Management of cutaneous hemangiomas: a retrospective analysis of 1109 cases and comparison of conventional dose prednisolone with high-dose methylprednisolone therapy

The effectiveness of the different pharmacological agents and different doses of systemic cortico steroids was analyzed. A total of 1109 patients (median age 8 months; F/M: 2.3) with hemangioma, followed up in our unit for 23 years, were evaluated retrospectively. Forty-five of them received systemic corticosteroids. Two different pharmacological agents, prednisolone (in 26 patients) and methyl prednisolone (in 19 patients), had been used in three different regimens. Groups were compared according to the final results and rebound regrowth. Response was considered good or excellent in 16 patients (36%). There were no differences in response to therapy among the three regimens. No difference was found in response to therapy between prednisolone and methylprednisolone and the two different doses of the methylprednisolone. Rebound regrowth was significantly higher in methyl prednisolone than in the prednisolone group (p = .045). In multivariate analysis the dimension of the lesion (p = .0065) and age at initiation of treatment (p = .0041) were the most important factors affecting the response. In conclusion, the systemic corticosteroids are effective in 36% of patients, independent of dosage and pharmacological agents and duration of the therapy. The dimension of the lesion and age at initiation of treatment are the most important factors affecting the response to treatment.     

精蛋白基因转录的组织和阶段发育特异性初步研究

采用精蛋白１、２基因探针与３例成人睾丸、肝、脾、肌肉提取的ＲＮＡ进行ＲＮＡ杂交，结果仅睾丸提取ＲＮＡ显示杂交阳性。又用人类精蛋白１基因探与人、大小鼠睾丸组织切片固定ＲＮＡ进行原位杂交，结果仅睾丸组织的曲细精管腔面的圆型精子细胞杂交阳性。     

Flaxseed Supplementation in Metabolic Syndrome Management: A Pilot Randomized,Open‐labeled,Controlled Study

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of flaxseed supplementation plus lifestyle modification in comparison with lifestyle modification alone in the management of metabolic syndrome (MetS). A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on 44 patients with MetS. Participants were assigned to receive either the lifestyle advice and 30‐g brown milled flaxseed daily or only the lifestyle advice as the control group. The percentage of individuals with MetS decreased from baseline by 50% and 82% in the control and intervention group, respectively. The reversion rate of central obesity was higher in the flaxseed group (36%) than control group (13%). Moreover, greater reduction in insulin resistance was observed in flaxseed group in comparison with control group (p < 0.001). Body weight, waist circumference, and body mass index decreased significantly in both groups with a significantly greater reduction in flaxseed group in comparison with controls (p < 0.05). There were no significant changes in blood pressure in any groups. Our results indicate that co‐administration of flaxseed with lifestyle modification is more effective than lifestyle modification alone in management of MetS; whether these effects will be sustained with longer treatment durations remains to be determined. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flaxseed supplementation in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a pilot randomized,open labeled,controlled study

A two-arm randomized open labeled controlled clinical trial was conducted on 50 patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Participants were assigned to take either a lifestyle modification (LM), or LM?+30?g/day brown milled flaxseed for 12 weeks. At the end of the study, body weight, liver enzymes, insulin resistance and hepatic fibrosis and steatosis decreased significantly in both groups (pp?Pp p?p?=?0.013] and steatosis score [?47 compared with ?15.45?dB/m; p =?0.022]. In conclusion, flaxseed supplementation plus lifestyle modification is more effective than lifestyle modification alone for NAFLD management.     

Effects of isoflavones on bone turnover markers in peritoneal dialysis patients: a randomized controlled trial

Purpose

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of soy isoflavones on serum markers of bone formation and resorption in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients.

Methods

In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 40 PD patients were randomly assigned to either the soy isoflavone or the placebo group. The patients in the soy isoflavone group received 100 mg soy isoflavones daily for 8 weeks, whereas the placebo group received corresponding placebos. At baseline and the end of the 8th week, 7 ml of blood was obtained from each patient after a 12- to 14-h fast and serum concentrations of bone formation markers (osteocalcin and bone alkaline phosphatase), bone resorption markers [N-telopeptide and receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand (RANKL)], and osteoprotegerin as an inhibitor of bone resorption were measured.

Results

Serum N-telopeptide concentration decreased significantly up to 27% in the soy isoflavone group at the end of week 8 compared to baseline (P?=?0.003). Also, serum RANKL concentration reduced significantly up to 17% in the soy isoflavone group at the end of week 8 compared to baseline (P?=?0.03). These bone resorption markers did not significantly change in the placebo group during the study. There were no significant differences between the two groups in mean changes of serum osteocalcin, bone alkaline phosphatase, and osteoprotegerin.

Conclusion

This study indicates that daily administration of 100 mg soy isoflavone supplement to PD patients reduces serum N-telopeptide and RANKL which are two bone resorption markers.

ClinicalTrials.gov

NCT03773029, 2018.

