tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Inflammatory processes and effects of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in overlap syndrome
Authors: Serkan Nural, Ersin Gunay, Bilal Halici, Mehmet Unlu
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2012)

Aim: We aimed to compare serum levels of the inflammatory mediators of C-Reactive Protein (CRP), Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) and Asymmetric-Dimethyl-Arginine (ADMA) in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) and their coexistence called Overlap Syndrome (OVS). Also, we planned to investigate the changes of these mediators with the treatment of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in OSAS and OVS patients.  Methods: CRP, TNF-α, ADMA levels were analyzed by ELISA method with the blood samples taken from patients with COPD (N=25), OVS (N=25) and moderate-severe stage OSAS (N=25) in the morning after polysomnography application and second blood samples taken from OSAS and OVS patients who underwent regular CPAP treatment throughout 3-6 weeks.  Results: In comparison of three groups prior to CPAP treatment, ADMA levels in OSAS group were significantly lower than in COPD group (p=0.009), but CRP (p=0.478) and TNF-α (p=0.137) were similar among groups. On the basis of before-after CPAP treatment comparison, CRP levels in both OSAS and OVS groups decreased significantly (p=0.02, p=0.04), whereas TNF-α (p=0.980, p=0.144) and ADMA (p=0.321, p=0.282) levels did not display any statistical significant differences.  Conclusion: In OVS group, no significant difference was established in inflammatory mediators when compared to COPD and OSAS groups. After effective CPAP treatment, decrease in serum-CRP level in OVS and OSAS groups showed that CPAP is an effective treatment method for systemic inflammation. Nevertheless, further investigations examining the differences in ADMA, CRP and TNF-α level in patients with COPD, OSAS and OVS are required.
Bronchoalveolar lavage, sputum and exhaled clinically relevant inflammatory markers: values in healthy adults
Authors: B. Balbi, P. Pignatti, M. Corradi, P. Baiardi, L. Bianchi, G. Brunetti, A. Radaeli, G. Moscato, A. Mutti, A. Spanevello, M. Malerba
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2007)

Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), induced sputum and exhaled breath markers (exhaled nitric oxide and exhaled breath condensate) can each provide biological insights into the pathogenesis of respiratory disorders. Some of their biomarkers are also employed in the clinical management of patients with various respiratory diseases. In the clinical context, however, defining normal values and cut-off points is crucial. The aim of the present review is to investigate to what extent the issue of defining normal values in healthy adults has been pursued for the biomarkers with clinical value. The current authors reviewed data from literature that specifically addressed the issue of normal values from healthy adults for the four methodologies. Most studies have been performed for BAL (n = 9), sputum (n = 3) and nitric oxide (n = 3). There are no published studies for breath condensate, none of whose markers yet has clinical value. In healthy adult nonsmokers the cut-off points (mean+2 sd ) for biomarkers with clinical value were as follows. BAL: 16.7% lymphocytes, 2.3% neutrophils and 1.9% eosinophils; sputum: 7.7×10 6 ·mL −1 total cell count and 2.2% eosinophils; nitric oxide: 20.2 ppb. The methodologies differ concerning the quantity and characteristics of available reference data. Studies focusing on obtaining reference values from healthy individuals are still required, more evidently for the new, noninvasive methodologies.
ANAPHYLACTIC SHOCK AFTER INJECTION OF SERUM INTRAVENOUSLY
Authors: C. A. Patrick
Journal: BMJ (1917)

ICase 12.-A mild case, with six weeks' history.Sulphurbath treatment for two weeks.Treated by-chlorine g8s on November 28th aind 29th, 1916, and againi on December-2nd and 3rd.Cured on December 7th.Wrote on December 21st sayin'g he wvas ski!i free of disease.Case 13.-Hands, arms, trunk, anid legs affected.One week's history with rapid spread of the infectioln.Treated by chlorine gas oni Decemlber 7tb-8th, and 12th.-OnDecember 16th the patient wvas free of scabies.Case 14.-Hands, arms, trunk, and .legs.affe,qtqd.Ten weeks' history-.-No previots' treatment: Treated' by chlorine gas in December, 1916.On Deceynber 27th there was no' irritation, put apparently scabies lesions were still present..
Serotypes associated with the development of pneumococcal para-pneumonic effusion in adults
Authors: Thomas Bewick, Carmen Sheppard, Sonia Greenwood, Mary Slack, Caroline Trotter, Robert George, Wei Shen Lim
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2012)

