PURPOSE To evaluate the developmental expression of Thy-1 in the retina. Thy-1, the most abundant mammalian neuronal surface glycoprotein, is likely to play a significant role in retinal development. In the mammalian retina, it is found predominantly, if not exclusively, on retinal ganglion cells. METHODS Rat retinae of various ages were stained immunohistochemically for Thy-1 with 2G12, a mo...

The symptoms of Parkinson disease are thought to result in part from increased burst activity in globus pallidus neurons. To gain a better understanding of the factors governing this activity, we studied delayed rectifier K(+) conductances in acutely isolated rat globus pallidus (GP) neurons, using whole-cell voltage-clamp and single-cell RT-PCR techniques. From a holding potential of -40 mV, d...

PRL is known to be a major secretory product of the human decidua. However, the physiological role of decidual PRL during the menstrual cycle and pregnancy has not been fully defined, primarily due to the lack of an appropriate nonhuman primate model for in vivo studies. Therefore, this initial study examined the expression of PRL and its receptor in the baboon uterus during the cycle and pregn...

Angiogenesis is an important event both in the development of allergic inflammatory responses and in the pathophysiology of tissue remodeling in allergic diseases. In the present study, therefore, we examined the influence of antihistamines on angiogenesis through the choice of epinastine hydrochloride (EP) and murine mast cells in vitro. Mast cells (5 x 10(5) cells/mL) presensitized with murin...

The anaphylatoxin C5a is a potent mediator of inflammation that exerts a broad range of activity on cells of the myeloid lineage. In this study, we present the first evidence that human T cells express the C5a receptor (C5aR) and are chemotactic to C5a. Using FACS analysis, we found that the C5aR was expressed at a low basal level on unstimulated T cells and was strikingly up-regulated upon PHA...

ObjectivesTo our knowledge no previous study has assessed the performance of a rapid antigen diagnostic immunoassay (RAD) conducted at point care (POC). We evaluated Panbio™ COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test Device for diagnosis coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) in symptomatic patients (n = 412) attending primary healthcare centres.MethodsRAD was performed immediately after sampling following manufactur...

Objective. To demonstrate the roles of p16 in the senescence of human chondrocytes and the progression of osteoarthritis (OA). Methods. Immunohistochemistry and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were performed to examine p16 expression in fetal, normal age-matched and OA cartilage, and Western blot was used in primary cultured chondrocytes from different origins. To explo...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) is a mediator of tumor progression. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is the most potent angiogenic factor known to be induced by HIF-1alpha. We investigated the clinicopathological significance of HIF-1alpha and VEGF levels in biopsied gastric cancer tissue. METHODS Endoscopic biopsy specimens from 67 patients with gastric ...

Tumor necrosis factor(TNF ) may play a role in the development of autoimmune thyroiditis such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. In the present study, we examined whether TNF induced its own expression in FRTL-5 rat thyroid cells. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) markedly increased TNF mRNA levels in FRTL-5 cells as assessed by semiquantitative RT-PCR. In addition, LPSstimulated cells released TNF protein int...

Sulfur mustard (SM) is a potent vesicant that has been employed as a chemical weapon in various conflicts during the 20th century. More recently, mustard was used in the Iraq conflict against Iranian troops and civilians. At the present time there are more than 40.000 people suffering from pulmonary lesions special bronchiolitis obliterans (BOs) due to mustard gas. SM increases the endogenous p...