Protective molecules--C-reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid P (SAP), pentraxin3 (PTX3), mannose-binding lectin (MBL), and apolipoprotein A1 (Apo A1), and their autoantibodies: prevalence and clinical significance in autoimmunity.

Apoptotic defects and impaired clearance of cellular debris are considered key events in the development of autoimmunity, as they can contribute to autoantigen overload, and may initiate an autoimmune response. The pentraxins are a group of highly conserved proteins including the short pentraxins, C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid-P (SAP), and the long pentraxin-3 (PTX3), which are all involved in innate immunity and in acute-phase responses. Mannan-binding lectin (MBL) is an activator of the complement system, and Apolipoprotein A-1 (Apo A-1) is pivotal in the cholesterol homeostasis and has anti-inflammatory properties.

Thrombocytopenic conditions-autoimmunity and hypercoagulability: commonalities and differences in ITP, TTP, HIT, and APS.

Immune thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP), thrombotic thrombocytopenia purpura (TTP), heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) are clinical conditions associated with significant morbidity and mortality. These well-defined clinical syndromes have in common several properties: (1) their pathogenesis is immune mediated, specifically by autoantibodies; (2) thrombocytopenia is a hallmark in these four conditions; (3) except for the case of ITP, platelet and endothelial cell activation occurs in TTP, HIT, and APS, resulting in a prothrombotic state and an increased risk of thrombosis. Although these four immune-mediated syndromes are well-defined diseases, several case reports and studies have documented the association of two diseases in the same patient, illustrating the concept of the kaleidoscope of autoimmunity.

The use of MR imaging guided focused ultrasound in breast cancer patients; a preliminary phase one study and review.

The use of high energy focused ultrasound (FUS) waves to destroy tumor tissue in breast cancer is explored. High energy FUS destroys cells by raising the temperature of the treated volume high enough to denature cell proteins and bring about cellular death. The absorbed energy results in extremely high tissue gradients between target cells and surrounding tissue, so the effect of the focused energy is concentrated only at the target, leaving the healthy tissue unscathed.

The early development of the fetal kidney-an in utero sonographic evaluation between 13 and 22 weeks' gestation.

Objectives: To establish a nomogram for early fetal kidney development during early gestation.

Methods: The study is a prospective, cross-sectional evaluation of 275 male and female fetuses between 13 and 22 weeks in normal singleton pregnancies. Measurements of fetal kidney length were performed by high resolution transvaginal ultrasonography between 14 and 17 weeks' gestation, and by transabdominal ultrasonography beyond 18 weeks' gestation.

Extramedullary progression despite a good response in the bone marrow in patients treated with thalidomide for multiple myeloma.

We report two patients who were treated with thalidomide for resistant multiple myeloma (MM) and developed extramedullary plasmacytomas despite a good response in the bone marrow. The first patient had progressive disease 18 months post autologous peripheral stem cell transplant. Two and a half months after the initiation of thalidomide therapy extensive new plasmacytomas of the skin and nasal mucosa appeared while the medullary response continued.

The combined cough frequency/severity scoring: a new approach to cough evaluation in clinical settings.

Cough assessment is an important component in the clinical evaluation of patients with respiratory and cardiovascular disorders (asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease, congestive heart failure, etc.). A dry bothersome cough is the most common adverse class effect of all angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I).

Plasma cell dyscrasia with polyneuropathy--POEMS syndrome presenting with vasculitic skin lesions and responding to combination chemotherapy.

We report a 61-year-old male patient who presented with severe sensorimotor neuropathy, leg edema and skin lesions with M-paraprotein and 50% plasma cells in the bone marrow. The POEMS (Crow-Fukase) syndrome was diagnosed and the skin lesions were compatible with vasculitis according to the histopathology. The patient was treated with aggressive combined chemotherapy, which induced improvement in both the clinical and laboratory parameters of his disease.

The development of the fetal penis--an in utero sonographic evaluation.

Objective: To establish a nomogram for fetal penile length during gestation.

Design: A prospective, cross-sectional study of normal singleton pregnancies.

Subjects: Four hundred and nineteen male fetuses between 14 and 38 weeks were studied.

Expression of wild-type p53 and Bcl-2 family genes oscillates with recurrent remission and relapse in an unusual case of low-grade lymphoma.

Downregulation of apoptosis has been proposed as a mechanism of clonal expansion in low-grade B cell neoplasms. We have previously described an unusual case of CD5+ B cell lymphoma characterized by cycles of leukemic phase alternating with spontaneous remission. In the present study, we examined the involvement of apoptosis-related proteins in the progression of this cyclic lymphoma ex vivo.

Enhanced Na+/H+ exchange in Cushing's syndrome reflects functional hypermineralocorticoidism.

Background: Patients with Cushing's syndrome exhibit a bimodal distribution of maximal rates of the erythrocyte amiloride-sensitive Na+/H+ exchange (NHE). Enhanced erythrocyte NHE has recently been found in patients with primary aldosteronism.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that occult hypermineralocorticoidism in a subset of patients with Cushing's syndrome is responsible for the greater than normal NHE.

Stress echocardiography beyond coronary artery disease.

Doppler echocardiography has become the major diagnostic tool of evaluation of valvular heart disease and the cardiomyopathies because of its ability to provide valuable haemodynamic information accurately and non-invasively. It is therefore ideally suited for haemodynamic stress testing in these patients. In aortic stenosis, dobutamine echocardiography can distinguish severe from non-severe stenosis in patients with depressed left ventricular function, low transvalvular gradients, and a relatively small (flow-related) valve area at baseline.

Common variable immunodeficiency associated with myelocathexis and altered membrane sodium-proton antiport.

Alterations in protein kinase C (PKC) activity have been implied in the pathogenesis of common variable immunodeficiency (CVID). We analyzed amiloride-sensitive red blood cell Na+/H+ exchange (sodium-proton antiport, SPA) and its response to protein kinase stimulation in a patient with CVID. Compared with healthy subjects or patients with sepsis, a unique pattern of SPA activation has been shown.

A novel monoclonal antibody, 1B3.1, binds to a new epitope of the VLA-1 molecule.

A monoclonal antibody, 1B3.1, was raised against a cloned IL-2-dependent T cell line that expresses the T gamma delta T cell receptor. MoAb 1B3.

Optic nerve regeneration--new aspects.

Injury to the optic nerve and its environment provokes a process of degeneration that leads to a degenerative process resulting in an irreversible loss of visual function. We succeeded in stimulating regeneration in injured optic nerves of adult rabbits. The stimulus to regeneration was achieved by implanting in injured optic nerves of adult rabbits substances originating from growing (regenerating) optic nerves of fish or developing optic nerves of neonatal rabbits, and by delaying the degenerative process by irradiating the injured optic nerve with a low energy laser.