Lead exposures in U.S. Children, 2008: implications for prevention.

Objective: We reviewed the sources of lead in the environments of U.S. children, contributions to children's blood lead levels, source elimination and control efforts, and existing federal authorities.

Investigating Toll-like receptor agonists for potential to treat hepatitis C virus infection.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are key mediators of innate immunity, and their activation by microbial components leads to the production of cytokines and interferons. Recombinant alpha interferon has been used to treat several viral diseases and is the current standard of care for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Recently, agonists of TLR7 and TLR9 have been shown to have clinical efficacy in HCV patients, and this is correlated with their ability to induce endogenous type I interferon production.