European journal of clinical investigation
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Eur. J. Clin. Invest. · Jun 2009
Relative seroprevalence of human herpes viruses in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
Herpes virus infections may have a significant role in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) due to their ability to modulate the host's immune system. ⋯ CMV-seropositivity is associated with CLL in selected patient cohorts. However, the considerable variation in herpes virus-specific seropositivity between geographically distinct CLL cohorts indicates that seropositivity for any of the four human herpes viruses investigated is not generally associated with CLL.
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Eur. J. Clin. Invest. · Jun 2009
Comparative StudyA review of STRIDE-2 and STRIDE-2X: the case for selective endothelin receptor blockade.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension remains incurable and has previously required difficult parenteral therapy. Endothelin-1(ET-1) is an important mediator of pulmonary arterial hypertension. The recent availability of oral therapies, including endothelin receptor antagonists, has improved ease of use for patients, but most patients remain symptomatic to a significant degree. Two classes of ET-1 receptors have been described, ET(A) and ET(B). It has previously been unclear whether both receptors must be blocked in pulmonary arterial hypertension, or only the ET(A) receptor. ⋯ STRIDE-2 and its extension, STRIDE-2X, suggest significant benefit of sitaxsentan compared with bosentan, in terms of efficacy and reduced hepatotoxicity. The former may be related to the high ET(A) receptor selectivity of sitaxsentan.