Randomized controlled phase 2 trial of hydroxychloroquine in childhood interstitial lung disease.

Background: No results of controlled trials are available for any of the few treatments offered to children with interstitial lung diseases (chILD). We evaluated hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in a phase 2, prospective, multicentre, 1:1-randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group/crossover trial. HCQ (START arm) or placebo were given for 4 weeks.

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis: Lessons from a randomized controlled trial in children.

Introduction: Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) in children is a severe interstitial lung disease and potentially, a chronic condition, if not treated appropriately. No evidence-based guidelines are available; in particular, the role of systemic glucocorticoid therapy is unclear.

Methods: The aim of this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, multi-center, phase II trial in pediatric HP was to assess the outcome of HP in children after 6 months of treatment and to compare 3 months of treatment with oral prednisolone or placebo.

Prospective evaluation of hydroxychloroquine in pediatric interstitial lung diseases: Study protocol for an investigator-initiated, randomized controlled, parallel-group clinical trial.

Background: Interstitial lung diseases in children (chILD) are rare and consist of many different entities that affect the parenchyma of the lungs, leading to a chronic lung disease. The natural course of many of these diseases is connected with a high morbidity and significant mortality. Symptomatic treatment consists of oxygen supplementation, adequate nutrition adapted to the high energy demand generated by the disease due to the increased breathing effort required, as well as immunization against respiratory pathogens to prevent exacerbations through respiratory infections.

Clinical and serological one-year follow-up of patients after the bite of Ixodes ricinus ticks infected with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato.

Background: The risk of developing Lyme borreliosis (LB) after the bite of a Borrelia (B.) burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.

Immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR as diagnostic tools for detection of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in ticks collected from humans.

The objective of this study was to evaluate different methods used for detection of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) in ticks: immunohistochemistry followed by focus floating microscopy (FFM) and real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) targeting the ospA and hbb genes.

Real-time PCR-based identification of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species in ticks collected from humans in Romania.

The aims of our study were to determine (i) which tick species bite humans in Romania and (ii) the prevalence of Borrelia (B.) burgdorferi genospecies in these ticks. All ticks collected from patients who presented to the Clinic of Infectious Diseases Cluj Napoca in spring/summer 2010 were morphologically identified by an entomologist and tested for B.

Development and validation of duplex, triplex, and pentaplex real-time PCR screening assays for the detection of genetically modified organisms in food and feed.

Worldwide, qualitative methods based on PCR are most commonly used as screening tools for genetically modified material in food and feed. However, the increasing number and diversity of genetically modified organisms (GMO) require effective methods for simultaneously detecting several genetic elements marking the presence of transgenic events. Herein we describe the development and validation of a pentaplex, as well as complementary triplex and duplex real-time PCR assays, for the detection of the most common screening elements found in commercialized GMOs: P-35S, T-nos, ctp2-cp4-epsps, bar, and pat.

Improvement of exercise capacity in monocrotaline-induced pulmonary hypertension by the phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor Vardenafil.

Vardenafil, a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor, is approved for the therapy of erectile dysfunction. However, in contrast to Sildenafil and Tadalafil, little is known about its effects on pulmonary hypertension. Four weeks after monocrotaline-administration rats exhibited a significant increase in right ventricular pressure (RVSP, 94mmHg vs.

Prognostic impact of sleep disordered breathing and its treatment in heart failure: an observational study.

Aims: Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) may contribute to disease progression in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). The objective of this observational study was to evaluate whether SDB is a risk factor for mortality in CHF patients and whether this risk can be attenuated by treatment with positive airway pressure (PAP).

Methods And Results: We studied 296 CHF patients (median left ventricular ejection fraction 33%) who underwent in-lab polysomnography between January 2002 and December 2009.

Improvement of bleomycin-induced pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary fibrosis by the endothelin receptor antagonist Bosentan.

Rationale: There is evidence that endothelin plays a key role in the development of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in pulmonary fibrosis (PF). However, the functional consequence of the unselective endothelin receptor antagonist Bosentan in PH and PF has not yet been studied. Therefore, we investigated the effects of Bosentan on the development of PH in the model of Bleomycin-induced PF in rats.