Interference on Cytosolic DNA Activation Attenuates Sepsis Severity: Experiments on Cyclic GMP-AMP Synthase (cGAS) Deficient Mice

Although the enhanced responses against serum cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in cases of sepsis-a life-threatening organ dysfunction due to systemic infection-are understood, the influence of the cytosolic DNA receptor cGAS (cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate (GMP-AMP) synthase) on sepsis is still unclear. Here, experiments on cGAS deficient (cGAS-/-) mice were conducted using cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)…

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Modulation of Cystatin C in Human Macrophages Improves Anti-Mycobacterial Immune Responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection and Coinfection With HIV

Tuberculosis owes its resurgence as a major global health threat mostly to the emergence of drug resistance and coinfection with HIV. The synergy between HIV and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) modifies the host immune environment to enhance both viral and bacterial replication and spread. In the lung immune context, both pathogens infect macrophages, establishing favorable intracellular niches.…

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Case report of a tibial fracture in a patient suffering from gout: An atypical site, the importance of differential diagnosis

We present the case of a 60-year-old man with a history of severe tophaceous gout with polyarticular involvement who came to the emergency room due to direct trauma to the right forearm and knee. The knee X-ray and CT scan showed a lateral tibial plateau fracture characterized by the presence of a lytic bone lesion.…

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Development of a patient decision aid for the initiation of urate-lowering therapy in gout patients

Aim: Shared decision-making improves patients’ experiences with care, satisfaction with management decisions and possibly health outcomes. This study describes the development of a decision aid (DA) that supports patients with gout and their physicians in a face-to-face clinical setting to (a) decide whether or not to (re)start urate-lowering therapy (ULT) and (b) agree on the…

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Involvement of c-Jun N-terminal kinase 2 (JNK2) in Endothelin1 (ET1) Mediated Neurodegeneration of Retinal Ganglion Cells

Purpose: The goal of this study was to determine whether JNK2 played a causative role in endothelin-mediated loss of RGCs in mice. Methods: JNK2-/- and wild type (C57BL/6) mice were intravitreally injected in one eye with 1 nmole of ET-1, whereas the contralateral eye was injected with the vehicle. At two time points (two hours and…

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Prediction of miscarriage in first trimester by serum estradiol, progesterone and β-human chorionic gonadotropin within 9 weeks of gestation

Purpose: To predict miscarriage outcome within 12 weeks of gestational age by evaluating values of serum estradiol, progesterone and β-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-HCG) within 9 weeks of gestation. Methods: One hundred sixty-five women with singleton pregnancies were retrospectively studied. Estradiol, progesterone and β-HCG levels were measured at 5-6 weeks of gestation and the measurements were repeated…

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A technical and clinical evaluation of the new ThermoFisher BRAHMS unconjugated estriol and inhibin-A assays and their use in second trimester Down syndrome screening

To evaluate second-trimester Down syndrome screening performance of the new ThermoFisher BRAHMS GOLD unconjugated estriol (uE3) and inhibin-A assays. Serum samples were analyzed for levels of uE3 and inhibin-A using the ThermoFisher BRAHMS GOLD immunoanalyzer and compared to other platforms. Levels were transformed to multiples of the median (MoM) in unaffected pregnancies. Log10 MoM distributions…

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Unexpected discovery of estrone in the rotational spectrum of estradiol: a systematic investigation of a CP-FTMW spectrum

We report the reinvestigation of the high-resolution rotational spectrum of estradiol. After removing the known spectral lines corresponding to three conformers of estradiol identified in the gas phase before, a large number of spectral lines remained unassigned in the spectrum. The observation of remaining lines is a common feature in spectra obtained by broadband rotational…

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Algorithms with Area under the Curve for Daily Urinary Estrone3Glucuronide and Pregnanediol-3Glucuronide to Signal the Transition to the Luteal Phase

Background and Objectives: Home fertility assessment methods (FAMs) for natural family planning (NFP) have technically evolved with the objective metrics of urinary luteinizing hormone (LH), estrone-3-glucuronide (E3G) and pregnanediol-3-glucuronide (PDG). Practical and reliable algorithms for timing the phase of cycle based upon E3G and PDG levels are mostly unpublished and still lacking. Materials and Methods:…

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Genomic Analysis of Staphylococcus aureus of the Lineage CC130, Including mecC-Carrying MRSA and MSSA Isolates Recovered of Animal, Human, and Environmental Origins

Genomic Analysis of Staphylococcus aureus of the Lineage CC130, Including mecC-Carrying MRSA and MSSA Isolates Recovered of Animal, Human, and Environmental Origins

Most methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates harboring mecC gene belong to clonal advanced CC130. This lineage has historically been considered animal-associated because it lacks the human particular immune evasion cluster (IEC), and has been recovered from a broad vary of animal hosts. However, sporadic mecC-MRSA human infections have been reported, with proof of zoonotic transmission in some instances. The…

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