B lymphocyte depletion therapy in children with refractory systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: To determine the safety and efficacy of B lymphocyte depletion therapy in patients with refractory childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: Seven patients (4 of whom were female), ages 7.7-16.

Neonatal renal venous thrombosis: clinical outcomes and prevalence of prothrombotic disorders.

Objective: To determine clinical outcomes and the prevalence of prothrombotic conditions in patients who had neonatal renal venous thrombosis (RVT).

Study Design: A retrospective cohort of neonates with RVT who were admitted to 4 pediatric centers from 1980 to 2001 was identified. Information on clinical presentation, laboratory and radiological investigation, and treatment were abstracted.

Renal tubular dysfunction in children with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Renal tubular and glomerular function was studied in patients under 18 years of age with childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in relation to disease activity in two groups: patients with clinical or laboratory evidence of lupus nephritis and those without (lupus non-nephritis). We reviewed 11 patients with lupus non-nephritis and 10 patients with lupus nephritis over a 12-month period. The measured glomerular filtration rates had a tendency to be lower in the lupus nephritis group.

Estrogen replacement therapy for cognitive benefits: viable treatment or forgettable "senior moment"?

The perceived benefits of estrogen on cognitive function are one of the few remaining potential roles for estrogen replacement therapy. The justification for such a role has a strong biologic basis and is easily shown in animal models. Purported benefits for estrogen on cognitive function include neuroprotective, neurostimulating, and neurotrophic effects.

Prevalence of Bordetella avium infection in selected wild and domesticated birds in the eastern USA.

Bordetella avium is the etiologic agent of bordetellosis, a highly contagious upper respiratory disease of young poultry. Its prevalence among domesticated turkeys is well-known, but information on prevalence of this bacterium in other birds is limited. A survey of the prevalence of B.

Immunogenicity and safety testing of a group B intranasal meningococcal native outer membrane vesicle vaccine.

The presently licensed meningococcal vaccine is a tetravalent capsular polysaccharide vaccine that induces immunity to serogroups A, C, Y, and W-135 but not to group B, which causes nearly half of the meningitis cases in the United States. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of an intranasal native outer membrane vesicle (NOMV) vaccine prepared from a capsule negative strain of group B of Neisseria meningitidis. In this study all volunteers received the same dose of vaccine, but we evaluated two different immunization schedules and the oropharyngeal and intranasal routes of vaccine delivery, assessed nasal cytology for cellular infiltration, and measured antibody-secreting cells (enzyme-linked immunospot assay [ELISPOT]) as an early marker for systemic immune response.