We evaluated the antimicrobial activities of a cationic Gemini surfactant, trans-1,4-bis[2-(alkanoyloxy)ethyldimethylammonio]-2-butene dichloride [II-m-2(t-butene)] and its derivatives against Gram-positive and Gram-negative microorganisms. The II-m-2(t-butene) compound was previously shown to have good surface activity and biodegradability. A dodecanoyloxy derivative (m = 12) of II-m-2(t-buten...

Introduction: Impairment in the ability of the inflamed synovium to generate cortisol has been proposed to be a factor in the persistence and severity of inflammatory arthritis. In the inflamed synovium, cortisol is generated from cortisone by the 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) enzyme. The objective of this study was to determine the role of endogenous glucocorticoid metabol...

background: gestational diabetes mellitus has adverse effects on maternal and fetal outcomes during pregnancy and after delivery. the aim of this study was evaluation of the status of scientific research in gestational diabetes mellitus (gdm) in iran. methods: this study is a part of the iranian diabetes research roadmap (iddr) project. we investigated the electronic database, including pubmed,...

Nonnative English-speaking scholars have often been reported to be at a disadvantage vis-à-vis their English native counterparts when it comes to writing a publishable research article (RA). When they submit their manuscripts to English-language journals, they sometimes receive comments criticizing their faulty English. One area of difficulty for these authors is the grammaticalization of neutr...

UNLABELLED Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common inflammatory rheumatic disease, affecting almost 1% of the world population. Although the cause of RA remains unknown, the complex interaction between immune mediators (cytokines and effector cells) is responsible for the joint damage that begins at the synovial membrane. Activated macrophages are critical in the pathogenesis of RA and sho...

We read with great interest the recent article in Arthritis Research & Therapy in which Meyer and colleagues evaluated different circulating adipokines in patients with recent-onset rheumatoid arthritis (RA) [1]. The authors found that total adiponectin was independently associated with baseline radiographic score and with a change in this score over time. The authors concluded that total adipo...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)is a debilitating chronic inflammatory disease whose characteristic pathology includes swollen, painful, and deformed joints. In recent decades, both clinical and basic scientific research have tried to determine the factors involved in the pathogenesis of this common disease. Although the cause of RA is still unknown, several factors that contribute to RA have been ide...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic disease manifest as a symmetric polyarthritis usually in the setting of elevated autoantibodies (rheumatoid factor). This disease affects 1-2% of the world's population, most frequently in the 25-55 year old age group and has a female predominance (2.5:1). Nearly 50% of patients with RA demonstrate some type of extra-articular manifestation of the disease...