Many fields of modern society require scientific proof of effectiveness before new methods can be widely accepted, as in clinical trials for new drugs, educational evaluation for teaching approaches, and outcome studies for psychological interventions. Previous outcome studies on the results from Scientology services are reviewed and found to be inconclusive. The paper is devoted to the questio...

Background Obeticholic acid (OCA) and fibrates are second-line therapies for patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) an inadequate response to ursodeoxycholic (UDCA). Aim To know whether OCA fibrates, administered together in combination UDCA, have additive beneficial effects difficult-to-treat PBC. Methods PBC treated ?3 months (bezafibrate or fenofibrate) due failure of either therapy...

The effect of oral contraceptive agents (OCA) on riboflavin nutritional status of women of child-bearing age in a low socioeconomic population was studied. For a control group, 100 women in the same age and socioeconomic group using alternate forms of contraception were selected. Riboflavin deficiency was determined by measuring erythrocyte glutathione reductase activity, a reliable index of th...

B-cell-specific transcription of immunoglobulin genes is mediated by the interaction of a POU domain containing transcription factor Oct-1 or Oct-2, with the B-cell-specific coactivator OCA-B (Bob-1, OBF-1) and a prototype octamer element. We find that OCA-B binds DNA directly in the major groove between the two subdomains of the POU domain, requiring both an A at the fifth position of the octa...

BACKGROUND We previously showed that increased asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) biliary excretion occurs during hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), prompting us to study the effects of the farnesoid X receptor (FXR) agonist obeticholic acid (OCA) on bile, serum and tissue levels of ADMA after I/R. MATERIAL AND METHODS Male Wistar rats were orally administered 10mg/kg/day of OCA or vehicle f...

Epigenetic changes are crucial for the generation of immunological memory. Failure to generate or maintain these changes will result in poor memory responses. Similarly, augmenting or stabilizing the correct epigenetic states offers a potential method of enhancing memory. Yet the transcription factors that regulate these processes are poorly defined. We find that the transcription factor Oct1 a...

The tissue-specific transcriptional coactivator OCA-B is required for antigen-dependent B cell differentiation events, including germinal center formation. However, the identity of OCA-B target genes involved in this process is unknown. This study has used large-scale cDNA arrays to monitor changes in gene expression patterns that accompany mature B cell differentiation. B cell receptor ligatio...

Oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by either complete lack of or a reduction in melanin biosynthesis in the skin, hair, and eyes. OCA1, the most common and severe type, is caused by mutations in the tyrosinase (TYR) gene. In this study, we report a Chinese family with two members affected by OCA. Blood samples were collected from all family members. G...

results out of 140 samples of oca, 70 (50%) samples were malignant cancer and 70 (50%) were benign cancer as the control group. out of 70 malignant samples 25 (36.0%) were hpv-16 positive. 2.8% of the tissue samples of the control group were positive for hpv-16. conclusions these results show a feasible role of hpv-16 in the carcinogenesis of oca. according to these results, infection with hpv ...

BACKGROUND Transplantation of fresh osteochondral allografts (OCAs) is an attractive treatment option for symptomatic articular cartilage lesions in young, healthy patients. Because the lack of OCA bone integration can be a cause of treatment failure, methods for speeding and enhancing OCA bone integration to mitigate this potential complication are highly desirable. PURPOSE To determine if a...