Protocol for autofluorescence-driven isolation of human peripheral blood eosinophils.

Most common techniques for isolating eosinophils utilize CD16-negative selection, neglecting the CD16-positive fraction of eosinophils. Here, we present a protocol for isolating human CD16+ and CD16- eosinophils based on their autofluorescence using the MACSQuant Tyto cell sorter. We describe steps for purifying eosinophils and assessing purity, viability, and functional activity.

Eosinophil extracellular vesicles and DNA traps in allergic inflammation.

Eosinophil granulocytes, a specialized subset of white blood cells, have traditionally been associated with allergic responses and parasitic infections. However, recent research has unveiled their versatile roles in immune regulation beyond these classical functions. This review highlights the emerging field of eosinophil biology, with a particular focus on their release of extracellular vesicles (EVs) and extracellular DNA traps (EETs).

Density Gradient Centrifugation-Independent Purification of Human Basophils.

Basophils represent the rarest type of granulocyte in human peripheral blood. Thus, researching basophils has historically been challenging and has often been reliant on enrichment protocols using density gradient centrifugation. This article describes a novel, fast, and cost-effective method to purify highly viable human basophils from peripheral blood through negative immunomagnetic selection, foregoing the density centrifugation step in the Basic Protocol.

TRPV1 Channel in Human Eosinophils: Functional Expression and Inflammatory Modulation.

The transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is a non-selective cation channel expressed on sensory neurons and immune cells. We hypothesize that TRPV1 plays a role in human eosinophil function and is modulated by inflammatory conditions. TRPV1 expression on human eosinophils was examined by qPCR, flow cytometry, and immunohistochemistry, respectively.

What is the health status of girls and boys in the COVID-19 pandemic? Selected results of the KIDA study.

Background: It is well known that there are gender differences in the health behaviour and physical and mental health of children. The COVID-19 pandemic influenced the health and lifestyles of children and adolescents by changing their living conditions. The present work investigates whether gender differences in selected health indicators are evident more than two years after the onset of the pandemic.

Neurotrophins: Neuroimmune Interactions in Human Atopic Diseases.

Allergic diseases are accompanied by a variety of symptoms such as pruritus, coughing, sneezing, and watery eyes, which can result in severe physiological and even psychological impairments. The exact mechanisms of these conditions are not yet completely understood. However, recent studies demonstrated a high relevance of neurotrophins in allergic inflammation, as they induce cytokine release, mediate interaction between immune cells and neurons, and exhibit different expression levels in health and disease.

Differential Upregulation and Functional Activity of S1PR1 in Human Peripheral Blood Basophils of Atopic Patients.

Basophils are key effector cells in atopic diseases, and the signaling sphingolipid Sphigosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is emerging as an important mediator in these conditions. The possible interaction of S1P and basophils and the resulting biological effects have not yet been studied. We hypothesize that S1P influences the function of basophils in atopy and aim to elucidate the modes of interaction.

German Health Update (GEDA 2019/2020-EHIS) - Background and methodology.

Between April 2019 and September 2020, 23,001 people aged 15 or over responded to questions about their health and living conditions for the German Health Update (GEDA 2019/2020-EHIS). The results are representative of the German resident population aged 15 or above. The response rate was 21.

[Clinical research with pharmaceutical agents in Germany: effects of the 12th amendment to the German Drug Law].

The European Clinical Trials Directive came into force on April 4th, 2001. This regulation will be implemented into the German Drug Law (AMG) through the 12th amendment to the AMG. It will impose major changes on the preparation and conduct of clinical studies with medicaments.

Placebo treatment is effective differently in different diseases--but is it also harmless? A brief synopsis.

Unlabelled: The placebo drug reactions from controlled trials were studied for the first time systematically for efficacy and the safety in drug data pooled from randomized, placebo-controlled, multicentre studies.

Results: The efficacy of placebo on clinical symptoms and outcome varied between the therapeutic indications. However, no placebo effects on laboratory values, as e.

[Pharmacogenetics--implications for health management and health care economics].

Pharmacogenetics, which is principally concerned with drug efficacy and safety, will change the way future health care is practiced. The growing understanding of the genetic basis for drug response and use of this knowledge to predict the response of an individual patient offer new opportunities to meet the changing needs of health care systems and the demands placed upon them. For the individual patient, overall quality of life should be higher as physicians will be able to select the most effective and safest treatments for them.

[Career opportunities for female and male physicians in the pharmaceutical industry].

Introduction: Pharmaceutical medicine is not only a mainstay in clinical drug development and marketing of drugs in pharmaceutical industry but also a challenging alternative to the clinic and outpatient practice for physicians. Since most of them have only a vague notion of what a career in this sector of industry involves, this paper attempts to display the scope of opportunities and responsibilities for physicians and to answer some of the most frequently asked questions.

Job Profiles: Areas for physicians are preclinical research, clinical research, drug safety, biometry, scientific relations, marketing and sales departments, working as company physician, training of sales representatives, health policy and project management.

[Placebo effects and adverse effects in clinical trials].

Background: It is well known that placebos evoke a variety of effects in the human body. It is less known that placebo medication can produce adverse drug reactions (ADRs).

Method: The efficacy and, as the main topic, the tolerability were investigated from an international clinical data pool on placebo-controlled randomized multicenter studies of 5 different groups of indications.

Placebo--efficacy and adverse effects in controlled clinical trials.

Unlabelled: The therapeutic efficacy of placebo in a series of diseases has long been known. It is less well known, however, that treatment with placebo can also produce significant adverse drug reactions. Therefore, the placebo drug reactions from controlled trials were studied for the first time systematically.

[Placebo effect in clinical trials].

Background: It is well known that placebos evoke a variety of effects in the human body. It is less known that placebo medication can produce adverse drug reactions (ADRs).

Method: The efficacy and, as the main topic, the tolerability were investigated from an international clinical data pool on placebo-controlled randomized multicenter studies of 5 different groups of indications.

[Drug research in Germany--problems and chances--from the viewpoint of the drug industry].

A trend can be observed for multinational research-based drug companies shifting their resources away from Germany (and partly also from Europe) and expanding their preclinical and clinical drug research and development programmes and organizations in the USA. The main reasons, which are presently under discussion in Germany, are the image and public acceptance of clinical drug research, professionalism of clinical studies (i.e.

On the value of large multicenter drug intervention trials.

Many large multicenter clinical drug trials are outcome trials with several thousand patients, therefore also called megatrials, numerous of which encompassing the cardiovascular field. Usually designed to test and compare the efficacy of a specific therapy with the major aim being improved outcome at hard end-points, specifically morbidity and mortality, they are representative of typical intervention trials. Considering also the risk of failure, examples of large multicenter therapy trials are examined as to their value to the patients, the society, the health care providers, and--finally--also the manufacturers of the respective drugs.

[Multi-national clinical therapy studies. Design, management and costs].

The development of new drugs requires increasingly the performance of large multinational clinical trials (MCT) with a common protocol. They must be planned when the demonstration of a hypothesis, which requires specific conditions (for example availability of patients with rare diseases, a particular infrastructure or expert knowledge in trial centers) has to be proven in an acceptable time. Our own experience has shown that such multinational trials are more time-consuming in their preparation and their analysis than multicenter trials which are run in one country.