INTRODUCTION Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) leads to progressive destruction of articular cartilage. This study aimed to disclose major mechanisms of antirheumatic drug action on human chondrocytes and to reveal marker and pharmacological target genes that are involved in cartilage dysfunction and regeneration. METHODS An interactive in vitro cultivation system composed of human chondrocyte algina...

Gold salts may attenuate inflammatory processes by inhibiting interleukin 1 production. It is shown that sodium aurothiomalate does not act as an antipyretic after intravenous injection of two pyrogens into rabbits. Consequently, it cannot suppress interleukin 1 production, a conclusion confirmed by an in vitro lymphocyte activating factor assay. Chronic sodium aurothiomalate treatment, however...

Accommodation is considered to be important by institutions interested in mental health care both in Australia and internationally Some authorities assert that no component of a community mental health system is more important than decent affordable housing. Unfortunately there has been little research in Australia into the consequences of discharging people with a primary diagnosis of schizoph...

The tetrapeptide Ac-Gly-[Cys-Sec]-Gly-NH(2), reproducing the C-terminal motif of the selenoenzyme thioredoxin reductase, was designed and synthesized, and its reactions with a few medicinally relevant gold(i,iii) compounds investigated by ESI-MS. Remarkably, the main reaction products could be unambiguously identified providing valuable insight into the likely mechanisms of enzyme inhibition by...

Acute inflammation was induced by injecting carrageenan into a 6 day old air pouch in mice. Sodium aurothiomalate was then given twice to each of three groups of mice via different routes. It was found that the mice injected intravenously with sodium aurothiomalate showed the most striking reduction in the number of exudate leucocytes in the inflammatory cavity, although the amount of gold foun...

Two β-lactoglobulin (BLG) isoforms, BLGA and BLGB, were used a test bed for the differentiation of proteins using electrostatics. In these studies, the BLGA and BLGB binding to a highly charged, cationic gold nanoparticle (GNP) modified surface was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy The binding affinity, and more importantly, the selec...

Maintenance treatment with chrysotherapy was given to 44 rheumatoid patients after a total of 1.0 g weekly injections of sodium aurothiomalate. 21 patients continued with 50 mg injections every 2 weeks, and 23 patients received the same dose at 4-week intervals. Their progress was followed over 1 year, after which time their clinical improvements were equally well sustained. Toxicity was greate...