Use of corticosteroids in acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Controversy remains as to whether low-dose corticosteroids can reduce the mortality and morbidity of acute lung injury (ALI) or the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) without increasing the risk of adverse reactions. We aimed to evaluate all studies investigating prolonged corticosteroids in low-to-moderate dose in ALI or ARDS.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Current Content, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and bibliographies of retrieved articles.

Gene-expression profiling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in sepsis.

Objectives: It has been shown that gene-expression profiling of circulating neutrophils could identify signature genes of sepsis. However, whether similar transcriptional changes occurred in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was not known. Using microarray technology, we performed gene-expression profiling of PBMC to identify signature genes that distinguish sepsis from noninfectious causes of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), between Gram-positive and Gram-negative sepsis.

Gene-expression profiling of gram-positive and gram-negative sepsis in critically ill patients.

Objective: It is unclear whether the host response of gram-positive sepsis differs from gram-negative sepsis at a transcriptome level. Using microarray technology, we compared the gene-expression profiles of gram-positive sepsis and gram-negative sepsis in critically ill patients.

Design: A prospective cross-sectional study.

Use of calcium or calcium in combination with vitamin D supplementation to prevent fractures and bone loss in people aged 50 years and older: a meta-analysis.

Background: Whether calcium supplementation can reduce osteoporotic fractures is uncertain. We did a meta-analysis to include all the randomised trials in which calcium, or calcium in combination with vitamin D, was used to prevent fracture and osteoporotic bone loss.

Methods: We identified 29 randomised trials (n=63 897) using electronic databases, supplemented by a hand-search of reference lists, review articles, and conference abstracts.

The use of gene-expression profiling to identify candidate genes in human sepsis.

Rationale: Our understanding of the pathophysiology of sepsis remains incomplete. Genomewide study offers an unbiased, system biology approach to examine the expression patterns of circulating leukocytes and may reveal novel insights into the host response to sepsis.

Objectives: We examined whether gene-expression profiling of neutrophils could identify signature genes and important pathways in the clinical syndrome of sepsis.

Accuracy of procalcitonin for sepsis diagnosis in critically ill patients: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Procalcitonin is widely reported as a useful biochemical marker to differentiate sepsis from other non-infectious causes of systemic inflammatory response syndrome. In this systematic review, we estimated the diagnostic accuracy of procalcitonin in sepsis diagnosis in critically ill patients. 18 studies were included in the review.