Role of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor in Granulomatosis With Polyangiitis.

Objective: To examine the association between macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) promoter polymorphisms and granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) in human subjects, and to assess the role of MIF in a murine model of granulomatous vasculitis.

Methods: The human study involved 1,077 patients with GPA and healthy controls whose serum was genotyped by capillary electrophoresis for the MIF -794 CATT promoter microsatellite (rs5844572). MIF promoter, CATT-length-dependent gene expression in response to β-glucan was assessed by gene reporter assays.

Epidemiology and determinants of outcome of admissions for atrial fibrillation in the United States from 1996 to 2001.

Despite numerous epidemiologic studies, few data exist on recent trends in admissions to United States hospitals of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) as a primary diagnosis and on the determinants of outcome of these hospitalizations. In the present study, we investigated recent trends in the incidence of AF admissions to United States hospitals from 1996 to 2001 using a representative sample of all acute-care hospital admissions in the United States provided by the Centers for Disease Control, with special attention to the importance of age, gender, race, and other determinants of outcome, namely, in-hospital mortality.