Isoprinosine affects serum cytokine levels in healthy adults.

Isoprinosine is a synthetic purine derivative with immunomodulatory and antiviral properties, which result from an apparent in vivo enhancement of host immune responses. To evaluate the serum levels of certain cytokines during and after isoprinosine treatment, we assigned 10 healthy volunteers to receive isoprinosine 1 g, 3 times daily, 5 consecutive days weekly. Both treatment and follow-up phase last 3 weeks.

Tuberculous spondylitis--analysis of 22 cases.

Unlabelled: Tuberculous spondylitis (TS) frequently poses both diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. The clinical symptoms, radiological imaging studies and laboratory tests are quite often inconclusive in the early stages of the disease.

Goal: To identify early clinical symptoms, review results from radiological imaging studies and laboratory tests to establish their diagnostic value and determine the effect of conservative therapy in patients with early TS.

Acquired nonobstructive urinary bladder diverticulum: a case report.

Introduction: Urinary bladder diverticula are frequently resulting from obstructions. Our literature review did not reveal any cases of acquired urinary bladder diverticulum caused by long-term transurethral catheterization.

Case Presentation: We report a rare case of a nonobstructive big urinary bladder diverticulum developed after a long-term urethral catheterization in a 62-year old male diabetic patient with normal subvesical urinary tract.

[Intrathyroidal parathyroid adenoma and ectopic parathyroid gland in thyroid nodule - report of two cases].

Ectopic locations of parathyroid adenomas are a rare condition and can cause difficulty in their diagnosis and surgical treatment. We report two cases of intrathyroid parathyroid lesions. In the first patient, preoperative localization studies suggested the possibility of a parathyroid adenoma outside the thyroid gland.

Chronic Epstein-Barr virus-related hepatitis in immunocompetent patients.

Aim: To investigate reactivated Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection as a cause for chronic hepatitis.

Methods: Patients with occasionally established elevated serum aminotransferases were studied. HIV, HBV and HCV-infections were excluded as well as any other immunosuppressive factors, metabolic or toxic disorders.

Overweight, dyslipoproteinemia, and heart rate variability measures.

Unlabelled: Chronic stress could be a risk factor triggering, aggravating or causing overweight, dyslipoproteinemia and coronary artery disease.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the association between stress assessed by heart rate variability measures, dyslipoproteinemia, and overweight.

Methods: Total cholesterol, high and low density lipoproteins cholesterol and triglycerides were analyzed by enzyme methods; heart rate variability was evaluated using a computer program for analysis of cardiointervals in 47 individuals with dyslipoproteinemia.