Serotypes 1, 3, 7F and 19A are implicated in childhood pneumococcal para-pneumonic effusion (PPE). It is not known whether the same is true for adult PPE. A prospective cohort study was conducted over a 2-year period. Consecutive adults admitted with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) were studied. Pneumococcal serotype was identified from urine samples using a multiplex immunoassay. Of 920 patients recruited, 366 had pneumococcal CAP; 100 of these had PPE and a serotype was determined in 73 patients. Factors associated with PPE were age, pneumonia severity index score and serotype. Serotypes most associated with PPE were 1 (18 (45%) out of 40), 19A (9 (45%) out of 20) and 3 (8 (40%) out of 20). Serotypes common in childhood PPE were independently associated with adult PPE (adjusted OR 2.3; p = 0.003). Serotypes not included in the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) were more likely to be associated with PPE (OR 2.1; p = 0.024) compared with those in the vaccine. Serotypes included in PCV-13 were as likely to be associated with PPE as those that are not (OR 0.8; p = 0.301). Serotypes 1, 3, 7F and 19A are independently associated with adult PPE, a similar finding to childhood PPE. Serotype replacement following pneumococcal vaccine implementation may influence the spectrum of clinical disease.
Healthy hire effect, job selection and inhalation exposure among young adults with asthma
Authors: M. Olivieri, M. C. Mirabelli, E. Plana, K. Radon, J. M. Anto, P. Bakke, G. Benke, A. D'Errico, P. Henneberger, H. Kromhout, D. Norback, K. Toren, M. van Sprundel, S. Villani, G. Wieslander, J.-P. Zock, M. Kogevinas
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2010)

The aim of the present study was to assess whether asthma onset prior to entering the workforce influences whether a person holds a subsequent job with asthma-related inhalation exposures. The data of 19,784 adults from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey were analysed. For each respondent, a current or previously held job was linked to a job exposure matrix assigning high, low or no exposure to dust, gases or fumes. Jobs were also categorised according to the risk of exposures related to occupational asthma. Associations between asthma and subsequent occupational exposures were assessed using logistic regression models, with a random intercept for study centre and fixed adjustment for age, sex, type of study sample and smoking status. Of the respondents, 8% (n = 1,619) reported asthma with onset before completion of full-time education. This population was at decreased risk of having a job with high (odds ratio 0.79; 95% confidence interval 0.68-0.92) or low (0.91; 0.80-1.03) exposure to dust, gases or fumes. The associations were consistent across exposure types (dusts, gases or fumes) and for jobs with a high risk of occupational asthma. Adults with asthma onset prior to entering the workforce may be less likely to hold jobs involving inhalation exposures.
Racial and Ethnic Differences in Use of Mammography Between Medicare Advantage and Traditional Medicare
Authors: J. Z. Ayanian, B. E. Landon, A. M. Zaslavsky, J. P. Newhouse
Journal: JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute (2013)

Breast cancer is a leading cause of mortality for women in all racial/ethnic groups. We compared use of mammography by race/ethnicity in Medicare health maintenance organizations (HMOs), preferred provider organizations (PPOs), and traditional Medicare. We matched 495 836 women in HMOs and 81 480 women in PPOs who were aged 65 to 69 years during 2009 to women enrolled in traditional Medicare by race/ethnicity, Medicaid eligibility status, and geographic area. We identified mammography use from the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set for Medicare HMOs and PPOs and from claims data for traditional Medicare with the same specifications. We then compared racial/ethnic differences in rates of mammography in HMOs and PPOs to matched populations in traditional Medicare and estimated differences with z tests. All statistical tests were two-sided. Relative to matched white women, mammography rates were statistically significantly higher for black, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander women in HMOs (6.1, 5.4, and 0.9 percentage points, respectively; all P ≤ .003) and statistically significantly lower for all three groups in traditional Medicare (3.3, 7.4, and 7.7 percentage points, respectively; all P < .001). Similar improvements in mammography rates also were observed in PPOs among all minority groups relative to traditional Medicare. Higher rates of mammography in HMOs and PPOs were associated with a reversal of racial and ethnic differences observed in traditional Medicare. These differences may be related to lower patient cost-sharing and better systems to promote preventive services in managed care plans, as well as unmeasured characteristics or beliefs of minority women who enroll in these health plans relative to those in traditional Medicare.
Glucocorticoids increase the synthesis of immunoglobulin E by interleukin 4-stimulated human lymphocytes.
Authors: C Y Wu, M Sarfati, C Heusser, S Fournier, M Rubio-Trujillo, R Peleman, G Delespesse
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1991)

