Publications by authors named "Del Kahn"

Renal transplantation is often confronted with ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury that accounts for a delayed recovery of the graft. This surgically and biologically induced injury often results in activation of the complement system. The vaccinia virus complement control protein (VCP) down-regulates both the classical and alternative complement pathways by preventing the formation of C3b, a component where both pathways converge.

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Lethal dose experiments in animals have demonstrated that second-generation perfluorocarbon oxygen carriers are remarkably non-toxic. However, this non-toxicity has not previously been demonstrated in a liver failure scenario. A surgical liver damage and regeneration model in rats was selected using a well-controlled cross tabulated study design.

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Aim: To study if T-cell activation related to portasystemic shunting causes osteoclast-mediated bone loss through RANKL-dependent pathways. We also investigated if T-cell inhibition using rapamycin would protect against bone loss in rats.

Methods: Portasystemic shunting was performed in male Sprague-Dawley rats and rapamycin 0.

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Background: Takayasu's arteritis is a condition of unknown aetiology with an unpredictable natural history. Most of the literature available has originated from Asia, with a few contributions from Africa where the pattern of the disease may be different. This is a single institution's experience review.

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The objective of the study was to characterize the genome of duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) isolates from South African Pekin ducks. Duck serum and liver samples were collected from two commercial duck farms from geographically distinct regions of South Africa. In total, 498 duck serum samples were tested for the presence of DHBV DNA using either sub-genomic or full-length polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays.

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Human membrane cofactor protein (CD46) controls complement activation and when expressed sufficiently as a transgene protects xenografts against complement-mediated rejection, as shown here using non-immunosuppressed baboons and heterotopic CD46 transgenic pig kidney xenografts. This report is of a carefully engineered transgene that enables high-level CD46 expression. A novel CD46 minigene was validated by transfection and production of a transgenic pig line.

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We investigated the dynamics of the CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocyte subsets, and the expression of activation markers in cardiac transplant recipients. We tested 132 peripheral blood samples from 62 cardiac transplant recipients using fluorescent staining and flow cytometry analysis. The results were correlated with histological rejection grade of concurrently taken biopsies, and 5-year survival of the recipients.

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