2,108 research outputs found
The European Community Study Group on diagnostic criteria for Sjögren's syndrome. Sensitivity and specificity of tests for ocular and oral involvement in Sjögren's syndrome.
No full textTemporal patterns of inflammatory gene expression in local tissues after banding or burdizzo castration in cattle
No full textpeer-reviewedBackground: Castration of male cattle has been shown to elicit inflammatory reactions and acute inflammation is initiated and sustained by the participation of cytokines. Methods: Sixty continental × beef bulls (Mean age 12 ± (s.e.) 0.2 months; Mean weight 341 ± (s.e.) 3.0 kg) were blocked by weight and randomly assigned to one of three treatments (n = 20 animals per treatment): 1) untreated control (Con); 2) banding castration at 0 min (Band); 3) Burdizzo castration at 0 min (Burd). Samples of the testis, epididymis and scrotal skin were collected surgically from 5 animals from each group at 12 h, 24 h, 7 d, and 14 d post-treatment, and analysed using real-time PCR. A repeated measurement analysis (Proc GLM) was performed using SAS. If there was no treatment and time interaction, main effects of treatment by time were tested by ANOVA. Results: Electrophoresis data showed that by 7 d post-castration RNA isolated from all the testicle samples of the Burd castrated animals, the epididymis and middle scrotum samples from Band castrates were degraded. Transitory effects were observed in the gene expression of IFN-γ, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α at 12 h and 24 h post treatment. Burd castrates had greater (P < 0.05) testicular IFN-γ mRNA levels compared with Band and Con animals, but lower (P < 0.05) testicular TNF-α mRNA levels compared with Con animals. Band castrates had greater (P < 0.05) testicular IL-6 mRNA levels than Burd castrates at 12 h post-castration. Burd castrates had greater (P < 0.05) testicular IL-8 mRNA levels than Band and Con animals at 24 h post-castration. In the epididymis, Burd castrates had greater (P < 0.05) IL-6 mRNA (both at 12 h and 24 h post treatment) and IL-8 mRNA (12 h post treatment) levels compared with Band and Con animals; Burd castrates had greater (P = 0.049) IL-10 mRNA levels than Band castrates at 12 h post-castration. Conclusion: Banding castration caused more inflammatory associated gene expression changes to the epididymis and scrotum than burdizzo. Burdizzo caused more severe acute inflammatory responses, in terms of pro-inflammatory cytokine gene expression, in the testis and epididymis than banding
Sensitivity and specificity of tests for ocular and oral involvement in Sjögren's syndrome: results of a prospective concerted action supported by the European Community.
No full text
Preliminary criteria for the classification of Sjögren's syndrome. Results of a prospective concerted action supported by the European Community.
No full textOBJECTIVE:
Different sets of diagnostic criteria have been proposed for Sjögren's syndrome (SS), but none have been validated with a large series of patients or in a multicenter study. We conducted the present study involving 26 centers from 12 countries (11 in Europe, plus Israel), with the goals of reaching a consensus on the diagnostic procedures for SS and defining classification criteria to be used in epidemiologic surveys and adopted by the scientific community.
METHODS:
The study protocol was subdivided into two parts. For part I, questionnaires regarding both ocular and oral involvement were developed; they included 13 questions and 7 questions, respectively. For part II a limited set of diagnostic tests was selected, and the exact procedure to be followed in performing these tests was defined. Part I of the study included 240 patients with primary SS and 240 age- and sex-matched controls. Two hundred forty-six patients with primary SS, 201 with secondary SS, 113 with connective tissue diseases but without associated SS, and 133 control patients were studied in part II.
RESULTS:
The study resulted in (a) the validation of a simple 6-item questionnaire for determination of dry eyes and dry mouth, which showed good discriminant power between patients and controls, to be used in the initial screening for sicca syndrome; and (b) the definition of a new set of criteria for the classification of SS. The sensitivity and specificity of the criteria in correctly identifying patients with either the primary or the secondary variant of SS were also determined.
CONCLUSION:
Using the findings of this prospective multicenter European study, general agreement can be reached on the diagnostic procedures to be used for patients with SS. Final validation of the preliminary classification criteria for SS is underway
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