VEGF overexpression improves mice cognitive abilities after unilateral common carotid artery occlusion.

Angiogenesis and neurogenesis are adaptive responses protecting cerebral tissue from hypoxic-ischemic injury. Both processes seem to be governed by hypoxia-induced growth factors, of which vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a prominent example. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of VEGF overexpression (V1 mice) on mice cognitive function and cerebral structure under moderate cerebral oligemia.

Monkey malaria in a European traveler returning from Malaysia.

In 2007, a Finnish traveler was infected in Peninsular Malaysia with Plasmodium knowlesi, a parasite that usually causes malaria in monkeys. P. knowlesi has established itself as the fifth Plasmodium species that can cause human malaria.

Pan-dengue virus detection by PCR for travelers returning from the tropics.

We performed dengue virus (DENV) serology and quantitative real-time pan-DENV reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) on 186 sera of 171 patients returning from the tropics. DENV loads significantly decreased with increasing times of disease and were higher in immunoglobulin M-negative samples. In the first week of disease, pan-DENV RT-PCR is the test of choice.

Hypertension confirmation and blood pressure control rates in epidemiological surveys.

Background: Scarce knowledge about hypertension confirmation and control after a single blood pressure (BP) measurement is available. The objective of this study was to evaluate hypertension confirmation and control rates after 6-year follow-up in a population-based cohort.

Methods: A cohort of 1748 participants representative of a Spanish population received standardized BP measurements.

Metalloprotease meprin beta in rat kidney: glomerular localization and differential expression in glomerulonephritis.

Meprin (EC 3.4.24.

Extensive multiparasitism in a village of Yunnan province, People's Republic of China, revealed by a suite of diagnostic methods.

Intestinal multiparasitism, the accuracy of different diagnostic techniques, and the influence of sampling effort were studied among 215 individuals in a Bulang village, Yunnan province, People's Republic of China. Behavioral, demographic, and socioeconomic data were obtained by questionnaire. Multiple stool specimens were examined by the Kato-Katz, Koga agar plate, Baermann, and ether-concentration methods.

Vascular normalization in Rgs5-deficient tumours promotes immune destruction.

The vasculature of solid tumours is morphologically aberrant and characterized by dilated and fragile vessels, intensive vessel sprouting and loss of hierarchical architecture. Constant vessel remodelling leads to spontaneous haemorrhages and increased interstitial fluid pressure in the tumour environment. Tumour-related angiogenesis supports tumour growth and is also a major obstacle for successful immune therapy as it prevents migration of immune effector cells into established tumour parenchyma.

Drug targeting using OX7-immunoliposomes: correlation between Thy1.1 antigen expression and tissue distribution in the rat.

OX7 monoclonal antibody F((ab')2) fragments directed against Thy1.1 antigen can be used for drug targeting by coupling to the surface of drug-loaded liposomes. Such OX7-conjugated immunoliposomes (OX7-IL) were used recently for drug delivery to rat glomerular mesangial cells, which are characterized by a high level of Thy1.

Hyperbaric oxygen reduces tissue hypoxia and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha expression in focal cerebral ischemia.

Background And Purpose: The usefulness of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) and normobaric hyperoxia in acute ischemic stroke is being reexplored because both improve outcome in experimental cerebral ischemia. However, even the basic mechanisms underlying oxygen therapy are poorly understood. We investigated the effect of both oxygen therapies on tissue hypoxia and on the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha.

Novel three-dimensional analysis tool for vascular trees indicates complete micro-networks, not single capillaries, as the angiogenic endpoint in mice overexpressing human VEGF(165) in the brain.

To adequately supply tissues with oxygen and nutrients, the formation of functional vascular networks requires generation of normal, healthy vessels and their arrangement into an effective network architecture. While our knowledge about the development of single vessels significantly increased during the last years, mechanisms responsible for network formation are still poorly understood. This is probably due to the lack of suitable methods for quantification of structural properties of microvascular networks.

Hypoxia-induced increase in the production of extracellular matrix proteins in systemic sclerosis.

Objective: Insufficient angiogenesis with tissue ischemia and accumulation of extracellular matrix are hallmarks of systemic sclerosis (SSc). Based on the severely decreased oxygen levels in the skin of patients with SSc, we aimed to investigate the role of hypoxia in the pathogenesis of SSc.

Methods: Subtractive hybridization was used to compare gene expression in dermal fibroblasts under hypoxic and normoxic conditions.

Sirolimus ameliorates the enhanced expression of metalloproteinases in a rat model of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

Background: Remodelling of matrix and tubular basement membranes (TBM) is a characteristic of polycystic kidney disease. We hypothesized that matrix and TBM degradation by metalloproteinases (MMPs) could promote cyst formation. We therefore investigated the renal expression of MMPs in the Han:SPRD rat model of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) and examined the effect of sirolimus treatment on MMPs.

Occurrence of Strongyloides stercoralis in Yunnan Province, China, and comparison of diagnostic methods.

Background: Strongyloides stercoralis is a neglected soil-transmitted helminth species, and there is a lack of parasitologic and epidemiologic data pertaining to this parasite in China and elsewhere. We studied the local occurrence of S. stercoralis in a village in Yunnan province, China, and comparatively assessed the performance of different diagnostic methods.

Metzincins, including matrix metalloproteinases and meprin, in kidney transplantation.

Chronic allograft nephropathy, including chronic rejection, remains one of the major causes of renal allograft failure. Amongst other mediators, metzincins, such as matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), direct extracellular matrix metabolism and cell proliferation. Thus, we hypothesized, that these proteolytic enzymes are differentially regulated in chronic renal transplant rejection in rats and in human renal allograft nephropathy.

