupting wnt signaling via knockout of β-catenin from osteoblasts would cause bone marrow adiposity. Here, we determined whether postnatal deletion of β-catenin in preosteoblasts, through conditional cre expression driven by the ...

The molecular basis of agonist-selective signalling at the µ-opioid receptor is poorly understood. We have recently shown that full agonists such as [D-Ala(2)-MePhe(4)-Gly-ol]enkephalin (DAMGO) stimulate the phosphorylation of a number of carboxyl-terminal phosphate acceptor sites including threonine 370 (Thr(370)) and serine 375 (Ser(375)), and that is followed by a robust ...

The aim of this study was to obtain evidence for the activation of the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor abacavir to reactive aldehyde metabolites in vivo. Protein haptenation by these reactive metabolites may be a factor in abacavir-induced toxic events. The formation of N-terminal valine adducts from the abacavir-derived aldehydes was ...

In P2X receptors, agonist binding at the interface between neighbouring subunits is efficiently transduced to ion channel gating. However, the relationship between binding and gating is difficult to study because agonists continuously bind and unbind. Here, we covalently incorporated agonists in the binding pocket of P2X receptors and examined how ...

Since the first discovery of an inverse correlation between high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and coronary heart disease in the 1950s the life cycle of HDL, its role in atherosclerosis and the therapeutic modification of HDL-C levels have been major research topics. The Framingham study and others that followed could show ...

Pregnant women are usually not part of the traditional drug development programme. Pregnancy is associated with major biological and physiological changes that alter the pharmacokinetics (PK) of drugs. Prediction of the changes to drug exposure in this group of patients may help to prevent under- or overtreatment. We have used ...

Air pollution is becoming a major health problem that affects millions of people worldwide. In support of this observation, the World Health Organization estimates that every year, 2.4 million people die because of the effects of air pollution on health. Mitigation strategies such as changes in diesel engine technology could ...

Cover: Ingenuity network analysis showing up-(red) and down-regulation (green) of miRNAs as analyzed by miRNA profiling that are involved in pancreatic cancer and their target genes. See article by Ali et al., pages 3373-338 0this issue.

VDJ and VJ rearrangements, expression of RAG-1, Tdt and VpreB, and the presence of signal joint circles (SJC) were used to identify sites of B-cell lymphogenesis. VDJ, VλJλ but not VκJκ rearrangements or SJC were recovered from yolk sac (YS) at 20 days of gestation (DG) along with strong expression ...

To estimate the impact of highly effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) on the incidence and prognosis of Hodgkin lymphoma among people with human immunodeficiency virus infection or AIDS (PWHA). Age-adjusted incidence of Hodgkin lymphoma in PWHA is unchanged and is still five-fold to fifteen-fold higher than in the general population. Aging ...

In immunodeficiency, an increased sarcoma risk is confirmed for Kaposi's sarcoma. Whether rates of other sarcoma subtypes are elevated in the setting of immunodeficiency is not known. We therefore reviewed published case reports on HIV and AIDS patients and organ transplant recipients with sarcomas. For comparison, we assessed sarcomas in ...

Given the recent availability of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in resource-limited settings and the significant burden exacted by Kaposi's sarcoma in these areas, we reviewed data regarding the impact of ART on Kaposi's sarcoma incidence. We summarized the sizeable literature in resource-rich settings as well as emerging data from resource-limited regions. ...

Steroid-resistant asthma (SRA) refers to patients with symptoms consistent with asthma who show very poor or no response at all to high doses of inhaled or even of systemic corticosteroids. The current article reviews the SRA related literature focusing on the problems associated with the definition of SRA (especially its ...

Stem cell transplantation is already in clinical practice for certain genetic diseases and is a promising therapy for dystrophic muscle. We used the mdx mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy to investigate the effect of the host satellite cell niche on the contribution of donor muscle stem cells (satellite cells) ...

Ubiquitination of proteins plays an important role in regulating a myriad of physiological functions in plants such as xylogenesis, senescence, cell cycle control, and stress response. However, only a limited number of proteins in plants have been identified as being ubiquitinated in response to salt stress. The relationships between ubiquitination ...

A comprehensive study of the environmental fate of pollutants is more and more required, above all on new contaminants, i.e. pharmaceuticals. As high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS(n) ) may be a suitable analytical approach for characterization of unknown compounds, its performance was evaluated in this study. The analyses were carried out ...

The aim of this study was to determine whether Atmospheric Pressure Photoionization (APPI) was better suited for the mass spectrometric (MS) analysis of polyisoprenoid alcohols than the commonly used Electrospray Ionization (ESI) method. The APPI method should make possible the use of non-polar solvents without any of the additives required ...

The gas-phase behaviour of six Ru(II) cyclopentadienyl-derived complexes with N-coordinated ligands, compounds with antitumor activities against several cancer lines, was studied. This was performed with the intent of establishing fragmentation pathways and to determine the Ru-L(N) and Ru-L(P) ligand bond dissociation energies. Such knowledge can be an important tool for ...

Similar to other mass spectrometric technologies based on ion trapping in a spatially restricted area, the performance of Orbitrap Fourier transform mass spectrometry (FTMS) is affected by the interaction between the trapped ion clouds. One of the effects associated with Coulombic interaction inside the ion trap is the ion cloud ...

