Conformational and quantitative characterization of lysozyme extracted from galyfilcon and senofilcon silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

Purpose: To compare two solvents for retrieval of lysozyme deposited on a silicone hydrogel (SH) contact lens material galyfilcon A (GA; Acuvue Advance).

Methods: Two buffers used were 50:50 acetonitrile/0.02% trifluoroacetic acid (buffer 1) and 50:50 acetonitrile/50 mM NaOH (buffer 2).

Efficacy of cholesterol-lowering therapy in 18,686 people with diabetes in 14 randomised trials of statins: a meta-analysis.

Background: Although statin therapy reduces the risk of occlusive vascular events in people with diabetes mellitus, there is uncertainty about the effects on particular outcomes and whether such effects depend on the type of diabetes, lipid profile, or other factors. We undertook a prospective meta-analysis to help resolve these uncertainties.

Methods: We analysed data from 18 686 individuals with diabetes (1466 with type 1 and 17,220 with type 2) in the context of a further 71,370 without diabetes in 14 randomised trials of statin therapy.

Can self-rated health scores be used for risk prediction in patients with type 2 diabetes?

Objective: To investigate whether self-rated health profiles compiled using the EuroQol group's visual analog scale (EQ VAS) are independent predictors of vascular events and major complications in people with type 2 diabetes after controlling for standard clinical risk factors.

Research Design And Methods: The study is based on 7,348 individuals with a mean follow-up of 2.4 years after completing the EQ-5D questionnaire.

Effect of fenofibrate on the need for laser treatment for diabetic retinopathy (FIELD study): a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Laser treatment for diabetic retinopathy is often associated with visual field reduction and other ocular side-effects. Our aim was to assess whether long-term lipid-lowering therapy with fenofibrate could reduce the progression of retinopathy and the need for laser treatment in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Methods: The Fenofibrate Intervention and Event Lowering in Diabetes (FIELD) study was a multinational randomised trial of 9795 patients aged 50-75 years with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Variability of the analysis of the tear meniscus height by optical coherence tomography.

Purpose: Tear meniscus height (TMH) is an established parameter indicative of tear film volume and has recently been determined using an optical coherence tomographer (OCT). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the inter and intra observer variability in TMH assessment using OCT.

Methods: Ten subjects (6 M, 4 F; aged 32.

Long-term effects of fenofibrate on VLDL and HDL subspecies in participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Aims/hypothesis: Low HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) is frequently accompanied by high triacylglycerol levels in diabetic dyslipidaemia, increasing the risk of CHD. In the Fenofibrate Intervention and Event Lowering in Diabetes (FIELD) study, fenofibrate treatment lowered triacylglycerol levels, but the initial 5% increase in HDL-C attenuated over 5 years. We explored the changes in VLDL and HDL subspecies during fenofibrate treatment in a statin-free FIELD cohort.

Biases in the identification of risk factor thresholds and J-curves.

For some diseases, there has been controversy about whether key risk factors are related linearly to the occurrence of disease events. This issue has important implications for strategies to modify risk factors, since nonlinear threshold or J-curve associations imply that risk factor modification is not beneficial beyond a certain level. This paper considers whether nonlinear risk factor associations can arise spuriously from selection mechanisms common in prospective cohort studies.

Characterization of genetically matched isolates of Campylobacter jejuni reveals that mutations in genes involved in flagellar biosynthesis alter the organism's virulence potential.

Phenotypic and genotypic evidence suggests that not all Campylobacter jejuni isolates are pathogenic for humans. We hypothesized that differences in gene content or gene expression alter the degree of pathogenicity of C. jejuni isolates.

Micronized fenofibrate: a useful choice for the correction of dyslipidemia in metabolic syndrome and Type 2 diabetes.

Cardiovascular disease is the principal cause of illness and disability in patients with diabetes, and is also the most common cause of death worldwide in adults. Fenofibrate, a member of the fibrate class of lipid-modifying drugs, is a potent triglyceride-lowering and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol-raising agent and has a variable effect on low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Fenofibrate administration also leads to a modified, less atherogenic low-density lipoprotein profile, with a consistent effect toward increased low-density lipoprotein particle size and a reduction in the low-density lipoprotein particle density.

Interventions for prevention of post-operative atrial fibrillation and its complications after cardiac surgery: a meta-analysis.

Aims: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common complication after cardiac surgery. We aimed to evaluate, by meta-analysis, all randomized trials testing interventions for preventing AF.

Methods And Results: Ninety-four trials of prevention of post-operative AF were identified, by standard search methods, and analysed by standard meta-analysis techniques.

Human cytomegalovirus attenuates interleukin-1beta and tumor necrosis factor alpha proinflammatory signaling by inhibition of NF-kappaB activation.

