Fibronectin is a family of immunologically similar glycoproteins which mediate a variety of cell-cell and cell-substratum interactions. It is a constituent of the extracellular matrix of connective tissue and circulates in plasma. When suspension and adherent cultures of a human hepatoma cell line (SK-HEP-1) were incubated in serum-free medium, the resulting conditioned medium contained materia...

There is strong evidence to suggest that endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a significant role in re-endothelialization and subsequent tissue repair. This study examined the role of EPCs in inflammatory bowel disease, a disease in which impairment of mucosal healing has been implicated. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from 50 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), 29 patients ...

The molecular mechanism of anemia that is hyporesponsive to recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) in hemodialysis patients without underlying causative factors has not been investigated fully in hematopoietic stem cell system. Circulating CD34+ cells (1 x 10(4)) were isolated from rHuEPO hyporesponsive hemodialysis patients (EPO-H; n = 9), patients who were responsive to rHuEPO (EPO-R; n = ...

INTRODUCTION Elevated circulating non-esterified fatty acids including oleic acid (OA) are associated with many pregnancy related complications. Prostaglandins (PGs) play crucial roles during parturition. We investigated the effect of OA supplementation on PG production using an in vitro model of ovine placenta. METHODS Maternal endometrium (ME) and fetal allantochorion (FC) were collected in...

We have investigated the question of erythropoietin (Epo) hypersensitivity versus Epo independence as the basis for the endogenous erythroid bursts (EEBs) that develop in cultures without added Epo from hematopoietic cells of polycythemia vera (PV) patients. Using an improved serum-free (SF) medium containing interleukin (IL)-3, but no insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and devoid of contami...

1. After nicotinic acid treatment, rat liver glycogen is depleted and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity increased, to about twice the initial value. 2. The increase in phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity promoted by nicotinic acid is prevented by cycloheximide or actinomycin D, suggesting that this effect is produced by synthesis of the enzyme de novo. 3. Despite the enhancement...

BACKGROUND African-Americans generally have lower circulating levels of 25 hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] than Whites, attributed to skin pigmentation and dietary habits. Little is known about the genetic determinants of 25(OH)D levels nor whether the degree of African ancestry associates with circulating 25(OH)D. METHODS With the use of a panel of 276 ancestry informative genetic markers, we est...

Long-chain triglycerides inhibit gastric acid secretion, but the effect of medium-chain triglycerides in humans is unknown. We compared the effects of intraduodenally perfused saline, medium-chain and long-chain triglycerides on gastrin-stimulated gastric acid secretion and cholecystokinin release. Eight healthy male volunteers participated in this study. Gastrin-stimulated gastric acid output ...

Fibronectin is a family of immunologically similar glycoproteins which mediate a variety of cell-cell and cell-substratum interac tions. It is a constituent of the extracellular matrix of connective tissue and circulates in plasma. When suspension and adherent cultures of a human hepatoma cell line (SK-HEP-1) were incu bated in serum-free medium, the resulting conditioned medium contained mater...

Measurements of circulating transferrin (Tf) receptor are useful in assessing erythropoiesis; however, steps involved in the generation of soluble Tf receptor from cellular receptor are incompletely understood. To obtain a better understanding of this process, we investigated the loss of Tf receptor during terminal maturation of rat reticulocytes in vitro. Previous studies have identified Tf re...