Severe infections in systemic necrotizing vasculitis.

Unlabelled: Infections in patients with systemic vasculitis represent one of the main causes of mortality. Corticosteroid use, immunosuppressive therapy, age, associated organic involvement and dialysis dependence are risk factors of infection.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of severe infection and associated factors in patients diagnosed with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) and Polyarteritis Nodosa (PAN).

Effectiveness of methotrexate and leflunomide as corticoid-sparing drugs in patients with polymyalgia rheumatica.

Objectives: The need for glucocorticoid-sparing drugs (GCSD) remains an important issue and is an unmet need in the treatment of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). We therefore aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of methotrexate (MTX) and of leflunomide (LEF) in daily clinical practice in PMR patients from Argentina.

Methods: A multicentre and observational study (medical records review) of PMR patients seen between 2007 and 2023, who had at least three months of follow-up after starting a GCSD, either MTX or LEF, was performed.

Safety evaluation of the food enzyme inulinase from the genetically modified strain MUCL 44346.

The food enzyme inulinase (1-β-d-fructan fructanohydrolase; EC 3.2.1.

A novel anti-apoptotic role for Cdc42/ACK-1 signaling in neurons.

Neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease are caused by a progressive and aberrant destruction of neurons in the brain and spinal cord. These disorders lack effective long-term treatments that impact the underlying mechanisms of pathogenesis and as a result, existing options focus primarily on alleviating symptomology. Dysregulated programmed cell death (i.

Immunocal® limits gliosis in mouse models of repetitive mild-moderate traumatic brain injury.

Successive traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) exacerbate neuroinflammation and oxidative stress. No therapeutics exist for populations at high risk of repetitive mild TBIs (rmTBIs). We explored the preventative therapeutic effects of Immunocal®, a cysteine-rich whey protein supplement and glutathione (GSH) precursor, following rmTBI and repetitive mild-moderate TBI (rmmTBI).

Genetic variant affecting the myosin light chain 2 related to familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHCM) is a genetic disease characterized by left ventricle (LV) or interventricular septum hypertrophy. FHCM is a common heart disease (affecting 1 out of 500 individuals) associated with genetic variants in genes related to the sarcomere, including the (myosin light chain 2) gene that is affected in 1 to 3% of the cases. As described in this report, the genetic mutation p.

Validation of the adjusted global antiphospholipid syndrome score in systemic lupus erythematosus patients in Argentina.

Introduction: Assessment of risk both for pregnancy morbidity and thrombosis in the presence of anti-phospholipid antibodies (aPL) is still a challenge in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) patients. The Global Antiphospholipid Syndrome Score (GAPSS) takes into account the aPL profile (criteria and non-criteria aPL), the conventional cardiovascular risk factors and the autoimmune antibody profile. An adjusted model of the score (aGAPSS) excluding anti-phosphatidylserine/Prothrombin (aPS/PT), suggests that the score is able to stratify patients for their rate of events making it widely applicable in daily clinical practice.

Protocatechuic Acid Extends Survival, Improves Motor Function, Diminishes Gliosis, and Sustains Neuromuscular Junctions in the hSOD1 Mouse Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating disorder characterized by motor neuron apoptosis and subsequent skeletal muscle atrophy caused by oxidative and nitrosative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and neuroinflammation. Anthocyanins are polyphenolic compounds found in berries that possess neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory properties. Protocatechuic acid (PCA) is a phenolic acid metabolite of the parent anthocyanin, kuromanin, found in blackberries and bilberries.

Dysregulation of Rac or Rho elicits death of motor neurons and activation of these GTPases is altered in the G93A mutant hSOD1 mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Rho GTPases play a central role in neuronal survival; however, the antagonistic relationship between Rac and Rho in the regulation of motor neuron survival remains poorly defined. In the current study, we demonstrate that treatment with NSC23766, a selective inhibitor of the Rac-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factors, Tiam1 and Trio, is sufficient to induce the death of embryonic stem cell (ESC)-derived motor neurons. The mode of cell death is primarily apoptotic and is characterized by caspase-3 activation, de-phosphorylation of ERK5 and AKT, and nuclear translocation of the BH3-only protein Bad.

The HLA-B*51 Allele is strongly associated with Behçet Disease in an Argentinean population.

Objective: To assess the association between the HLA-B*51 allele and Behçet Disease (BD) in Argentinean patients.

Methods: We enrolled 34 consecutive Argentinean patients with definitive diagnosis of BD between October 2016 and March 2017. None of the patients had the HLA-B*51 allele determined at study entry.

Two-Arm Randomized Pilot Intervention Trial to Decrease Sitting Time and Increase Sit-To-Stand Transitions in Working and Non-Working Older Adults.

Background: Excessive sitting has been linked to poor health. It is unknown whether reducing total sitting time or increasing brief sit-to-stand transitions is more beneficial. We conducted a randomized pilot study to assess whether it is feasible for working and non-working older adults to reduce these two different behavioral targets.

Structure of Clostridium difficile PilJ exhibits unprecedented divergence from known type IV pilins.

Type IV pili are produced by many pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria and are important for processes as diverse as twitching motility, cellular adhesion, and colonization. Recently, there has been an increased appreciation of the ability of Gram-positive species, including Clostridium difficile, to produce Type IV pili. Here we report the first three-dimensional structure of a Gram-positive Type IV pilin, PilJ, demonstrate its incorporation into Type IV pili, and offer insights into how the Type IV pili of C.

Prevalence of subclinical enthesopathy in patients with spondyloarthropathy: an ultrasound study.

Background: Ultrasound has demonstrated to be a highly sensitive tool in the evaluation of entheses in spondyloarthropathy (SpA) patients and improves the ability of clinical examination to detect enthesopathy.

Objectives: The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of subclinical enthesopathy in SpA patients and to evaluate the reliability of ultrasound in the detection of abnormal findings indicative of enthesopathy.

Methods: Six hundred lower-limb entheses were assessed in 60 SpA patients without known history of entheseal involvement.

Evaluation of powdered infant formula milk as chelating agent for copper under simulated gastric conditions of a baby's stomach.

The objective of this study was to determine the complexing capacity of four types of powdered commercial milks with copper(II) using square wave adsorptive stripping voltammetry. Two were types of cow milk adapted for babies under one year (A and B), one was soymilk (C) and the other was normal milk (D). Milk solutions were prepared following the instructions shown on the milk container, and they were mixed with a pepsin solution simulating a baby's stomach conditions (pepsin and salts concentration, pH and temperature).

Pre-pubertal testicular dermoid cyst treated with conservative surgery.

We present a case of testicular dermoid cyst that was treated with transinguinal excision of the testicular cyst with preservation of the healthy testicular parenchyma. We have reviewed the literature for clinical features and therapeutic approach in benign cystic tumors in the pre-pubertal testis.

Characterization of copper in uterine fluids of patients who use the copper T-380A intrauterine device.

Background: The copper intrauterine device (IUD) is a highly effective method of contraception that requires the dissolution of the copper into uterine cavity. However, there is little information about the amount and form of copper in the fluid and whether the presence of this element produces any change in the protein concentration.

Methods: Twenty-seven women were divided into three groups that had used IUD for about 6 months, 1 year and > or =3 years.

Gastric response to acute copper exposure.

Early effects of acute copper exposure consist mainly of nausea and altered gastric permeability. To assess copper effects on gastric response 30 apparently healthy volunteers underwent two controlled trials receiving a solution with (10 mg Cu/l) and without (<0.01 mg Cu/l) copper sulfate after overnight fasting, in random order.