Differential regulation of interleukin 12 and interleukin 23 production in human dendritic cells.

We analyzed interleukin (IL) 12 and IL-23 production by monocyte-derived dendritic cells (mono-DCs). Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and zymosan preferentially induced IL-23. IL-23 but not IL-12 was efficiently induced by the combination of nucleotide-binding oligodimerization domain and Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 ligands, which mimics activation by M.

Analysis of the CARD15 variants R702W, G908R and L1007fs in Italian IBD patients.

CARD15 on chromosome 16 is the only IBD susceptibility gene identified among several mapped loci. Its recurrent variants R702W, G908R and L1007fs have shown significant association with Crohn's disease (CD), but not with ulcerative colitis (UC), in different Caucasian populations. We analysed these three variants in 184 CD and 92 UC Italian patients and in 177 healthy controls.

Non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding and Forrest's classification: diagnostic agreement between endoscopists from the same area.

Background And Study Aims: The lack of uniformity in defining the stigmata of hemorrhage in patients with bleeding ulcers is suggested by the wide range among published studies in prevalence and rebleeding rates for the same stigmata. Moreover there is, in published trials of endoscopic hemostasis, little standardization of definitions of stigmata of hemorrhage. The aim of this study was to assess the interobserver agreement among endoscopists from the same area (Piedmont and Valley of Aosta).

Primary biliary cirrhosis: lung involvement.

Sub-clinical lung impairment, mostly represented by a reduced diffusion of alveolar gases, is a recognised complication of advanced primary biliary cirrhosis. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence and type of pulmonary involvement in primary biliary cirrhosis and the relationship between lung function abnormalities and selected epidemiological and clinical variables. Sixty-one patients with different stages of primary biliary cirrhosis consecutively seen in our outpatient clinic were evaluated.