Alkaloids with significant therapeutic effects are the main active constituents of Corydalis (C.) species. There are several kinds of alkaloids in C. species associated with diverse alkaloid metabolism in plants, but they are rarely identified. This study aimed to identify diverse alkaloids in C. species by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem ...

The interpretation of stable hydrogen and oxygen isotope data in isotope hydrology relies on accurate, high-precision analytical measurements of the (2) H:(1) H and (18) O:(16) O ratios in liquid H(2) O samples. A synthesis of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) worldwide proficiency test for analytical laboratories conducting routine ...

(1,3)-(1,6)-β-D-glucan (BG), a natural product of glucose polymers, has immune stimulatory activity that is especially effective in wound healing. In this study, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) membranes containing BGs (BG/PLGA membranes) were investigated for their wound-healing effects. The growth rate of human dermal fibroblasts was enhanced in BG/PLGA membranes. Their growth ...

In the present study, we evaluated the safety and effectiveness of SYT-SSX-derived peptide vaccines in patients with advanced synovial sarcoma. A 9-mer peptide spanning the SYT-SSX fusion region (B peptide) and its HLA-A*2402 anchor substitute (K9I) were synthesized. In Protocols A1 and A2, vaccines with peptide alone were administered subcutaneously ...

Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling is known to support differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into mesoderm and extraembryonic lineages, whereas other signaling pathways can largely influence this lineage specification. Here, we set out to reinvestigate the influence of ACTIVIN/NODAL and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) pathways on the lineage ...

This review will address the different challenges for the use of non-neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). It will discuss the available evidence for the use of pediatric ECMO in respiratory and circulatory failure, focusing on indications and contra-indications and choice of ECMO mode. Furthermore we will try to define optimal ...

Pre-eclampsia is defined as new onset hypertension with proteinuria during pregnancy. It affects approximately 5% of pregnancies in the US with a subset of those progressing into more severe forms of the disease, known as HELLP or eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia is associated with intrauterine growth restriction, chronic immune activation and multi-organ ...

Obesity is a complex public health issue. Recent data indicate the increasing prevalence and severity of obesity in children. Severe obesity is a real chronic condition for the difficulties of long-term clinical treatment, the high drop-out rate, the large burden of health and psychological problems and the high probability of ...

To identify confounding factors that may explain the incoherence between direct and indirect evidence in a published analysis comparing extended-release dipyridamole (ERDP) plus aspirin to clopidogrel for the reduction of stroke. An existing analysis was updated with new studies from a systematic literature review. Clinicians reviewed the studies for potential ...

The association between preeclampsia and cardiovascular disease has been an increasing area of interest over the last years. Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in women in the western world and more women than men die of heart disease each year. The most common pregnancy disorder is ...

The aim of the present study is to characterize the risk of complications and prolonged hospitalization due to stationery items according to age and gender of patients, FB characteristics and foreign body (FB) location, circumstances of the accident, as emerging from the ESFBI study. A retrospective study in major hospitals ...

Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is a method of providing care for preterm infants through skin-to-skin contact with the mother and, preferably, exclusive breastfeeding. The growing interest in KMC at the Neonatology Unit of Pisa has provided the occasion for a retrospective analysis of the last four years, comparing the clinical ...

Estrogen deficit in postmenopausal women causes urogenital atrophy, which is responsible for a wide range of urinary disorders (urinary incontinence, urge incontinence, recurrent urinary infections) and genital disorders (prolapse, dispareunya, vaginal dryness). The efficacy of estrogen therapy on urinary incontinence is not yet demonstrated, but it is widely recognized that ...

The aim of the study is to analyse the comorbidity of learning disabilities (LD), its variation relating to the age of the children and to interpret the possible meaning of these data. All patients in age of compulsory education (aged 5-16) diagnosed as LD in Piedmont, registered in the Regional ...

The aim of the present study was to develop a system to facilitate the approach for patients with endometriosis, mainly for non-specialized gynecologists. This was a multicenter study (Canadian Task Force classification II-3). The study aimed to correlate three known parameters for endometriosis, qualifying and quantifying their importance in terms ...

We report a fatal case of fulminant myocarditis (FM) in a five-year-old male child. He presented to our Emergency Department having complained fever, vomiting, nausea and abdominal pain from the previous day. The ECG showed broad complex tachycardia unresponsive to treatment with both drugs and all other resuscitation measures and ...

Within children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes insulin pump treatment is of increasing interest. Frequency of insulin pump therapy shows a rapid and steep increase in toddlers and young children. Insulin pumps allow a close to physiologic insulin delivery due to basal rates programmed over 24 hours with circadian ...

The present clinical study was carried out in order to evaluate in a perspective way the incidence of the infections caused by CVC, the micro-organisms mostly involved in the infectious process, the condition of aplasia in patients when blood cultures show positiveness and the incidence of removals expressed as number ...

Aim of the present study was to quantify the intensity of vulvovaginal symptoms before and after treatment with high molecular weight hyaluronic acid (HA), to test the tolerability and safety of the product, to evaluate the effect on the quality of life and the compliance to the treatment. This was ...