Plos One
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Associated liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) is a two-stage hepatectomy technique which can be associated with a hypertrophic stimulus on the future liver remnant (FLR) stronger than other techniques--such as portal vein ligation (PVL). However, the reason of such hypertrophy is still unclear, but it is suggested that liver transection combined with portal vein ligation (ALPPS) during the first stage of this technique may play a key role. The aim of this study is to compare the hypertrophic stimulus on the FLR and the clinical changes associated with both ALPPS and PVL in a rat surgical model. ⋯ Clinically, ALPPS caused a significant liver damage during the first 48 hours, with a recovery of liver function at day 8. In conclusion, ALPPS seems to induce higher functional hypertrophy on the FLR than PVL at day 8. Such regenerative response seems to be leaded by a complex interaction between pro-mitogenic (IL-6, HGF, TNF-α) and antiproliferative (IL1-β and TGF-β) cytokines.
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Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is the major cause of acute kidney injury. Remote ischemic conditioning (rIC) performed as brief intermittent sub-lethal ischemia and reperfusion episodes in a distant organ may protect the kidney against IRI. Here we investigated the renal effects of rIC applied either prior to (remote ischemic preconditioning; rIPC) or during (remote ischemic perconditioning; rIPerC) sustained ischemic kidney injury in rats. ⋯ In our study, rIC did not protect the kidney against IRI. However, on days 3-7 after IRI, all groups recovered renal function. This was associated with pAkt and pERK1/2 up-regulation and increased HSP expression at day 7.
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Lichens produce various unique chemicals that can be used for pharmaceutical purposes. To screen for novel lichen secondary metabolites showing inhibitory activity against lung cancer cell motility, we tested acetone extracts of 13 lichen samples collected in Chile. Physciosporin, isolated from Pseudocyphellaria coriacea (Hook f. & Taylor) D. ⋯ Particularly, the activity of 3'-untranslated region of KITENIN was decreased by physciosporin. Moreover, Cdc42 and Rac1 activities were decreased by physciosporin. These results demonstrated that the lichen secondary metabolite, physciosporin, inhibits lung cancer cell motility through novel mechanisms of action.
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Recently, the noble gas argon attracted significant attention due to its neuroprotective properties. However, the underlying molecular mechanism is still poorly understood. There is growing evidence that the extracellular regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) is involved in Argon´s protective effect. We hypothesized that argon mediates its protective effects via the upstream located toll-like receptors (TLRs) 2 and 4. ⋯ These findings suggest that argon-mediated anti-apoptotic and neuroprotective effects are mediated via inhibition of TLR2 and TLR4.
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This study describes the effects of the introduction of universal infant pneumococcal conjugate vaccination in 2006 on invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) among children and adults in Germany with a focus on the dynamics of serotype distribution in vaccinated and non-vaccinated age groups. Over a period of 22 years (1992-2014), microbiological diagnostic laboratories from all over Germany have been sending isolates of IPD cases to the German National Reference Center for Streptococci on a voluntary basis. Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates were serotyped using Neufeld's Quellung method. ⋯ Among adults, serotype 3, which strongly increased in the early vaccination period (p = 4.44E-15), remained at a constant proportion in the late vaccination period. The proportion of non-PCV13 vaccine serotypes increased over the whole vaccination period, with serotypes 10A, 12F, 23B, 24F and 38 most significantly increasing among children and serotypes 6C, 12F, 15A, 22F and 23B increasing among adults. Eight years of childhood pneumococcal conjugate vaccination have had a strong effect on the pneumococcal population in Germany, both among the target group for vaccination as well as among older children and adults.