Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Methods And Apparatus For In Vivo Identification And Characterization Of Vulnerable Atherosclerotic Plaques, Pedro Moreno, Robert A. Lodder, William O'Connor, James E. Muller

Internal Medicine Faculty Patents

Methods and apparatus for analyzing the chemical composition of vulnerable plaques with an intravascular catheter having a near-infrared light source, a fiber-optic probe, a mechanism for directing the light from the light source into a blood vessel, and detectors for detecting light reflected or scattered by the tissue. The light source may be a tunable laser, and may transmit an incident beam having a wavelength ranging from 1400 to 4100 nm. A computer may be included to receive and process the spectral data in the analysis of the vulnerable plaques. A catheter system may be configured to provide near-IR spectrometric …

Method Of Inhibiting Alu Rna And Therapeutic Uses Thereof, Jayakrishna Ambati

Ophthalmology and Visual Science Faculty Patents

The presently-disclosed subject matter includes methods of identifying an Alu RNA inhibitor, and methods and compo sitions for inhibiting Alu RNA. Methods and compositions can be used for the treatment of geographic atrophy and other conditions of interest.

Similar Promotion Of Abeta1-42 Fibrillogenesis By Native Apolipoprotein E Epsilon3 And Epsilon4 Isoforms, David Sweeney, Ralph Martins, Harry Levine, Jonathan D. Smith, Sam Gandy

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

The apolipoprotein E epsilon4 allele contributes to the genetic susceptibility underlying a large proportion (~40-60%) of typical, sporadic Alzheimer disease. Apolipoprotein E deficient mice made transgenic for human apolipoprotein E epsilon4 accumulate excess cerebral amyloid when compared to similarly prepared mice expressing human apolipoprotein E epsilon3. Therefore, it is important to search for relevant interactions(s) between apolipoprotein E epsilon4 and Abeta in order to clarify the biological role for apolipoprotein E epsilon4 in Alzheimer disease. Using a thioflavine T (ThT)-based assay, we have investigated the effects of native human apolipoprotein E isoforms on the kinetics of Abeta fibrillogenesis. No obvious …

Il-5 Links Adaptive And Natural Immunity In Reducing Atherosclerotic Disease, Alan Daugherty, Debra L. Rateri, Victoria L. King

Gill Heart & Vascular Institute Faculty Publications

Oxidized LDL induces changes in several facets of the immune system, although the relationships between these facets and their contributions to atherogenesis have yet to be fully elucidated. A report in this issue of the JCI provides a novel demonstration of the adaptive immune system influencing the production of natural antibodies. The results demonstrate that injection of malondialdehyde-modified LDL promotes a Th2 response that in turn increases the titers of the natural antibody T15/EO6, which recognizes the oxidized phospholipid POVPC. Atherosclerotic lesion size in LDL receptor–deficient mice is reduced as a consequence of the increase in natural antibody titers, and …

Clinical Profiles, Occurrence, And Management Of Adolescent Patients With Hair-An Syndrome, Hatim A. Omar, Stephanie Logsdon, Jessica Richards

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

The syndrome of hyperandrogenism, insulin resistance, and acanthosis nigricans (HAIR-AN) is a subphenotype of the polycystic ovary syndrome. It is one of the most common causes of menstrual problems, hyperandrogenic symptoms, and insulin resistance among young women. Review of clinical data in an outpatient adolescent clinic showed that of the 1,002 young women (ages 10-21 years) attending the clinic over a 2-year period, 50 (5%) were diagnosed with HAIR-AN syndrome. Mean age of the patients was 15.5, initial mean weight at diagnosis was 94.5 kg, and the mean BMI was 33.33 kg/m2. Patients were treated with a weight-stabilization and -reduction …

Long-Term Evaluation Of The Use Of The Transdermal Contraceptive Patch In Adolescents, Stephanie Logsdon, Jessica Richards, Hatim A. Omar

