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31.
Ornella J Rullo Jennifer MP Woo Miriam F Parsa Alice DC Hoftman Paul Maranian David A Elashoff Timothy B Niewold Jennifer M Grossman Bevra H Hahn Maureen McMahon Deborah K McCurdy Betty P Tsao 《Arthritis research & therapy》2013,15(1):R18
Introduction
Osteopontin (OPN) has been implicated as a mediator of Th17 regulation via type I interferon (IFN) receptor signaling and in macrophage activity at sites of tissue repair. This study assessed whether increased circulating plasma OPN (cOPN) precedes development of organ damage in pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus (pSLE) and compared it to circulating plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (cNGAL), a predictor of increased SLE disease activity.Methods
cOPN and cNGAL were measured in prospectively followed pSLE (n = 42) and adult SLE (aSLE; n = 23) patients and age-matched controls. Time-adjusted cumulative disease activity and disease damage were respectively assessed using adjusted-mean SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) (AMS) and SLICC/ACR damage index (SDI).Results
Compared to controls, elevated cOPN and cNGAL were observed in pSLE and aSLE. cNGAL preceded worsening SLEDAI by 3-6 months (P = 0.04), but was not associated with increased 6-month AMS. High baseline cOPN, which was associated with high IFNalpha activity and expression of autoantibodies to nucleic acids, positively correlated with 6-month AMS (r = 0.51 and 0.52, P = 0.001 and 0.01 in pSLE and aSLE, respectively) and was associated with SDI increase at 12 months in pSLE (P = 0.001). Risk factors for change in SDI in pSLE were cOPN (OR 7.5, 95% CI [2.9-20], P = 0.03), but not cNGAL, cumulative prednisone, disease duration, immunosuppression use, gender or ancestry using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. The area under the curve (AUC) when generating the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) of baseline cOPN sensitivity and specificity for the indication of SLE patients with an increase of SDI over a 12 month period is 0.543 (95% CI 0.347-0.738; positive predictive value 95% and negative predictive value 38%).Conclusion
High circulating OPN levels preceded increased cumulative disease activity and organ damage in SLE patients, especially in pSLE, and its value as a predictor of poor outcome should be further validated in large longitudinal cohorts. 相似文献32.
JJ Malemba JM Mbuyi-Muamba J Mukaya X Bossuyt MP Emonds K Deiteren R Westhovens P Verschueren 《Arthritis research & therapy》2013,15(4):R89
Introduction
Little is known about rheumatoid arthritis in the black, particularly in Congolese, populations. Our objective was to describe the phenotype and genotype of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Congolese.Methods
All consecutive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients attending Kinshasa University Hospital in a three-year time period were included. Demographics, clinical features and tobacco consumption were noted. Disease Activity Score (DAS)-28 based on the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (CCP) antibodies and rheumatoid factor (RF) were determined. Radiographs were scored according to Sharp-van der Heijde. On a subset of patients and controls HLA-DRB1 typing was performed.Results
A total of 114 females and 14 males aged 51.2 ± 14.9 were included. Mean duration of symptoms was four years. Moderate tobacco consumption was reported in a minority of patients. DAS-28 at first visit was >5.1 and HAQ ≥0.5 in all patients. X-rays showed joint erosions and/or joint space narrowing, mostly of a moderate grade in 55.8% of patients. Anti-CCP and/or RF were present in 48.6% of patients with available data (n = 72) and in 3.0% of controls (n = 67). Radiographic changes and nodules were more frequent in RF or anti-CCP positive patients. One copy of the shared epitope was found in 13 patients (35.1%) and 3 controls (12.5%). Two copies were found in one patient (2.7%) and in one control (4.2%).Conclusion
Congolese patients with RA consult long after disease onset. Despite this delay, the majority presents without major damage and is RF, anti-CCP and SE negative. We put forward the hypothesis that besides different environmental factors there is probably also a particular genetic risk profile in Congolese patients, different from the HLA-DRB1 shared epitope. 相似文献33.
Recent progress in bioinformatics research has led to the accumulation of huge quantities of biological data at various data sources.
