PEARL: A Non-interventional Study of Real-World Alirocumab Use in German Clinical Practice.

Background: Several lipid guidelines recommend that proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors should be considered for patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease who are inadequately treated with maximally tolerated lipid-lowering treatment.

Objectives: The PEARL study assessed the efficacy and safety of the proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitor alirocumab in patients with hypercholesterolemia in a real-world setting.

Methods: PEARL was an open, prospective, multicenter, non-interventional study conducted in Germany.

Food Intolerance: Immune Activation Through Diet-associated Stimuli in Chronic Disease.

The immune response is a very complex interplay of specific and nonspecific branches that have evolved to distinguish between nondangerous and dangerous or nontolerated factors. In the past, research has focused on the specific immune system much more than the host's innate defense. Studies have shown that a key component of the immune response involves activation of the inflammasome.

Selenoprotein P is the essential selenium transporter for bones.

Selenium (Se) plays an important role in bone physiology as best reflected by Kashin-Beck disease, an endemic Se-dependent osteoarthritis. Bone development is delayed in children with mutations in SECIS binding protein 2 (SBP2), a central factor for selenoprotein biosynthesis. Circulating selenoprotein P (SePP) is positively associated with bone turnover in humans, yet its function for bone homeostasis is not known.

Selenoprotein P in seminal fluid is a novel biomarker of sperm quality.

Hepatically-derived selenoprotein P (SePP) transports selenium (Se) via blood to other tissues including the testes. Male Sepp-knockout mice are infertile. SePP-mediated Se transport to Sertoli cells is needed for supporting biosynthesis of the selenoenzyme glutathione peroxidase-4 (GPX4) in spermatozoa.