Plasma platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) hydrolyzes PAF and oxidized phospholipids and is associated with lipoproteins in the circulation. Endotoxin [lipopolysaccharide (LPS)], a potent inducer of the acute phase response (APR), produces marked changes in several proteins that play important roles in lipoprotein metabolism. We now demonstrate that LPS produces a 2.5- to 3-fold...

Platelet activating factor (PAF) and PAF-like lipids induce inflammatory responses in target cells. These lipid mediators are inactivated by PAF-acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH). The PAF signaling system affects the growth of hematopoietic CD34(+) cells, but roles for PAF-AH in this process are unknown. Here, we investigated PAF-AH function during megakaryopoiesis and found that human CD34(+) cells acc...

Human plasma platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) is a phospholipase A(2) that is primarily associated with low density lipoprotein (LDL). PAF-AH activity has also been found in high density lipoprotein (HDL), although it has recently been indicated that there is no PAF-AH protein in HDL. Plasma paraoxonase 1 (PON1) is an HDL-associated esterase, which also exhibits PAF-AH-like a...

Pregnancy increases the urinary excretion of chemicals in women and rodents. It is unknown whether the enhanced clearance of drugs during pregnancy involves changes in the expression of transporters that mediate chemical secretion and reabsorption. The purpose of this study was to quantify the mRNA and protein expression of efflux transporters in kidneys from virgin and pregnant mice on gestati...

We investigated the properties of platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) derived from Trichoderma harzianum. The enzyme, comprised of 572 amino acids, shares high homology with PAF-AH proteins from T. koningii and other microbial species. The optimum enzymatic activity of PAF-AH occurred at pH 6 in the absence of Ca2+ and it localized in the cytoplasm, and we observed the upregulat...

BACKGROUND Avoidable hospitalizations (AH) are hospital admissions for diseases and conditions that could have been prevented by appropriate ambulatory care. We examine regional variation of AH in Switzerland and the factors that determine AH. METHODS We used hospital service areas, and data from 2008-2010 hospital discharges in Switzerland to examine regional variation in AH. Age and sex sta...