BACKGROUND The orally administered spherical carbon adsorbent AST-120 is used on-label in Asian countries to slow renal disease progression in patients with progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD). Recently, two multinational, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trials (Evaluating Prevention of Progression in Chronic Kidney Disease [EPPIC] trials) examined AST-120's efficacy ...

BACKGROUND Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Hepatitis B virus (HBV) share similar routes of transmission, making it possible for an individual to have a co-infection. HBV infection is well known to be a major cause of chronic liver diseases worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HBV infection among HIV infected HAART naïve patients and investigate the effect o...

In this study, the alterations in serum biochemical parameters of patients with lung cancer exposed to radiotherapy was investigated. For this aim, the levels of serum gamma glutamyltransferase (GGT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), albumin (ALB), bilurubin (BLB), copper (Cu), sodium (Na) and potassium (K) were evaluated before and after radiotherapy. Serum enz...

We treated patients with C-viral chronic hepatitis (CH) and liver cirrhosis (LC) with polaprezinc and determined prospectively the effect on long-term outcome. 62 patients were enrolled. Of these, 32 were administered 1.0 g polaprezinc and the remainder were not administered polaprezinc. We measured the serum zinc concentrations using conventional atomic absorption spectrometry and conducted a ...

background the aim of this clinical trial was the assessment of safety and efficacy of submocosal and periurethral injections of peripheral blood derived autologous stem cells along with platelets, and focused on outcome for six months. methods an open, prospective study was conducted on 10 patients presenting with stress urinary incontinence. at the baseline (pre-operative), 1, 3 and 6 months ...

A case of chronic urticaria in a child 6 years old is described. The strong skin reactivity upon intradermal injection of autologous serum suggested an autoreactive pathogenesis; however, patient's serum was unable to induce histamine release from basophils in-vitro, indicating the presence of a histamine-releasing factor specific for mast cells, and possibly other than an anti-FcepsilonRI or a...

The metabolism of radioiodinated IgG was studied in 20 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 11 normal controls using autologous IgG and homologous IgG pooled from normal donors. Fractional catabolic rates in the controls were 4.44% of the autologous- and 4.29% of the homologous-labeled protein per day. The corresponding rates in the rheumatoid patients were 9.67% of the autologous- and 8.64% ...

Hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is a major cause of morbidity and mortality after liver surgery. Therefore, it is important to identity reliable biomarkers to assist early diagnosis of hepatic I/R injury. This study aimed to investigate the potential of serum levels of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) as a biomarker for hepatic I/R injury in patients with liver transplantation. Two...

The effect of the antiviral agent ribavirin given alone or in combination with silymarin on the development of liver injury induced in rats with carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4); 2.8 ml/kg followed by 1.4 ml/kg after one week) was studied. Ribavirin at three dose levels (30, 60 or 90 mg/kg), silymarin (25 mg/kg) or combination of ribavirin (60 mg/kg) and silymarin (25 mg/kg) was administered once d...

Angiotensin (Ang II) II is known to promote oxidative stress in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Inhibition of renin angiotensin system (RAS) or blockade of Ang II receptors may therefore be effective in reducing oxidative stress during AMI. The study evaluates and compares the protective effect of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) inhibitor and AT1 receptor blocker in adrenaline induced ox...