Search results for "beta"
showing 10 items of 3374 documents
Evaluation of serum levels of soluble CD4, CD8 and β2-microglobulin in visceral human leishmaniasis
1994
SUMMARY The levels of soluble CD4 (sCD4), sCD8 and β2-microglobulin (β2-M) were measured in sera from patients with visceral leishmaniasis during the course of infection. Levels of sCD4. sCD8 and β2-M were raised significantly above levels In normal sera and returned to the normal range after recovery. The decrease in the levels of CDS was related to a reduction of anaemia, leukopenia and thrombocytopenia. In contrast, sCD4 levels fluctuated during the period of infection. β2-M returned within normal range more rapidly than sCD8 secretion. Our results suggest that T cells are activated during infection, and that it is also possible that the raised levels of these soluble molecules play a ro…
Release of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) and fibronectin by alveolar macrophages in airway diseases
1996
Abstract Asthma and chronic bronchitis are associated with airway remodelling, and airway macrophages are present in bronchial inflammation. TGF-β and fibronectin released by alveolar macrophages possess a fibrogenic potency. The potential role of alveolar macrophages in airway remodelling was studied in asthma and chronic bronchitis by the release of TGF-β and fibronectin. Alveolar macrophages were isolated by bronchoalveolar lavage in 14 control subjects, 14 asthmatics and 14 chronic bronchitics. The spontaneous and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- or concanavalin A (Con A)-induced release of TGF-β and fibronectin was measured by ELISA. Alveolar macrophages from chronic bronchitics spontaneously…
Effect of noradrenaline and isoproterenol on lipopolysaccharide-induced tumor necrosis factor-alpha production in whole blood from patients with chro…
2005
Increased levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) correlate with poor prognoses in chronic heart failure (CHF). This study demonstrated that noradrenaline and isoproterenol inhibit TNF-alpha production in patients with CHF in ex vivo whole blood in a dose-dependent fashion. The beta-blocker bisoprolol abolishes this effect.
Deferiprone versus deferoxamine in patients with thalassemia major: a randomized clinical trial.
2002
Deferiprone has been suggested as an effective oral chelation therapy for thalassemia major. To assess its clinical efficacy, we compared deferiprone with deferoxamine in a large multicenter randomized clinical trial. One-hundred forty-four consecutive patients with thalassemia major and serum ferritin between 1500 and 3000 ng/ml were randomly assigned to deferiprone (75 mg/kg/day) (n = 71) or deferoxamine (50 mg/kg/day) (n = 73) for 1 year. The main measure of efficacy was the reduction of serum ferritin. Liver and heart iron contents were assessed by magnetic resonance. Liver iron content and fibrosis stage variations were assessed on liver biopsy by the Ishak score in all patients willin…
Noninvasive assessment of liver fibrosis in thalassaemia major patients by transient elastography (TE) - lack of interference by iron deposition.
2009
The correlation between liver stiffness, measured by transient elastography, liver fibrosis, using the histological METAVIR score, and iron overload, measured by atomic absorption spectrometry was evaluated in 56 homozygous-beta-thalassaemics. Liver stiffness increased proportionally to liver fibrosis staging (r = 0.70; P > 0.001) independently of liver iron concentration (r = 0.01; P = 0.932). The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve for prediction of cirrhosis was 0.997 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.925-1.000) with cut-off of 13 kPa with 100% sensitivity (95% CI: 69.0-100.0) and 95% specificity (95% CI: 84.2-99.3). Transient elastography is a reliable non-invasive too…
Hepatitis C virus-specific T-cell-derived transforming growth factor beta is associated with slow hepatic fibrogenesis.
2011
Up to 4 million persons in the USA have chronic hepatitis C (CHC) (1). Despite a decline in overall HCV infections, the number of patients with end stage liver disease due to CHC will increase for the next 2 decades (2). Even with highly effective novel therapies, currently 30–50% of infected individuals fail treatment (3). Therefore, a better understanding of mechanisms involved in CHC-related liver disease progression could permit more efficient therapies. Adaptive effector T cells (frequently assessed by measuring production of prototypic T helper 1 cytokine IFNγ) play an important role in control of HCV infection during the acute phase (4). In CHC, effector HCV-specific T cell immune re…
IL28B polymorphisms influence stage of fibrosis and spontaneous or interferon-induced viral clearance in thalassemia patients with hepatitis C virus …
2012
Background. Polymorphisms in the interleukin-28B are important determinants in the spontaneous and drug-induced control of hepatitis C virus infection. Design and Methods. We assessed the association of rs8099917 and rs12979860 polymorphisms with spontaneous viral clearance, severity of liver fibrosis, and response to interferon-monotherapy in 245 Thalassemia Major patients with Hepatitis C Virus infection. Results. Ninety-eight patients (40%) had a spontaneous viral clearance, while 147 patients (60%) developed a chronic infection. Spontaneous viral clearance was more frequent among patients with the T/T genotype of rs8099917 polymorphism (OR 2.130; p=0.008) or C/C genotype of rs12979860 p…
A Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in the Vitamin D Receptor Gene Is Associated With Decreased Levels of the Protein and a Penetrating Pattern in Crohn…
2018
Background: Vitamin D signaling modulates inflammation through the vitamin D receptor (VDR). The synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs731236, located in the VDR gene, has been associated with a higher risk of Crohn's disease (CD). We analyzed differences in VDR expression levels among CD patients who were homozygous for allelic variants in this SNP and their relevance for disease course. Methods: DNA was extracted from blood samples of CD patients, and SNP genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Fresh blood from patients was used to isolate peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) or to determine the expression of adhesi…
Low miR200c expression in tumor budding of invasive front predicts worse survival in patients with localized colon cancer and is related to PD-L1 ove…
2018
At the histological level, tumor budding in colon cancer is the result of cells undergoing at least partial epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. The microRNA 200 family is an important epigenetic driver of this process, mainly by downregulating zinc-finger E-box binding homeobox (ZEB) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) expression. We retrospectively explored the expression of the miR200 family, and ZEB1 and ZEB2, and their relationship with immune resistance mediated through PD-L1 overexpression. For this purpose, we analyzed a series of 125 colon cancer cases and took samples from two different tumor sites: the area of tumor budding at the invasive front and from the tumor center…
Kosaki overgrowth syndrome: A novel pathogenic variant in PDGFRB and expansion of the phenotype including cerebrovascular complications
2020
Heterozygous activating variants in platelet-derived growth factor, beta (PDGFRB) are associated with phenotypes including Kosaki overgrowth syndrome (KOGS), Penttinen syndrome and infantile myofibromatosis (IM). Here, we present three new cases of KOGS, including a patient with a novel de novo variant c.1477A > T p.(Ser493Cys), and the oldest known individual age 53 years. The KOGS phenotype includes characteristic facial features, tall stature, scoliosis, hyperelastic thin skin, lipodystrophy, variable intellectual and neurological deterioration, and abnormalities on brain imaging. Long-term outcome is unknown. Our cases confirm the phenotypic spectrum includes progressive flexion contrac…