Plos One
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Engaging patients and family members as partners in research increases the relevance of study results and enhances patient-centered care; how to best engage patients and families in research is unknown. ⋯ Patient and family member-led research is feasible and can identify opportunities for improving care.
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Multicenter Study
Clinical Utility of an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Detecting Anti-Melanoma Differentiation-Associated Gene 5 Autoantibodies.
Autoantibodies to melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) are specifically expressed in patients with dermatomyositis (DM) and are associated with a subset of DM patients with rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease (RP-ILD). Here, we examined the clinical utility of a newly developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system for detecting these antibodies. ⋯ Our newly developed ELISA can detect anti-MDA5 antibodies as efficiently as the gold standard IP assay and has the potential to facilitate the routine clinical measurement of anti-MDA5 antibodies in patients who suspected to have DM.
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Hypertriglyceridemia is the third most common cause of acute pancreatitis, but whether the level of triglyceride (TG) is related to severity of pancreatitis is unclear. ⋯ Higher TG level in patients with HTGP may be associated with adverse prognosis, but randomized and prospective studies are needed in the future verify this relationship.
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Mast cells (MCs) are a versatile cell type playing key roles in tissue morphogenesis and host defence against bacteria and parasites. Furthermore, they can enhance immunological danger signals and are implicated in inflammatory disorders like fibrosis. This granulated cell type originates from the myeloid lineage and has similarities to basophilic granulocytes, both containing large quantities of histamine and heparin. ⋯ The latter are differentiated in vitro to yield BM-derived MCs (BMMC). These cells display the typical morphological and phenotypic features of MCs, express the typical MC surface markers, and can be propagated and kept in culture for several weeks. The provided protocol allows simple amplification of large quantities of homogenous, non-transformed MCs from the peritoneum and bone marrow-derived mast cells for cell- and tissue-based biomedical research.
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The BRCA2 gene product plays an important role in DNA double strand break repair. Therefore, we asked whether radiation sensitivity of pancreatic cancers developing in individuals with germline BRCA2 mutations can be enhanced by agents that inhibit poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). ⋯ While PARP inhibition has been shown to be effective in BRCA-mutated breast and ovarian cancers, it is less well established in pancreatic cancer patients. Our results show no radiosensitization in a germline BRCA 2 mutant and suggest that combining PARP inhibition and IR may not be beneficial in BRCA 2 related pancreatic tumors.