Normal neonatal TREC and KREC levels in early onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Objective: Dysregulated central tolerance predisposes to autoimmune diseases. Reduced thymic output as well as compromised central B cell tolerance checkpoints have been proposed in the pathogenesis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The aim of this study was to investigate neonatal levels of T-cell receptor excision circles (TRECs) and kappa-deleting element excision circles (KRECs), as markers of T- and B-cell output at birth, in patients with early onset JIA.

Frequency and distribution of FCN2 and FCN3 functional variants among MBL2 genotypes.

The six types of pattern recognition molecules (PRMs) that initiate complement via the lectin pathway (LP) comprise collectins and ficolins. The importance of having various PRMs to initiate the LP is currently unclear. Mannan-binding lectin (MBL) is a collectin member of the LP PRMs.

Cross-country comparisons of health-care costs: the case of cancer treatment in the Nordic countries.

The objective of this study is to perform a cross-country comparison of cancer treatment costs in the Nordic countries, and to demonstrate the added value of decomposing documented costs in interpreting national differences. The study is based on individual-level data from national patient and prescription drug registers, and data on cancer prevalence from the NORDCAN database. Hospital costs were estimated on the basis of information on diagnosis-related groups (DRG) cost weights and national unit costs.

[Inherited deficiency of the initiator molecules of the lectin-complement pathway].

The complement system is an important immune system. Its activation results in membranolytic elimination of microbes and opsonization. The classical, alternative and lectin pathways (LP) activate complement.

Encapsidation determinants located downstream of the major splice donor in the maedi-visna virus leader region.

We investigated the role of the 5'-untranslated region between the primer binding site and the gag initiation codon in ovine lentivirus maedi-visna virus (MVV) genomic RNA encapsidation. We identified five computer-predicted stem-loops, three of which were highly conserved in primary sequence and structure. One stable 83-nucleotide (nt) stem-loop (SL4) was not conserved in the primary sequence, but phylogenetic analysis revealed several base pair covariations.

A rapid real-time qRT-PCR assay for ovine beta-actin mRNA.

Beta-Actin mRNA is often used for normalization in gene expression experiments. We describe a sensitive, rapid and specific quantitative assay for the cytoplasmic ovine beta-actin mRNA. The assay was based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with real-time fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) measurements to amplify cDNA products reverse transcribed from mRNA.

Quantitative assays for maedi-visna virus genetic sequences and mRNA's based on RT-PCR with real-time FRET measurements.

We developed robust, ultrasensitive, and accurate quantitative assays for maedi-visna virus (MVV) RNA and DNA genomic sequences and mRNA's expressed at various stages of lentiviral replication. Assay design was based on PCR with real-time fluorescence resonance energy transfer measurements. Specific assays were developed for gag-pol (genomic), tat, rev, env, and vif transcripts.