This study assessed glomerular endothelin (ET)-1, ET-3, and ET-receptor A and B mRNA levels in puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN)-induced nephrosis. During the nephrotic stage, 8 days after PAN injection, ET-1 and ETB receptor mRNA were elevated by 2.8 +/- 0.8-fold (P < 0.01) and 2.4 +/- 0.9-fold (P < 0.01), respectively, as compared with controls. These mRNA levels decreased to control levels by ...

Case A patient with juvenile onset recurrent febrile attacks associated with familial polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) and who carries CECR1 and MEFVgene mutations is described. The index case, a 23 year old male patient with recurrent attacks of fever and arthritis since the age of 7 was diagnosed initially as Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF). A beneficial response to treatment with colchicine was...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of apneic oxygenation for the performance of pan-endoscopy. STUDY DESIGN Clinical retrospective study. SETTING A university teaching hospital in Wuppertal, Germany. SUBJECTS Forty-seven patients who underwent pan-endoscopy under apneic oxygenation during a period of 1 year. METHODS After preoxygenation and induction of anesthesia, an 8 French catheter ...

Background—The role of inhaled corticosteroids in the long term management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is still unclear. A meta-analysis of the original data sets of the randomised controlled trials published thus far was therefore performed. The main question was: “Are inhaled corticosteroids able to slow down the decline in lung function (FEV1) in COPD?” Methods—A Medline ...