Colonic stricture secondary to hemolytic uremic syndrome caused by Escherichia coli O-157.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (E. coli) is known to be one of the main causes of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Of the secondary complications of HUS, colonic stricture is relatively rare.

Differential mRNA expression of glucocorticoid receptor alpha and beta is associated with glucocorticoid sensitivity of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children.

Background: Sensitivity of leukemic blasts to glucocorticoid is one of the important prognostic factors for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Alternative splicing of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene results in several isoforms. We examined an association of the expression pattern of GR isoforms in leukemic blasts with their sensitivity to glucocorticoid in childhood ALL.

A functional polymorphism in fas (CD95/APO-1) gene promoter associated with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: To investigate whether Fas promoter polymorphisms show a genetic contribution to the development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a Japanese population, and to study the functional difference in promoter activity of the polymorphisms.

Methods: In 109 SLE patients and 140 controls, the frequencies of A/G polymorphisms at -670 nucleotide position and G/A at -1377 nucleotide position were determined by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism analysis. The functional significance of the -670A/G polymorphism in the Fas gene was evaluated by a combination of Fas transcriptional activity in the reporter gene assay and binding activity of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 1 protein in the electrophoretic mobility shift assay.