This study indicates that hydrocortisone (HC) markedly increases the synthesis of immunoglobulin E (IgE) by interleukin 4 (IL-4)-stimulated human lymphocytes. The effect is glucocorticoid specific and is obtained with low concentrations of HC (0.1-10 microM). In both the early and the late phase of the IL-4-induced response HC exerts its effects which are respectively IL-4 dependent and IL-4 independent. The IgE potentiation cannot be explained by the inhibition of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production since it is observed in the absence of endogenous secretion of IFN-gamma. HC inhibits the production of IgE-binding factors (soluble CD23) and the expression of the low-affinity receptor for IgE, also known as the (Fc epsilon RII) CD23 antigen; however, the residual expression of Fc epsilon RII by IL-4- and HC-treated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) is important since the IgE response of these cells is markedly inhibited by anti-CD23 monoclonal antibody. HC acts mainly by amplifying the cellular interactions between monocytes and lymphocytes; indeed, HC has no effect on monocyte-depleted PBMCs, and moreover, monocytes cannot be replaced by soluble factors. Most importantly, T cells are not required for the induction of IgE synthesis by costimulation with IL-4 and HC. However, the IgE response of rigorously T cell-depleted PBMCs may be further increased by the addition of T cells. Further analysis of the permissive effect of HC on the synthesis of IgE by T cell-depleted PBMCs suggests that HC acts in synergy with IL-4 to trigger the activation and the differentiation of B cells into IgE-producing cells.
Results of animal studies suggest a nonlinear dose-response relationship for benzene effects.
Authors: S Parodi, W K Lutz, A Colacci, M Mazzullo, M Taningher, S Grilli
Journal: Environmental Health Perspectives (1989)

Considering the very large industrial usage of benzene, studies in risk assessment aimed at the evaluation of carcinogenic risk at low levels of exposure are important. Animal data can offer indications about what could happen in humans and provide more diverse information than epidemiological data with respect to dose-response consideration. We have considered experiments investigating metabolism, short-term genotoxicity tests, DNA adduct formation, and carcinogenicity long-term tests. According to the different experiments, a saturation of benzene metabolism and benzene effects in terms of genotoxicity seems evident above 30 to 100 ppm. Below 30 to 60 ppm the initiating effect of benzene seems to be linear for a large interval of dosages, at least judging from DNA adduct formation. Potential lack of a promoting effect of benzene (below 10 ppm) could generate a sublinear response at nontoxic levels of exposure. This possibility was suggested by epidemiological data in humans and is not confirmed or excluded by our observations with animals.
Hospital Infection with Pseudomonas pyocyanea
Authors: I. J. Tartakow
Journal: BMJ (1965)

The Oxford series suggests strongly that this excess is largely concentrated in the first two years of the disease, but this is not supported by the Christie data.Effusions arising from haematogenous spread should arise equally often on either side, so that the excess of ipsi- lateral effusions suggests another mode of spread.This other mode of spread is pre- sumably permeation of the chest-wall, the tumour invading inwards towards the pleura rather than outwards towards the skin.Prompt and energetic treatment of the chest- wall after mastectomy, especially in stage II, may be worth while, even at the risk of a minor degree of lung fibrosis.-Iam, etc.,
Repair of Chromosome Damage Induced by X-Irradiation During G&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; Phase in a Line of Normal Human Fibroblasts and Its Malignant Derivative
Authors: R Parshad, R Gantt, K K Sanford, G M Jones, R E Tarone
Journal: JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute (1982)

