Neisseria meningitidis causes disease only in humans. An important mechanism underlying this host specificity is the ability of the organism to resist complement by recruiting the complement downregulator factor H (FH) to the bacterial surface. In previous studies, binding of FH to one of the major meningococcal FH ligands, factor H binding protein (FHbp), was reported to be specific for human ...

AIM Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is caused by mutations of FH genes, i.e. LDL-receptor (LDLR), PCSK9 and apolipoprotein B (ApoB) gene. We evaluated the usefulness of DNA analysis for the diagnosis of homozygous FH (homo-FH), and studied the frequency of FH in the Hokuriku district of Japan. METHODS Twenty-five homo-FH patients were recruited. LDLR mutations were identified using the Inv...

UNLABELLED The meningococcal 4CMenB vaccine (Bexsero; Novartis) contains four antigens that can elicit serum bactericidal activity, one of which is factor H (FH)-binding protein (FHbp). FHbp specifically binds human complement FH. When humans are immunized, FHbp is expected to form a complex with FH, which could affect immunogenicity and safety. Wild-type mice (whose FH does not bind to FHbp) a...

Greaney JL, Matthews EL, Wenner MM. Sympathetic reactivity in young women with a family history of hypertension. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 308: H816–H822, 2015. First published February 13, 2015; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00867.2014.—Young adults with a family history of hypertension ( FH) have increased risk of developing hypertension. Furthermore, the blood pressure (BP) response to sympatho...

In this paper, we propose a new fast-frequencyhopping code-division multiple-access (FH-CDMA) scheme for wireless communication systems, in which Reed-Solomon (RS) codes are modulated on top of FH-CDMA for supporting higher data rate than conventional M -ary frequency-shiftkeying FH-CDMA (MFSK/FH-CDMA) scheme and our recently proposed prime/FH-CDMA scheme. The performance of the RS/FH-CDMA sche...

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a genetic condition that causes high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (sometimes referred to as bad cholesterol) from birth. FH means high cholesterol that runs in a family. FH is caused by specific DNA changes that are passed on from parents to their children. It is not caused by lifestyle factors such as a high-fat diet or lack of exercise. There...

Several studies have demonstrated genetic predisposition in non-shigatoxin-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), involving regulatory proteins of the complement alternative pathway: Factor H (FH) and membrane co-factor protein (CD46). Regarding the observations of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura patients, in whom a von Willebrand factor protease (ADAMST-13) deficiency may be inherited...

Episodic memory impairment is a consistent, pronounced deficit in pre-clinical stages of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD). Individuals with risk factors for AD exhibit altered brain function several decades prior to the onset of AD-related symptoms. In the current event-related fMRI study of spatial context memory we tested the hypothesis that middle-aged adults (MA; 40-58 yrs) with a family...

High density lipoproteins (HDLs; d= 1.063-1.21 g/ml) were isolated by ultracentrifugation and radiolabeled with '"In. The in vitro binding onto platelets from healthy volunteers (it=15) and patients (n=36) with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) was investigated. Binding was saturable and indicated high-affinity binding sites, which bound 1,882±361 ng protein of '"In-HDL/lC platele...