Publications by authors named "Sara Sparks"
Objective: Inflammation in response to oxidized lipoproteins is thought to play a key role in acute coronary syndromes (ACS), but the pattern of immune activation has not been fully characterized. We sought to perform detailed phenotypic and functional analysis of CD8 T lymphocytes from patients presenting with ACS to determine activation patterns and potential immunologic correlates of ACS.
Approach And Results: We used polychromatic flow cytometry to analyze the cytokine production profiles of naïve, effector, and memory CD8 T cells in patients with ACS compared with control subjects with stable coronary artery disease.
Rationale: Cytomegalovirus (CMV), which is one of the most common infections after lung transplantation, is associated with chronic lung allograft dysfunction and worse post-transplantation survival. Current approaches for at-risk patients include a fixed duration of antiviral prophylaxis despite the associated cost and side effects.
Objectives: We sought to identify a specific immunologic signature that predicted protection from subsequent CMV.
Background: Preprocedure clinical and pathologic factors have failed to consistently differentiate complete response (CR) from progressive disease (PD) in patients after isolated limb infusion (ILI) with melphalan for unresectable in-transit extremity melanoma.
Methods: Multiplex immunobead assay technology (Milliplex MAP Human Cytokine/Chemokine Magnetic Bead Panel, Millipore Corp., Billerica, MA; and Magpix analytical test instrument, Luminex Corp.
Article Synopsis
- - Aplaviroc is a drug that specifically targets the CCR5 receptor on human cells, showing strong effectiveness against HIV in lab tests at very low concentrations.
- - In studies, Aplaviroc prevents a specific antibody from binding to CCR5 and can effectively occupy this receptor, impacting its capability to help the virus enter cells.
- - After administration, Aplaviroc maintains high CCR5 receptor occupancy for an extended period (over 100 hours), which correlates with its antiviral efficacy, suggesting that measuring CCR5 occupancy is crucial for evaluating the drug's effects alongside traditional pharmacokinetic assessments.