A line of normal human skin fibroblasts (KD) differed from its malignant derivative (HUT-14) in the extent of cytogenetic damage induced by X-irradiation during G2 phase. Malignant cells had significantly more chromatid breaks and gaps after exposure to 25, 50, or 100 rad. On the assumption that each chromatid contains a single continuous DNA double helix, chromatid breaks would represent unrepaired DNA double-strand breaks; the gaps may represent single-strand breaks. Results from alkaline elution of cellular DNA immediately after irradiation showed that the normal and malignant cells in asynchronous population were equally sensitive to DNA single-strand breakage by X-irradiation. Caffeine or β-cytosine arabinoside (ara-C), inhibitors of DNA repair, when added directly following G2 phase exposure, significantly increased the incidence of radiation-induced chromatid damage in the normal cells. In contrast, similar treatment of the malignant cells had little influence. Ara-C differed from caffeine in its effects; whereas both agents increased the frequency of chromatid breaks and gaps, only ara-C increased the frequency of gaps to the level observed in the irradiated malignant cells. Addition of catalase, which destroys H2O2, or mannitol, a scavenger of the derivative free hydroxyl radical (.OH), to the cultures of malignant cells before, during, and following irradiation significantly reduced the chromatid damage; and catalase prevented formation of chromatid gaps. The DNA damage induced by X-ray during G2 phase in the normal KD cells was apparently repaired by a caffeine- and ara-C-sensitive mechanism(s) that was deficient or absent in their malignant derivatives.
Targeting HER2 as a therapeutic strategy for breast cancer: a paradigmatic shift of drug development in oncology
Authors: M. De Laurentiis, G. Cancello, L. Zinno, E. Montagna, L. Malorni, A. Esposito, R. Pennacchio, L. Silvestro, M. Giuliano, A. Giordano, F. Caputo, A. Accurso, S. De Placido
Journal: Annals of Oncology (2005)
Patterns for RANTES Secretion and Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1 Expression Mediate Transepithelial T Cell Traffic Based on Analyses In Vitro and In Vivo
Authors: Masahiko Taguchi, Deepak Sampath, Takeharu Koga, Mario Castro, Dwight C. Look, Shin Nakajima, Michael J. Holtzman
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1998)

Immune cell migration into and through mucosal barrier sites in general and airway sites in particular is a critical feature of immune and inflammatory responses, but the determinants of transepithelial (unlike transendothelial) immune cell traffic are poorly defined. Accordingly, we used primary culture airway epithelial cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells to develop a cell monolayer system that allows for apical-to-basal and basal-to-apical T cell transmigration that can be monitored with quantitative immunofluorescence flow cytometry. In this system, T cell adhesion and subsequent transmigration were blocked in both directions by monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1) or intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) (induced by interferon gamma [IFN-gamma] treatment of epithelial cells). The total number of adherent plus transmigrated T cells was also similar in both directions, and this pattern fit with uniform presentation of ICAM-1 along the apical and basolateral cell surfaces. However, the relative number of transmigrated to adherent T cells (i.e., the efficiency of transmigration) was increased in the basal-to-apical relative to the apical-to-basal direction, so an additional mechanism was needed to mediate directional movement towards the apical surface. Screening for epithelial-derived beta-chemokines indicated that IFN-gamma treatment caused selective expression of RANTES (regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted), and the functional significance of this finding was demonstrated by inhibition of epithelial-T cell adhesion and transepithelial migration by anti-RANTES mAbs. In addition, we found that epithelial (but not endothelial) cells preferentially secreted RANTES through the apical cell surface thereby establishing a chemical gradient for chemotaxis across the epithelium to a site where they may be retained by high levels of RANTES and apical ICAM-1. These patterns for epithelial presentation of ICAM-1 and secretion of RANTES appear preserved in airway epithelial tissue studied either ex vivo with expression induced by IFN-gamma treatment or in vivo with endogenous expression induced by inflammatory disease (i.e., asthma). Taken together, the results define how the patterns for uniform presentation of ICAM-1 along the cell surface and specific apical sorting of RANTES may serve to mediate the level and directionality of T cell traffic through epithelium (distinct from endothelium) and provide a basis for how this process is precisely coordinated to route immune cells to the mucosal surface and maintain them there under normal and stimulated conditions.
Selenium‐ and zinc‐deficient cardiomyopathy in human intestinal malabsorption: preliminary results of selenium/zinc infusion
Authors: Andrea Frustaci, Enrico Sabbioni, Salvador Fortaner, Massimo Farina, Riccardo del Torchio, Marco Tafani, Emanuela Morgante, Maria Rosa Ciriolo, Matteo A. Russo, Cristina Chimenti
Journal: European Journal of Heart Failure (2011)
Continuing donepezil when Alzheimer symptoms worsen might delay nursing home admission, study indicates
Authors: Ingrid Torjesen
Journal: BMJ (2015)

Taking patients with Alzheimer’s disease off donepezil, a drug costing little more than £20 (€28; $30) a year, seems to double the chance that they will go into a nursing home within a year, a study published in Lancet Neurology indicates.1

But experts have criticised the study for being based on secondary outcomes and for its small numbers of participants. 

