Mac-2, a 30-35-kDa galactose-binding protein, is synthesized at similar levels in murine peritoneal exudate macrophages whether recruited in response to an intraperitoneal pathogen Mycobacterium microti, to sterile inflammatory stimuli such as thioglycollate broth, or to concanavalin A. In elicited or activated macrophages up to 30% of Mac-2 is constitutively secreted, and secretion is stimulat...

BACKGROUND Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a novel biomarker reflecting inflammation status and fibrosis involving worsening of both cardiac and renal functions. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between Gal-3 serum levels and microalbuminuria in a group of chronic heart failure (CHF) outpatients. PATIENTS AND METHODS We enrolled CHF outpatients having stable clinical ...

Pituitary adenomas are benign pituitary primary tumors, the most frequent type of tumor in the pituitary fossa. An important part, around 1/3 of the pituitary adenomas manifests an aggressive behavior, growing faster and invading into parasellar areas (cavernous sinus, neural tissues and bones). Objectives: the first aim of this paper is to review the last findings about invasiveness diagnostic...

Background Immunotherapy with CAR-T cells, as well immune checkpoint blockade, show limited clinical efficacy in the pediatric solid cancer neuroblastoma, despite success various adult cancers. The lacking may be due to evasion strategies employed by neuroblastoma tumors, leading altered functionality of tumor-infiltrating cells. We aimed provide a comprehensive overview composition and functio...

Background—Galectin-3 is a soluble ß-galactoside–binding lectin released by activated cardiac macrophages. Elevated levels of galectin-3 have been found to be associated with adverse outcomes in patients with heart failure. We evaluated the association between galectin-3 and long-term clinical outcomes in ambulatory heart failure patients enrolled in the HF-ACTION study. Methods and Results—HF-...

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is known as one of the most devastating diseases in the central nervous system. In the past few decades, research on SAH has focused on cerebral vasospasm to prevent post-SAH delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) and to improve outcomes. However, increasing evidence has suggested that early brain injury (EBI) is an important mechanism contributing to DCI, cere...

A custom-designed microarray containing 220 virulence genes of Streptococcus pyogenes (group A Streptococcus [GAS]) was used to test group C Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. dysgalactiae (GCS) field strains causing bovine mastitis and group C or group G Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (GCS/GGS) isolates from human infections, with the latter being used for comparative purposes, f...

Two monoclonal antibodies, M3/31 and M3/38, were obtained by fusion of mouse myeloma cells with rat spleen cells immunized to immunoadsorbent-purified macrophage glycoproteins. Co-precipitation experiments show that antigenic determinants recognized by these two antibodies reside on the same molecular species, termed Mac-2, Mac-2, an antigen of 32,000 Mr, is synthesized by and expressed on the ...

BACKGROUND Biomarkers may play an important role in identifying patients at risk for cancer therapy cardiotoxicity. Our objectives were to define the patterns of change in biomarkers with cancer therapy and their associations with cardiotoxicity. METHODS In a multicenter cohort of 78 breast cancer patients undergoing doxorubicin and trastuzumab therapy, 8 biomarkers were evaluated at baseline...

Obesity is accompanied by metabolic alterations characterized by insulin resistance and cardiac lipotoxicity. Galectin-3 (Gal-3) induces cardiac inflammation and fibrosis in the context of obesity; however, its role in the metabolic consequences of obesity is not totally established. We have investigated the potential role of Gal-3 in the cardiac metabolic disturbances associated with obesity. ...