Expression of chemokine receptors by lung T cells from normal and asthmatic subjects.

The lung is an important tertiary lymphoid organ with constant trafficking of T cells through the lung in both health and disease. T cell migration is controlled by a combination of adhesion receptors and chemokines expressed on vascular endothelium and in the tissue, often in an organ-specific manner. This leads to selective accumulation of different T cell subsets, a process called lymphocyte homing.

Patient satisfaction with urodynamics: a qualitative study.

This qualitative study was undertaken to assess patients' views of the urodynamic investigation. The aim was to identify the dimensions important to patients in evaluating satisfaction with this type of procedure and ways in which care could be improved. Unstructured interviews were carried out by four trained interviewers with 21 people (17 female and 4 male) who had undergone the urodynamic investigation at various gynaecology, urology and continence outpatient clinics.

Albumin stimulates p44/p42 extracellular-signal-regulated mitogen-activated protein kinase in opossum kidney proximal tubular cells.

The presence of protein in the urine of patients with renal disease is an adverse prognostic feature. It has therefore been suggested that proteinuria per se may be responsible for the development of renal tubulo-interstitial scarring and fibrosis, and disturbances in tubular cell growth and proliferation. We have used the opossum kidney proximal tubular cell line to investigate the effects of albumin on cell growth.

Lysophosphatidic acid-induced proliferation in opossum kidney proximal tubular cells: role of PI 3-kinase and ERK.

Unlabelled: Lysophosphatidic acid-induced proliferation in opossum kidney proximal tubular cells: Role of PI 3-kinase and ERK.

Background: Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a mitogenic lipid bound to albumin in the circulation and implicated in the induction of proximal tubular cell (PTC) injury in proteinuric states. In this study, we investigated the effect of LPA on proliferation of opossum kidney (OK) cells and the roles of the p85/p110 phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) and extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) ERK-1 and ERK-2 in LPA-induced proliferation.

Identification of a cycle-modulated 200-kDa endometrial antigen by a monoclonal antibody LDS60.

We have developed a mouse monoclonal antibody, LDS60, against a cycle-dependent antigen by immunising (MF1 x BALB/c)F1 mice with a human endometrial membrane preparation. In formalin fixed paraffin embedded sections, LDS60 identified an epithelial specific antigen which exhibited a specific pattern of expression during the menstrual cycle. It was only occasionally expressed during the proliferative phase.

Activation of mitogenic pathways by albumin in kidney proximal tubule epithelial cells: implications for the pathophysiology of proteinuric states.

Albumin is filtered into the proximal tubule in large quantities in nephrotic states. It has been proposed that this protein may have a toxic effect on tubular epithelial cells and may be responsible for the initiation of interstitial inflammation and scarring. The mitogenic effect of recombinant human albumin in wild-type opossum kidney cells and in similar cells transfected with a dominant negative p85 subunit (deltap85) of phopshatidylinositide 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) has been studied.

Lysophosphatidic acid-induced calcium mobilization and proliferation in kidney proximal tubular cells.

Patients with proteinuria tend to develop progressive renal disease with proximal tubular cell atrophy and interstitial scarring. It has been suggested that the nephrotoxicity of albuminuric states may be due to the protein molecule itself or by lipids, such as lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), that albumin carries. LPA was found to cause a transient increase in intracytoplasmic free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) in opossum kidney proximal tubule cells (OK) that was maximal at 100 microM LPA and was dose dependent with an EC50 of 2.

Endometrial responses to hormone replacement therapy: histological features compared with those of late luteal phase endometrium.

We evaluated the histological features of the endometrium in relation to the bleeding pattern in a group of women receiving oral cyclical combined hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and compared the histological features with those of luteinizing hormone (LH)-dated endometrial biopsies obtained from healthy women at the time of sterilization. A total of 103 women completed 6 months of HRT therapy. All received a regimen of 2 mg oestradiol valerate daily, with 1 mg norethisterone added for the last 12 days of every 28-day cycle.

Effectiveness of influenza vaccine in reducing hospital admissions in people with diabetes.

The effectiveness of influenza vaccination in reducing hospitalization of people with diabetes for influenza, pneumonia, or diabetic events during influenza epidemics was assessed in a case control study in Leicestershire, England. Cases were 80 patients on the Leicestershire Diabetes Register who were admitted and discharged from hospital with International Classification of Disease codes for pneumonia, bronchitis, influenza, diabetic ketoacidosis, coma and diabetes, without mention of complications, during the influenza epidemics of 1989-90 and 1993. One hundred and sixty-controls, who were not admitted to hospital during this period, were randomly selected from the Register.

Acute viral infections of upper respiratory tract in elderly people living in the community: comparative, prospective, population based study of disease burden.

Objective: To evaluate the disease burden of upper respiratory infections in elderly people living at home.

Design: Prospective surveillance of elderly people.

Intervention: None.

Differing responses in blood pressure over 24 hours in normotensive women receiving oral or transdermal estrogen replacement therapy.

Objective: To examine the effects of oral and transdermal estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) on ambulatory 24-hour blood pressure (BP) recordings.

Methods: In a nonrandomized, prospective study, 90 normotensive, oophorectomized women, ages 30-59 years, underwent ambulatory 24-hour BP measurements at study entry and after 3 and 6 months of either oral (n = 50) or transdermal (n = 40) ERT.

