Nutritional assessment of the lung transplant patient: body mass index as a predictor of 90-day mortality following transplantation.

Background: It is well documented that malnourished and/or obese surgical patients have increased morbidity and mortality post-operatively. Only a few studies investigating the effect of nutritional status on mortality are available pertaining to the transplant population. Since limited data are available on the nutritional status and its effects on mortality in the lung transplant population, we sought to ascertain whether there is an association between mortality and preoperative nutritional status.

Use of oligonucleotide arrays to analyze drug toxicity.

The advent of oligonucleotide arrays allows the simultaneous analysis of the expression of thousands of genes. This powerful technology, highly dependent on advanced analysis tools, can transform the level of information currently available on the mechanisms underlying drug-related toxicity. It is now possible to analyze the global transcriptional response to a drug and determine the global pathways associated with the effects of this agent.

Breath alkanes as a marker of oxidative stress in different clinical conditions.

We assessed oxidative stress in three different clinical conditions: smoking, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, and inflammatory bowel disease, using breath alkane output and other lipid peroxidation parameters such as plasma lipid peroxides (LPO) and malondialdehyde (MDA). Antioxidant micronutrients such as selenium, vitamin E, C, beta-carotene and carotenoids were also measured. Lipid peroxidation was significantly higher and antioxidant vitamins significantly lower in smokers compared to nonsmokers.

Global analysis of gene expression in pulmonary fibrosis reveals distinct programs regulating lung inflammation and fibrosis.

The molecular mechanisms of pulmonary fibrosis are poorly understood. We have used oligonucleotide arrays to analyze the gene expression programs that underlie pulmonary fibrosis in response to bleomycin, a drug that causes lung inflammation and fibrosis, in two strains of susceptible mice (129 and C57BL/6). We then compared the gene expression patterns in these mice with 129 mice carrying a null mutation in the epithelial-restricted integrin beta6 subunit (beta6(-/-)), which develop inflammation but are protected from pulmonary fibrosis.

Automated assay for HER-2/neu in serum.

Background: The extracellular domain of the HER-2/neu oncogene product is increased in sera of some patients with epithelial cancers. Our aim was to develop an automated serum assay for the extracellular domain of the HER-2/neu protein.

Methods: We used a monoclonal antibody labeled with fluorescein for capture and a monoclonal Fab' fragment labeled with alkaline phosphatase for detection.

Edg-2 in myelin-forming cells: isoforms, genomic mapping, and exclusion in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

Edg-2 is an heptahelical receptor whose spatio-temporal distribution during rat brain development is consistent with a role in the control of myelination. We have now identified two splice variants of Edg-2 mRNA in rat brain that encode two receptor isoforms differing by a stretch of 18 amino acids in the NH2-terminal extracellular tail of the receptor. Prenatally (i.

cGMP and cAMP cause pulmonary vasoconstriction in the presence of hemolysate.

We recently reported that addition of a small amount of hemolysate to the salt solution that perfused isolated rat lungs hypersensitized the vasculature to subsequent additions of ANG II or exposure to hypoxia, and addition of NO gas (. NO) to the perfusate that contained hemolysate caused a strong vasoconstrictor rather than a vasodilator response. In the present study, we demonstrate that CO and the secondary messengers cGMP and cAMP (usually associated with vasodilation) exert similar effects in hemolysate-perfused lungs.

Effects of ursodeoxycholic acid on systemic, renal and forearm haemodynamics and sodium homoeostasis in cirrhotic patients with refractory ascites.

Systemic arterial vasodilatation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of sodium retention in cirrhosis. Hydrophobic bile acids, which have vasodilatory actions, may be involved. Ursodeoxycholic acid, a hydrophilic bile acid, could potentially decrease systemic arterial vasodilatation, possibly due to its antioxidant effects, and improve sodium handling in cirrhosis.

Oxidative stress in smokers supplemented with vitamin C.

The ability of vitamin C supplement to influence lipid peroxidation and pulmonary function tests in healthy smokers was investigated. In this randomized double blind controlled trail, 56 smokers (S) received either 500 mg of vitamin C (C) or placebo (P) daily for 4 weeks. All completed the trial.

Effects of vitamin E and C supplementation on oxidative stress and viral load in HIV-infected subjects.

Objectives: The HIV-infected population is known to be oxidatively stressed and deficient in antioxidant micronutrients. Since in vitro replication of HIV is increased with oxidative stress, this study assessed the effect of antioxidant vitamin supplementation on lipid peroxidation, a measure of oxidative stress, and viral load in humans.

