Chitinase-3-like protein-1 (YKL-40) before and after therapy in supraventricular arrhythmias.

Background: The inflammatory glycoprotein chitinase-3-like protein 1 or YKL-40 has emerged as a potential biomarker of cardiovascular diseases, including atrial fibrillation (AFib). We sought to assess YKL-40 in a wide spectrum of supraventricular arrhythmias besides AFib in comparison with other inflammatory markers.

Methods: We determined serum levels of YKL-40, C-reactive protein (CRP) and IL-6 in 70 patients with AFib, atrial flutter, atrioventricular node reentry tachycardia or other supraventricular tachycardias before, immediately after therapy and 1 week after therapy; 20 healthy patients served as controls.

An extended fluorescence in situ hybridization approach for the cytogenetic study of cholangiocarcinoma on endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography brushing cytology preparations.

The cytological diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma has been significantly aided by applying a 4-probe fluorescence in situ hybridization system on endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography brushing smears, aiming mainly at the detection of hyperdiploidy. However, this approach adds little to our understanding of the genetic background of the disease. With the prospect of obtaining additional data on chromosomal aberrations, we have extended the fluorescence in situ hybridization study, with the application of 4 independent 2-probe systems in 35 patients with documented cholangiocarcinoma.

Intravascular B-cell lymphoma with leukemic presentation: case report and literature review.

Intravascular lymphoma is an extremely rare, disseminated, and aggressive extranodal CD20+ non-Hodgkin's lymphoma characterized by the presence of lymphoma cells only in the lumina of small vessels. We report a 72-year-old woman with a diagnosis of intravascular lymphoma presented with splenomegaly and leukemic appearance in the peripheral blood smear. Her clinical course was rapidly deteriorated before the initiation of specific chemotherapy and finally died due to multiorgan insufficiency.

Ligand-controlled interaction of histone acetyltransferase binding to ORC-1 (HBO1) with the N-terminal transactivating domain of progesterone receptor induces steroid receptor coactivator 1-dependent coactivation of transcription.

Modulators of cofactor recruitment by nuclear receptors are expected to play an important role in the coordination of hormone-induced transactivation processes. To identify such factors interacting with the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the progesterone receptor (PR), we used this domain as bait in the yeast Sos-Ras two-hybrid system. cDNAs encoding the C-terminal MYST (MOZ-Ybf2/Sas3-Sas2-Tip60 acetyltransferases) domain of HBO1 [histone acetyltransferase binding to the origin recognition complex (ORC) 1 subunit], a member of the MYST acetylase family, were thus selected from a human testis cDNA library.

Hereditary persistence of alpha-fetoprotein is due to both proximal and distal hepatocyte nuclear factor-1 site mutations.

Background And Aims: The molecular mechanism of hereditary persistence of alpha-fetoprotein (HPAFP) has been previously described in a large Scottish family, consisting of a -119G>A substitution in the distal hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 (HNF-1) binding site of the alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) gene promoter. We report here the molecular mechanisms of HPAFP in 2 new unrelated families.

Methods: Family 1 was of Bengali origin, and family 2 was Italian.