Rosiglitazone stimulates adipogenesis and decreases osteoblastogenesis in human mesenchymal stem cells.

Thiazolidinediones (TZD) are widely prescribed for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. Increased loss of bone mass and a higher incidence of fractures have been associated with the use of this class of drugs in post-menopausal women. In vitro studies performed in rodent cell models indicated that rosiglitazone (RGZ), one of the TZD, inhibited osteoblastogenesis and induced adipogenesis in bone marrow progenitor cells.

Regenerative potential of embryonic renal multipotent progenitors in acute renal failure.

Bone marrow-and adult kidney-derived stem/progenitor cells hold promise in the development of therapies for renal failure. Here is reported the identification and characterization of renal multipotent progenitors in human embryonic kidneys that share CD24 and CD133 surface expression with adult renal progenitors and have the capacity for self-renewal and multilineage differentiation. It was found that these CD24+CD133+ cells constitute the early primordial nephron but progressively disappear during nephron development until they become selectively localized to the urinary pole of Bowman's capsule.

Methimazole inhibits CXC chemokine ligand 10 secretion in human thyrocytes.

CXC chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10) plays a pivotal role in the self-perpetuation of the inflammatory processes in patients with autoimmune thyroid disease. Treatment with methimazole (MMI) reduces serum CXCL10 in patients with Graves' disease. In isolated human thyrocytes, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)alpha demonstrates a potent synergistic effect on interferon (IFN)gamma-induced CXCL10 secretion.

Pretransplant serum FT3 levels in kidney graft recipients are useful for identifying patients with higher risk for graft failure.

Objective: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a condition associated with thyroid disturbances both in function and morphology. Recent studies demonstrated that serum free triiodothyronine 3 (FT3) levels are negatively correlated with serum markers of inflammation and endothelial activation in patients with ESRD. However, no previous research evaluated serum thyroid function parameters in relation to kidney graft outcome, as we aim to do so in this study.

Metalloproteinases-2, -9 and TIMP-1 expression in stable and unstable coronary plaques undergoing PCI.

Introduction: Experimental models and ex-vivo studies suggest a crucial role of some matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the development of acute coronary syndromes, but expression levels of MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 in human coronary plaques causing stable angina or an acute coronary syndrome have not been reported, yet.

Methods: MMP-2, -9 and TIMP-1 expressions were assessed by real-time PCR from the debris collected into distal protective vascular guards from patients with stable angina (SA-Group, n=16), acute coronary syndrome (ACS-Group, n=16) undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). MMP-2 and -9 activities were also evaluated by gelatin-substrate zymography on plasma samples collected immediately before PCI, and compared to those of healthy subjects (Control-Group).

Role of chemokines in endocrine autoimmune diseases.

Chemokines are a group of peptides of low molecular weight that induce the chemotaxis of different leukocyte subtypes. The major function of chemokines is the recruitment of leukocytes to inflammation sites, but they also play a role in tumoral growth, angiogenesis, and organ sclerosis. In the last few years, experimental evidence accumulated supporting the concept that interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) inducible chemokines (CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11) and their receptor, CXCR3, play an important role in the initial stage of autoimmune disorders involving endocrine glands.

Serum CXCL10 levels and occurrence of thyroid dysfunction in patients treated with interferon-alpha therapy for hepatitis C virus-related hepatitis.

Objective: Thyroid autoimmunity is a common side effect of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) treatment for chronic hepatitis C. There are currently no reliable parameters to predict the occurrence of thyroid dysfunctions in patients undergoing IFN-alpha therapy. CXC chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10) is a chemokine known to play a role in both thyroid autoimmune disease and hepatitis C virus (HCV) hepatitis.

A case of hyponatremia caused by central hypocortisolism.

Background: A 43-year-old woman was referred to the Psychiatric Unit of the University of Florence Hospital, 1 year after the development of a clinical picture characterized by nausea, hyporexia, muscle weakness, insomnia, weight loss, amenorrhea and severe depression. These clinical manifestations had started 2 months after delivery of her first child. Initial laboratory investigations revealed hypoglycemia and hyponatremia.

