Functional outcome after facial allograft transplantation in rats.

Background: Full face, hemiface and facial subunit transplants have been reported before. However, the functional recovery of the face transplant largely remains unknown. The mystacial pad (also known as the vibrissal or whiskers region) is the main sensorimotor unit in rats' faces.

Influence of mannose-binding lectin on HIV infection and tuberculosis in a Western-European population.

Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a serum lectin that mediates phagocytosis and activates complement. Its deficiency has been associated with increased susceptibility to infectious diseases, mainly in childhood. However, non-producer mbl-2 alleles are common in most populations, suggesting a selective advantage of these alleles.

Relevance of renin expression by real-time PCR in acute myeloid leukemia.

The search for useful molecular markers in the diagnosis of AML and in the follow-up of minimal residual disease (MRD) has been the focus of many recent studies. Previous research showed that, while normal bone marrow cells lack expression of renin, myeloid blasts have been reported to do so. The aim was to study the expression of the renin gene by the use of real-time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR) at diagnosis in acute myeloid leukemia patients (AML) and to assess its possible relevance in the prognosis and outcome of such patients.

Allelic variants of the human scavenger receptor class B type 1 and paraoxonase 1 on coronary heart disease: genotype-phenotype correlations.

Objective: The antioxidant properties of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) have been attributed to paraoxonase (PON) enzyme activity. Human scavenger receptor class B type 1 (SR-BI; CD36 and lysosomal integral membrane protein-II analogous-1 [CLA-1]) plays a central role in HDL-mediated native and oxidized cholesteryl ester uptake. We tested for a significant contribution of common variant of these genes to coronary heart disease (CHD) risk and hypothesized that genetic-mediated PON activity and CLA-1/SR-BI receptor functional properties jointly reduce plasma oxidation status.