Viral infection is associated with a vigorous inflammatory response characterized by cellular infiltration and release of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). In the present study, we identified a novel function of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) that results in inhibition of IL-1 and TNF-alpha signaling pathways. The effect on these pathways was limited to cells infected with the virus, occurred at late times of infection, and was independent of cell type or virus strain.

Survival effects of postmastectomy adjuvant radiation therapy using biologically equivalent doses: a clinical perspective.

Background: Postmastectomy radiation therapy reduces locoregional recurrence among women with operable breast cancer, but whether it improves survival has been controversial. We reanalyzed the results from 36 unconfounded trials (i.e.

Myocardial infarction due to saphenous vein graft compression by an extracardiac mass.

We present an unusual case of a patient with an inferior infarct caused by saphenous vein graft compression by an extracardiac malignant spindle cell tumour, a mechanism of myocardial ischaemia rarely described. This case also illustrates how chest X-ray and angiography can be useful for making an early diagnosis of a cardiac mass.

Asia-Pacific collaboration on coronary heart disease risk factor intervention: study design and methods.

Background: Age-adjusted death rates for coronary heart disease (CHD) have been decreasing in populations of developed countries. At the same time, CHD in the Asia-Pacific region appears to be increasing in parallel with the 'Westernisation' of diet and lifestyle. More epidemiological information is needed from the Asia-Pacific region in order to be able to predict trends in CHD and to plan resources for treatment.

Effects of long-term fenofibrate therapy on cardiovascular events in 9795 people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (the FIELD study): randomised controlled trial.

Background: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, partly owing to dyslipidaemia, which can be amenable to fibrate therapy. We designed the Fenofibrate Intervention and Event Lowering in Diabetes (FIELD) study to assess the effect of fenofibrate on cardiovascular disease events in these patients.

Methods: We did a multinational, randomised controlled trial with 9795 participants aged 50-75 years, with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and not taking statin therapy at study entry.

Cost-effectiveness of rehabilitation after an acute coronary event: a randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To estimate the incremental effects on cost and quality of life of cardiac rehabilitation after an acute coronary syndrome.

Design: Open randomised controlled trial with 1 year's follow-up. Analysis was on an intention-to-treat basis.

Effect of pravastatin in people with diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

Although diabetes is a major cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD), limited data describe the cardiovascular benefit of hydroxymethyl glutaryl CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) in people with both of these conditions. This study sought to determine whether pravastatin reduced the incidence of first or recurrent cardiovascular events in people with non-dialysis-dependent CKD and concomitant diabetes, using data from three randomized trials of pravastatin 40 mg daily versus placebo. CKD was defined by estimated GFR <60 or 60 to 89.

Differential expression of muscle damage in humans following acute fast and slow velocity eccentric exercise.

We sought to determine if the velocity of an acute bout of eccentric contractions influenced the duration and severity of several common indirect markers of muscle damage. Subjects performed 36 maximal fast (FST, n = 8: 3.14 rad x s(-1)) or slow (SLW, n = 7: 0.

Urinary albumin levels in the normal range determine arterial wall thickness in adults with Type 2 diabetes: a FIELD substudy.

Aim: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) rates are substantially higher among patients with Type 2 diabetes than in the general population. The objective of this study was to identify the determinants of carotid intima media thickness (IMT) in patients with Type 2 diabetes.

Methods: We measured the thickness of the intima media layer of the carotid artery, a strong predictor of the risk of future vascular events, in 397 Type 2 diabetic patients drawn from the Fenofibrate Intervention and Event Lowering in Diabetes study, prior to treatment allocation.

Efficacy and safety of cholesterol-lowering treatment: prospective meta-analysis of data from 90,056 participants in 14 randomised trials of statins.

Background: Results of previous randomised trials have shown that interventions that lower LDL cholesterol concentrations can significantly reduce the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and other major vascular events in a wide range of individuals. But each separate trial has limited power to assess particular outcomes or particular categories of participant.

Methods: A prospective meta-analysis of data from 90,056 individuals in 14 randomised trials of statins was done.

Fenofibrate Intervention and Event Lowering in Diabetes (FIELD) study: baseline characteristics and short-term effects of fenofibrate [ISRCTN64783481].

Objective: The Fenofibrate Intervention and Event Lowering in Diabetes (FIELD) Study is examining the effects of long-term fibrate therapy on coronary heart disease (CHD) event rates in patients with diabetes mellitus. This article describes the trial's run-in phase and patients' baseline characteristics.

Research Design And Methods: FIELD is a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 63 centres in 3 countries evaluating the effects of fenofibrate versus placebo on CHD morbidity and mortality in 9795 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Identification of a fibronectin-binding domain within the Campylobacter jejuni CadF protein.

The binding of Campylobacter jejuni to fibronectin (Fn), a component of the extracellular matrix, is mediated by a 37 kDa outer membrane protein termed CadF for Campylobacter adhesion to Fn. Previous studies have indicated that C. jejuni binds to Fn on the basolateral surface of T84 human colonic cells.