Search results for "PATHOGENESIS"

Candida bloodstream infections in intensive care units: Analysis of the extended prevalence of infection in intensive care unit study

2011

Objectives: To provide a global, up-to-date picture of the prevalence, treatment, and outcomes of Candida bloodstream infections in intensive care unit patients and compare Candida with bacterial bloodstream infection. Design: A retrospective analysis of the Extended Prevalence of Infection in the ICU Study (EPIC II). Demographic, physiological, infection-related and therapeutic data were collected. Patients were grouped as having Candida, Gram-positive, Gram-negative, and combined Candida/bacterial bloodstream infection. Outcome data were assessed at intensive care unit and hospital discharge. Setting: EPIC II included 1265 intensive care units in 76 countries. Patients: Patients in partic…

Pharmacogenomics: a tool to prevent and cure coronary heart disease.

2007

Inflammation and genetics play an important role in the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease (CHD). This is supported by epidemiological studies which have thoroughly investigated the association between CHD and gene polymorphisms of the inflammatory molecules. Moreover, efforts to find elective therapy have not been rewarding and, despite the increasing appreciation of the role of genetics in CHD and myocardial infarction (MI) pathogenesis, pharmacogenomic approaches to uncover drug target have not been extensively explored. A critical search of published literature has suggested few inflammatory genes directly involved in the risk to develop CHD and MI. The selected genes are, the pro- …

Molecular diagnosis and therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC): an emerging field for advanced technologies.

2011

Despite great progress in diagnosis and management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the exact biology of the tumor remains poorly understood overall limiting the patients' outcome. Detailed analysis and characterization of the molecular mechanisms and subsequently individual prediction of corresponding prognostic traits would revolutionize both diagnosis and treatment of HCC and is the key goal of modern personalized medicine. Over the recent years systematic approaches for the analysis of whole tumor genomes and transcriptomes as well as epigenomes became affordable tools in translational research. This includes simultaneous analyses of thousands of molecular targets using microarray-bas…

Influence of age on osteoarthritis progression after anterior cruciate ligament transection in rats.

2013

Abstract The anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) model of osteoarthritis (OA) in young rats is widely used to study the pathogenesis of OA and possible treatment approaches. As aging is a key factor in the progression of this condition, it is hypothesized that animals may vary in their responses to ACLT according to their age. The histopathological features of young (2 month-old) and middle-aged (12 month-old) rats in the presence or absence of ACLT were compared. The results indicated that moderate degradative changes can be detected in the knee joints of sham-operated middle-aged rats compared with young animals. After ACLT, cartilage degradation was significantly higher in midd…

Aging and asthma: pathophysiological mechanisms

2003

Lymphocyte apoptosis in children with central nervous system tuberculosis: a case control study

2011

Abstract Background Studies of the apoptosis mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of tuberculosis have suggested that Mycobacterium tuberculosis can actively interfere with the apoptosis of infected cells. In vivo studies have been performed in adult populations but have not focused on this process in children. In the present study, we analyzed spontaneous T lymphocyte (PBT) apoptosis in the peripheral blood of children with central nervous system tuberculosis (CNS TB), before and after chemotherapy, and compared the results with healthy controls. Methods A case-control study was conducted from January 2002 to June 2009. It included 18 children with CNS TB and 17 healthy controls. Sponta…

Molecular mechanisms linking neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in MS.

2013

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating autoimmune disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) and one of the leading causes of neurological deficits and disability in young adults in western countries. Current medical treatment mainly influences disease progression via immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive actions. Indeed, MS research has been foremost focused on inflammation in the CNS, but more recent evidence suggests that chronic disability in MS is caused by neurodegeneration. Imaging studies show an early involvement of neurodegeneration as brain atrophy and gray matter lesions can be observed at disease onset. Thus, neuroprotective treatment strategies and the eluc…

IL-17 and related cytokines involved in the pathology and immunotherapy of multiple sclerosis: Current and future developments.

2014

Multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune neurological disorder, is driven by self-reactive T helper (Th) cells. Research on the role of Th17 lymphocytes in MS pathogenesis has made significant progress in identifying various immunological as well as environmental factors that induce the differentiation and expansion of these cells, different subsets of Th17 cells with varying degrees of pathogenicity, and the role of the secreted effector cytokines. While approved therapies for MS offer significant benefit to patients, there remain unmet needs. Ongoing clinical trials aim to translate the advanced knowledge of Th17 cytokines to improved therapies. This review discusses the current status and …

Degeneration of the Cerebellum in Huntington's Disease (HD): Possible Relevance for the Clinical Picture and Potential Gateway to Pathological Mechan…

2012

Huntington's disease (HD) is a polyglutamine disease and characterized neuropathologically by degeneration of the striatum and select layers of the neo- and allocortex. In the present study, we performed a systematic investigation of the cerebellum in eight clinically diagnosed and genetically confirmed HD patients. The cerebellum of all HD patients showed a considerable atrophy, as well as a consistent loss of Purkinje cells and nerve cells of the fastigial, globose, emboliform and dentate nuclei. This pathology was obvious already in HD brains assigned Vonsattel grade 2 striatal atrophy and did not correlate with the extent and distribution of striatal atrophy. Therefore, our findings sug…

Serological evidence for protection by human papillomavirus (HPV) type 6 infection against HPV type 16 cervical carcinogenesis

1999

Human papillomavirus (HPV) exists as more than 100 genotypes. It is not well-established whether the different HPV types interfere with infection or pathogenesis by each other. Possible interactions in cervical carcinogenesis between infection with the most common HPV types (6, 11, 16, 18 and 33) were studied in a seroepidemiological case- control study of 218 women with primary untreated cervical cancer and 219 healthy age-matched control women. As previously shown, HPV-16 seropositivity was associated with cervical cancer risk [odds ratio (OR), 2·39], but HPV-16 was not associated with cervical cancer risk among HPV-6 seropositive women (OR, 1·0). The relative excess risk due to interacti…