Association of G protein-coupled receptor 78 with salivary dysfunction in male Sjögren's patients.

Objective: Sjögren's disease (SjD) has a strong sex bias, suggesting an association with sex hormones. Male SjD represents a distinct subset of the disease, but the pathogenic mechanisms of male SjD is poorly characterized. The aim of this study is to identify initiating events related to the development of gland hypofunction and autoimmunity in male SjD patients.

Rescue of Adeno-Associated Virus Production by shRNA Cotransfection.

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector technology is rapidly advancing and becoming not only the leading vector platform in the field of gene therapy but also a useful tool for functional genomic studies of novel proteins. As most vectors utilize constitutive promoters, this results in transgene expression during production. Depending on the transgene product, this could induce proapoptotic, cytostatic, or other unknown effects that interfere with producer cell function and, therefore, reduce viral vector yield.

Inhibition of bone morphogenetic protein 6 receptors ameliorates Sjögren's syndrome in mice.

Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is a chronic autoimmune disease, with only palliative treatments available. Recent work has suggested that increased bone morphogenetic protein 6 (BMP6) expression could alter cell signaling in the salivary gland (SG) and result in the associated salivary hypofunction. We examined the prevalence of elevated BMP6 expression in a large cohort of pSS patients and tested the therapeutic efficacy of BMP signaling inhibitors in two pSS animal models.

Aquaporin gene therapy corrects Sjögren's syndrome phenotype in mice.

Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is a chronic autoimmune disease that is estimated to affect 35 million people worldwide. Currently, no effective treatments exist for Sjögren's syndrome, and there is a limited understanding of the physiological mechanisms associated with xerostomia and hyposalivation. The present work revealed that aquaporin 5 expression, a water channel critical for salivary gland fluid secretion, is regulated by bone morphogenetic protein 6.

Inhibition of autoimmune Chagas-like heart disease by bone marrow transplantation.

Background: Infection with the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi manifests in mammals as Chagas heart disease. The treatment available for chagasic cardiomyopathy is unsatisfactory.

Methods/principal Findings: To study the disease pathology and its inhibition, we employed a syngeneic chicken model refractory to T.

[Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms among professionals during humanitarian aid in Haiti after the earthquake in 2010].

The scope of this article is to screen the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among the professionals who provided humanitarian aid for the Haitian population after the 2010 earthquake. It involvess a cross-sectional study. The Impact of Event Scale - Revised (IES-R) was used for screening symptoms of PTSD.

Psychological distress in survivors of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Objective: To investigate the presence of depression and anxiety symptoms in survivors of the Haiti earthquake who were assisted by a healthcare team from the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, and to evaluate the impact that losing a family member during this catastrophe could have on the development of these symptoms.

Methods: Forty survivors of the Haiti earthquake who were assisted by the healthcare team between February and March of 2010 were included in this study. All subjects underwent a semi-structured interview.

Pathogenesis of chagas' disease: parasite persistence and autoimmunity.

Acute Trypanosoma cruzi infections can be asymptomatic, but chronically infected individuals can die of Chagas' disease. The transfer of the parasite mitochondrial kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) minicircle to the genome of chagasic patients can explain the pathogenesis of the disease; in cases of Chagas' disease with evident cardiomyopathy, the kDNA minicircles integrate mainly into retrotransposons at several chromosomes, but the minicircles are also detected in coding regions of genes that regulate cell growth, differentiation, and immune responses. An accurate evaluation of the role played by the genotype alterations in the autoimmune rejection of self-tissues in Chagas' disease is achieved with the cross-kingdom chicken model system, which is refractory to T.

Trypanosoma cruzi in the chicken model: Chagas-like heart disease in the absence of parasitism.

Background: The administration of anti-trypanosome nitroderivatives curtails Trypanosoma cruzi infection in Chagas disease patients, but does not prevent destructive lesions in the heart. This observation suggests that an effective treatment for the disease requires understanding its pathogenesis.

Methodology/principal Findings: To understand the origin of clinical manifestations of the heart disease we used a chicken model system in which infection can be initiated in the egg, but parasite persistence is precluded.

Post-traumatic stress disorders, mood disorders, and quality of life in transplant recipients with acute liver failure.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and quality of life among acute hepatitis patients undergoing liver transplantation.

Method: Twenty-four patients underwent transplantation due to acute liver failure. After a brief anamnestic interview to gather demographic and clinical information, each participant underwent a psychological assessment using the SF-36 Health Survey (SF-36), Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R), Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale, as well as Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

Pancreas transplantation alone in children: a case report.

Pancreas transplantation (PT) is a relatively uncommon therapy for non-uremic type 1 diabetes, as the severity of diabetes must warrant the risk of immunosuppression. In pediatric diabetic patients, who are less likely to display uremia because of the duration of diabetes, there is very little experience with pancreas transplantation alone (PTA). This report describes a 13-yr-old male PTA recipient.

Psychosocial profile of patients on the liver transplant list.

Introduction: Researchers have shown that psychosocial factors influence adherence to treatment and, consequently, prognosis. Psychosocial assessment during the preoperative outpatient phase has allowed physicians to make better treatment decisions.

Objectives: We sought to describe the psychosocial profile of patients on the liver transplant list referred for psychological assessment.

Neuropsychological assessment in kidney and liver transplantation candidates.

Introduction: Chronic renal and liver diseases are associated with cognitive and intellectual impairment, which can be irreversible even after kidney or liver transplantation.

Objective: We sought to investigate the presence of cognitive deficits in organ transplantation candidates.

Methods: From May 2005 to March 2006, 35 organ transplantation candidates, of mean age 46.

Evaluation of efficacy in a pancreas and pancreas-kidney pretransplantation orientation group.

Background: There is evidence of benefits from psycho-educational groups in the compliance of patients undergoing complex procedures. Psycho-educational groups provide information, elucidate doubts and realities, fade out fantasies, and help lessen patients' anxieties, thus minimizing the chances of complications or irregular behavior. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of an interdisciplinary orientation group for pretransplantation preparation for pancreas/pancreas-kidney grafting.

Evaluation of efficacy in a liver pretransplantation orientation group.

Background: The medical context recognizes the efficiency of working with groups of patients. Group interventions can intensify the understanding, ability, and notion of recognizing the patient's own condition, increasing the responsibility for him- or herself. This survey sought to evaluate the efficacy of an interdisciplinary orientation group for hepatic transplantation preoperatively.

Chagas disease.

Chagas disease is the clinical condition triggered by infection with the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. The infection is transmitted by triatomine insects while blood feeding on a human host. Field studies predict that one third of an estimated 18 million T cruzi-infected humans in Latin America will die of Chagas disease.