Search results for "genital diseases"

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation for renal cell carcinoma

2011

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from a compatible donor has been utilized as adoptive immunotherapy in metastatic, cytokine-refractory renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Since the year 2000, several investigators have established that RCC is susceptible to a graft-versus-tumor effect: they reported that patients with renal cancer may have partial or complete disease responses, in the 20-40% range, after allogeneic transplantation following a reduced-intensity regimen. However, transplant-related mortality is still high in the 10-20% range, and responses are rarely durable. Experimental evidence suggests that donor-derived T cells and natural killer cells are the main mediators o…

Fresh Human Orthotopic Ovarian Cortex Transplantation: Long-term Results

2006

An increasing number of young women are being diagnosed with cancer, and most cancer treatments have irreversibly negative effects on reproduction. Ovarian stimulation and preservation of oocytes or embryos is far from an ideal solution, in part because hormonal treatment may adversely affect some cancers. Another possibility is cryopreservation of ovarian tissue for later autotransplantation, but the ischemic damage caused by the procedure can lead to follicle loss. Using the ovarian medulla for orthotopic ovarian cortex transplantation might limit the risk of ischemia because the ovarian artery would assure a good blood supply. In addition, the medulla may have a role in follicular develo…

Mullarian-inhibiting substance reflects ovarian findings in women with polycystic ovary syndrome better than does inhibin-B

2005

Objective: To investigate Müllerian-inhibiting substance (MIS) levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), as well as relationships to ovarian morphology, levels of inhibin B, and other reproductive hormones. Design: Prospective clinical study. Setting: Academic endocrinology centers in Palermo, Italy and New York. Patient(s): Forty-six women with PCOS, recruited on the basis of the classic criteria of chronic anovulation and hyperandrogenism, and 25 age-matched ovulatory controls. Intervention(s): Fasting blood was obtained in all subjects in the early follicular phase (days 5–6) after spontaneous or induced menses (in PCOS), and transvaginal ultrasounds were performed. Main Out…

Two-site ELISA for quantification of the terminal C5b-9 complement complex in plasma

1993

Abstract A quantitative ELISA procedure using monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies against neoantigens of the terminal C5b-9 complement complex has been developed. The ELISA was demonstrated to be both sensitive and reproducible. The normal range for C5b-9 determinations, defined as 2.5–97.5% interval of the values obtained in 76 healthy blood donors, was 3.12–10.3 AU/ml. The presence of rheumatoid factor did not affect the determination of C5b-9 as demonstrated by immunoabsorption studies.

Lipid and Apoprotein Profile in Renal Transplant Recipients

1991

Lipid and apoprotein profiles of renal transplant recipients were compared with that of a group of uremic patients on hemodialytic treatment. Total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, apo AI and apo B were higher and triglycerides, apo CII, apo CIII and apo E lower in renal transplant patients. Type IIa and IIb were the prevalent phenotypes in renal transplant recipients.

JAK3/STAT5/6 Pathway Alterations Are Associated with Immune Deviation in CD8+ T Cells in Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients

2010

To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying altered T cell response in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients, we compared autologous and allogeneic CD8(+) T cell responses against RCC line from RCC patients and their HLA-matched donors, using mixed lymphocyte/tumor cell cultures (MLTCs). In addition, we analyzed the expression of molecules associated with cell cycle regulation. Autologous MLTC responder CD8(+) T cells showed cytotoxic activity against RCC cell lines; however the analysis of the distribution of CD8(+) T-cell subsets revealed that allogenic counterparts mediate superior antitumor efficacy. In RCC patients, a decreased proliferative response to tumor, associated with defe…

Formation of basement membrane in extracapillary proliferates in rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis

1977

In the extracapillary proliferations (crescents) of the glomeruli in glomerulonephritis, basement membranes appear and in addition "secretory bodies" are formed in the cisternae of the rough endoplasmatic reticulum. The findings permit the conclusion that proliferated visceral epithelial cells are involved in the crescent formation to a greater extent than previously assumed.

2013

Perlecan is a heparan sulfate proteoglycan assembled into the vascular basement membranes (BMs) during vasculogenesis. In the present study we have investigated vessel formation in mice, teratomas and embryoid bodies (EBs) in the absence of perlecan. We found that perlecan was dispensable for blood vessel formation and maturation until embryonic day (E) 12.5. At later stages of development 40% of mutant embryos showed dilated microvessels in brain and skin, which ruptured and led to severe bleedings. Surprisingly, teratomas derived from perlecan-null ES cells showed efficient contribution of perlecan-deficient endothelial cells to an apparently normal tumor vasculature. However, in perlecan…

PSA and PSA Kinetics Thresholds for the Presence of 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT-Detectable Lesions in Patients with Biochemical Recurrent Prostate Cancer

2020

68Ga-PSMA-11 positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is commonly used for restaging recurrent prostate cancer (PC) in European clinical practice. The goal of this study is to determine the optimum time for performing these PET/CT scans in a large cohort of patients by identifying the prostate-specific-antigen (PSA) and PSA kinetics thresholds for detecting and localizing recurrent PC. This retrospective analysis includes 581 patients with biochemical recurrence (BC) by definition. The performance of 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT in relation to the PSA value at the scan time as well as PSA kinetics was assessed by the receiver-operating-characteristic-curve (ROC) generated by plottin…

Phosphorylation of cytochromes P450: First discovery of a posttranslational modification of a drug-metabolizing enzyme

2005

Cytochromes P450 (CYP) are important components of xenobiotic-metabolizing monooxygenases (CYP-dependent monooxygenases). Their regulation by induction, most commonly by transcriptional activation, mediated by xenobiotics, normally substrates of the corresponding CYP, is well known and has been widely studied. Our team has discovered an additional important regulation of xenobiotic-metabolizing CYPs pertaining to posttranslational modification by phosphorylation. Individual CYPs are phosphorylated by different protein kinases, leading to CYP isoenzyme-selective changes in the metabolism of individual substrates and consequent drastic changes in the control of genotoxic metabolites. Best stu…