BACKGROUND & AIMS: Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is assumed to play an important role in the modulation of injury and tissue repair in nonepithelial tissues. The effects of LPA on intestinal epithelial wound repair in vitro and in vivo were characterized.

METHODS: Effects of LPA on intestinal epithelial restitution and proliferation were assessed by using an in vitro wounding model with confluent intestinal epithelial cell line 6 (IEC-6) monolayers and colorimetric thiazolyl blue (MTT) ...

BACKGROUND: Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is a common endocrine cancer and commonly presents with lymph node (LN) metastases. The role of surgical removal of the central cervical LN compartment is poorly defined. There are no prospective randomized controlled trials addressing the relevance to the extent of the initial surgical approach.

DESIGN AND METHODS: A systematic review of studies of patients with PTC undergoing either prophylactic or therapeutic lymphadenectomy of the central ...

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Although bone loss and osteoporosis are well-known long-term sequelae of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the risk factors for increased bone loss have not been identified. Balances of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines influence mechanisms of both chronic inflammation and bone resorption. The aim of this study was to identify genetic risk factors for rapid bone loss in IBD patients as a model of disease- and inflammation-associated bone loss.

METHODS: Multiple ...

The immune system plays an instrumental role in obesity and insulin resistance. Here, we unravel the role of the costimulatory molecule CD40 and its signaling intermediates, TNF receptor-associated factors (TRAFs), in diet-induced obesity (DIO). Although not exhibiting increased weight gain, male CD40(-/-) mice in DIO displayed worsened insulin resistance, compared with wild-type mice. This worsening was associated with excessive inflammation of adipose tissue (AT), characterized by ...

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a small lipid mediator with pleiotropic biological activities, e.g., the regulation of cellular proliferation and various aspects of cellular physiology. Signal transduction is achieved by binding to 2 high-affinity receptors, EDG2 and EDG4, and a group of low-affinity receptors, EDG1-7, all belonging to the superfamily of G protein-coupled receptors. We examined the growth-regulatory effects of LPA in primary cultures of 8 goiters and 1 papillary thyroid ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the influence of genetic variations in heat shock proteins on trauma outcome.

DESIGN: Prospective, noninterventional, single-center study.

SETTING: Level I trauma center.

SUBJECTS: Eighty consecutive severe multiple trauma patients.

INTERVENTIONS: None.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Plasma concentrations of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were measured over a 5-day course by chemiluminescence-immunoassay. The genotypes of the polymorphisms HSPA1B ...

BACKGROUND: Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is a common endocrine cancer and frequently presents with lymph node (LN) metastases. The frequency of LN metastases in the lateral compartment and their surgical removal are poorly defined. There are no prospective randomised controlled trials addressing an eventual outcome difference relating to the extent of the initial surgical approach. The aim of this study was to define the extent of lateral LN involvement and the role of imaging in ...

Dysbalance in the immune system is perceived as a major factor for adverse outcome after trauma. Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) is a multifunctional cytokine that regulates proliferation, differentiation of cells, wound healing, and angiogenesis. The influence of TGF-beta1 on trauma patients outcome is still unclear. Injury patterns and clinical outcome parameters of 99 consecutive patients with life-threatening injury and an injury severity score (ISS) > 15 were assessed ...

BACKGROUND: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignancy, with an annual incidence of 1 or 2 cases per million. Biochemical diagnosis is challenging because up to two-thirds of the carcinomas are biochemically silent, resulting from de facto enzyme deficiencies in steroid hormone biosynthesis. Urine steroid profiling by GC-MS is an effective diagnostic test for ACC because of its capacity to detect and quantify the increased metabolites of steroid pathway synthetic intermediates. ...

Based on several case-control studies, it has been estimated that familial aggregation and genetic susceptibility play a role in up to 10% of patients with pancreatic cancer, although conclusive epidemiologic data are still lacking. Therefore, we evaluated the prevalence of familial pancreatic cancer and differences to its sporadic form in a prospective multicenter trial. A total of 479 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed, histologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the pancreas ...

AIM: To investigate the role of coding region mutation and promoter hypermethylation of TP53 in adrenocortical cancer formation.

METHODS: Twenty sporadic adrenocortical cancers (ACCs) and five normal adrenal tissue samples were available for analysis. Coding region mutation of TP53 in 20 ACCs was examined by polymerase chain amplification using intronic primers for exons 2-11 and direct sequencing of the product. In 10 ACCs and five normal adrenal tissue specimens, methylation of the 16 ...

A dysbalanced immune response is thought to account for a substantial part of the morbidity and mortality after severe trauma. The cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10) suppresses the transcription of proinflammatory cytokines, mainly in macrophages and monocytes. The objectives of this prospective study in a level I trauma center in Germany were to examine the distribution of IL-10 promoter polymorphisms in a cohort of severely injured patients, to measure IL-10 cytokine levels and relate ...