BACKGROUND: Asthma is a chronic disease of the airways in which inflammation of the respiratory mucosa plays a crucial role. The mechanisms responsible for the maintaining of this inflammatory response are only partially known and there is evidence that a role could be paid by chronic infection by intracellular pathogens (such as Chlamydia pneumoniae). Macrolides are antibiotics with both antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities and thus their use in asthmatic patients could lead to reduction of the airways inflammation and therefore improvement of symptoms and pulmonary function. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether macrolides are effective in the management of patients with chronic asthma. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL up to May 2001. This was also supplemented by manually searching bibliographies of previously published reviews, conference proceedings, and contacting study authors. All languages were included in the initial search. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised, controlled clinical trials involving both children and adult patients with chronic asthma treated with macrolides for more than 4 weeks, versus placebo. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two reviewers independently examined all identified articles. Two reviewers reviewed the full text of any potentially relevant article independently. MAIN RESULTS: The initial search retrieved 95 studies. Preliminary evaluation identified 20 studies that were potentially eligible. Five (357 patients) met the entry criteria. The entry criteria for the primary trials differed, but all recruited a specific subgroup of patients (eg severe oral steroid dependent, aspirin intolerant or evidence of Chlamydia pnuemoniae infection). There was a positive effect on symptoms (Standardised Mean Difference -1.25, 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) -1.80, -0.70) and markers of eosinophilic inflammation; eg sputum eosinophils Weighted Mean difference -78.5, 95%CI -90.8, -66.1). Tests of oral corticosteroid-sparing effects have not yet been performed on the newer agents such as roxithromycin and clarithromycin. REVIEWER’S CONCLUSIONS: Considering the small number of patients studied, there is insufficient evidence to support or to refute the use of macrolides in patients with chronic asthma. Further studies are needed in particular to clarify the potential role of macrolides in some subgroups of asthmatics such as those with evidence of chronic bacterial infection.

Margottin, F. et al. A novel human WD protein, h-beta TrCp, that interacts with HIV-1 Vpu connects CD4 to the ER degradation pathway through an F-box motif. Mol Cell 1, 565–574 (1998).

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Luminex asserts that its MAGPIX multiplexing platform is capable of analyzing proteins and nucleic acids in a variety of sample matrices, and that it can perform up to 50 tests in a single reaction volume.

Reactive oxygen species may react with molecules such as protein, lipid or nucleic acid and cause dysfunction or destruction to these molecules. The human body has several mechanisms to balance the ROS formation including antioxidant enzymes such as catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase. Study showed that superoxide dismutase is able to reduce ROS which is superoxide to hydrogen peroxide thus reduces the blood pressure and endothelial dysfunction [7,8]. In vessel walls, there is an equilibrium between formation of ROS and availability of antioxidant as to protect the blood vessel [10]. Oxidative stress phenomenon happens whenever the ROS and antioxidant homeostasis is disturbed either by the increase in the level of ROS or reduced availability of in vivo antioxidant. This may cause endothelial dysfunction (ED) that leads to spasm of the blood vessel wall [11].

Background: Asthma is a common respiratory disease among both adults and children and short acting inhaled beta-2 agonists are used widely for 'reliever' bronchodilator … [more]

Add in JeffB’s assertion that all Jews are responsible for the actions of some Jews and – Ta dah!!! – you have a sure-fire way of keeping Jews everywhere safe for all time (or at least for a Thousand Years).

Contemporary treatment practices were those in which physicians treated all prostate cancers on the basis of patient age and cancer stage and grade, with an intent to cure.

To better explore the sensitivities of the ICT and Architect IgG system, we selected a panel of 92 sera with IgG titers close to the threshold (Table 4). The analysis of these results clearly shows a higher sensitivity of the ICT than the Architect IgG technique. This observation confirms that the IgG cutoffs chosen by Abbott are too high and stringent. Figure 1 highlights the gain in sensitivity of the ICT test, which deciphers the equivocal results of the Architect system. These results are in line with those of Chapey et al. (8) and Villard et al. (6), who have worked on a similar but smaller panel (21 and 35 low-IgG-titer sera, respectively). However, our results show the limits of Chapey’s study, which resulted in 8/400 false-positive ICT tests. For these specific cases, only a sensitive enough confirmatory technique (Western blot or dye test) would lead to a reliable conclusion.

The key countries included in the report are U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, China, India, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, and the Middle East. North America accounted for the largest market in 2015, whereas the Asia Pacific region is anticipated to be the fastest growing region during the forecast period.

Men who place more value on avoiding complications from biopsies and cancer treatment are likely to decline screening. In contrast, men who put more value in even a small reduction of prostate cancer mortality (such as men at high baseline risk because of family history or African descent, or those concerned to rule out the diagnosis) may opt for screening

The Arizona Diamondbacks have given Manager Torey Lovullo a two-year contract extension through the 2021 season. Lovullo, 53, was a coach for manager John Farrell in Toronto and Boston, then was hired as Arizona’s manager in October 2016. He was voted National League Manager of the Year in his first season after the Diamondbacks went 93-69. Arizona beat Colorado in the NL wild-card game, then was swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the division series.