Development of a comprehensive prognostic index for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

In addition to clinical staging, a number of biomarkers predicting overall survival (OS) have been identified in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The multiplicity of markers, limited information on their independent prognostic value, and a lack of understanding of how to interpret discordant markers are major barriers to use in routine clinical practice. We therefore performed an analysis of 23 prognostic markers based on prospectively collected data from 1948 CLL patients participating in phase 3 trials of the German CLL Study Group to develop a comprehensive prognostic index.

Caloric restriction increases serum testosterone concentrations in obese male subjects by two distinct mechanisms.

The concentration of serum testosterone is mainly regulated by the testicular function, which is under control of the central hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. A certain amount of testosterone is converted into β-estradiol by adipose tissue. Obesity in men is often associated with decreased androgen levels.

Calcitonin screening in patients with thyroid nodules. Diagnostic value.

Aim: The positive predictive value (PPV) of a slightly elevated basal calcitonin (CT) for the diagnosis of medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is still under debate.

Patients, Methods: A total of 11270 patients with thyroid nodules underwent calcitonin screening. Patients with known elevation of CT, renal insufficiency, bacterial infection, alcohol abuse, proton-pump inhibitor therapy or autoimmune thyroid disease were excluded from further analysis.

TAK1 mediates the collagen-II-dependent induction of the COX-2 gene and PGE2 release in primary human chondrocytes.

We investigated the role of transforming growth factor-beta activated kinase 1 (TAK1) in collagen II signaling in primary human chondrocytes (PHCs). We asked whether TAK1 acts as a modulator of collagen II signaling with respect to collagen-II-dependent induction of cyclooxigenase-2 (COX-2) in PHCs and release of PGE2 from PHCs. Therefore, PHCs were incubated with collagen II, and cells were then analyzed by RT-PCR for the expression of COX-2.

Matrilin-3 activates the expression of osteoarthritis-associated genes in primary human chondrocytes.

Here, we tested the matrilin-3-dependent induction of osteoarthritis-associated genes in primary human chondrocytes. Matrilin stimulation leads to the induction of MMP1, MMP3, MMP13, COX-2, iNOS, IL-1beta, TNFalpha, IL-6 and IL-8. Furthermore, we show the participation of ADAMTS4 and ADAMTS5 in the in vitro degradation of matrilin-3.