Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a major cause of refractory respiratory failure in the newborn. Pulmonary hypoplasia often limits survival. Vitamin A (Vit A) is an important signal for lung growth. We hypothesized that antenatal treatment with Vit A would stimulate lung growth and decrease mortality in experimental CDH induced in rats by ingestion of the herbicide nitrofen (2,4-dichlor...

Vitamin E (Vit. E) is considered an essential dietary nutrient for humans and animals. An enormous body of evidence indicates the biological and protective effects of Vit. E consumption. Tocopherol-associated protein (TAP) is a major tocopherol-binding protein affecting Vit. E stimulation and downstream signaling transduction. However, how Vit. E utilizes TAP as an anti-cancer mechanism remains...

Patients with systemic reactions (SR) to Hymenoptera stings are successfully treated by venom immunotherapy (VIT), but there is not yet a general agreement on the criteria for stopping VIT. We discuss the importance of the venom-specific IgE levels among these criteria. In particular, the results from a recent study evaluating the IgE changes during a 5-year VIT, in patients stung and protected...

Venom immunotherapy (VIT) is proven to be curative for insect allergy, but the mechanisms and the biomarkers associated with clinical efficacy remain elusive. We report herein the discovery of a leading candidate biomarker, osteopontin (OPN), for VIT. From cDNA microarray and clustering analyses, an increased expression of OPN was found in patients who completed 5-6 years of VIT and discontinue...

BACKGROUND: To describe immune and endocrine responses in severe hymenoptera hypersensitivity requiring venom immunotherapy (VIT) during in vitro fertilization (IVF). CASE PRESENTATION: A 39-year old patient was referred for history of multiple miscarriage and a history of insect sting allergy. Four years earlier, she began subcutaneous injection of 100 mcg mixed vespid hymenoptera venom/venom ...

Low vitamin D is involved in allergic asthma and rhinitis. IL-31 and IL-33 correlate with Th2-associated cytokines in allergic disease. We investigated whether low vitamin D is linked with circulating IL-31 and IL-33 in children with allergic disease of the airways. 25-Hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH) Vit D], IL-31, and IL-33 plasma levels were measured in 28 controls (HC), 11 allergic rhinitis (AR) pa...

In this study, it was observed that addition of vitamin C (vit C) to oxidized low-density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) by cupric ions (Cu2+) could result in the formation of singlet oxygen (1O2). In experiments, 1O2 was detected by chemiluminescence method using a Cypridina luciferin analog, 2-methyl-6-(p-methoxyphenyl)-3, 7-dihydroimidazo [1, 2-a] pyrazin-3-one (MCLA), as a selective and sensitive che...

We read with great interest the article of Bayani et al. on the “Vitamin-D status in diabetic patients” published in Caspian Journal of Internal Medicine (CJIM) (1). Bayani et al. provided a timely and useful summary of the status of vitamin D (vit D) deficiency in type 2 diabetes mellitus. They reported some interesting results based mostly on statistical associations that vit D concentration ...

BACKGROUND This study was aimed to assess the effects of angiotensin II (Ang II) supplementation to the In Vitro Maturation (IVM) and In Vitro Culture (IVC) media of vitrified-warmed ovine oocytes on their developmental competence and expression of Na(+)/K(+)/ATPase in resulting embryos. METHODS The slaughterhouse-derived immature oocytes (n=1069) were randomly distributed into four experimen...

Enhanced formation of superoxide radicals has been proposed to play a major role in the development of nitrate tolerance in humans. We tested the effects of vitamin C (Vit-C) supplementation on glyceroltrinitrate (GTN)-induced hemodynamic effects during 3-d nonintermittent transdermal administration of GTN (0.4 mg/h) in nine healthy subjects. Tolerance development was monitored by changes in ar...