Immune correlates of acute Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in household contacts in Kampala, Uganda.

To determine immunologic and epidemiologic correlates of acute Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in household contacts of infectious tuberculosis cases, we performed a prospective, community-based cohort study of index cases and their household contacts in Kampala, Uganda. Contacts were evaluated for tuberculin skin test (TST) conversion over two years. Interferon-gamma expression was measured using a whole blood assay after stimulating with M.

Pain-related impairment and health care utilization in children and adolescents: a comparison of orofacial pain with abdominal pain, back pain, and headache.

Objective: The purpose was to compare orofacial (temporomandibular) pain with other pain complaints regarding impairment and health care utilization in a sample of 1,011 children and adolescents from a metropolitan area in Germany.

Method And Materials: Individuals aged 10 to 18 years were sampled in schools using a 2-stage cluster technique. Orofacial pain in the previous month was assessed according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders.

A role for CD4+CD25+ T cells in regulation of the immune response during human tuberculosis.

Active tuberculosis (TB) is associated with prolonged suppression of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)-specific immune responses, but mechanisms involved are understood incompletely. We investigated a potential role for CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells in depressed anti-MTB immunity by evaluating serially CD4 cell phenotype and interferon (IFN)-gamma production by mononuclear cells from patients with TB. At diagnosis, frequencies of CD4+CD25+ T cells were increased in blood from TB patients compared to healthy purified protein derivative (PPD)-positive controls (with a history of prior TB exposure), and remained elevated at completion of therapy (6 months).

Translating the research diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders into German: evaluation of content and process.

Aims: To develop a German-language version of the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) through a formal translation/back-translation process, to summarize available data about their psychometric properties, and to provide new data about psychometric testing of components of the RDC/TMD.

Methods: To cross-culturally adapt the instrument, the RDC/TMD were translated using a forward-backward method, except for measures of somatization and depression, because German-specific instruments of these already existed. The psychometric properties of the RDC/TMD were examined, and the literature on this topic was reviewed.

The association of race with frailty: the cardiovascular health study.

Purpose: Frailty, which has been conceptualized as a state of decreased physiologic reserve contributing to functional decline, has a prevalence among older African Americans that is twice that in older whites. This study assesses the independent contribution of race to frailty.

Methods: We evaluated 786 African-American and 4491 white participants of the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS).

Risk factors for venous thromboembolic events in cancer patients.

Background: Cancer patients of the Department of Internal Medicine (Cancer Research) of the Essen University Medical School (Tumor Clinics), Germany, were examined and questioned with the aim of identifying those who run a high risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

Patients And Methods: Between September 2002 and April 2003, cancer therapy and DVT risk factors of 507 cancer patients (53% males, 47% females, mean age 56+/-12 years) were documented. During a mean follow-up of 8+/-5 months, 60 patients (12%) suffered from new venous thromboembolic events (VTE): 28 at the lower limb, 25 at the upper limb and 13 pulmonary embolisms.

Kidney function as a predictor of noncardiovascular mortality.

Chronic kidney disease is associated with a higher risk for cardiovascular mortality, as well as all-cause mortality. Whether chronic kidney disease is a predictor of noncardiovascular mortality is less clear. To further explore the latter, the association of kidney function with total noncardiovascular mortality and cause-specific mortality was assessed in the Cardiovascular Health Study, a community-based cohort of older individuals.

A prospective study of anemia status, hemoglobin concentration, and mortality in an elderly cohort: the Cardiovascular Health Study.

Background: Anemia is viewed as a negative prognostic factor in the elderly population; its independent impact on survival is unclear.

Methods: Baseline hemoglobin quintiles and anemia, as defined by the World Health Organization criteria, were assessed in relation to mortality in the Cardiovascular Health Study, a prospective cohort study with 11.2 years of follow-up of 5888 community-dwelling men and women 65 years or older, enrolled in 1989-1990 or 1992-1993 in 4 US communities.

Inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) by beta-chemokine analogues in mononuclear cells from HIV-1-infected patients with active tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) enhances human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) activity in patients with dual HIV-1/TB infection. Therapies that control augmentations of HIV-1 activity at sites of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection may be useful in inhibition of viral expansion. Regulated upon activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) analogues (AOP and NNY) are potent in inhibiting the entry of primary HIV-1 isolates into host mononuclear cells.

Mechanisms of apoptosis of T-cells in human tuberculosis.

The role of TGF-beta TNF-alpha FasL and Bcl-2 in apoptosis of CD4 T-cells during active TB was studied. Coculture of PBMC from TB patients with neutralizing antibodies to TGF-beta or TNF-alpha decreased spontaneous (P < or = 0.05) and MTB-induced (P < or = 0.

Research diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders: a calibration and reliability study.