The DNA microarray technology makes it possible to simultaneously analyze large number of genes across different samples.
Clustering of microarray data can reveal the hidden gene expression patterns from large quantities of expression data that in turn
offers tremendous possibilities in functional genomics, comparative genomics, disease diagnosis and drug development. The k-
¬means clustering algorithm is widely used for many practical applications. But the original k-¬means algorithm has several
drawbacks. It is computationally expensive and generates locally optimal solutions based on the random choice of the initial
centroids. Several methods have been proposed in the literature for improving the performance of the k-¬means algorithm. A
meta-heuristic optimization algorithm named harmony search helps find out near-global optimal solutions by searching the entire
solution space. Low clustering accuracy of the existing algorithms limits their use in many crucial applications of life sciences. In
this paper we propose a novel Harmony Search-K means Hybrid (HSKH) algorithm for clustering the gene expression data.
Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm produces clusters with better accuracy in comparison with the existing
algorithms. 相似文献
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35.
We describe here a computational morphology-based approach to the investigation of possible causes of chromatin alterations in sperm. A comprehensive set of state-of-the-art and geometric measures are computationally extracted from toluidine blue stained images and analyzed to infer the possible processes leading to normal and abnormal chromatin formation while seeking a possible taxonomy of chromatin alterations and their influence on sperm head morphology. Using this methodology, we have identified higher chromatin fragility at some specific points of the sperm head. Despite the lack of correlation between morphologies of sperm head and chromatin structure, four main morphological types of chromatin alterations in bull spermatozoa have been identified and their possible causes discussed. 相似文献
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Epigenetics refers to heritable changes in gene expression that are independent of alterations in DNA sequence. It is now accepted that disruption of epigenetic mechanisms plays a key role in the pathogenesis of cancer: culminating in altered gene function and malignant cellular transformation. DNA methylation and histone modifications are the most widely studied changes but non-coding RNAs such as miRNAs are also considered part of the epigenetic machinery. The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis is composed of two ligands, IGF-I and –II, their receptors and six high affinity IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs). The IGF axis plays a key role in cancer development and progression. As IGFBP genes have consistently been identified among the most common to be aberrantly altered in tumours, this review will focus on epigenetic regulation of IGFBP-3 in cancer for which the majority of evidence has been obtained. 相似文献
38.
MP Lisovoi NM Lesovoy GI Vasechko 《Archives Of Phytopathology And Plant Protection》2013,46(2):123-127
A new method of selection of the winter wheat varieties has been tested for resistance to the pest insects' complex by the traits of plants that are the markers of plant resistance. It makes it possible to use this method from year to year independently of the pests' density. 相似文献
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40.
Crustacean and cheliceratan hemocyanins (oxygen-transport proteins) and
insect hexamerins (storage proteins) are homologous gene products, although
the latter do not bind oxygen and do not possess the copper- binding
histidines present in the hemocyanins. An alignment of 19 amino acid
sequences of hemocyanin subunits and insect hexamerins was made, based on
the conservation of elements of secondary structure observed in X-ray
structures of two hemocyanin subunits. The alignment was analyzed using
parsimony and neighbor-joining methods. Results provide strong indications
for grouping together the sequences of the 2 crustacean hemocyanin
subunits, the 5 cheliceratan hemocyanin subunits, and the 12 insect
hexamerins. Within the insect clade, four methionine- rich proteins, four
arylphorins, and two juvenile hormone-suppressible proteins from
Lepidoptera, as well as two dipteran proteins, form four separate groups.
In the absence of an outgroup sequence, it is not possible to present
information about the ancestral state from which these proteins are
derived. Although this family of proteins clearly consists of homologous
gene products, there remain striking differences in gene organization and
site of biosynthesis of the proteins within the cell. Because studies on
18S and 12S rRNA sequences indicate a rather close relationship between
insects and crustaceans, we propose that hemocyanin is the ancestral
arthropod protein and that insect hexamerins lost their copper-binding
capability after divergence of the insects from the crustaceans.
相似文献