Sleep nasendoscopy as a predictor of treatment success in snorers using mandibular advancement splints.

This study assessed the effect on the upper airway during sleep nasendoscopy of mimicking the action of a mandibular advancement splint. Twenty-seven subjects with a diagnosis of sleep-disordered breathing were referred for mandibular advancement splint therapy following sleep nasendoscopy. Sleep nasendoscopy was repeated for all subjects with, and without, the appliance in situ.

Final adult height and body mass index after cure of paediatric Cushing's disease.

Objective: Linear growth data after cure of paediatric Cushing's disease (CD) have been reported infrequently. We evaluated final adult height (FH) and body mass index (BMI) in a cohort of paediatric patients treated successfully for CD.

Patients And Methods: Fourteen patients (10 male, age range 6.

Unraveling biologic therapy for Bcl-2-expressing malignancies.

Cancer cells that express excessive levels of Bcl-2 pose a major problem in the delivery of curative therapy. Most treatments for such cancer involve chemotherapy to induce the apoptotic process. While these therapies often result in disease control for periods of time, failure to initiate apoptosis as a result of acquired resistance limits the effectiveness of treatment for many common hematopoietic and solid malignancies, and ultimately death from the malignancy still occurs.

FSH secretion predominates in vivo and in vitro in patients with non-functioning pituitary adenomas.

Objective: Non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) are characterised by the lack of symptoms of hormone hypersecretory syndromes but in vitro studies have demonstrated that tumour cells may stain for gonadotrophins and/or their alpha- or beta-subunits. In this study, we aimed to examine the pattern of secretion of LH and FSH from a series of pituitary adenomas cultured in vitro and where data were available to relate the results to pre-operative serum gonadotrophin levels.

Methods: The in vitro secretion of LH and FSH was measured from 46 cultured NFPAs and compared with pre-operative serum gonadotrophin levels in 38 patients.

Beneficial effects of PPAR-gamma ligands in ischemia-reperfusion injury, inflammation and shock.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma) is a ligand-activated transcription factor belonging to the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily. PPAR-gamma regulates gene expression by forming a heterodimer with the retinoid X receptor (RXR) before binding to sequence-specific PPAR response elements (PPREs) in the promoter region of target genes, thereby regulating several metabolic pathways, including lipid biosynthesis and glucose metabolism. Thiazolidinediones (TZDs, i.

Antisecretory actions of a novel vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) antagonist in human and rat small intestine.

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) has been demonstrated in intestinal mucosal neurones and elicits chloride secretion from enterocytes. These findings have led to the proposal that VIP is a secretomotor neurotransmitter. Confirmation of such a role may now be possible with the development of PG 97-269, a high-affinity, selective antagonist of VIP type 1 (VPAC1) receptor, which is expressed by gut epithelial cells.

Nutritional markers in liver allograft recipients.

Background: Malnutrition is common in patients with end-stage liver disease considered for transplantation, but it is unclear whether this affects the outcome after transplantation. AIM.: To determine whether the severity of malnutrition in liver transplant candidates affects outcome after transplantation.

Genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism analysis reveals frequent partial uniparental disomy due to somatic recombination in acute myeloid leukemias.

Genome-wide analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms in 64 acute myeloid leukemias has revealed that approximately 20% exhibited large regions of homozygosity that could not be accounted for by visible chromosomal abnormalities in the karyotype. Further analysis confirmed that these patterns were due to partial uniparental disomy (UPD). Remission bone marrow was available from five patients showing UPD in their leukemias, and in all cases the homozygosity was found to be restricted to the leukemic clone.

Inhibitors of NADPH oxidase reduce the organ injury in hemorrhagic shock.

Reactive oxygen species contribute to the multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in hemorrhagic shock. Here, we investigate the effects of two chemically distinct inhibitors of NADPH oxidase on the circulatory failure and the organ dysfunction and injury associated with hemorrhagic shock in the anesthetized rat. Hemorrhage (sufficient to lower mean arterial blood pressure of 45 mmHg for 90 min) and subsequent resuscitation with shed blood resulted (within 4 h after resuscitation) in a delayed fall in blood pressure and in renal dysfunction and liver injury.

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma ligand 15-deoxyDelta12,14 prostaglandin J2 reduces the organ injury in hemorrhagic shock.

The cyclopentenone prostaglandin 15-deoxyDelta12,14PGJ2 (15d-PGJ2) exerts potent anti-inflammatory effects in vivo, which are in part caused by the activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma). Here we investigate the effects of 15d-PGJ2 on the multiple organ injury/dysfunction associated with severe hemorrhage and resuscitation. Male Wistar rats were subjected to hemorrhage (to lower mean arterial blood pressure to 45 mmHg) for 90 min and subsequently resuscitated with shed blood for 4 h.

Clinical features, diagnosis, treatment and molecular studies in paediatric Cushing's syndrome due to primary nodular adrenocortical hyperplasia.

Background: Primary nodular adrenocortical hyperplasia (PNAH) is a well recognized, but infrequently studied cause of paediatric Cushing's syndrome (CS).

Objective: To assess presentation, diagnosis, radiological imaging, treatment and molecular analysis of patients with childhood-onset CS due to PNAH.

Patients: Four males and two females (median age 12.

Two brothers with non-classical 21-hydroxylase deficiency: to treat or not to treat?

Variations in phenotype in 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD) have cautioned against initiating treatment in the absence of abnormal clinical features. We report 2 Caucasian brothers with compound heterozygous mutations of the CYP21 gene and mild clinical and biochemical features of late-presenting 21OHD. The index case presented aged 8.

