Search results for " DISCOVERY"

Incretin-Based Therapies, Glucometabolic Health and Endovascular Inflammation

2013

Incretin peptides are a group of gastrointestinal hormones that play a prominent role in the regulation of glucose metabolism. Incretin-based therapies (IBTs) have recently emerged as an important treatment option for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). These pharmaceutical agents may be specially well suited for patients who are overweight or obese with primarily post-meal glucose peaks, and in whom traditional first-line oral agents have failed to maintain adequate glycemic control. There are 2 classes of IBTs: the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors and the glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists. The ultimate effect of both types of agents is to augment GLP-1 …

Bioengineering Thymus Organoids to Restore Thymic Function and Induce Donor-Specific Immune Tolerance to Allografts.

2015

One of the major obstacles in organ transplantation is to establish immune tolerance of allografts. Although immunosuppressive drugs can prevent graft rejection to a certain degree, their efficacies are limited, transient, and associated with severe side effects. Induction of thymic central tolerance to allografts remains challenging, largely because of the difficulty of maintaining donor thymic epithelial cells in vitro to allow successful bioengineering. Here, the authors show that three-dimensional scaffolds generated from decellularized mouse thymus can support thymic epithelial cell survival in culture and maintain their unique molecular properties. When transplanted into athymic nude …

Effects of 1-(halogenalkoxy)alkyl-5-fluorouracil derivatives on cell growth, cell volume and nucleus size of mouse lymphoma cells.

1992

The effects of three 1-(halogenalkoxy)alkyl-5-fluorouracil derivatives on cultured mouse lymphoma cells were studied and compared with those of N-methyl-bis-(2-chloroethyl)amine hydrochloride (Lost). The derivatives exert only little influence on cell proliferation and cell volume. However, all derivatives cause a concentration-dependent nucleus contraction, probably due to DNA cross-linkings. Bromodesoxyuridine modulates the effects of the derivatives on the DNA, leading to swelling of the nucleus, which may be caused by DNA strand-breaks. It is suggested that the derivatives exert synergistic effects with other factors. It is concluded that these studies are suitable for the prescreening …

Patent Foramen Ovale and Thromboembolic Complications

2010

The foramen ovale, an atrial septal defect which is essential in the fetal circulation, remains patent through adulthood in approximately 25% of the general population and so it represents the most common persistent abnormality of fetal origin. Patent foramen ovale (PFO) allows interatrial right-to-left blood shunting during those periods of the cardiac cycle in which the right atrial pressure exceeds the left one. An increasing number of pathological manifestations of PFO has been recently identified; among these, paradoxical systemic embolism, refractory hypoxemia in patients with right ventricular myocardium infarction or severe pulmonary disease, orthostatic oxygen desaturation in the r…

Novel non-invasive Adjunctive Techniques for Early Oral Cancer Diagnosis and Oral Lesions Examination

2012

Oral cancer is a potentially fatal disease with an increasing incidence and an unchanged 5-year mortality rate. Unfortunately, oral cancer is often still late diagnosed, which leads to an increase in the likelihood of functional impairment due to treatment and mortality rate. Definitive diagnosis of oral cancer must be confirmed by scalpel biopsy and histological assessment. However despite its benefits, scalpel biopsy is invasive and it is burdened by a potential morbidity. Furthermore, previous studies have suggested a high degree of intraobserver and interobserver variability regarding the histological evaluation of malignancy. As a consequence, in recent years there has been a growing a…

Acute hepatic failure: limitations of medical treatment and indications for liver transplantation.

1993

eNOS Uncoupling in Cardiovascular Diseases - the Role of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation

2013

Many cardiovascular diseases and drug-induced complications are associated with - or even based on - an imbalance between the formation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) and antioxidant enzymes catalyzing the break-down of these harmful oxidants. According to the “kindling radical” hypothesis, the formation of RONS may trigger in certain conditions the activation of additional sources of RONS. According to recent reports, vascular dysfunction in general and cardiovascular complications such as hypertension, atherosclerosis and coronary artery diseases may be connected to inflammatory processes. The present review is focusing on the uncoupling of endothelial nitric oxide synthas…

Topical therapies for oral lichen planus management and their efficacy: a narrative review.

2012

Oral Lichen Planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory condition implicating T cell-mediated cytotoxicity, and involving oral mucosal surfaces. Several therapeutic regimens have been evaluated to treat OLP and pain related, but often without high level of evidence. Topical formulations are the favourite for the majority of cases; bioadhesive formulations have been considered very useful and practical for local drug delivery in oral mucosa, due to the increased residence time on the oral mucosa of the dosage forms and better therapeutic efficacy. In this narrative review, authors try to illustrate the current topical managements for OLP from the accessible literature on this topic. Steroids are …

Papierchromatographische und papierionophoretische Untersuchungen zur Freilegung und Trennung der Hypophysen-Hinterlappen-Hormone Oxytocin und Vasopr…

1956

Inflammation, Endothelial Dysfunction and Arterial Stiffness as Therapeutic Targets in Cardiovascular Medicine

2016

In the last decades, many factors thought to be associated with the atherosclerotic process and cardiovascular events have been studied, and some of these have been shown to correlate with clinical outcome, such as arterial stiffness, endothelial dysfunction and immunoinflammatory markers. Arterial stiffness is an important surrogate marker that describes the capability of an artery to expand and contract in response to pressure changes. It can be assessed with different techniques, such as the evaluation of PWV and AIx. It is related to central systolic pressure and it is an independent predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in hypertensive patients, type 2 diabetes, end-stage…