BACKGROUND AND AIMS Twin and family studies suggest that there is a genetic component to primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) but the genetic associations which have been described are weak with marked variations between centres. PBC is heterogeneous and genetic associations with disease progression may be obscured when the PBC population is analysed only as a whole and not subdivided. METHODS We ...

Copyright © 2005, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved. 1079-2082/05/0402-0856$06.00. There is a pressing need to prepare health-system pharmacists for executive-level positions, motivate them to step into these roles and educate health-system administrators about the value a pharmacist in such a position could bring to his or her organization. To do this, the...

Bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) is a characteristic feature of asthma, and is considered to be one of the major consequences of airway inflammation and remodeling. BHR is usually defined as an increased sensitivity of the airways to inhaled nonsensitizing bronchoconstrictor stimuli, which is evaluated by measuring the dose or concentration (PC20) of inhaled methacholine or histamine that ca...

BACKGROUND The indications and timing of treatment, as well as the best treatment method for traumatic central cord syndrome (CCS), remain controversial. The aims of this study are to determine the prognostic factors of traumatic CCS and to determine appropriate surgical indications. METHODS We reviewed the clinical and radiological data of 47 patients with this syndrome. The data collected i...

Compelling evidences indicate a key role for regulatory T cells (T(reg)) on the host response to cancer. The Wilms' tumor antigen (WT1) is overexpressed in several human leukemias and thus considered as promising target for development of leukemia vaccine. However, recent studies indicated that the generation of effective WT1-specific cytotoxic T cells can be largely affected by the presence of...

BACKGROUND Although the pathogenesis of toluene diisocyanate (TDI)-induced occupational asthma (TDI-OA) is incompletely understood, several studies have suggested immunologic mechanisms, including specific IgE responses. A few studies have suggested human leukocyte antigen (HLA) associations with TDI-induced asthma in Western countries, but this is the first investigation of associations betwee...

Data on the genetic background of Peruvian and Bolivian populations is still scarce. Studies have shown that mestizos (i.e. mixed, but of predominantly Native American ancestry) present several HLA alleles originally described in genetically isolated Amerindian tribes, and that Peruvian and Bolivian mestizos are closely genetically related. Using Reverse Line Blot Assay, HLA typing for Class I ...

BACKGROUND The accord 11/0402 trial demonstrated that folfirinox (5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan, oxaliplatin) is significantly more efficacious than gemcitabine monotherapy in the first-line treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer (mpc). The present study assessed the cost-effectiveness of first-line folfirinox compared with first-line gemcitabine for public payers in Canada. METHO...

NY-ESO-1 is expressed by a broad range of human tumors and is often recognized by Abs in the sera of cancer patients with NY-ESO-1-expressing tumors. The NY-ESO-1 gene also encodes several MHC class I- and class II-restricted tumor epitopes recognized by T lymphocytes. In this study we report one novel pan-MHC class II-restricted peptide sequence, NY-ESO-1 87-111, that is capable of binding to ...

BACKGROUND Several studies have demonstrated a fundamental role for the histocompatibility antigens (ie, human leukocyte antigens or HLA) in the susceptibility of, or protection to, type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). However, this has not been adequately studied in racially admixtured populations. OBJECTIVES To assess the frequency of HLA class II (DQA1, DQB1 and DRB1) associated to susceptibil...