Journal of internal medicine
-
Immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy is the most common primary glomerulonephritis worldwide. The pathogenesis is still unknown and treatment has not yet been established. Rarely it can be associated with other disorders. ⋯ The family had nine members and in four of them lymphoedema was evident. The other members had neither lymphoedema nor IgA nephropathy. This is the first report of IgA nephropathy in association with hereditary lymphoedema.
-
The objective of the current study was to examine the potential impact of a C right arrow G substitution at position -1291 of the alpha2A-adrenergic receptor gene (ADRA2A) promoter on obesity and estimates of insulin, glucose, and lipid metabolism as well as circulating hormones, including salivary cortisol in 284 unrelated Swedish men born in 1944. ⋯ In conclusion, we have shown that an C --> G polymorphism at position -1291 of the ADRA2A gene is associated with a subnormal cortisol response to dexamethasone, elevated glucose levels and perhaps increased diastolic blood pressure. The pathophysiology could involve an altered density of the alpha2A-AR that destabilizes the sympathetic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal systems in those with genetic vulnerability in the alpha2A-adrenergic receptor gene promoter.
-
To investigate changes in plasma atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), N-terminal pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) during the development of doxorubicin-induced left ventricular systolic and diastolic dysfunction as measured by echocardiography (ECHO). ⋯ The results of this prospective study show that during the evolution of doxorubicin-induced LV dysfunction the secretion of natriuretic peptides is more closely associated with the impairment of left ventricular diastolic filling than with the deterioration of LV systolic function.
-
Several recent developments have hallmarked progress in tumour immunology and immunotherapy. The use of interleukin-2 (IL-2) in cancer patients demonstrated that an immunological manipulation was capable of mediating the regression of established growing cancers in humans. The identification of the genes encoding cancer antigens and the development of means for effectively immunizing patients against these antigens has opened important new avenues of exploration for the development of effective active and cell-transfer immunotherapies for patients with cancer.
-
Idiopathic environmental intolerances (IEI)/multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is characterized by various somatic symptoms which cannot be explained organically, but are attributed to the influences of toxic environmental chemicals in low, usually harmless doses. In the absence of a widely accepted definition of IEI, contradictory aetiological hypotheses and therapeutic suggestions are discussed. Some authors doubt the existence of IEI/MCS as a disease entity of its own. ⋯ A majority of them can be diagnosed as somatoform disorders. Consequently, psychiatric therapies could be effective. This review describes the current knowledge about IEI/MCS, outlines a diagnostic algorithm and a psychotherapeutic concept for variants of IEI understood as a somatoform disorder.