Off-pump myocardial revascularization: critical analysis of 23 years' experience in 3,866 patients.

Background: Surgical myocardial revascularization without cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is not new, with the first consecutive series of patients appearing in the early eighties. There has been increased interest in this alternative approach, especially in patients with comorbidities. There is controversy regarding advantages, risks, and usefulness of this method of myocardial revascularization.

Establishment of a pediatric HSCT program in a public hospital in Chile.

Background: In Chile, survival estimates for pediatric patients with cancer are comparable to those in the United States and Western Europe. Approximately 80% of these patients are treated at government-supported centers, and an estimated 65% are cured. We reasoned that cure rates could be further improved if transplantation with hematopoietic stem cells were available for patients with chemotherapy-resistant malignancy.

Matrix metalloproteinases contribute to insulin insufficiency in Zucker diabetic fatty rats.

To assess the molecular changes associated with pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction occurring during the onset of type 2 diabetes, we profiled pancreatic islet mRNAs from diabetic male and high-fat-fed female Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats and their nondiabetic lean counterparts on custom islet-specific oligonucleotide arrays. The most prominent changes in both the male and female models of type 2 diabetes were increases in the mRNAs encoding proteases and extracellular matrix components that are associated with tissue remodeling and fibrosis. The mRNAs for metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, -12, and -14 were sharply increased with the onset of islet dysfunction and diabetes.

Effects of the major histocompatibility complex loci and T-cell receptor beta-chain repertoire on Theiler's virus-induced demyelinating disease.

We have investigated the potential effects of H-2 and T-cell receptor (TCR) V beta family genes on induction of T-cell immunity and susceptibility to virally induced demyelinating disease by using BALB.S (H-2K(s)A(s)D(s)) and BALB.S 3 R (H-2K(s)A(s)D(d)/L(d)) mice.

Antibody response is required for protection from Theiler's virus-induced encephalitis in C57BL/6 mice in the absence of CD8+ T cells.

Intracerebral infection of susceptible mice with Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) induces immune-mediated demyelinating disease and this system serves as a relevant infectious model for human multiple sclerosis. It was previously shown that beta2M-deficient C57BL/6 mice lacking functional CD8+ T cells display increased viral persistence and enhanced susceptibility to TMEV-induced demyelination, and yet the majority of mice are free of clinical signs. To understand the mechanisms involved in this general resistance of C57BL/6 mice in the absence of CTL responses, mice (muMT) deficient in the B-cell compartment lacking membrane IgM molecules were treated with anti-CD8 antibody and then infected with TMEV.

Analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the promoter region of interleukin-10 by denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography.

Interleukin-10 (IL10), an anti-inflammatory cytokine, has been implicated in a variety of immune- and inflammatory-related diseases. We investigated the following SNPs: -1082, -819, -592 in the promoter region of IL10 in a normal (control) population and selected diseases: breast cancer (BrCa), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) by denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and found distinct genotype and haplotype patterns. DHPLC was performed using the Transgenomic WAVE instrument, a mutational discovery tool that allows for high throughout analysis of SNPs.

Lack of lasting effectiveness of PEG 3350 laxative treatment of constipation.

Purpose: PEG 3350 (MiraLax, Braintree Laboratories Inc., Braintree, MA) 17 g daily has been shown to be safe and effective in a 14-day trial for constipation. This present investigation was designed to extend the treatment and safety experience with PEG 3350 and to evaluate any lasting effectiveness during a 30-day post-treatment observation period.

The Atlantic-Mediterranean transition: discordant genetic patterns in two seabream species, Diplodus puntazzo (Cetti) and Diplodus sargus (L.).

Sparids are a group of demersal perciform fish of high commercial value, which have experienced an extensive radiation, particularly in the Mediterranean, where they occupy a variety of different niches. The present study focuses on two species: Diplodus sargus and D. puntazzo, presenting a wide distribution from the Mediterranean to the eastern Atlantic coasts.

Ursodeoxycholic acid in the treatment of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy. A 12-year experience.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in patients with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) and in the outcome of pregnancy.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of our 12-year experience treating ICP patients with UDCA. Thirty-two patients with pruritus starting before week 34 of pregnancy and with increased serum bile salts (BS) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) received UDCA (15 mg/kg/day) for at least 3 weeks before delivery.

Simvastatin: pharmacological response in experimental hyperfibrinogenaemias.

Unlabelled: Through a disorder in the endothelial haemostatic balance, hyperfibrinogenaemia could generate endothelial dysfunction. Statins would have antiinflammatory effects on injured endothelium.

Objective: Simvastatin pharmacological response in rats with hyperfibrinogenaemias induced by laparotomies was studied.

Medical treatment of constipation.

Various agents are used for the medical management of chronic constipation, but few of these have been adequately studied. This article specifically examines the medical treatment of chronic constipation and the available data concerning bulk agents, lubricating agents, stimulants, and osmotic laxatives, used alone and in combination. Most experts consider dietary fiber or medicinal bulk agents to be the initial therapeutic option for the treatment of chronic constipation.

Antitumor activity of orally bioavailable farnesyltransferase inhibitor, ABT-100, is mediated by antiproliferative, proapoptotic, and antiangiogenic effects in xenograft models.

