Perspectives on involvement in the peer-review process: surveys of patient and public reviewers at two journals.

Objective: In 2014/2015, and () became the first journals to routinely include patients and the public in the peer review process of journal articles. This survey explores the perspectives and early experiences of these reviewers.

Design: A cross-sectional survey.

Haplotype analysis finds linkage disequilibrium in the IL-12 gene in patients with HCV.

HCV is a major cause of liver disease worldwide. IL-12 plays an essential role in the balance of T helper 1 (Th1) differentiation versus a T helper 2 (Th2) driven response from its naïve precursor. Linkage disequilibrium measures the degree to which alleles at two loci are associated and the non-random associations between alleles at two loci.

Polymorphic differences in the SOD-2 gene may affect the pathogenesis of nephropathy in patients with diabetes and diabetic complications.

Unlabelled: The effective treatment of diabetes and the prevention of diabetic complications may be improved by a better understanding of the antioxidant function of intracellular defences against oxidative stress. Polymorphisms in antioxidant genes may determine cellular oxidative stress levels as a primary pathogenic role in diabetes and/or in its complications. SOD-2 was investigated in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) to ascertain if specific genotypes have any protective influences in the pathogenic mechanisms in diabetes and/or in several different complications, including retinopathy, nephropathy and diabetic controls compared to normal healthy controls.

Polymorphic differences in SOD-2 may influence HCV viral clearance.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a pathogen causing chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer occurring in about 3% of the world's population. Most individuals infected with HCV develop persistent viremia. Oxidative stress may play an important role in the pathogenesis of a number of diseases including HCV infection and diabetes mellitus.