Bezafibrate therapy in primary biliary cholangitis refractory to ursodeoxycholic acid: a longitudinal study of paired liver biopsies at 5 years of follow up.

Background: Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is the first-line therapy for primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). However, nearly 40% of patients have an incomplete response to UDCA. The addition of bezafibrate has shown biochemical benefit in this group of patients.

Cigarette smoking and culture conversion in patients with susceptible and M/XDR-TB.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Active cigarette smoking may have a significant impact on treatment responses to anti-tuberculosis treatment.

Objective: To ascertain the effect of smoking on sputum culture conversion rates following treatment initiation in patients with susceptible, multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant TB (M/XDR-TB).

A six-year experience with anal cytology in women with HPV in the lower genital tract: utility, limitations, and clinical correlation.

This study assessed the utility and limitations of anal cytology as a screening method for women infected with human papilloma virus (HPV) in the lower genital tract. Furthermore, this study aimed to establish risk factors for pathological anal cytology/biopsy findings, the prevalence of anatomopathological lesions associated with positive anal brushings, and the frequency of concomitant lesions of the lower genital tract. A cross-sectional, retrospective, descriptive study in 207 women with HPV-associated lesions of the lower genital tract and 25 women with immunosuppression was carried out.

Species-specific functioning of the Pseudomonas XcpQ secretin: role for the C-terminal homology domain and lipopolysaccharide.

Secretins are oligomeric proteins that mediate the export of macromolecules across the bacterial outer membrane. The members of the secretin superfamily possess a C-terminal homology domain that is important for oligomerization and channel formation, while their N-terminal halves are thought to be involved in system-specific interactions. The XcpQ secretin of Pseudomonas spp.