Search results for "link"
showing 10 items of 1973 documents
Concentrations of 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and 11-Nor-9-Carboxytetrahydrocannabinol in Blood and Urine After Passive Exposure to Cannabis Smoke in a C…
2010
Cannabinoid concentrations in blood and urine after passive exposure to cannabis smoke under real-life conditions were investigated in this study. Eight healthy volunteers were exposed to cannabis smoke for 3 h in a well-attended coffee shop in Maastricht, Netherlands. An initial blood and urine sample was taken from each volunteer before exposure. Blood samples were taken 1.5, 3.5, 6, and 14 h after start of initial exposure, and urine samples were taken after 3.5, 6, 14, 36, 60, and 84 h. The samples were subjected to immunoassay screening for cannabinoids and analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), 11-nor-hydroxy-Delta(9)-tetra…
Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) production by T cell receptor-primed T lymphocytes is a target for low dose methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis
1999
SUMMARYMethotrexate (MTX) is an effective immunosuppressive agent in various chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, its mechanisms of action are only partially understood. In this study, we assessed the effects of MTX on the differentiation of peripheral blood (PB) CD4+CD45RA ‘naive’ and CD4+CD45RO ‘memory’ T cells from healthy controls and patients with RA. Accordingly, purified T cells were primed and restimulated in vitro via the T cell receptor (TCR) in the presence of IL-2 to generate effector T cells secreting large amounts of Th1 and Th2 cytokines. We observed that low doses of MTX strongly suppress TNF and to a lesser extent interferon-gamma (IFN-γ…
Influence of sex and genetic variability on expression of X-linked genes in human monocytes
2011
Abstract In humans, the fraction of X-linked genes with higher expression in females has been estimated to be 5% from microarray studies, a proportion lower than the 25% of genes thought to escape X inactivation. We analyzed 715 X-linked transcripts in circulating monocytes from 1,467 subjects and found an excess of female-biased transcripts on the X compared to autosomes (9.4% vs 5.5%, p −5 ). Among the genes not previously known to escape inactivation, the most significant one was EFHC2 whose 20% of variability was explained by sex. We also investigated cis expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) by analyzing 15,703 X-linked SNPs. The frequency and magnitude of X-linked cis eQTLs were…
Serum VEGF and b-FGF profiles after tension-free or conventional hernioplasty.
2005
Angiogenesis is strongly influenced by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF), whose production is also regulated by interferon (IFN)-gamma and interleukin (IL)-10. The aim of this study was to evaluate the modifications of serum VEGF, b-FGF, IFN-gamma and IL-10 levels in patients with inguinal hernia undergoing hernioplasty with the Lichtenstein technique (LH) using polypropylene mesh or with Bassini open conventional inguinal hernia repair (BH). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Randomly, 16 patients underwent BH, and 16 were treated with the LH technique using polypropylene mesh. Blood samples were collected 24 h prior to surgery and then 6, 24, 48 and …
Aqueous Humor Levels of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Retinitis Pigmentosa
2008
PURPOSE To determine the level of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) in aqueous humors of patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). METHODS A prospective, comparative control study. Aqueous humor was collected from 16 eyes of 16 patients with RP. The level of VEGF-A was determined with a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. The control group comprised 16 aqueous samples from 16 patients about to undergo cataract surgery and without any other ocular or systemic diseases. RESULTS The concentration of VEGF-A in aqueous humor was markedly lower in patients with RP than in control subjects (Mann-Whitney U test, P < 0.001). The level of VEGF-A was 94.9 +/- 99.8 …
Elevated protein carbonyl and HIF-1α levels in eyes with proliferative diabetic retinopathy.
2013
Purpose: To evaluate the role of protein carbonyls and hypoxia inducible factor-1a (HIF-1a) in diabetic eyes with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Methods: Prospective consecutive controlled observational study was performed. Vitreous samples were collected at the start of the 3-ppp vitrectomy. Protein carbonylation analysis was performed by Western blotting with antibody against 2,4-Dinitrophenol (anti-DNP), following derivatization of protein carbonyls with 2,4 Dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNHP). Protein carbonylation was quantified by scanning densitometry analysis and relativized to the total amount of protein into the ponceau staining of membranes. Vitreous HIF-1 a was determined w…
Excitability of subcortical motor circuits in Go/noGo and forced choice reaction time tasks
2006
The size of the response to a startling auditory stimulus (SAS) may reflect the excitability of the reticulospinal tract. In this study, we examined whether there was any excitability change in the reticulospinal tract during preparation for execution of two types of choice reaction time task: a forced choice reaction time task (fCRT) and a Go/no-Go task (GnG). In 13 healthy volunteers we used three types of trials: control trials in which subjects were requested to perform ballistic wrist movements during fCRT or GnG tasks; test trials in which a SAS was presented with the visual cue, and baseline trials in which SAS was presented alone. Latency and area of the responses to SAS were measur…
Clinical, histological and genetic characterization of reducing body myopathy caused by mutations in FHL1
2008
We recently identified the X-chromosomal four and a half LIM domain gene FHL1 as the causative gene for reducing body myopathy, a disorder characterized by progressive weakness and intracytoplasmic aggregates in muscle that exert reducing activity on menadione nitro-blue-tetrazolium (NBT). The mutations detected in FHL1 affected highly conserved zinc coordinating residues within the second LIM domain and lead to the formation of aggregates when transfected into cells. Our aim was to define the clinical and morphological phenotype of this myopathy and to assess the mutational spectrum of FHL1 mutations in reducing body myopathy in a larger cohort of patients. Patients were ascertained via th…
Hereditary angioedema with normal C1-inhibitor activity in women.
2000
Summary Background Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a well defined autosomal dominant disease (Mendelian Inheritance in Man #106100) that results from an inherited deficiency of C1 (the activated first component of complement) inhibitor function. We report an unusual variant of HAE with normal biochemical C1-inhibitor function, occurring only in women. Methods We screened 574 patients with recurrent angioedema of the skin for presence of HAE. 283 patients were selected, in whom angioedema was associated with abdominal pain attacks or recurrent life-threatening episodes of upper-airway obstruction, or both, rather than with urticaria. We measured C1-inhibitor concentration and functional activ…
Methodological Aspects of the Application of the Naka-Rushton Equation to Clinical Electroretinogram
1993
The nonlinear relation between stimulus intensity and response amplitude of the electroretinogram (ERG) scotopic b wave can be described by a curve based on the Naka-Rushton (NR) equation. Up to now, the NR equation has been used to assess the features of the normal and pathological ERG, but the best approach for a correct evaluation of the parameters is still debatable. The parameters are thought to be related to the different conditions of retinal activities. The method is well known in experimental laboratories but is quite unusual at the clinical level. In the present paper the derivative analysis of the NR function is proposed as an easier approach to understand the variations of the N…