1. To examine the relationship between eucapnic morbid obesity and ventilatory responsiveness to chemical stimuli, we measured hypercapnic and hypoxic ventilatory responses in 29 patients (26 women, three men) before and 3-6 months after gastroplasty. No subject demonstrated resting awake hypercapnia and non suffered from sleep-disordered breathing. 2. Mean weight fell significantly (122.8 +/- ...

The length-tension and length-oxygen consumption rate relationships were studied in bovine mesenteric vein at 37 degrees C. The absence of spontaneous mechanical activity permits straightforward interpretation in terms of active (smooth muscle) and passive components of the vein wall. Longitudinal loops, the predominant smooth muscle component being oriented in the longitudinal (axial) directio...

P388D1 cells release free arachidonic acid (AA) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) upon stimulation with platelet-activating factor (PAF) and zymosan. The response to PAF is dependent on priming of the cells with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In the LPS/PAF pathway, both AA and PGE2 release are dependent on transcription and translation, whereas in the zymosan pathway the release of these compou...

Intravenous recombinant (r)-hirudin has a potent antithrombotic effect in aspirin- and heparin-resistant platelet-dependent thrombus formation in baboon models. However, these thrombi reform when therapy is stopped after 60 minutes. To determine if 4 hours of therapy can produce a lasting antithrombotic effect, we investigated the extent of deposition of 111In-labeled platelets onto 0.5-cm2 seg...

Examples of transgenerational transmission of environmentally induced epigenetic traits remain rare and disputed. Abiotic stress can release the transcription of epigenetically suppressed transposons and, noticeably, this activation is only transient. Therefore, it is likely that mechanisms countering the mitotic and meiotic inheritance of stress-triggered chromatin changes must exist but are u...

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may induce a variable amount of myocardial necrosis. It is now well accepted that increased blood levels of the plasma inflammatory marker secretory phospholipase A 2 (sPLA 2) correlate with cardiac injury in patients undergoing PCI, 1 and a role for sPLA 2 in PCI-related cardiac injury has been hypothesized. Using the sPLA 2 inhibitor varespladib, Dzavi...

Revised 13 February 2008 Accepted 19 February 2008 Published Online First 27 February 2008 ABSTRACT Background and aims: Reduced ileal Paneth cell adefensin expression has been reported to be associated with Crohn’s disease, especially in patients carrying NOD2 mutations. The aim of this study was to independently assess whether NOD2, a-defensins and Crohn’s disease are linked. Methods: Using q...

Hydrolysis of surfactant phospholipids (PL) by secretory phospholipases A(2) (sPLA(2)) contributes to surfactant damage in inflammatory airway diseases such as acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome. We and others have reported that each sPLA(2) exhibits specificity in hydrolyzing different PLs in pulmonary surfactant and that the presence of hydrophilic surfactant protein A (SP-...

BACKGROUND Gastric cancer continues to be one of the deadliest cancers in the world and therefore identification of new drugs targeting this type of cancer is thus of significant importance. The purpose of this study was to identify and validate a therapeutic agent which might improve the outcomes for gastric cancer patients in the future. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Using microarray techn...