In this task, you are given a passage which has a question and the context. You have to generate an answer to the question based on the information present in the context.

Ex Input:
Context: Pirfenidone (5 methyl-1-phenyl-2(1H)-pyridone) is a novel anti-fibrotic agent, which has been shown to decrease collagen deposition in a variety of animal models in vivo, and recently in hepatic fibrosis also. At cellular level, we have recently demonstrated that pirfenidone is able to inhibit proliferation of hepatic stellate cells induced by platelet-derived growth factor, as well as collagen type I accumulation and alpha1(I) procollagen mRNA expression.', 'To evaluate if pirfenidone maintains its anti-fibrotic properties also when administered after the induction of hepatic damage and to further investigate the molecular mechanisms leading to the anti-fibrotic effect of pirfenidone.', 'Rats treated with dimethylnitrosamine (10 mg/kg) for 5 weeks received a liquid diet containing 0.5% pirfenidone starting from the third week. Pirfenidone treatment reduced the degree of liver injury, as determined by alanine aminotransferase values and necro-inflammatory score, which was associated with reduced hepatic stellate cells proliferation and collagen deposition. Treatment with dimethylnitrosamine increased transcripts levels for transforming growth factorbeta1, procollagen alpha1(I), tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-1 and matrix metalloproteinase-2 by 7-, 7-, 4- and 15-fold, respectively. Pirfenidone administration downregulated elevated levels of those transcripts by 50-60%, and this was associated with a 70% reduction in collagen deposition.\Question: Is the anti-fibrotic effect of pirfenidone in rat liver fibrosis mediated by downregulation of procollagen alpha1 ( I ) , TIMP-1 and MMP-2?

Ex Output:
(1) Pirfenidone is effective also if administered after the induction of the hepatic damage; (2) the anti-fibrotic effect of pirfenidone is mainly due to the reduced expression of profibrogenic procollagen alpha1(I) and TIMP-1, most likely through the downregulation of transforming growth factorbeta1 mRNA, and of matrix metalloproteinase-2, which is mainly implicated in the degradation of the normal extracellular matrix.

Ex Input:
Context: Contralateral groin exploration in children with unilateral inguinal hernia is still controversial, particularly in infants. The patency rate of processus vaginalis is highest in infants but there are few data on the subsequent risk of contralateral hernia development in infants. In this retrospective study, we aimed to find out the incidence of contralateral inguinal hernia following unilateral inguinal herniotomy in infants aged less than one year.', 'All infants who underwent a unilateral Inguinal herniotomy between January 1990 and December 1998 were studied retrospectively. Infants with bilateral hernia (n = 7) were excluded from the study.', 'One hundred and one infants (93 boys and 8 girls) were studied. Median age at operation was 23 (range 2-52) weeks. The herniotomy was right-sided in 75% of the infants. Follow-up ranged from three and a half years to 11 years. A contralateral hernia developed in nine infants (9.0%). One of the initial hernias was incarcerated. Median time from operation to occurrence of contralateral hernia was 18 (range 2-60) months. None of the contralateral hernia was incarcerated. Age, sex, incarceration and side of initial hernia did not influence the development of contralateral hernia.\Question: Is contralateral groin exploration justified in infants with a unilateral inguinal hernia?

Ex Output:
The low incidence and benign nature of contralateral hernia development in infants undergoing a unilateral inguinal herniotomy does not justify routine contralateral groin exploration.

Ex Input:
Context: In colorectal cancer (CRC), as in most of other malignancies, heat shock proteins (HSPs) are overexpressed and are associated with apoptosis, cancer cell proliferation, differentiation, invasion, and metastasis. HSP70 is one of the HSPs and has a promising future in cancer studies for both diagnostic and therapeutic applications. In this study, we tried to evaluate the serum levels of HSP70 in CRC patients, and to evaluate its predictive value of detecting CRC.', 'This prospective study was consisted of 33 patients diagnosed with CRC and 31 healthy subjects who were matched for age. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were used to evaluate the serum levels of HSP70 in patients with CRC and in the healthy control group. A cut-off value for HSP70 was also determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.', 'Patients with CRC had significantly higher HSP70 concentrations compared with the control group (4.52 1.83 vs 1.22 0.48 ng/ml, p=0.001), the cut-off value was 2.25 ng/ml (95% CI 0.993-1.003, p<0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of elevated serum HSP70 in the CRC group were 96.77 and 96.96%, respectively. Also, HSP70 levels were significantly higher with rectal disease localization (p=0.01).\Question: Is heat shock protein 70 a useful marker for predicting colorectal cancer?

Ex Output:
This study shows that the serum level of HSP70 is elevated in patients with CRC. HSP70 may be utilized as an adjunct to other diagnostic or screening tests.