BACKGROUND & AIMS In patients with chronic hepatitis C who failed to respond to standard therapy, high-dose pegylated interferon (IFN)-α and/or ribavirin could induce a stronger antiviral response and prevent treatment failure and HCV resistance when combined with direct-acting antivirals. The influence of genetic determinants in this context remains unknown. METHODS Eighty-three patients inf...

C3H/HeJ mice do not respond to the polyclonal B-cell activator lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Escherichia coli; this was first described by Sultzer who observed that mice of this strain did not respond to an intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of LPS as measured by the accumulation of leukocytes in the peritoneal cavity. Neither were C3H/HeJ mice as susceptible to LPS toxcitiy (1). It was later rep...

Host defense against bacterial urinary tract infections (UTI) includes both inflammatory and immune responses to infecting bacteria. The cellular events leading up to local inflammation are thought to be under genetic control and initiated by lipopolysaccharides (LPS) of gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli. It has been previously reported that mice which lack functional Lps genes ar...

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main source(s): United Hospital Medical Education and Research Committee, Background We have previously shown that optimization cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) nonresponders using a novel electrical dyssynchrony mapping (EDM) system significantly improves dyssynchrony, left ventricle (LV) size systolic function. Whet...

When tested in the in vitro T-cell proliferation assay, H-2a cells are nonresponders to lactate dehydrogenase B (LDH-B; L-lactate:NAD+ oxidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.27) and to IgG2a myeloma protein. However, the cells can be converted into responders either by the addition to the culture of monoclonal anti-Ia.m7 antibody or by the removal from the culture of Lyt-2+ [T-lymphocyte-associated alloantig...

Conventional therapies for primary chronic cold agglutinin disease (CAD) are ineffective, but remissions after treatment with the anti-CD20 antibody rituximab have been described in a small, prospective trial and in some case reports. In this study we report on 37 courses of rituximab administered prospectively to 27 patients. Fourteen of 27 patients responded to their first course of rituximab...

The purpose of this study was to assess whether changes in physical fitness relate to changes in cardiovascular risk factors following standardized, center-based and supervised exercise training programs in subjects with increased cardiovascular risk. We pooled data from exercise training studies of subjects with increased cardiovascular risk (n = 166) who underwent 8-52 weeks endurance trainin...

BACKGROUND To compare on-treatment and off-treatment parameters acquired using acoustic radiation force impulse elastography, the Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index, and aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). METHODS Patients received therapies based on pegylated interferon or direct-acting antiviral agents. The changes in paired patient pa...

Deficits of care exist during the transitional period, when young people with ongoing needs of support to achieve their physical, social, and psychological potential are entering adulthood. This study aims to develop a patient oriented, structured provisional model to improve transitional care for adolescents with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuester-Hauser-Syndrome as an example for orphan diseases, where...

Chordomas are tumors that arise at vertebral bodies and the base of the skull. Although rare in incidence, they are deadly owing to slow growth and a lack of effective therapeutic options. In this study, we addressed the need for chordoma cell systems that can be used to identify therapeutic targets and empower testing of candidate pharmacologic drugs. Eight human chordoma cell lines that we es...