A long-standing conundrum of glucocorticoid receptors has been why the steroid binding domain is active in hybrid proteins but not in isolation. For this reason, the precise boundaries of the steroid binding domain have not been defined. These questions have now been systematically examined with a variety of receptor deletion constructs. Plasmids encoding amino acids 537– 673 and 537–795 of the...

Treatment failure occurs in up to 30% of patients treated with steroids for inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to explore the potential role of 21 cytokines in steroid-resistant inflammatory disease and to develop methods to restore steroid sensitivity through cytokine manipulation. The dexamethasone inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation assay correlates with the outcome of stero...

BACKGROUND Rituximab has emerged as an important medication for patients with steroid-dependent or steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome. PATIENTS We report the efficacy and safety of therapy with intravenous rituximab, administered once weekly for 2-4 doses, in 193 patients (mean age 10.9, range 2.2-18.7 years) with difficult-to-treat steroid dependence (n = 101), calcineurin inhibitor (CNI)-...

Though steroid withdrawal is done in many renal transplant recipients, some patients must restart steroids. Little report has investigated steroid withdrawal under pharmacodynamic monitoring. We assessed lymphocyte sensitivity to endogenous cortisol as a biomarker for determining the safety of steroid withdrawal in renal transplant patients, as we hypothesized that patients hyposensitive to cor...

Steroid resistance is a significant problem in management of chronic inflammatory diseases, including asthma. Accessible biomarkers are needed to identify steroid resistant patients to optimize their treatment. This study examined corticosteroid resistance in severe asthma. 24 asthmatics with forced expiratory volume in one second of less then 80% predicted were classified as steroid resistant ...

Determinations of steroid receptors have been used to predict steroid sensitivity in various neoplastic tumors. It appears, however, that simple steroid binding measure ments are not sufficient for that purpose in lymphoid tumors. This conclusion is based on a literature survey showing, first, that numerous factors are capable of mod ulating cellular steroid receptor content; second, that the r...

Treatment of dense deposit disease (DDD) has not been established yet. Steroid therapy is considered as ineffective for DDD. We report an 8-year-old girl with DDD in whom steroid pulse therapy with subsequent oral steroid therapy led to disease remission. Serum C3 level improved in accordance with the amelioration of clinical signs. This case suggests that steroid pulse therapy with subsequent ...

A long-standing conundrum of glucocorticoid receptors has been why the steroid binding domain is active in hybrid proteins but not in isolation. For this reason, the precise boundaries of the steroid binding domain have not been defined. These questions have now been systematically examined with a variety of receptor deletion constructs. Plasmids encoding amino acids 537-673 and 537-795 of the ...

Purpose: Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) is a common glomerular disease observed in children. Depending on their response to steroids, patients can be classified either as having steroid-sensitive (SSNS) or steroid-resistant (SRNS). Whereas SSNS respond favorably steroid treatment and achieve complete remission with normal renal functions, SRNS do not, are at high risk of developing end-sta...

Steroid hormones regulate physiological processes in species ranging from plants to humans. A wide range of steroid hormones exist, and their contributions to processes, such as growth, reproduction, development, and aging, is almost always complex. Understanding the biosynthetic pathways that generate steroid hormones and the signaling pathways that mediate their effects is thus of fundamental...