Delayed hyperbaric oxygenation is more effective than early prolonged normobaric hyperoxia in experimental focal cerebral ischemia.

Hyperbaric (HBO) and normobaric (NBO) oxygen therapy have been shown to be neuroprotective in focal cerebral ischemia. In previous comparative studies, NBO appeared to be less effective than HBO. However, the experimental protocols did not account for important advantages of NBO in the clinical setting such as earlier initiation and prolonged administration.

Prevalence in the eligibility for weight loss treatment in a Mediterranean population.

The aim of the present study was to analyse the prevalence and time trends of the subjects in a Mediterranean population meeting the criteria for weight loss treatment according to the National Institutes of Health (US) treatment algorithm proposed by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Obesity Education Initiative Expert Panel. A random sample of the 25-74 year old population (n 4908) of Gerona, Spain, was examined in 1994-1995 and 1999-2000 in two independent population-based cross-sectional surveys. Cardiovascular risk factors, lifestyle measures and anthropometric variables were analysed.

Six-year follow-up of azathioprine and mycophenolate mofetil use during the first 6 months of renal transplantation.

Long-term follow-up examination to test whether therapy with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) or azathioprine (AZA) during the first year translates into different graft or patient survival and graft function is important. Therefore, 6-year follow-up data of a group of 80 consecutive renal transplant recipients were analyzed. The first group of 40 patients was treated with AZA, cyclosporine and prednisone and the second group with MMF, cyclosporine and prednisone for the first 6 months.

[Analysis of trends in myocardial infarction case-fatality, incidence and mortality rates in Girona, Spain, 1990-1999].

Introduction And Objectives: The incidence of myocardial infarction in Spain is low, and mortality has been decreasing over the last few decades. The objective of this study was to analyze trends in myocardial infarction mortality, incidence, attack rates, and 28-day case-fatality attack rates between 1990 and 1999 in the general population aged 35-74 years in Girona, Spain.

Methods: The study included all myocardial infarction cases in Girona classified according to the MONICA algorithm.

Secular trends of obesity and cardiovascular risk factors in a Mediterranean population.

Objective: To evaluate time trends of obesity, abdominal obesity, and cardiovascular risk factors (CRFs) according to BMI and waist circumference (WC) categories in a Mediterranean population.

Research Methods And Procedures: Subjects were Spanish men (n = 2383) and women (n = 2525) 25 to 74 years old, examined in 1994 to 1995 and 1999 to 2000 in two independent population-based cross-sectional surveys in the northeast of Spain. Lifestyle measures, CRFs, and anthropometric variables were analyzed.

Flt-1, but not Flk-1 mediates hyperpermeability through activation of the PI3-K/Akt pathway.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a potent mediator of endothelial proliferation and migration, has an important role also in brain edema formation during hypoxia and ischemia. VEGF binds to the tyrosine kinase receptors Flt-1 and Flk-1. Yet, their relative importance for hypoxia-induced hyperpermeability is not well understood.

Metzincins, including matrix metalloproteinases and meprin, in kidney transplantation.

Chronic allograft nephropathy, including chronic rejection, remains one of the major causes of renal allograft failure. Amongst other mediators, metzincins, such as matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), direct extracellular matrix metabolism and cell proliferation. Thus, we hypothesized, that these proteolytic enzymes are differentially regulated in chronic renal transplant rejection in rats and in human renal allograft nephropathy.

VEGF-overexpressing transgenic mice show enhanced post-ischemic neurogenesis and neuromigration.

New neurons are generated continuously in the subventricular zone and dentate gyrus of the adult brain. Neuropathologic processes, including cerebral ischemia, can enhance neurogenesis, as can growth factors and other physiologic stimuli. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an angiogenic and neuroprotective growth factor that can promote neurogenesis, but it is unknown whether VEGF can enhance migration of newborn neurons toward sites of ischemic injury, where they might be able to replace neurons that undergo ischemic death.

Vascular endothelial growth factor overexpression delays neurodegeneration and prolongs survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mice.

We sought genetic evidence for the involvement of neuronal vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Mice expressing human ALS mutant superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1) were crossed with mice that overexpress VEGF in neurons (VEGF+/+). We report that SOD1(G93A)/VEGF+/+ double-transgenic mice show delayed motor neuron loss, delayed motor impairment, and prolonged survival compared with SOD1(G93A) single transgenics.

Human vascular endothelial growth factor protects axotomized retinal ganglion cells in vivo by activating ERK-1/2 and Akt pathways.

Based on its trophic effects on neurons and vascular cells, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a promising candidate for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. To evaluate the therapeutic potential of VEGF, we here examined effects of this growth factor on the degeneration of axotomized retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), which, as CNS-derived neurons, offer themselves in an excellent way to study neuroprotection in vivo. Making use of a transgenic mouse line that constitutively expresses human VEGF under a neuron-specific enolase promoter, we show that (1) the VEGF-transgenic retina overexpresses human VEGF, (2) RGCs carry the VEGF receptor-2, and (3) vascular networks in normal and axotomized VEGF-transgenic (tg) retinas do not differ from control animals.

Mansonella perstans causing symptomatic hypereosinophilia in a missionary family.

Mansonella perstans is rarely pathogenic. The rare reports of symptomatic cases, however, include severe complications. Three cases of symptomatic hypereosinophilia with multi-organ involvement are described in a missionary family returning from tropical Africa.