Results: In the women receiving transdermal estrogen, we observed a change in mean nighttime systolic BP of -4.

Risk factors for lower respiratory complications of rhinovirus infections in elderly people living in the community: prospective cohort study.

Objective: To assess the role of rhinoviruses in elderly people living in the community.

Design: Prospective community based surveillance of elderly people, without intervention. Subjects were telephoned weekly to identify symptomatic upper respiratory tract infections.

Thrombophilia and lipid profile in post-menopausal women using a new transdermal oestradiol patch.

Objective: To assess the changes, over a 6-month period, in serum lipoproteins, apoproteins and coagulation factors, induced in post-menopausal women treated by a new transdermal oestradiol patch.

Methods: Fifty-three hysterectomised, healthy, post-menopausal women were treated by a new transdermal patch designed to deliver 50 micrograms of 17 beta oestradiol per day (Gynaderm, Shire Developments). One patch was applied twice weekly.

Ligation of CD69 induces apoptosis and cell death in human eosinophils cultured with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor.

Peripheral blood (PB) eosinophils rapidly undergo apoptosis and cell death in vitro unless cultured in the presence of cytokines such as granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in which their survival is prolonged for up to 10 days. CD69 is a type II membrane antigen expressed by cytokine-activated, but not freshly isolated, PB human eosinophils. We have examined the effect of ligation of CD69 by specific monoclonal antibody (MoAb) on the viability of human eosinophils cultured with recombinant human (rh)GM-CSF.

Effect of a new cyclical sequential postmenopausal HRT on lipoprotein, apoprotein and thrombophilia profile.

We examined the changes in lipoprotein, apoprotein, and thrombophilia profile in postmenopausal women using a new cyclical sequential combined HRT regimen. The study medication consisted of two tablets of Hormonin (oestriol 0.27 mg, oestrone 1.

Eosinophil adhesion in allergic inflammation.

Eosinophil adhesion has been studied in some detail in recent years, and a number of interesting observations have emerged. As with other aspects of eosinophil biology, there appears to be a greater similarity with basophils than with neutrophils in their pattern of adhesion interactions. A number of important differences with respect to neutrophils have emerged, which could be exploited for the treatment of eosinophil-mediated disease, including the observations that eosinophil adhesion can be modulated by selective cytokines such as IL-5 and that eosinophils, unlike neutrophils, express VLA-4 and alpha 4/beta 7.

Mechanisms of eosinophil and basophil migration.

Considerable progress has been made in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in eosinophil and basophil migration into sites of allergic inflammation. It is clearly a staged process, each stage offering a level of control over the cell specificity and degree of migration. On the basis of current evidence, the various receptors and mediators involved are summarized in Table 4.

Analysis of menstrual calendars and serum alpha 2-PEG in women on hormone replacement therapy for 12 months.

This study was conducted to assess endometrial protection in women on a cyclical combined hormone replacement regimen with 1 mg norethisterone BP, and to evaluate the use of the bleeding pattern and serum alpha 2-PEG in monitoring the endometrial response to exogenous hormone therapy. Fifty-one postmenopausal women attending the Menopause Research Unit at Leicester Royal Infirmary, UK, completed the study. All patients were at least 1 year after the menopause, with an average of 26 months since the last menstrual period.

Investigation of the bleeding patterns of postmenopausal women treated with Estrapak-50.

Diary cards of patients in two similar trials of Estrapak-50 hormone replacement therapy were analysed with regard to the characteristics of progestogen-associated bleeding (PAB) and breakthrough bleeding (BTB). Forty out of 52 patients in Study A and 74 out of 92 patients in Study B had diaries suitable for analysis. One patient in Study A and two patients in Study B who withdrew from treatment did so because of unacceptable bleeding problems.

Endocrinological aspects of the menopause.

On average women live for about 30 years after the menopause. About 60-70% of consultations at the general practitioner and hospital specialist levels are for people over the age of 60, the majority of who are females. Therefore it is crucial to examine the effect of oestrogen prior to the menopause and how it interacts with other systems at cellular level.

Doppler ultrasound and the neonatal cerebral circulation: methodology and pitfalls.

Doppler ultrasound is a popular technique for investigating the haemodynamics of the neonatal cerebral circulation. Different types of instrumentation are available of which a duplex scanner is a suitable choice for spot measurements, whilst a simple continuous wave directional Doppler may be better for long-term monitoring purposes. Doppler signals may be obtained from many arterial and venous sites within the neonatal brain, but most measurements are made from the anterior or middle cerebral arteries.

Neonatal cerebral venous flow velocity measurement using a color flow Doppler system.

Color flow Doppler provides a simple means for studying blood flow velocity from the central cerebral veins in newborn infants. Twenty-two term infants were examined during the first four days of life to establish a normal range for velocity from the vein of Galen. A wide range of velocities was found between individuals (2.

The use of a calcium-channel blocker, nicardipine, for severely asphyxiated newborn infants.

A continuous infusion of nicardipine was given to four severely asphyxiated fullterm infants who were at high risk for adverse outcome and had abnormal cerebral Doppler haemodynamic studies. The heart rate increased in all four infants and mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) fell in three. Two infants had a sudden and marked fall in MAP, together with severe impairment of skin blood-flow and a concurrent fall in cerebral blood-flow velocity.