The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability between different examiners when using the axis I of the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD). The hypothesis was that the standardized RDC/TMD examination protocol enables calibrated examiners to evaluate all examination items reliably. After calibration training by the RDC/TMD calibration team including the calibration of palpation pressure and the performance of the standardized examination protocol, four examiners, blinded to the patients' medical histories examined 24 subjects in a randomized sequence.

Relationship between overbite/overjet and clicking or crepitus of the temporomandibular joint.

Aims: Since occlusal variables such as overbite and overjet have been thought to be associated with temporomandibular disorders (TMD), and joint sounds are some of the most prevalent signs of TMD, the aim of this study was to determine whether overbite and overjet are risk factors for temporomandibular joint (TMJ) sounds.

Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study of 3,033 subjects (age range, 10 to 75 years; 53% female) was conducted in Germany. Overbite/overjet, reproducible reciprocal clicking (RRC) during open-close jaw movements that did not occur in the protrusive jaw position, and joint crepitus were assessed according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD).

ERAD: the long road to destruction.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated protein degradation (ERAD) eliminates misfolded or unassembled proteins from the ER. ERAD targets are selected by a quality control system within the ER lumen and are ultimately destroyed by the cytoplasmic ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). The spatial separation between substrate selection and degradation in ERAD requires substrate transport from the ER to the cytoplasm by a process termed dislocation.

5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine (decitabine) can relieve p21WAF1 repression in human acute myeloid leukemia by a mechanism involving release of histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) without requiring p21WAF1 promoter demethylation.

Decitabine is a potent demethylating agent that exhibits clinical activity against myeloid malignancies. Numerous genes silenced by hypermethylation are reactivated by decitabine through a mechanism involving promoter demethylation with subsequent release of histone deacetylases (HDACs) and accumulation of acetylated histones. Recent studies indicating that decitabine also induces regional chromatin remodeling of some unmethylated genes suggest additional mechanisms of action.

Bioactivation of latent transforming growth factor beta1 by Mycobacterium tuberculosis in human mononuclear phagocytes.

Biologically active transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFbeta1) has been identified at sites of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection in the lung; however, the underlying mechanism(s) for its activation is not clear. Here using an enzyme-linked immunospot assay for TGFbeta1, we show that human blood monocytes (MN) and alveolar macrophages (AM) produce bioactive TGFbeta1 upon stimulation by MTB. However, only MTB-stimulated MN increased TGFbeta1 production on a per cell basis.

The causal role of negative imagery in social anxiety: a test in confident public speakers.

This study tests the causal role of negative self-imagery in social anxiety. Low public-speaking anxious volunteers rehearsed a negative self-image, a positive self-image or a control image prior to giving a speech. As predicted, the negative image group felt more anxious, believed they performed less well and reported more negative thoughts than the positive image group.

Outcomes with the paclitaxel-eluting stent in patients with acute coronary syndromes: analysis from the TAXUS-IV trial.

Objectives: We sought to investigate the outcomes of paclitaxel-eluting stent implantation in patients with unstable angina or non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Background: Whether the paclitaxel-eluting stent is safe and effective in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) is unknown.

Methods: In the TAXUS-IV trial, 1,314 patients with stable or unstable ischemic syndromes undergoing PCI were randomized to treatment with either the slow-release, polymer-based, paclitaxel-eluting TAXUS stent or a bare-metal EXPRESS stent (Boston Scientific Corp.

San1p, checking up on nuclear proteins.

Cellular quality control mechanisms perform vital tasks by ensuring that the proteome reflects precisely the information encoded by the genome. In this issue of Cell, Gardner et al. (2005) report the discovery of a novel protein quality control system that resides in the nucleus.

Linking variation in the structure and process of bedside glucose testing programs with patient outcomes.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine if variation in compliance to standards listed in Ancillary (Bedside) Blood Glucose Testing in Acute and Chronic Care Facilities (ABBGT) was linked to variation in patient outcomes.

Design And Setting: A retrospective analysis examined 450 hospitalized patients with a diagnosis of diabetes from three hospitals with high, medium, and low assessment scores for compliance with ABBGT guidelines. Patients with a diagnosis of diabetes without surgical interventions or intensive care unit stays were selected for the study.

Associates of bone mineral density in older African Americans.

Objectives: To assess correlates of bone mineral density (BMD) in older African Americans.

Participants: 189 women and 115 men over age 64.

Methods: Variables investigated: BMD by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), medications, cardiovascular disease risk factors, demographic, lifestyle factors and functional status.

Endoplasmic reticulum-associated protein degradation--one model fits all?

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the eukaryotic organelle where most secretory proteins are folded for subsequent delivery to their site of action. Proper folding of newly synthesized proteins is monitored by a stringent ER quality control system. This system recognizes misfolded or unassembled proteins and prevents them from reaching their final destination.