Donepezil is indicated for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease and is usually withdrawn when a patient’s cognitive symptoms worsen.

Researchers at University College London monitored the effects of continuing or discontinuing the drug in a group of 295 patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease for whom donepezil had been prescribed continuously for at least three months, at a dose of 10 mg for at least the previous six weeks, and who …
Black-White Divergence in the Relation of White Blood Cell Count to Metabolic Syndrome in Preadolescents, Adolescents, and Young Adults: The Bogalusa Heart Study
Authors: Wei Chen, Sathanur R. Srinivasan, Jihua Xu, Gerald S. Berenson
Journal: Diabetes Care (2010)

OBJECTIVE To examine the association between white blood cell (WBC) count and metabolic syndrome (MetS) by growth periods in black versus white individuals in the general population. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The study cohort consisted of 4,184 black and white preadolescents, adolescents, and adults. In this cohort, 743 adults were followed for 8.1–20.8 years longitudinally. RESULTS White versus black subjects had a significantly higher WBC count in all age-groups. WBC count was associated with more MetS components in whites than in blacks. Mean values of WBC increased significantly with increasing number of MetS components with adverse levels in adolescents and adults, with a stronger trend in whites. WBC count was longitudinally associated with MetS in whites only (P &amp;lt; 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The findings on the association between higher WBC count and MetS beginning in childhood, particularly in whites, underscore a potentially mechanistic link between systemic inflammation, MetS, and cardiovascular risk.
Identification of Glypican-3 as a Novel Tumor Marker for Melanoma
Authors: Tetsuya Nakatsura, Toshiro Kageshita, Shosuke Ito, Kazumasa Wakamatsu, Mikio Monji, Yoshiaki Ikuta, Satoru Senju, Tomomichi Ono, Yasuharu Nishimura
Journal: Clinical Cancer Research (2004)

Abstract Purpose: We reported recently the novel tumor marker glypican-3 (GPC3) for hepatocellular carcinoma. In the present study, we investigated the expression of GPC3 in human melanoma cell lines and tissues and asked whether GPC3 could be a novel tumor marker for melanoma. Experimental Design: Expression of GPC3 mRNA and protein was investigated in human melanoma cell lines and tissues using reverse transcription-PCR and immunohistochemical analysis. Secreted GPC3 protein was quantified using ELISA in culture supernatants of melanoma cell lines and in sera from 91 patients with melanoma and 28 disease-free patients after surgical removal of primary melanoma. All of the subjects were Japanese nationals. Results: In &amp;gt;80% of melanoma and melanocytic nevus, there was evident expression of GPC3 mRNA and protein. Furthermore, GPC3 protein was evidenced in sera of 39.6% (36 of 91) of melanoma patients but not in sera from subjects with large congenital melanocytic nevus (0 of 5) and from healthy donors (0 of 60). Twenty-seven of 36 serum GPC3-positive patients were negative for both serum 5-S-cysteinyldopa and melanoma-inhibitory activity, well-known tumor markers for melanoma. The positive rate of serum GPC3 (39.6%) was significantly higher than that of 5-S-cysteinyldopa (26.7%) and of melanoma-inhibitory activity (20.9%). Surprisingly, we detected serum GPC3 even in patients with stage 0 in situ melanoma. The positive rate of serum GPC3 at stage 0, I, and II (44.4%, 40.0%, and 47.6%) was significantly higher than that of 5-S-cysteinyldopa (0.0%, 8.0%, and 10.0%). Also observed was the disappearance of GPC3 protein in sera from 11 patients after surgical removal of the melanoma. Conclusions: GPC3 is apparently a novel tumor marker useful for the diagnosis of melanoma, especially in early stages of the disorder.