Purpose: To evaluate the preclinical pharmacokinetics, antitumor efficacy, and mechanism of action of a novel orally active farnesyltransferase inhibitor, ABT-100.

Experimental Design: In vitro sensitivity of a panel of human cell lines was determined using proliferation and clonogenic assays. In vivo efficacy of ABT-100 was evaluated in xenograft models (flank or orthotopic) by assessing angiogenesis, proliferation, and apoptosis in correlation with pharmacokinetics.

Factors associated with inadequate prenatal care in Ecuadorian women.

Background: Although inadequate prenatal care has been associated with adverse perinatal outcomes, reports on the factors associated with poor prenatal care in developing Latin American countries are scarce.

Objective: To determine factors associated with inadequate prenatal care among women from low socioeconomic circumstances.

Method: Women delivered after a pregnancy duration of more than 20 weeks at the Enrique C.

Laser therapy on arthritis induced by urate crystals.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate low-power laser therapy efficacy on fibrinogen (PF) in the plasma of rats with arthritis induced by urate crystals. In addition, anatomopathological (AP) studies were carried out.

Background Data: Raised blood uric acid may form microscopic crystals in the joint.

Studies of membrane fluidity and heart contractile force in Trypanosoma cruzi infected mice.

In Chagas disease serious cardiac dysfunction can appear. We specifically studied the cardiac function by evaluating: ventricle contractile force and norepinephrine response, affinity and density of beta-adrenergic receptors, dynamic properties of myocardial membranes, and electrocardiography. Albino swiss mice (n = 250) were infected with 55 trypomastigotes, Tulahuen strain and studied at 35, 75, and 180 days post-infection, that correspond to the acute, indeterminate, and chronic phase respectively.

Innate immune response induced by Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus infection.

Although the causative agents of human multiple sclerosis (MS) are not known, it is suspected that a viral infection may be associated with the initiation of the disease. Several viral disease models in mice have been studied to understand the pathogenesis of demeylination. In particular, Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus-induced demyelinating disease (TMEV-IDD) has been extensively studied as a relevant model.

Peptide mimotopes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis carbohydrate immunodeterminants.

Cell-surface saccharides of Mycobacterium tuberculosis appear to be crucial factors in tuberculosis pathogenicity and could be useful antigens in tuberculosis immunodiagnosis. In the present study, we report the successful antigenic and immunogenic mimicry of mannose-containing cell-wall compounds of M. tuberculosis by dodecamer peptides identified by phage-display technology.

[The editorial handling of manuscripts submitted to Revista Médica de Chile].

This Editorial describes the steps followed by a manuscript when it is submitted to Revista Médica de Chile: its reception, format checking as requested in Instructions to Authors, and the editors' decision whether it is considered suitable for the purposes of this journal or not; the selection of peer reviewers, a direct contact with them to ask for their willingness to review this particular manuscript; an analysis by the editors of the reviewers' criticisms leading them to the decision of whether to accept it in the current version, or to return it to the authors with a request to prepare a new corrected version, or a definitive rejection; the editors' review of a corrected version (that may require again the opinion of the external reviewers) and the final decision to accept it or not; printing of the manuscript, two successive galley proofs reviewed by authors and editors; and the final printing of the journal with its simultaneous reproduction in the web page www.scielo.cl.

Cellular and subcellular localization of endogenous nitric oxide in young and senescent pea plants.

The cellular and subcellular localization of endogenous nitric oxide (NO.) in leaves from young and senescent pea (Pisum sativum) plants was studied. Confocal laser scanning microscopy analysis of pea leaf sections with the fluorescent probe 4,5-diaminofluorescein diacetate revealed that endogenous NO.

[Multivalent informatics application for studies of the nutritional status of the population. Assessment of food intake].

The aim of the study is the presentation and validation of a computer program, GRUNUMUR, designed for nutritional evaluation studies in great population groups, and to describe some of the results obtained after the application of this working tool. This program includes he following types of studies: a) dietary study; b) food habits study; c) anthropometric study and d) clinical study. The main advantage of GRUNUMUR is the possibility of being periodically actualized without any important software knowledge, and to be opened to the introduction of new data bases.

Effects of cigarette smoke on the human airway epithelial cell transcriptome.

Cigarette smoke is the major cause of lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death, and of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. Using high-density gene expression arrays, we describe genes that are normally expressed in a subset of human airway epithelial cells obtained at bronchoscopy (the airway transcriptome), define how cigarette smoking alters the transcriptome, and detail the effects of variables, such as cumulative exposure, age, sex, and race, on cigarette smoke-induced changes in gene expression. We also determine which changes in gene expression are and are not reversible when smoking is discontinued.

Durability of the diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome based on clinical criteria.

Our purpose was to evaluate the durability of the diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) based on clinical criteria. The study population consisted of a cohort of previously published study patients evaluated for IBS between 1989 and 1992, who met the International Congress of Gastroenterology criteria for IBS. Patients were reinterviewed for cardinal features of IBS, Rome I, Rome II, and Manning criteria 10-13 years after the initial diagnosis.