     

Cellular immune response in MDR-TB patients to different protein expression of MDR and susceptible <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mycobacterium tuberculosis</Emphasis>: Rv0147, a novel MDR-TB biomarker

Tuberculosis (TB) is a crucial public health problem with prevalence of multidrug resistant (MDR) rising. An accurate TB biomarker is urgently needed to monitor the response to treatment in patients with MDR tuberculosis. To analyze interaction between selected MDR-TB purified protein and immune cells, dendritic cells from MDR-TB patients and healthy subjects were stimulated by 55KDa protein fractions (Rv0147). The purified proteins identified by proteomic techniques (two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometry) and peptide sequences are known to bind a MHC class I alleles which are extracted from the Immune Epitope Database and Analysis Resource database (www.iedb.org). T cells were isolated from PBMC by negative selection and cells were cultured in RPMI-1640 at 37 °C and 5% CO₂. Cell culture was assayed for cytokine IL-10 and INF-γ by ELISA. We found that INF-γ production was significantly (335?±?35.5 pg/ml, P?? 0.05) upregulated after protein candidate (Rv0147) stimulation by dendritic cells from MDR-TB patients, whereas IL-10 production was greatly reduced compared with production in healthy subjects (212?±?9.94 pg/ml, P?? 0.05). In fact, the purified protein, Rv0147, stimulated dendritic cells from MDR-TB patients, failed to produce IL-10 and directly stimulates INF-γ production by T cells. These results suggest that the purified protein, Rv0147, may stimulate Th1 type protective cytokine response in MDR-TB patients but not in normal subjects. The production of INF-γ but not IL-10 in the presence of purified protein, Rv0147, may be shifted to Th1 responses in MDR-TB patients and supports its potential as protein vaccine candidates against TB.     

Efficient expression of recombinant human monoclonal antibodies in Drosophila S2 cells

We have explored the Drosophila S2 cell line for expression of Ig molecules isolated as Fab or scFv cDNA from phage-displayed libraries. We present a series of vectors for inducible expression and secretion of human Ig heavy (HC) and light chains (LC), both on separate plasmids and in combination constructs. Both HC (tested as human gamma(1)) and LC (human kappa) could be expressed separately and were secreted into the medium, confirming previous reports. When the combination vector carrying both the HC and LC cDNA, as well as when the HC and LC vectors were co-transfected, complete IgG1 was found in the medium. Transient transfection resulted in production levels of 0.5-1 mg/l. Stable cell lines could be established within 2-3 weeks. After 10-12 days of expression from such cell lines, Ig molecules accumulated and the medium contained typically 5-35 mg/l of IgG1. The IgG in these preparations was purified to more than 90% purity on protein G columns. Binding characteristics for IgG of the same clone expressed in S2 cells or mammalian cells were indistinguishable. The main advantages with this system compared to mammalian expression were its robustness and the much faster establishment of stable, high level producing cell lines.     

Frequencies of HLA-DRB1 in Iranian normal population and in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

BACKGROUND: Recognition of HLA alleles is useful in transplantation and in anthropological and disease studies. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common blood cancer. It is now generally agreed that both genetic and environmental factors play an interactive role in the development of ALL disease. It is unknown whether there exists a restriction to certain MHC genotypes in leukemia like ALL. METHODS: Genetic construct of HLA DRB1 was studied in Iranian normal populations and in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia using PCR-SSP method. RESULTS: It was shown that the most common allele in DRB1 locus in normal population was DRB1*11 (20%), whereas DRB1*09 was the least frequent allele (0.9%). Additionally, this study presented the results of HLA-DRB1 typing in 106 ALL patients and compared them with normal individuals. Comparison of the results between the normal population and the patient group revealed that there was allelic association between the DRB1*13 and the disease. Results showed that the difference between the frequencies of DRB1*13 in patients and normal individuals was significant (p=0.04), but there was a moderate difference among the frequencies of DRB1*04, *07, and *09 in childhood (0-15 years) ALL. The frequencies of DRB1*13, *04, and *07 in patients were 2.5, 16, 4.5% and, in normal individuals, were 11.4, 10, and 8.3%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: It should be concluded that DRB1*13, which showed a decrease in patients, should be protective against acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), whereas DRB1*04, which was moderately increased in patients, could be considered a susceptible allele for childhood ALL.     

A functional common polymorphism in the vitamin D-responsive element of the GH1 promoter contributes to isolated growth hormone deficiency

CONTEXT: Causal mutations have been detected only in a minority of isolated GH deficiency (IGHD) patients. Idiopathic IGHD might be the result of the interaction between several low-penetrance genetic factors and the environment. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to test the contribution to IGHD of genetic variations in the GH1 gene regulatory regions. DESIGN AND PATIENTS: A case-control association study was performed including 118 sporadic IGHD patients with a nonsevere phenotype (height -4/-1 sd score and partial GH deficiency) and two control groups, normal stature (n=200) and short-stature individuals with normal GH secretion (n=113). Seven single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the GH1 promoter, one in the IVS4 region, and two in the locus control region were analyzed. RESULTS: The -57T allele within the vitamin D-responsive element showed a positive significant association when comparing patients with normal (P=0.006) or short stature (P=0.0011) controls. The genotype -57TT showed an odds ratio of 2.93 (1.44-5.99) and 2.99 (1.42-6.31), respectively. The functional relevance of the -57 variation was demonstrated by the luciferase assay in the presence of vitamin D. The vitamin D-induced inhibition of luciferase activity was significantly (P=0.012) stronger for the promoter haplotype carrying the associated variation -57T [haplotype #1 (hp#1)] with respect to hp#2, bearing -57G. Replacement of the T with a G at -57 on hp#1 abolished the repression, demonstrating that the T at position -57 is necessary to determine the greater vitamin D-induced inhibitory effect of hp#1. EMSA experiments showed a different band-shift pattern of the T and G sequences. CONCLUSION: The common -57G-->T polymorphism contributes to IGHD susceptibility, indicating that it may have a multifactorial etiology.