A new approach to vulvar squamous cell carcinoma: two-year follow-up of a case report.

Background: Vulvar carcinoma is relatively rare gynaecologic malignancy. The most prevalent vulvar cancer is squamous cell carcinoma. It is not uncommon for patients to delay seeking medical attention or for physicians to delay diagnosing the condition.

Iodine-131 given for therapeutic purposes modulates differently interferon-gamma-inducible alpha-chemokine CXCL10 serum levels in patients with active Graves' disease or toxic nodular goiter.

Context: The mechanism of activation of the immune system after iodine-131 (131I) treatment of hyperthyroidism is still not fully clarified. Serum levels of CXCL10, a prototype of the CXC family of chemokines, are increased in several endocrine autoimmune conditions, and this chemokine plays a role at least in the initial phases of thyroid autoimmune disease and in Graves' disease (GD). OBJECTIVE, DESIGN, AND PATIENTS: The aim of the present study was to measure the serum CXCL10 levels in 20 patients with GD and 10 patients with toxic nodular goiter (TNG) before and 6 months after 131I treatment, when patients had achieved euthyroidism.

PF-4/CXCL4 and CXCL4L1 exhibit distinct subcellular localization and a differentially regulated mechanism of secretion.

PF-4/CXCL4 is a member of the CXC chemokine family, which is mainly produced by platelets and known for its pleiotropic biological functions. Recently, the proteic product of a nonallelic variant gene of CXCL4 was isolated from human platelets and named as CXCL4L1. CXCL4L1 shows only 4.

Hyponatremia and pituitary adenoma: think twice about the etiopathogenesis.

Pituitary adenomas may be the cause of the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH), although few cases have so far been reported. We described a case of hypotonic hyponatremia in a 76-yr-old man with a pituitary macroadenoma. He had a recent history of two syncopal attacks which had occurred in the last two months.

Antineoplastic effects of rosiglitazone and PPARgamma transactivation in neuroblastoma cells.

Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common extracranial solid tumour in infants. Unfortunately, most children present with advanced disease and have a poor prognosis. In the present study, we evaluated the role of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) agonist rosiglitazone (RGZ) in two NB cell lines (SK-N-AS and SH-SY5Y), which express PPARgamma.

Isolation and characterization of multipotent progenitor cells from the Bowman's capsule of adult human kidneys.

Regenerative medicine represents a critical clinical goal for patients with ESRD, but the identification of renal adult multipotent progenitor cells has remained elusive. It is demonstrated that in human adult kidneys, a subset of parietal epithelial cells (PEC) in the Bowman's capsule exhibit coexpression of the stem cell markers CD24 and CD133 and of the stem cell-specific transcription factors Oct-4 and BmI-1, in the absence of lineage-specific markers. This CD24+CD133+ PEC population, which could be purified from cultured capsulated glomeruli, revealed self-renewal potential and a high cloning efficiency.

Serum levels of the interferon-gamma-inducible alpha chemokine CXCL10 in patients with active Graves' disease, and modulation by methimazole therapy and thyroidectomy.

Background: The interferon-gamma-inducible chemokine CXCL10 is highly expressed in infiltrating inflammatory cells, and in thyrocytes in patients with Graves' disease. The aim of this study was to measure serum levels of CXCL10 in relation to thyroid function and treatment.

Methods: Serum levels of CXCL10 were measured in 22 patients with Graves' disease when hyperthyroid, when euthyroid under methimazole therapy, and 3 days after near-total thyroidectomy.

Neuronal differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells: changes in the expression of the Alzheimer's disease-related gene seladin-1.

Seladin-1 (SELective Alzheimer's Disease INdicator-1) is an anti-apoptotic gene, which is down-regulated in brain regions affected by Alzheimer's disease (AD). In addition, seladin-1 catalyzes the conversion of desmosterol into cholesterol. Disruption of cholesterol homeostasis in neurons may increase cell susceptibility to toxic agents.

Increase of CXC chemokine CXCL10 and CC chemokine CCL2 serum levels in normal ageing.

