The effect of the immunosuppressive compound, cyclosporin A, and the corticosteroid, betamethasone, was investigated on eosinophil accumulation in guinea-pig lung tissue induced by antigen, platelet-activating factor (PAF) and leukotriene B4 (LTB4). The accumulation of eosinophils in the peribronchial area was evaluated on histological preparations. The lung sections were stained with Luna's re...

BACKGROUND In Rotterdam 304 heart transplants have been performed since 1984. End-stage renal failure, necessitating renal replacement therapy, has developed in 24 patients (8%) after an interval of 25-121 months (median 79 months). After starting renal replacement therapy one-year survival was only 60%. Overall survival after heart transplantation, however, was favourable: 5 and 10 year surviv...

BACKGROUND About one-third of patients with severe ulcerative colitis do not respond to conventional therapy and require urgent colectomy. It was recently shown that cyclosporin is effective in some of these patients. OBJECTIVES To review the current experience of six hospitals in central Israel that used cyclosporin in patients with severe ulcerative colitis. METHODS The files of all 32 pa...

Haematologica vol. 85(8):August 2000 min-K dependent proteins, revealed that the affected amino acid was highly conserved, indicating an important structural or functional role. The search for other established thrombophilic genetic risk factors such as protein S and antithrombin deficiency, factor V Leiden, methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase C677T variant, and prothrombin G20210A variant rev...

Peptide pheromone cell-cell signaling (quorum sensing) regulates the expression of diverse developmental phenotypes (including virulence) in Firmicutes, which includes common human pathogens, e.g., Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Cytoplasmic transcription factors known as "Rgg proteins" are peptide pheromone receptors ubiquitous in Firmicutes. Here we present X-ray crystal ...

BACKGROUND Drug-induced gingival overgrowth is a frequent adverse effect associated principally with administration of the immunosuppressive drug cyclosporin A and also certain antiepileptic and antihypertensive drugs. It is characterized by a marked increase in the thickness of the epithelial layer and accumulation of excessive amounts of connective tissue. The mechanism by which the drugs cau...

Eighteen patients were treated with primary cadaveric renal transplantation using cyclosporin A therapy, and four more patients undersent cadaveric retransplantation. Eleven of the 22 recipients were conditioned with lymphoid depletion before transplantation, using thoracic duct drainage or lymphapheresis for two to eight and one-half weeks. Cyclosporin A was begun a few hours before grafting. ...

The Ca(2+)- and calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase calcineurin is inhibited by the immunosuppressant drug cyclosporin A in the presence of cyclophilin A or B. Of the two isoforms, cyclophilin B is more potent by a factor of 2-5 when either the phosphoprotein [32P]casein or the [32P]phosphoserine [Ser(32P)] form of the 19-residue bovine cardiac cAMP-dependent protein kinase regulatory subu...

PURPOSE To assay the effects of cyclosporin A on mucus secretion from goblet cells and on mucociliary transport in situ in rats. METHODS Twenty-one male Wistar rats were assigned to 3 groups: control (n = 5), saline (n = 8), and cyclosporin A (n = 8). After 30 days of drug therapy, the rats were killed, and the lungs were removed from the thoracic cavity. Mucus samples were collected, and the...