Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which insulin-producing beta cells in pancreatic islets are progressively destroyed. Clinical trials of immunotherapies in recently diagnosed T1D patients have only transiently and partially impacted the disease course, suggesting that other approaches are required. Our previous studies have demonstrated that heparan sulfate (HS), a glycosaminog...

OBJECTIVE This investigation examined data on unplanned pregnancies following hysteroscopic sterilization (HS). METHODS A confidential questionnaire was used to collect data from women with medically confirmed pregnancy (n=103) registered after undergoing HS. RESULTS Mean (±SD) patient age and body mass index (BMI) were 29.5±4.6 years and 27.7±6.1 kg/m(2), respectively. Peak pregnancy incid...

The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical application of a high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) test in the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Serum levels of hs-cTnT and cardiac troponin I (cTnI) were detected in 240 AMI patients and 200 healthy donors and used to plot receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. A clinically applicable diagnostic cut-off v...

Disuse and aging are associated with changes in glucose metabolism and insulin responsiveness of skeletal muscle. However, their combined effects on the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas and serum insulin levels have not been studied. The goal of this study was to investigate the response of the pancreas to disuse, induced by hind limb suspension (HS), in young and old animals. Male Fisher 3...

BACKGROUND Hypersensitivity (HS) reactions to sulfonamide antibiotics occur uncommonly, but with potentially severe clinical manifestations. A familial predisposition to sulfonamide HS is suspected, but robust predictive genetic risk factors have yet to be identified. Strongly linked genetic polymorphisms have been used clinically as screening tests for other HS reactions prior to administratio...

Dengue is the most important arthropod-borne viral disease in humans, with an estimated 3.6 billion people at risk for infection and more than 200 million infections per year. Identification of the cellular receptors for dengue virus (DV), the causative agent of dengue, is important toward understanding the pathogenesis of the disease. Heparan sulfate (HS) has been characterized as a DV recepto...

Humic substances (HS) are ubiquitous natural products of decomposition of dead organic matter. HS is present in most freshwaters at concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 50mg L(-1). Organic carbon can represent 20% dry weight of sediments. Recently, the interaction of dissolved HS with the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) has been demonstrated. The AhR is a cytosolic receptor to which persistent or...

The glycosaminoglycan, heparan sulfate (HS) is composed of alternating units of hexuronic acid and glucosamine, that are variously sulfate-substituted at different positions. Proteoglycans carrying HS chains are ubiquitously expressed at cell surfaces and in the extracellular matrix. The structures of these chains are highly variable, yet under strict biosynthetic control. Due to their high neg...

BACKGROUND In rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), patients demonstrate low levels of adrenal hormones. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether increased renal clearance and daily excretion contribute to this phenomenon. METHODS Thirty patients with RA, 32 with SLE, and 54 healthy subjects (HS) participated. Serum and urinary levels of cortisol, cortisone, 17-hydroxypr...

UNLABELLED Background/Aims . High salt (HS) intake may elevate blood pressure (BP), also in animals without genetic salt sensitivity. The development of salt-dependent hypertension could be mediated by endogenous vasoactive agents; here we examined the role of vasodilator epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) and vasoconstrictor 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE). METHODS In conscious Wista...