Intraperitoneal vancomycin for peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis in children: Evaluation of loading dose guidelines.

Background: Current pediatric International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis guidelines for initial treatment of peritoneal dialysis (PD)-associated peritonitis suggest either monotherapy with cefepime or double therapy with first-generation cephalosporin or glycopeptide and ceftazidime or aminoglycoside. When using vancomycin, the intraperitoneal (IP) recommended pediatric loading dosage is 1000 mg/L of dialysate. This is based on adult pharmacokinetic (PK) studies and roughly translates to the adult recommendation where 30 mg/kg in 2 L is approximately 1000 mg/L.

Identification of Plant Extracts that Inhibit the Formation of Diabetes-Linked IAPP Amyloid.

The extracts of 27 vegetables, spices and herbs were screened for their functional ability to inhibit the aggregation of islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP, amylin) into toxic amyloid aggregates. The aggregation of IAPP has been directly linked to the death of pancreatic β-islet cells in type 2 diabetes. Inhibiting the aggregation of IAPP is believed to have the potential to slow, if not prevent entirely, the progression of this disease.

The Werner's syndrome 4330T>C (Cys1367Arg) gene variant does not affect the in vitro cytotoxicity of topoisomerase inhibitors and platinum compounds.

Purpose: Werner's syndrome (WS) is a recessive disorder of premature onset of processes associated with aging. Defective DNA repair has been reported after exposure of cells isolated from WS patients to DNA-damaging agents. The germline 4330T>C (Cys1367Arg) variant in the WS gene (WRN) has been associated with protection from age-related diseases, suggesting it has a functional role.

GAD1 single nucleotide polymorphism is in linkage disequilibrium with a child bipolar I disorder phenotype.

Background: Pediatric bipolar I disorder (BP-I) and childhood schizophrenia (SZ) share certain symptoms (e.g., psychosis, aggression/irritability [A/I]), and the psychotic and A/I features are treated with neuroleptics in both disorders.

Evidence for a susceptibility locus on chromosome 10p15 in early-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: The goal of this study was to identify chromosomal regions likely to contain susceptibility loci for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Methods: We conducted a genome-wide linkage scan, with average marker spacing less than 10 centimorgans (cM), in 121 subjects from 26 families ascertained through probands with early-onset OCD. Best estimate lifetime psychiatric diagnoses were based on semistructured interviews and all other available sources of information.

Can long-range microsatellite data be used to predict short-range linkage disequilibrium?

The distribution of linkage disequilibrium (LD) across the genome is highly complex. Little is known about the relationship between long-range and short-range LD in a genomic region. We assessed whether a dense set of microsatellite data could be used to predict short-range LD in family samples.