BACKGROUND Cognitive reserve has been implicated as a possible protective factor in multiple sclerosis (MS) but to date no study has compared reserve-building activities across disease course or to healthy controls. This study aims to describe differences in reserve-building activities across the MS disease course and healthy controls. METHODS Secondary analysis of a cross-sectional cohort st...

BACKGROUND Identification of serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) biomarkers may facilitate diagnosis and prognostication in various lung disorders. OBJECTIVE Serum and BALF levels of surfactant protein A (SP-A), surfactant protein D (SP-D), Clara cell protein 16 (CC16), S100 protein, trefoil factor 3 (TFF3), and prostatic secretory protein 94 (PSP94) were evaluated in 94 consecutive...

BACKGROUND Mast cells (MCs) mediate inflammation through neuropeptides and cytokines, along with histamine and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is an illness characterized by an unexplained disabling fatigue with multiple physiological impairments as well as dysregulated cytokine profiles. OBJECTIVE To determine mast cell phenotypes in...

Induction of congestive heart failure by high-frequency pacing has been reported to increase plasma levels of immunoreactive kinins in dogs. In the present study, we evaluated plasma bradykinin levels in human heart failure. Utilizing a recently developed method, we specifically measured plasma levels of bradykinin-(1-9) nonapeptide in 21 patients with chronic congestive heart failure [New York...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to establish ranges for N Latex free light-chain (FLC) monoclonal-based nephelometric assays in patients with renal impairment. METHODS In this retrospective study, serum samples from 284 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 1-5 were measured with N Latex and Freelite FLC reagents on the Siemens BNII system and compared with controls without r...

OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a T helper cell type 2 polarised disease by quantifying the T cell cytokines interferon gamma (IFNgamma), interleukin 4 (IL4), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), and IL10 at the single cell level in patients with AS in comparison with healthy HLA-B27 negative and HLA-B27 positive controls. METHODS Peripheral blood mono...

Haboob occurrence strongly impacts the annual variability of airborne desert dust in North Africa with more raised from erodible surfaces early summer (monsoon) season when deep convective storms are common but soil moisture and vegetation cover low. On 27 June 2018, a large storm is initiated associated an intensive westward transport. Far away emission sources, transported over Atlantic for l...

Understanding HLA-restricted adaptive host immunity to defined epitopes of malarial antigens may be required for the development of successful malaria vaccines. Fourteen epitopes of preerythrocytic malarial antigens known to mediate cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses against target cells expressing HLA-A2-restricted epitopes were synthesized and pooled based on antigen: thrombospondin-related ano...

OBJECTIVES To explore the potentials of microcirculatory assessments for predicting outcome of patients treated with extra corporeal membrane oxygenation for cardiogenic shock. METHODS Eight patients with acute cardiogenic shock treated with ECMO and eight healthy controls were examined with skin vital microscopy and laser Doppler perfusion measurements. RESULTS Three patients died on ECMO ...

Methods and Results-—A total of 116 hypertension patients and 54 healthy controls were enrolled in the investigation. Hypertensive patients were divided into 2 groups: the with arterial stiffness group (brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity [baPWV] ≥1400 cm/s; n=83) and the without arterial stiffness group (baPWV <1400 cm/s; n=33). A noninvasive measure of vascular stiffness was performed using pu...