Design: A randomized placebo-controlled, double-blind study.

A rat G protein-coupled receptor selectively expressed in myelin-forming cells.

By screening an olfactory bulb cDNA library using dopamine receptor probes, we isolated the cDNA coding for the rat counterpart of an orphan receptor known as Edg-2, homologous to G protein-coupled receptors. In situ hybridization analysis showed that Edg-2 mRNA expression is restricted to myelinated structures, e.g.

Mutational analysis of the SRC homology 2 domain protein-tyrosine phosphatase Corkscrew.

The SRC homology 2 (SH2) domain protein-tyrosine phosphatase, Corkscrew (CSW) is required for signaling by receptor tyrosine kinases, including the Sevenless receptor tyrosine kinase (SEV), which directs Drosophila R7 photoreceptor cell development. To investigate the role of the different domains of CSW, we constructed domain-specific csw mutations and assayed their effects on CSW function. Our results indicate that CSW SH2 domain function is essential, but either CSW SH2 domain can fulfill this requirement.

Plasma and lipids from stored packed red blood cells cause acute lung injury in an animal model.

Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is a serious complication of hemotherapy. During blood storage, lipids are generated and released into the plasma. In this study, the role of these lipids in TRALI was investigated using an isolated, perfused rat lung model.

Parcellation of the human prefrontal cortex using MRI.

A methodology was developed for dividing prefrontal cortical gray matter into insular, orbital, inferior, middle, superior, cingulate, and frontal pole regions using anatomical criteria. This methodology was developed as a follow-up to one that measured whole prefrontal gray and white matter volumes in schizophrenic and control subjects. This study showed no overall volume differences in prefrontal cortex between schizophrenic and control subjects.

Oxidative stress and plasma antioxidant micronutrients in humans with HIV infection.

Increased lipid peroxidation induced by reactive oxygen species may play a role in the stimulation of HIV replication. In this study we compared lipid peroxidation indexes and plasma antioxidant micronutrients between 49 nonsmoking HIV-positive patients with no active opportunistic infection (25 asymptomatic and 24 with AIDS) and 15 age-matched seronegative control subjects. Breath-alkane output, plasma lipid peroxides, antioxidant vitamins, and trace elements were measured.

31P-nuclear magnetic resonance studies of bioenergetic changes in skeletal muscle in malnourished human adults.

In previous studies, both animals and malnourished children receiving 25% of the protein-energy intake of a control group, resulting in a 25% weight loss, had lower ratios of phosphocreatine to beta-ATP and of phosphocreatine to inorganic phosphorus, higher free ADP concentrations, and lower free energy of ATP hydrolysis than the control group. Therefore, the effect of malnutrition on muscle energetics in adult humans was examined by using 31P-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in malnourished patients with a mean body mass index (BMI; in kg/m2) of 16.4 compared with healthy control subjects with a significantly higher body mass index of 24.

Prostaglandins induce vascular endothelial growth factor in a human monocytic cell line and rat lungs via cAMP.

Prostaglandins have emerged as a therapeutic option for patients with peripheral vascular disease as well as pulmonary hypertension as a means to increase blood flow. We tested the hypothesis that prostaglandins regulate vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in the human monocytic THP-1 cell line and in isolated perfused rat lungs. Our data show that the stable PGI2-analogue iloprost induces VEGF gene expression (predominantly VEGF121, but also VEGF165 isoforms) and VEGF protein synthesis in THP-1 cells.

Lipid peroxidation during n-3 fatty acid and vitamin E supplementation in humans.

The purpose of this study was to investigate in healthy humans the effect of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake, alone or in combination with dL-alpha-tocopherol acetate (vitamin E) supplements on lipid peroxidation. Eighty men were randomly assigned in a double-blind fashion to take daily for 6 wk either menhaden oil (6.26 g, n-3 fatty acids) or olive oil supplements with either vitamin E (900 IU) or its placebo.

[The effect of family and social relations on the consumption of psychotropic drugs by the aged].

Psychotropic drugs are the second most commonly used medication by Quebec's elderly. The objective of this study is to test a theoretical model of psychotropic drug use in the elderly. The principal hypothesis is that the quality of relationships the elderly person has with others, particularly with his or her children, has a direct influence on his or her psychological well-being, which, in turn, directly affects the consumption of psychotropic agents.