In microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), renal manifestations are very common as first symptoms. Here, we report a case of MPA which presented liver dysfunction prior to noted renal manifestations. A 58-year-old woman was hospitalized because of a fever for 8 weeks. A laboratory examination revealed marked elevation of alkaline phosphatase and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, while blood urea nitrogen ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of mycophenolic acid (MPA) on the proliferation of rat pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMVECs) and on the secretion of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) by these cells. METHODS Rat PMVECs were treated with five different final concentrations of MPA (0, 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 μM). The fetal bovine serum-induced proliferation of the PMVECs w...

This study examined the effect of alumina air-abrasion with different pressure on bonding between an acrylic resin and casting alloys. Disk specimens (8 and 10 mm in diameter) were cast from a silver-palladium-copper-gold (Ag-Pd-Cu-Au, Castwell M.C.12) alloy and a titanium-aluminum-niobium alloy (Ti-6Al-7Nb, T-Alloy Tough). The disks were air-abraded with alumina particles (50-70 microm) under ...

A new azaphilonidal derivative, monapurpyridine A (MPA), has recently been isolated from the fermented products of Monascus purpureus NTU 568. The structure of MPA was elucidated by nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, COSY, HMQC, and HMBC) and other spectroscopic analyses. Biological evaluation revealed that MPA could induce cell death in human breast adenocarcinoma cells MCF-7, and it...

Clinical studies suggest that the injectable contraceptive medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) increases susceptibility to infections such as HIV-1, unlike the injectable contraceptive norethisterone enanthate (NET-EN). We investigated the differential effects, molecular mechanism of action and steroid receptor involvement in gene expression by MPA as compared to NET and progesterone (P4) in the ...

The demand for sustainable alternative construction materials to cement in modern technology cannot be underemphasized. This paper presents a non-fired green brick with an agriculture residue namely, rice husk. Although, high plasticity brown clay deposits are widely distributed in Malaysia and rice husk is a well known agriculture residue, research works on non-fired green brick with rice husk...

OBJECTIVES The objectives of this in vitro study were (1) to assess the bond strength of the universal cement RelyX Unicem to dentin and to compare it with three conventional resin cements, (2) to test the influence of aging on their bonding capacity and (3) to test the influence of the operator on bonding quality by performing the same test in two different centers. METHODS 160 third molars,...

The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of decidualization on superoxide dismutase (SOD) expression in human endometrial stromal cells (ESC). To induce decidualization, isolated ESC were incubated with medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA, 10(-6) mol/l) and oestradiol (10(-8) mol/l) for 23 days. Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) was used as a marker of decidu...

Background: The most studied fertility-sparing therapy for endometrial cancer (EC) is oral progestin therapy. However, complete remission (CR) rate after progestin therapy is not enough ranging from 60 to 80 %, with high recurrence rate. Clinical features that predict treatment efficacy and recurrence after progestin therapy have not yet been revealed in detail. The aim of this study was to inv...

Microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) is an ANCA-associated vasculitis that affects small vessels, especially renal glomeruli. We recently demonstrated that the abnormal formation and impaired degradation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) may be crucially involved in the generation of myeloperoxidase (MPO)-ANCA and subsequent development of MPA. This study assessed the formation and regulation ...