Crohn’s disease (CD), which can be localized in any part of the gastrointestinal tract, is a characterized by an irregular immune response to normal and/or abnormal microbial antigens. Recent studies show many extensive data about roles genetic and environmental factors, function, gut microbiota CD. Although, less invasive biomarkers are currently being developed, diagnosis still based on endos...

To determine the etiology of community-acquired pneumonia in the adult population of a defined area, specific antibody responses in paired serum samples, levels of circulating pneumococcal immune complexes in serum samples, and pneumococcal antigen in urine were measured. Samples (304 paired serum samples and 300 acute urine samples) were obtained from 345 patients > or =15 years old with commu...

known etiology, affecting persons worldwide. Because the etiologies remain enigmatic, the ability to identify effective therapeutics remains elusive. Sarcoidosis immunology and pathology suggest that infectious agents may have a role in its pathogenesis. Molecular analysis of pathologic tissues remains a viable mechanism for identifying etiologic agents of microbial origin. In this issue of Sar...

It is clear from descriptive and migration studies that most cancer is environmental in origin. Descriptive, case-control and cohort studies have provided the foundation for our understanding of the environmental component of cancer etiology as well as most major causes of morbidity and mortality. We propose that the same epidemiologic methods that have provided fundamental insight into the eti...

OBJECTIVE [corrected] To estimate the association between passive and active smoking exposures and lung cancer in Mexico City and the corresponding attributable risks. MATERIAL AND METHODS Data was analyzed from a multicenter population-based case-control study conducted in Mexico City. RESULTS ORs for lung cancer in ever smokers were 6.2 (95% CI 3.9-10.2) for males and 2.8 (95% CI 1.7-4.4)...

BACKGROUND Modern operating rooms are considered to be aseptic environments. The use of surgical mask, frequent air exchanges, and architectural barriers are used to reduce airborne microbial populations. Breaks in surgical technique, host contamination, or hematogenous seeding are suggested as causal factors in these infections. This study implicates contamination of the operating room air as ...

Abstract BV (bacterial vaginosis) influences 20%–40% of women but its etiology is still poorly understood. An open question about which the hundreds bacteria found in human vaginal microbiome (HVM) are major force driving microbiota dysbiosis. Here, we recast microbial causality by asking if there any prevalent ‘signatures’ (network motifs) networks associated with it? We apply a new framework ...

OBJECTIVES We tested the hypothesis that prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels would be higher among prostate cancer deaths as compared with controls over time in the 25-year follow-up of the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial of participants ages 35-57 at entry. METHODS The initial stored serum samples were collected in 1973-1975 and the mean length of follow-up to prostate cancer deat...

Introduction Drugs and other xenobiotics have effects that may vary greatly among individuals. Such variability in effect may be due to variability in either pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics. The major determinant of variability in pharmacokinetics is drug metabolism, which in many cases is due to polymorphisms in the genes for drug-metabolizing enzymes (1). This often results in subpopulat...

To address the complex nature of cancer occurrence and outcomes, approaches have been developed to simultaneously assess the role of two or more etiologic agents within hierarchical levels including the: (i) macroenvironment level (e.g., health care policy, neighborhood, or family structure); (ii) individual level (e.g., behaviors, carcinogenic exposures, socioeconomic factors, and psychologic ...