Higher parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentrations with the Architect PTH assay than with the Elecsys assay in hemodialysis patients, and a simple way to standardize these two methods.

Background: The Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (K/DOQI) guidelines recommend maintaining serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentration between 150 and 300 pg/mL in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 5. However, a marked inter-method variability in PTH measurement has been reported recently. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether harmonization of the results measured with two commercial kits known to produce significantly different serum PTH concentrations could be reasonably achieved by a simple procedure.

Autoactivation of the Epstein-Barr virus oncogenic protein LMP1 during type II latency through opposite roles of the NF-kappaB and JNK signaling pathways.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with several human malignancies where it expresses limited subsets of latent proteins. Of the latent proteins, latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) is a potent transforming protein that constitutively induces multiple cell signaling pathways and contributes to EBV-associated oncogenesis. Regulation of LMP1 expression has been extensively described during the type III latency of EBV.

Human monocytic cell lines transformed in vitro by Epstein-Barr virus display a type II latency and LMP-1-dependent proliferation.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) classically infects and transforms B lymphocytes in vitro, yielding lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs). In contrast to other herpesviruses, EBV is not described as an infectious agent for monocytes. However, recent papers described in vitro infection of monocytes leading to abortive or transient viral expression.