The objective of this study was to evaluate the utility of the determination of adenosine deaminase (ADA) level in pleural fluid for the differential diagnosis between tuberculous pleural effusion (TPE) and malignant pleural effusion (MPE) in Japan, a country with intermediate incidence of tuberculosis (TB). We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of 435 patients with pleural effusion ...

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) are well-known therapeutic modalities in Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). In developing countries like India, where plasma-derived products (IVIG) are not easily available, and affordable TPE is preferred. Here, we reported a case of severe GBS, who was treated with daily plasma exchange (PLEX) rather than recommended alterna...

The Harvard TMA Research Collaborative is a multi-institutional registry-based effort to study thrombotic microangiopathies (TMA). Laboratory and clinical parameters were recorded for 254 cases of suspected autoimmune thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). Patients with severe ADAMTS13 deficiency (activity ≤10%, N = 68) were more likely to be young, female and without a history of cancer tr...

BACKGROUND Conventional biomarkers cannot always establish the cause of pleural effusions; thus, alternative tests permitting rapid and accurate diagnosis are required. The primary aim of this study is to assess the ability of pentraxin-3 (PTX3) in order to diagnose the cause of pleural effusion and compare its efficacy to that of other previously identified biomarkers. METHODS We studied 118...

BACKGROUND Our aim in the present study was to evaluate surgical outcomes and complications of pelvic exenteration in the treatment of gynecologic malignancy and to compare surgery-related complications associated with different types of exenteration. METHODS We performed a retrospective analysis of patients who underwent pelvic exenteration for the treatment of gynecologic cancer between Jan...

We have used one- (OPE) and two-photon (TPE) excitation with time-correlated single-photon counting techniques to determine time-resolved fluorescence intensity and anisotropy decays of the wild-type Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) and two red-shifted mutants, S65T-GFP and RSGFP. WT-GFP and S65T-GFP exhibited a predominant approximately 3 ns monoexponential fluorescence decay, whereas for RSGFP...

Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) or plasmapheresis involves the separation of plasma from whole blood. In so doing, plasma-borne humoral disease mediators are removed from the body. This can attenuate the course and severity of the underlying disease. Diseases that can be treated with TPE are classified into the following categories: (1) endocrinological, (2) neurological, (3) renal/rheumatolo...

In yeast, telomere position effect (TPE) results in the reversible silencing of genes near telomeres. Here we demonstrate the presence of TPE in human cells. HeLa clones containing a luciferase reporter adjacent to a newly formed telomere express 10 times less luciferase than do control clones generated by random integration. Luciferase expression is restored by trichostatin A, a histone deacet...

BACKGROUND Delayed hypersensitivity plays a large role in the pathogenesis of tuberculous pleural effusion (TPE). Macrophages infected with live Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) increase the levels of adenosine deaminase2 (ADA2) in the pleural fluid of TPE patients. However, it is as yet unclear whether ADA2 can be produced by macrophages when challenged with MTB antigens alone. This study ther...

Overweight and obesity have been steadily increasing in recent years and currently represent a serious threat to public health. Few human studies have investigated the relationship between polyphenol intake and body weight. Our aim was to assess the relationship between urinary polyphenol levels and body weight. A cross-sectional study was performed with 573 participants from the PREDIMED (Prev...