Plasma cystatin C determinations in a healthy elderly population.

Plasma cystatin C measurement has been previously shown to be a better indicator of changes in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) than plasma creatinine. The available literature on reference intervals for cystatin C concentration encompasses only paediatric and adult populations up to 60 years of age, therefore we set out to determine an elderly reference range. Blood was taken from 401 subjects (65-101 years) and cystatin C and creatinine concentrations measured using commercially available methodologies.

15d-prostaglandin J2 reduces multiple organ failure caused by wall-fragment of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.

Septic shock is still the major cause of death in surgical intensive care units. Both gram-positive (G+) and gram-negative (G-) bacteria have been isolated in the blood of a large portion of septic patients, and these polymicrobial infections often have a higher mortality than infections due to a single organism. Cell wall fragments from G+ and G- bacteria synergise to cause shock and multiple organ dysfunction in vivo (G+/G- shock).

The effect of varying percentage hydroxyapatite in poly(ethylmethacrylate) bone cement on human osteoblast-like cells.

Poly(ethylmethacrylate) (PEMA) bone cement has been developed, and the cements mechanical properties are improved by the incorporation of particulate fillers, such as hydroxyapatite (HA). In this in vitro study, human osteoblast-like (HOB) cells were used to examine the effect on cellular behavior of the addition of HA to PEMA using a plain PEMA control. Thymidine uptake ((3)H-TdR) and total DNA were used to assess cell growth and proliferation.

Hydroxyapatite as a filler for dental composite materials: mechanical properties and in vitro bioactivity of composites.

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) powder was treated with gamma-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxy-silane (gamma-MPS) using standard techniques in both non-polar and polar systems. Infrared spectra (DRIFT) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) confirmed the presence of gamma-MPS on the surface of the HAp filler particles. Series of experimental composites consisting of bisphenol-a-glycidyl methacrylate (BisGMA) based resin and untreated or treated HAp filler were produced to determine the mechanical properties and in vitro bioactivity.

Water sorption behaviour of polymeric systems based on tetrahydrofurfuryl methacrylate.

Earlier research has described the water absorption behaviour, drug release and biological properties of a room temperature polymerizing system based on poly(ethyl methacrylate) (PEM) powder and tetrahydrofurfuryl methacrylate (THFM) monomer. This work has been extended, with respect to water sorption behaviour, by replacing the monomer to various extents with hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), and poly(ethyl methacrylate) by ethyl methacrylate (EM)-THFM copolymers. Replacing the THFM with HEMA, and gelling with PEM, increased the diffusion coefficient progressively.

Real-time measurement of in vitro enamel demineralization in the vicinity of the restoration-tooth interface.

An X-ray attenuation method using photon counting (scanning microradiography) is presented for the real-time study of in vitro demineralization of dental tissues in the vicinity of the restoration-tooth interface. By repeated measurement of mineral content profiles during the course of demineralization, the pattern of lesion development and the rate of mineral loss can be studied. The method is illustrated by comparison of enamel demineralization near a polyacid-modified composite resin restoration, near a bis-GMA/TEGMA composite resin restoration, and in an unrestored control.

Transitional care of GH deficiency: when to stop GH therapy.

While the benefits of growth hormone (GH) therapy in adult hypopituitary patients with GH deficiency (GHD) are established, the role of continued GH therapy after final height in adolescent GH-deficient patients remains unclear. Preliminary data suggest that cessation of GH on completion of linear growth may be associated with impairment of somatic development and adverse changes in body composition. For the present time, the decision whether to continue GH treatment in adolescent patients with GHD is best made on an individual basis.

Escherichia coli enterovirulent phenotypes in Zambians with AIDS-related diarrhoea.

Persistent diarrhoea is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in AIDS patients, and consequently an important public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Although intestinal protozoa and bacteria are detected in many of these patients, a substantial proportion of disease remains unexplained even after intensive investigation. HEp-2 cell adherent Escherichia coli have been described in AIDS patients with persistent diarrhoea, but their contribution to the overall burden of disease is not yet defined.

Ligands of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma and heart failure.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are members of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily of ligand-activated transcription factors that are related to retinoid, steroid and thyroid hormone receptors. The PPAR subfamily comprises of three members, PPAR-alpha, PPAR-beta and PPAR-gamma. There is good evidence that ligands of PPAR-gamma, including certain thiazolinediones, reduce myocardial tissue injury and infarct size.

Prepubertal Cushing's disease is more common in males, but there is no increase in severity at diagnosis.

Sex distribution and severity of biochemical indices at the diagnosis of Cushing's disease (CD) were analyzed in 50 patients (21 males and 29 females; aged View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Urocortin does not reduce the renal injury and dysfunction caused by experimental ischaemia/reperfusion.

Recent evidence indicates that activators of the serine/threonine kinase pathway protect against ischaemia/reperfusion. Here, we investigate the effects of renal ischaemia/reperfusion on the degree of renal dysfunction and injury with urocortin in rats. Rats treated with urocortin or its vehicle (saline) were subjected to bilateral renal artery occlusion (45 min) and reperfusion (6 h).

Role of cytochrome P4502E1 activation in proximal tubular cell injury induced by hydrogen peroxide.

Background: There is now good evidence to suggest that cytochrome P450 (CYP450) may act as an iron-donating catalyst for the production of hydroxyl ion (OH*), which contributes to proximal tubular cell injury. However, it remains unclear which isoform of CYP450 is involved in this process. Cytochrome P4502E1 (CYP2E1) is a highly labile isoform which is not only involved in free radical generation, but has also been shown to be a source of iron in cisplatin-induced renal injury.