Can simvastatin reduce COPD exacerbations? A randomised double-blind controlled study.

Background: Several studies have shown that statins have beneficial effects in COPD regarding lung function decline, rates and severity of exacerbation, hospitalisation and need for mechanical ventilation.

Methods: We performed a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled single-centre trial of simvastatin at a daily dose of 40 mg placebo in patients with Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease criteria grades 2-4 at a tertiary care pulmonology department in Austria. Scheduled treatment duration was 12 months and the main outcome parameter was time to first exacerbation.

Mass spectrometric profiling of low-molecular-weight proteins.

Tracing potential biomarkers through proteomics has been further developed and is nearing realization. The whole sequence of human proteome is becoming better understood with the passage of time. However, it is a long way to go to pinpoint biomarker proteins out of complex biofluids and use them for clinical diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic applications.

Genetic polymorphisms in centrobin and Nek2 are associated with breast cancer susceptibility in a Chinese Han population.

Centrosome aberrations have been suggested to cause chromosomal instability and aneuploidy, and eventually promote cancer development. The Centrobin and Nek2 proteins interact with each other and both are involved in centrosome duplication and chromosome segregation. This study aimed to investigate whether genetic polymorphisms in these two genes may affect breast cancer susceptibility in Chinese Han population using a haplotype-based analysis.

Histological and clinical characteristics of malignant giant cell tumor of bone.

Malignant giant cell tumors of bone (MGCTB) are rare, and the diagnosis can be difficult due to the occurrence of a variety of malignant tumors containing giant cells. To better understand its clinicopathological features, we have reviewed our experience with 17 cases of MGCTB. Five cases were primary malignant giant cell tumor of bone (PMGCTB), and 12 cases were giant cell tumors of bone initially diagnosed as benign but malignant in a recurrent lesion (secondary MGCTB, SMGCTB).

Expression of cell-cycle regulatory proteins BUBR1, MAD2, Aurora A, cyclin A and cyclin E in invasive ductal breast carcinomas.

Cyclin A, cyclin E, BUBR1, MAD2 and Aurora A are all cell-cycle regulatory proteins and have been proven to play crucial roles in carcinogenesis. However, their expression patterns in invasive ductal breast carcinoma (IDBC) are controversial and unclear. In this study, we examined the expression status of these candidate proteins in a set of 117 invasive ductal carcinomas, and evaluated their associations with known clinicopathological parameters and the expressions of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, Ki-67 and Her-2.