There is increasing evidence linking neuroinflammation to many neurological disorders including Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, its exact contribution to disease manifestation and/or progression is poorly understood. Therefore, there is a need to investigate neuroinflammation in both health and disease. Here, we investigate cognitive decline, neuroinflammatory and other pathophysiological ch...

BACKGROUND New ventilators have simplified the use of supraglottic superimposed high-frequency jet ventilation (SHFJV(SG)), but it has not been systematically compared with other modes of jet ventilation (JV) in humans. We sought to investigate whether SHFJV(SG) would provide more effective ventilation compared with single-frequency JV techniques. METHODS A total of 16 patients undergoing min...

Background: Hibiscus sabdariffa linnaeus (HSL) is a tropical plant with a high content of anthocyanin, traditionally found to have beneficial biological activities. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, and parallel trial was conducted to assess some renal and cardiovascular effects of supplementation with HSL in patients with diabetic nephropathy. Methods: The study protocol was c...

Striae gravidarum (SG), or stretch marks developing during pregnancy, affect up to 90% of women. While not medically dangerous, SG can be disfiguring, causing emotional and psychological distress. However, studies specifically addressing the prevention of SG, especially during pregnancy, are sparse. Furthermore, the molecular pathogenesis of SG is unclear and may differ from that of striae from...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors associated with striae gravidarum (SG). STUDY DESIGN A cross-sectional study of 112 primiparous women delivering at a private teaching hospital was conducted. Participants were assessed during the immediate postpartum period for evidence of SG. Presence and severity of SG were compared to characteristics of women using t tests a...

Serglycin (SG), the hematopoietic cell secretory granule proteoglycan, is crucial for storage of specific secretory proteins in mast cells, neutrophils, and cytotoxic T lymphocytes. We addressed the role of SG in platelets using SG-/- mice. Wild-type (WT) but not SG-/- platelets contained chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans. Electron microscopy revealed normal alpha-granule structure in SG-/- pla...

In vivo, homozygous staggerer (Rora(sg/sg)) Purkinje cells (PCs) remain in an early stage of development with rudimentary spineless dendrites, associated with a lack of parallel fiber (PF) input and the persistence of multiple climbing fibers (CFs). In this immunocytochemical study we used cerebellar organotypic cultures to monitor the development of Rora(sg/sg) PF-PC synapses in the absence of...

BACKGROUND This study was undertaken to evaluate the beneficial effects of a modified prescription of Sutaehwan named Sutaehwan-Gami (SG), created by adding Rhizoma dioscoreae and Carthami semen to Sutaehwan, on menopausal symptoms. METHODS To evaluate the estrogenic effect of SG, we first examined estrogen receptor (ER) activation by SG treatment in breast adenocarcinoma cells and confirmed ...

BACKGROUND Semenogelin (Sg), the main protein of human semen coagulum, prevents sperm capacitation. The objective of this study was to examine the role of Sg and its mechanism of action. METHODS AND RESULTS Sg blocked sperm capacitation triggered by various stimuli, via inhibition of superoxide anion (O(2)*-; luminescence assay) and nitric oxide (NO*; tested using diaminofluorescein) generati...

The proteoglycan (PG), serglycin (SG), is expressed in several hematopoietic cells and studies of the SG knockout mice (SG -/) revealed prominent effects on the storage of certain mouse mast cell proteases (mMCPs) such as mMCP-4, -5 and -6. In this thesis, the role of SGPG during parasitic infection was addressed. Both SG +/+ and SG -/animals infected with Toxoplasma gondii had significantly el...