Search results for "Lins"
showing 10 items of 460 documents
Effect of high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin treatment in therapy-resistant chronic spontaneous urticaria
2010
Background Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) lasting more than 6 weeks is one of the most disabling types of urticaria and often results in severely impaired quality of life. Patients with CSU are often unsatisfied with the standard treatment. Another treatment option recommended for patients with so-called nonresponding CSU according to the newest guidelines is intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of high-dose IVIG as a treatment option in patients with therapy-resistant CSU. Methods Six patients with severe CSU unresponsive to other treatment options according to the newest guidelines for several weeks were treated with high-dose IVIG (2 g/kg ev…
Thyroid Stimulating Antibodies Are Highly Prevalent in Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and Associated Orbitopathy
2016
Thyroid-associated orbitopathy (TAO) rarely occurs in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT).There is evidence that TSH receptor stimulating antibodies (TSAb) play a role in the pathogenesis of TAO. In this report, the prevalence of TSAb in HT patients with and without TAO was studied.This is a longitudinal observational study.The study took place in an academic joint thyroid-eye clinic.A total of 1055 subjects were included.TSAb was measured with a Food and Drug Administration-cleared bioassay that uses Chinese hamster ovary cells expressing a chimeric TSH receptor and a cAMP response element-dependent luciferase. Results of TSAb activity were reported as percentage of specimen-to-refe…
Prospective Trial of Functional Thyrotropin Receptor Antibodies in Graves Disease
2019
Abstract Context Scarce data exist regarding the relevance of stimulatory (TSAb) and blocking (TBAb) thyrotropin receptor antibodies in the management of Graves disease (GD). Objective To evaluate the clinical utility and predictive value of TSAb/TBAb. Design Prospective 2-year trial. Setting Academic tertiary referral center. Patients One hundred consecutive, untreated, hyperthyroid GD patients. Methods TSAb was reported as percentage of specimen-to-reference ratio (SRR) (cutoff SRR < 140%). Blocking activity was defined as percent inhibition of luciferase expression relative to induction with bovine thyrotropin (TSH, thyroid stimulating hormone) alone (cutoff > 40% inhibitio…
Relationship of eye muscle antibodies with HLA phenotypes and thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulins in endocrine orbitopathy.
1991
The relationship between endocrine orbitopathy and Graves' hyperthyroidism is still not clairified. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the incidence of eye muscle antibodies and the relationship with HLA phenotypes and thyroid antibodies in 65 patients with endocrine orbitopathy classes 1–5. Both bovine and abdominal muscles were used as antigens in ELISA systems in which IgG and IgM antibodies were assayed. Before starting the immunosuppressant therapy, 46/65 patients (71%) showed a positive result for eye muscle antibodies. Those patients with an active disease had such antibodies more frequently. Where the ophthalmopathy was of recent onset IgM antibodies were found, whereas pati…
Analytical performance and clinical utility of a bioassay for thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulins.
2013
Abstract The analytical performance and the clinical utility of a thyrotropin receptor (TSHR)–stimulating immunoglobulin (TSI) bioassay were compared with those of a TSHR-binding inhibitory immunoglobulin (TBII) assay. Limits of detection (LoD) and quantitation (LoQ), assay cutoff, and the half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) were measured. Dilution analysis was performed in sera of hyperthyroid patients with Graves disease (GD) during antithyroid treatment (ATD). Titer was defined as the first dilution step at which measurement of TSI or TBII fell below the assay cutoff. The LoD, LoQ, cutoff, and EC50 of the bioassay were 251-, 298-, 814-, and 827-fold lower than for the TBII assay.…
Central obesity and hypertensionThe role of plasma endothelin
1996
Hypertension and central obesity are two conditions closely linked, but the mechanisms responsible for obesity-associated hypertension are still unclear. In the last few years, several studies addressed the role of endothelin-1 (ET-1) in the development and maintenance of hypertension. This study was designed to evaluate plasma ET-1 in normotensive and hypertensive central obese subjects compared with a lean healthy group. Our final goal was to analyze the relationship between plasma ET-1, blood pressure, and left ventricular structure and function in central obese subjects (both normotensives and hypertensives). ET-levels have been assessed by the radioimmunoassay method in 20 lean normote…
Endothelium-derived factors in microalbuminuric and nonmicroalbuminuric essential hypertensives
2000
Previous evidence has demonstrated a relationship between growth factors and cardiovascular diseases. This study was aimed at evaluating levels of some endothelium-derived growth factors, and their relationship with microalbuminuria (MAU), in essential hypertension. Ninety-nine mild-moderate essential hypertensives (EH) and 25 healthy controls were studied. All patients underwent 24-h blood pressure monitoring, serum endothelin-1 (ET-1), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and 24-h MAU assays. Later, EH were divided into two subsets consisting of microalbuminurics (MAU >11 microg/min) and nonmicroalbuminurics (MAU <11 microg/min). In microalbumin…
The influence of high dose intravenous immunoglobulins on immunological and metabolic pattern in newly diagnosed type I diabetic patients
1990
In autoimmune disease the functional deficiency of T suppressor cells, also described in Type I diabetes, may be restored through immunoglobulin (Ig) infusion, which increases antigen phagocytosis, NK activity, cell clones and antibody anti-idiotype responses. Sixteen Type I diabetic patients were studied: eight were treated soon after the initial correction of disease-onset glycemic deterioration with intensive intravenous (i.v.) 7S Ig treatment (0.4 g/kg/BW) for 1 week and once per week for 6 months, whilst the remaining patients constituted the control group. All patients were evaluated during the study for metabolic and immunological parameters. A reduction in insulin requirement compar…
Role of endothelium and calcium channels in endothelin-induced contraction of human cerebral arteries
1990
Endothelin constricted human isolated cerebral arteries in a concentration-dependent manner. The maximal tension developed, as well as EC50 values were similar in arteries with and without endothelium. Removal of extracellular calcium or addition of the calcium antagonist nicardipine (10(-6)M), attenuated but did not abolish responses to endothelin. These experiments show that the endothelin-induced contraction in human cerebral arteries is not linked to the presence of intact endothelial cells. The data also show that the contractile effects of endothelin cannot be explained solely by an action on voltage-dependent calcium channels.
Intravenous immunoglobulin in primary and secondary chronic progressive multiple sclerosis: a randomized placebo controlled multicentre study
2007
In patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS), IVIG was shown to reduce the relapse rate and progression of disability. In patients with chronic progressive MS, a beneficial effect of IVIG was not documented in placebo controlled studies. This trial investigated the influence of IVIG in primary (PPMS) and secondary (SPMS) chronic progressive MS. Two-hundred and thirty-one patients stratified for PPMS ( n = 34) and SPMS ( n = 197) were randomly assigned to IVIG 0.4 g/kg per month or to placebo for 24 months. Primary endpoints were 1) the time to sustained progression of disease identified as worsening of the expanded disability status scale (EDSS) sustained for 3 months, and …