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

The transdermal contraceptive patch, Ortho Evra™, was approved in December 2001 and released on the market in June 2002. In this study, we reviewed clinical data of young women who started the patch between June 2002 and December 2003 in the adolescent medicine clinic at a university-based outpatient center. A total of 62 patients started the patch in that period and two of them were lost to follow-up. Mean age of patients was 17.9 years and mean length of use was 10 cycles. Only 10 patients (16.7%) discontinued use. Reasons for discontinuation were moderate to severe skin irritation (3 patients, …

Sex Differences In Copd And Lung Cancer Mortality Trends—United States, 1968–1999, Neely Kazerouni, C. J. Alverson, Stephen C. Redd, Joshua A. Mott, David M. Mannino

David M. Mannino

Purpose: Cigarette smoking by U.S. women in the 1940s and 1950s caused large increases in smoking-related lung disease among women. To determine the magnitude of these increases, we compared the mortality trends for males and females in the United States for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer for 1968-1999.

Methods: We used the national mortality data files compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics of the CDC and U.S. census data to calculate age-adjusted (2000) death rates for COPD, lung cancer, and all causes.

Results: COPD death rate for females increased by 382% from 1968 through 1999, …

Risk Factors For Asthma Incidence: A Review Of Recent Prospective Evidence, M. S. King, David M. Mannino, F. Holguin

David M. Mannino

AIM:

The aim of this study is to determine what factors have been shown, in prospective studies, to predict the incidence of asthma.

METHODS:

We performed a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature from 1994 to 2004 to determine what factors predict the development of asthma in both children and adults. This search strategy yielded 40 studies, with 36 providing some estimate of asthma incidence for the total sample and or a specific subgroup.

RESULTS:

Annual estimated incidence of physician-diagnosed asthma ranged from 0.6 to 29.5 per 1000 persons. Risk factors for incident asthma among children included: male sex, atopic sensitization, …

Methods To Impair Hematologic Cancer Progenitor Cells And Compounds Related Thereto, Craig Jordan

Internal Medicine Faculty Patents

Primitive or progenitor hematologic cancer cells have been implicated in the early stages and development of leukemia and malignant lymphoproliferative disorders, including acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and chronic lymphoid leukemia (CLL). Interleukin-3 receptor alpha chain (IL-3Rα or CD123) is strongly expressed on progenitor hematologic cancer cells, but is virtually undetectable on normal bone marrow cells. The present invention provides methods of impairing progenitor hematologic cancer (e.g., leukemia and lymphomic) cells by selectively targeting cells expressing CD123. These methods are useful in the detection and treatment of leukemias and malignant lymphoproliferative disorders. Also provided are compounds useful …

Co-Regulation Of Expression Of Phase Ii Metabolizing Enzymes And Multidrug Resistance-Associated Protein 2, Viviana A. Catania, Enrique J. Sánchez Pozzi, Marcelo G. Luquita, María L. Ruiz, Silvina S. M. Villanueva, Brett Jones, Aldo D. Mottino

Toxicology and Cancer Biology Faculty Publications

Treatment of experimental animals with prototypical enzyme inducers represents a useful tool to characterize the role of different isozymes in drug metabolism and to improve our knowledge on factors regulating their synthesis at the transcriptional level. The effect of model enzyme inducers on phase II (conjugating) enzyme families, including UDP-glucuronosyltransferase’s and glutathione-S-transferase’s, has been well characterized in rodent liver. More recently, the effect of inducers on the expression of canalicular multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (Mrp2) has been focused upon. The identification of a number of conjugated drugs as Mrp2 substrates suggests that both the conjugation and transport systems act coordinately …

Copd In The Never-Smoker, David M. Mannino, Kathryn Marie Mcgonigle

David M. Mannino

Objectives 1. Identify never-smokers as an important subset of the COPD population. 2. Discuss the relationship between asthma and COPD. 3. Understand the genetic components of COPD. 4. Identify occupational risk factors for COPD. 5. Discuss prevention methods for COPD in the never-smoker.

Measuring Asthma, Respiratory Symptoms, And Changes Over Time., David M. Mannino

David M. Mannino

No abstract provided.