Renal ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury causes renal tubular necrosis, apoptosis, and inflammation leading to acute and chronic kidney dysfunction. IL-11 is a multifunctional hematopoietic cytokine clinically approved to treat chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia. Recent studies suggest that IL-11 also has potent antiapoptotic and antinecrotic properties. In this study, we tested the hypothesis...

BACKGROUND Early treatment of acute HCV infection has been shown to improve virological response rates in HIV-positive patients; however, details on when and how to best treat acute HCV infection remain unclear at present. METHODS In this European multicentre cohort study, HIV-positive patients with acute HCV infection were offered immediate or delayed anti-HCV therapy, pegylated interferon o...

Hyaluronan-grafted liposomes (HA-liposomes) preferentially target CD44-overexpressing tumor cells in vitro via receptor-mediated endocytosis. We investigated the pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of HA-liposomes with various sizes of HA (MW 5-8, 50-60, and 175-350 kDa) in mice. Incorporation of negatively charged HA on the liposome surface compromised its blood circulation time, which led to...

Objective: To determine the response to pegylated interferon-α treatment of HBeAgpositive hepatitis B patients with proven lamivudine resistance. Methods: Sixteen HBeAg-positive HBV patients with YMDD mutations were treated with pegylated interferon. Median treatment duration was 52 weeks (range 20–53), with a 26-week follow up. Results: Two of 16 (12.5%) patients seroconverted to HBeAg negativ...

BACKGROUND Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin has an enhanced efficacy and reduced toxicity compared with free doxorubicin. The efficacy and toxicity of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin was investigated in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with histologically confirmed, locally advanced or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma and a Karnofsky index > 60% were inc...

Covalent attachment of polyethylene glycol (PEG) to active proteins (PEGylation technology) successfully generated several FDA-approved compounds, including four blockbusters, which are considered non immunogenic. However, PEG antibodies and intolerance to the infusion were reported in some patients with gout treated with pegloticase, a PEG-uricase recently approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Ad...

In the current study, the design, synthetic feasibility and biochemical characterization of biodegradable peptidic PEG-based nanocarriers are described. The components were selected to influence the body elimination pathway upon nanocarrier biodegradation. Two prototypical nanocarriers were prepared using non-PEGylated and PEGylated peptidic cores [CH(3)CO-(Lys-betaAla-betaAla)(X)-Cys-CONH(2) (...

We present here an easy method to modify the surface chemistry of polymeric microcapsules of perfluorooctyl bromide used as ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs). Capsules were obtained by a solvent emulsification-evaporation process with phospholipids incorporated in the organic phase before emulsification. Several phospholipids were reviewed: fluorescent, pegylated and biotinylated phospholipids....

INTRODUCTION The efficacy and safety of pegylated and standard interferon (IFN) have been scrutinized in meta-analyses; however, factors associated with hepatitis C viral response in patients on hemodialysis are not well investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS We evaluated factors that could be associated with sustained virological response (SVR) to pegylated or standard IFN monotherapy in patien...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Patients with high-risk essential thrombocythemia require cytoreductive therapy in order to normalize the elevated platelet counts. We evaluated the efficacy and toxicity of pegylated interferon in high-risk essential thrombocythemia in a phase II trial. DESIGN AND METHODS Thirty-six patients with high-risk essential thrombocythemia (median age 54 years; range, 24-72...