No study has evaluated contemporaneously serum CXC and CC chemokines changes in normal ageing. Serum levels of CXCL10 (sCXCL10) (CXC) and CCL2 (sCCL2) (CC) prototype chemokines have been measured in 164 healthy subjects, from 10 to 79 years of age (82 males/82 females). By simple regression analysis, sCXCL10 and sCCL2 were significantly related with increasing age (r=0.

Increased serum CXCL10 in Graves' disease or autoimmune thyroiditis is not associated with hyper- or hypothyroidism per se, but is specifically sustained by the autoimmune, inflammatory process.

Objective: Serum CXCL10 (an interferon-gamma-inducible chemokine) levels (sCXCL10) are increased in several autoimmune conditions, including Graves' disease (GD) and autoimmune thyroiditis (AT). Longitudinal assessment of sCXCL10 in autoimmune hypo- or hyperthyroidism has not yet been performed.

Design And Methods: We longitudinally assayed sCXCL10 in the following groups: thirty-three GD and 11 toxic nodular goiter (TNG) patients when hyperthyroid (Hyper) and when reaching euthyroidism (Eu) with methimazole therapy (MMI) sixty-six AT (33 hypothyroid (Hypo) and 33 Eu) patients, basally and after reaching EU (for Hypo) with levothyroxine (L-T4) therapy twenty-two patients with thyroid cancer (CA) under L-T4-suppressive treatment, of whom 11 were re-evaluated after L-T4 withdrawal for diagnostic WBS, and 11 after recombinant TSH (rhTSH) administration thirty-three healthy controls.

Multi-step approach in a complex case of Cushing's syndrome and medullary thyroid carcinoma.

The diagnosis of Cushing's syndrome (CS) may sometimes be cumbersome. In particular, in ACTH-dependent CS it may be difficult to distinguish between the presence of an ACTH-secreting pituitary adenoma and ectopic ACTH and/or CRH secretion. In such instances, the etiology of CS may remain unknown despite extensive diagnostic workout, and the best therapeutic option for each patient has to be determined.

Modulational instability in crossing sea states: a possible mechanism for the formation of freak waves.

Here we consider a simple weakly nonlinear model that describes the interaction of two-wave systems in deep water with two different directions of propagation. Under the hypothesis that both sea systems are narrow banded, we derive from the Zakharov equation two coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations. Given a single unstable plane wave, here we show that the introduction of a second plane wave, propagating in a different direction, can result in an increase of the instability growth rates and enlargement of the instability region.

Increase of interferon-gamma-inducible CXC chemokine CXCL10 serum levels in patients with active Graves' disease, and modulation by methimazole therapy.

Background: CXCL10 plays an important role in the initial phases of Graves' disease (GD) and autoimmune thyroiditis (AT); however, until now, CXCL10 serum levels (sCXCL10) in patients with GD have never been evaluated in relation to thyroid function and treatment.

Objective: To evaluate sCXCL10 in GD.

Design: Cross-sectional.

CXCR3-mediated opposite effects of CXCL10 and CXCL4 on TH1 or TH2 cytokine production.

Background: Two variants of the CXCR3 receptor exist, one (CXCR3-A) reactive with CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11 and the other (CXCR3-B) also reactive with CXCL4. Both variants are contemporarily expressed by human T cells.

Objective: We sought to investigate the in vitro effects of CXCL10 and CXCL4 on the production of TH1 or TH2 cytokines.

Interferon-gamma-inducible alpha-chemokine CXCL10 involvement in Graves' ophthalmopathy: modulation by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma agonists.

Context: CXC alpha-chemokine CXCL10/inducing protein-10 play an important role in the initial phases of autoimmune thyroid disorders. Human thyrocytes in primary culture produce large amounts of CXCL10 when stimulated by interferon-gamma (IFNgamma) and TNFalpha.

Objective: Serum CXCL10 levels (sCXCL10) were measured in patients with active or inactive Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO).

Age-dependent changes in CXC chemokine ligand 10 serum levels in euthyroid subjects.

Circulating levels of cytokines are deeply influenced by aging, and few data about serum chemokines are available. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of aging on circulating CXCL10. One hundred forty healthy subjects (70 males and 70 females), 10-79 years of age, underwent fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), triglyceride, and CXCL8 serum assay.