Enhanced actions of insulin-like growth factor-I and interferon-alpha co-administration in experimental cirrhosis.

Background: Cirrhosis is a diffuse process of hepatic fibrosis and regenerative nodule formation. The liver is the major source of circulating insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) whose plasma levels are diminished in cirrhosis. IGF-I supplementation has been shown to induce beneficial effects in cirrhosis, including antifibrogenic and hepatoprotective effects.

Rapid diagnosis of Brucella epididymo-orchitis by real-time polymerase chain reaction assay in urine samples.

Purpose: We studied the diagnostic yield of a real-time polymerase chain reaction assay in urine samples for the rapid diagnosis of brucella epididymo-orchitis compared to that of conventional microbiological techniques.

Materials And Methods: We used an SYBR Green I LightCycler based real-time polymerase chain reaction to retrospectively study 10 urine samples from patients with Brucella epididymo-orchitis. The assay amplifies a 223 bp sequence of a gene that codes for the synthesis of an immunogenetic membrane protein specific for Brucella genus (BCSP31).

Antioxidant effects of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) in rats with advanced liver cirrhosis.

Background: The exogenous administration of Insulin-like Growth Factor-I (IGF-I) induces hepatoprotective and antifibrogenic actions in experimental liver cirrhosis. To better understand the possible pathways behind the beneficial effect of IGF-I, the aim of this work was to investigate severe parameters involved in oxidative damage in hepatic tissue from cirrhotic animals treated with IGF-I (2 microg x 100 g(-1) x day(-1)). Iron and copper play an important role in oxidative mechanisms, producing the deleterious hydroxyl radical (*OH) that peroxides lipid membranes and damages DNA.