Plos One
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Infections with Streptococcus pyogenes exhibit a wide spectrum of infections ranging from mild pharyngitis to severe Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS). The M1 serotype of Streptococcus pyogenes is most commonly associated with STSS. In the present study, we hypothesized that Rac1 signaling might regulate M1 protein-induced lung injury. ⋯ Moreover, NSC23766 completely inhibited M1 protein-provoked gene expression of CXC chemokines in alveolar macrophages. We conclude that these novel results suggest that Rac1 signaling is a significant regulator of neutrophil infiltration and CXC chemokine production in the lung. Thus, targeting Rac1 activity might be a potent strategy to attenuate streptococcal M1 protein-triggered acute lung damage.
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Grading of patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is often confounded by seizure, hydrocephalus or sedation and the prediction of prognosis remains difficult. Recently, copeptin has been identified as a serum marker for outcomes in acute ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). We investigated whether copeptin might serve as a marker for severity and prognosis in aSAH. ⋯ Copeptin may indicate clinical severity of the initial bleeding and may therefore help in guiding treatment decisions in the setting of aSAH. These initial results show that copeptin might also have prognostic value for clinical outcome in aSAH.
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Comparative Study
Severe obesity and cardiometabolic risk in children: comparison from two international classification systems.
There is no agreed-upon definition for severe obesity (Sev-OB) in children. We compared estimates of Sev-OB as defined by different cut-points of body mass index (BMI) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the World Health Organization (WHO) curves and the ability of each set of cut-points to screen for the presence of cardiometabolic risk factors. ⋯ Estimates of Sev-OB and cardiometabolic risk as defined by different cut-points of BMI are influenced from the reference systems used. The 1.2 times the 95(th) percentile of BMI of either CDC or WHO standard has a discriminatory advantage over the 99(th) percentile for identifying severely obese children at increased cardiometabolic risk, particularly under 10 years of age.
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has become a signature wound of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many American soldiers, even those undiagnosed but likely suffering from mild TBI, display Alzheimer's disease (AD)-like cognitive impairments, suggesting a pathological overlap between TBI and AD. This study examined the cognitive and neurohistological effects of TBI in presymptomatic APP/PS1 AD-transgenic mice. ⋯ Similar changes in extracellular Aβ deposits and MAP2 positive cells were also seen in the hippocampus. These results demonstrate for the first time that TBI precipitates cognitive impairment in presymptomatic AD mice, while also confirming extracellular Aβ deposits following TBI. The recognition of this pathological link between TBI and AD should aid in developing novel treatments directed at abrogating cellular injury and extracellular Aβ deposition in the brain.
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Cryoprecipitate is largely used for acquired hypofibrinogenemia in the setting of massive hemorrhage in liver transplantation (LT). However, the influence of intraoperative cryoprecipitate transfusion on biliary complications (BC) after LT has not been studied in detail. ⋯ These findings suggested that intraoperative cryoprecipitate transfusion was associated with BC after LT. The mechanism of BC occurrence might involve micro-thrombus formation and immune rejection.