Adaptive cytokine production in early life differentially predicts total IgE levels and asthma through age 5 years.

Background: Although it has been postulated that allergic disease is associated with a predominance of T(H)2 cells, whether IgE levels and asthma might differ in their relation to early-life cytokine production is not known.

Objective: We sought to assess the relationship between first-year adaptive immune cytokine production with asthma and total IgE levels through age 5 years in a nonselected birth cohort.

Methods: Mitogen (concanavalin A/phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate)-stimulated IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, and IFN-γ levels were measured in supernatants from cord blood mononuclear cells and PBMCs at birth, 3 months, and 12 months.

Humeral avulsion of the inferior glenohumeral ligament in college female volleyball players caused by repetitive microtrauma.

Background: Humeral avulsion of the inferior glenohumeral ligament is a rare injury resulting from hyperabduction and external rotation, and it is most commonly seen with sports-related injuries, including those from volleyball. The anterior band of the inferior glenohumeral ligament is most commonly injured (93%), whereas the posterior band is infrequently injured. The axillary pouch humeral avulsion of the inferior glenohumeral ligament as a result of repetitive microtrauma has not been yet described in the English literature.

US of the intrinsic and extrinsic wrist ligaments and triangular fibrocartilage complex--normal anatomy and imaging technique.

Injuries of the intrinsic and extrinsic wrist ligaments can lead to chronic wrist pain and carpal instability, while injuries of the triangular fibrocartilage complex are a frequent cause of ulnar-sided wrist pain. Currently, magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography is the preferred imaging modality for the evaluation of these structures, but good results can also achieved with MR imaging without preceding arthrography and computed tomographic (CT) arthrography. Promising results have been published on ultrasonography (US) and sonoarthrography of the intrinsic wrist ligaments and the triangular fibrocartilage complex and on US of the majority of extrinsic wrist ligaments.

Bone marrow edema pattern in advanced hip osteoarthritis: quantitative assessment with magnetic resonance imaging and correlation with clinical examination, radiographic findings, and histopathology.

Objective: To correlate the amount of bone marrow edema (BME) calculated by magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) with clinical findings, histopathology, and radiographic findings, in patients with advanced hip osteoarthritis(OA).

Materials And Methods: The study was approved by The Institutional Human Subject Protection Committee. Coronal MRI of hips was acquired in 19 patients who underwent hip replacement.

Morphine treatment accelerates sarcoma-induced bone pain, bone loss, and spontaneous fracture in a murine model of bone cancer.

Metastatic bone cancer causes severe pain that is primarily treated with opioids. A model of bone cancer pain in which the progression of cancer pain and bone destruction is tightly controlled was used to evaluate the effects of sustained morphine treatment. In cancer-treated mice, morphine enhanced, rather than diminished, spontaneous, and evoked pain; these effects were dose-dependent and naloxone-sensitive.

Suppression of innate immune cytokines and interferon regulatory factor-1 by endogenous interferon-alpha in response to respiratory syncytial virus in neonate mononuclear cells.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections are extremely common in early childhood but are most severe in infants in the first few months of life. Unresponsive adaptive immunity and hyporesponsive innate immunity were previously found to be the typical responses of neonate mononuclear cells (MCs) to live RSV. Investigating the mechanism of innate immune hyporesponsiveness in neonate MCs to live RSV revealed that in contrast to the previously reported low expression of interferon (IFN)-gamma, IFN-alpha expression in response to live RSV was significantly greater than that observed in adult MCs.

Using a human visual system model to optimize soft-copy mammography display: influence of veiling glare.

Rationale And Objectives: This project evaluated human observer performance and that of a human visual system model (JNDmetrix) to assess whether the veiling glare of a digital display influences observer performance during soft-copy interpretation of mammographic images for the detection of masses.

Materials And Methods: A set of 160 mammographic images, half containing a single mass, was processed to simulate four levels of veiling glare: none, comparable to a medical grade monochrome curved-screen cathode ray tube (CRT) display, double that of the CRT and quadruple that of the CRT. The images were shown to six observers in a randomized presentation order on a liquid crystal display (LCD) that had essentially no veiling glare.

Dynamic changes in sensitization to specific aeroallergens in children raised in a desert environment.

Background: Allergen skin test reactivity and total serum IgE are objective measures used to characterize and help diagnose allergic diseases. Cross-sectional studies have shown that overall aeroallergen skin test reactivity increases throughout childhood. However, little attention has been paid to whether individual aeroallergen remittance occurs, which could distort or mask relationships to disease.

Innate immune responses in respiratory syncytial virus infections.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most important viral respiratory pathogen of early life. Studies of the immune response in general (and the innate response in particular) to this agent are of interest for a number of reasons. First, severe forms of illness may be a result of enhanced immunologic responsiveness to viral constituents at the time of infection.

MRI of the tumor microenvironment.

The microenvironment within tumors is significantly different from that in normal tissues. A major difference is seen in the chaotic vasculature of tumors, which results in unbalanced blood supply and significant perfusion heterogeneities. As a consequence, many regions within tumors are transiently or chronically hypoxic.

Evidence for platelet-activating factor receptor subtypes on human polymorphonuclear leukocyte membranes.

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a potent phospholipid mediator that acts through specific cell surface receptors. The existence of PAF receptor subtypes has been suggested by functional and radioligand binding studies in a variety of cells and tissues. This report addresses this issue more directly and demonstrates differences between specific PAF receptors in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) and COS-7 cells transfected with the cloned human PAF receptor gene.

Association of interleukin-2 and interferon-gamma production by blood mononuclear cells in infancy with parental allergy skin tests and with subsequent development of atopy.

The mechanisms regulating the onset of atopic sensitization in human beings are not yet fully clarified. We assessed the capacity of mitogen-stimulated umbilical and peripheral blood mononuclear cells to produce interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) at birth and at 9 months of age in 159 infants. Mononuclear cell production of both IFN-gamma and IL-2 at 9 months, but not at birth, was found to be inversely related to parental immediate skin test reactivity to seven local aeroallergens.

In vitro and in vivo 13C and 31P NMR analyses of phosphocholine metabolism in rat glioma cells.

In vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) has revealed that phosphomonoesters (PME) such as phosphocholine (PCho) and phosphoethanolamine (PEth) are elevated in tumors and rapidly proliferating tissues. The regulation of PME levels and their relationship to proliferation are not well known. In the present study, we investigated the regulation of PCho and PEth levels in rat glioma cells grown in vivo and in vitro using 31P and 13C MRS.

Smoking, Lung Function, and Atherosclerosis in the 5,000 Elderly Participants of the Cardiovascular Health Study.

The Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) is an observational study of heart disease and stroke designed to evaluate risk factors and noninvasive measures and to describe and predict atherosclerotic events in older adults. Five thousand two hundred one individuals ages 65 or older were recruited from a stratified random sample of Medicare recipients from 4 US communities. This review of cross-sectional data from the CHS baseline examination describes the cigarette smoking habits of elderly persons and the relationships of smoking to lung function (spirometry) and atherosclerosis, as noninvasively measured by the ankle-arm index (AAI) and carotid ultrasonography.