1,721,016 research outputs found
Serum concentrations of activin and follistatin are elevated and run in parallel in patients with septicemia
No full textObjective: Activin is a growth and differentiation factor of many cell types, and has recently been implicated in inflammatory processes. Clinical data linking activin and its binding protein, follistatin (FS), are lacking. We measured serum levels of activin and FS in patients diagnosed with septicemia. Patients and measurements: Eight male and seven female patients of different ages, various forms of septicemia and different clinical outcome were investigated and compared with age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Serum concentrations of FS, activin, C-reactive protein (CRP) and blood leukocyte counts were determined during septicemia. Results: The median of the maximum activin concentrations of septicemic patients was 3.9-fold higher than in age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects (P < 0.01); the median of the maximum FS concentrations was 2.6-fold higher (P < 0.01). The highest increase of activin in septicemic patients was approximately 15.8-fold, whereas FS increased by up to 13.2-fold above normal. FS, activin and CRP serum levels generally paralleled each other, but were not correlated with leukocyte counts or clinical outcome. Conclusions: Circulatory concentrations of activin and FS are elevated in patients diagnosed with septicemia, consistent with potential roles in the systemic inflammatory response
Bilateral ophthalmoplegia due to symmetric cavernous sinus metastasis from gastric adenocarcinoma
No full textWe report a patient with rapidly progressive bilateral total ophthalmoplegia due to bilateral cavernous sinus metastasis from gastric adenocarcinoma. Among a variety of differential diagnoses, etiology of oculomotoric disorders and ophthalmoplegia includes the affection of the cranial nerves III, IV, and VI in the cavernous sinus. Unilateral metastasis in the cavernous sinus occurs quite frequently, however, a bilateral tumor infiltration of both cavernous sinus is extremely rare. Our patient impressively demonstrates the relevance of this differential diagnosis of bilateral ophthalmoplegia. Repeated CCTs and cMRIs were required to find the diagnosis and finally start a therapy, demonstrating that even with advanced neuroradiological techniques, repetition of imaging within short intervals can be necessary to detect rapidly developing metastatic infiltrations as early as possible. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Microglial cells and peritoneal macrophages release activin A upon stimulation with Toll-like receptor agonists
No full textActivin A levels are elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with meningitis and in the sera of patients with sepsis. The source(s) of the elevated concentrations of activin A in CSF and serum have not yet been discovered. Here we demonstrate that primary mouse microglial cells and peritoneal macrophages release activin A after treatment with agonists of Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2, 4, and 9. These findings provide further evidence for a role of activin in the innate immune response and suggest that microglial cells and macrophages are a source of elevated activin A concentrations observed in the CSF during bacterial meningitis and in the systemic circulation during sepsis. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved
Role of activin in bacterial infections: a potential target for immunointervention?
No full text Severe bacterial infections such as sepsis and meningitis still kill or severely injure people despite the use of bactericidal antibiotics. Therefore, new strategies for a better therapy are needed. Activin A, a member of the TGF-β superfamily and its binding protein follistatin (FS) are released by various cell types during acute and chronic inflammatory processes. Until now, a clear definition of conditions in which activin A exerts either its pro- or anti-inflammatory functions is lacking. The activin/FS-system participates in the fine-tuning of the host’s inflammatory response upon infectious stimuli. This response is on the one hand necessary for fighting pathogens, but on the other hand can negatively affect the host. This article focuses on the role of activin A and FS in infection and after acute inflammatory stimuli. The therapeutic potentials of blocking or promoting activin actions are discussed. </jats:p
Candida esophagitis as the cause of swallowing disturbances in an 85-year-old patient with myasthenia gravis
No full textAn 85-year-old man with myasthenia gravis was successfully treated with methotrexate (10 mg/week), pyridostigmine and prednisolone (0-30 mg/day) for over 10 years. Then, he developed dysphagia and lost weight. Gastroscopy revealed Candida esophagitis. The patient received nystatin for 2 weeks. Methotrexate was stopped, and immunosuppressive therapy was continued with prednisolone alone. The patient has now remained in good condition for over 1 year. Although dysphagia is a typical symptom of myasthenia gravis, swallowing disturbances should not be attributed hastily to this disease, since they may also be a complication of therapy.Robert Bosch Foundation, Stuttgart, German
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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