Background
: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at increased risk of developing osteopenia and osteoporosis. Our aim was to evaluate the current practices of examination, prevention ...and treatment of osteoporosis in IBD patients in a routine clinical setting.
Methods
: A total of 154 consecutive patients with IBD (63 female, 91 male; 36 ulcerative colitis, 115 Crohn's disease, 3 indeterminate colitis), referred to two gastroenterological units for scheduled follow‐up examinations, were included. Patient charts were evaluated regarding bone densitometry already performed and any prophylactic or therapeutic interventions in cases of low bone mineral density.
Results
: Bone mineral density (BMD) measurements had been performed only in 38 patients (25 %). BMD was abnormally low in 27 of the examined patients (71 %), 20 of whom had osteopenia and seven had osteoporosis. Among the subgroup of patients on long‐term steroid therapy (77 patients), 30 had been referred to bone densitometry during the course of disease, and 21 of them were found to have low bone mineral density. Preventive measures were prescribed in 12 patients (9 % of the whole study population). In the majority of the patients with low bone mineral density, calcium and vitamin D were used as treatment.
Conclusions : Despite the high prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis in patients with IBD, only a minority of these patients were included in a structured program in accordance with modern guidelines for diagnosing and preventing this extraintestinal complication in a routine clinical setting.
Zusammenfassung: Grundlagen
: Patienten mit chronisch entzündlichen Darmerkrankungen (CED) besitzen ein erhöhtes Risiko für die Entwicklung von Osteoporose und Osteopenie. Unser Ziel war es, die aktuelle Praxis der Diagnostik, Prävention und Therapie der Osteoporose bei Patienten mit CED in der klinischen Routine zu evaluieren.
Methodik
: Insgesamt wurden 154 konsekutive Patienten mit CED (63 Frauen, 91 Männer; 36 Patienten mit Colitis ulcerosa, 115 mit M. Crohn, 3 mit indeterminierter Colitis), die an zwei gastroenterologische Abteilungen für regelmäßige Untersuchungen zugewiesen waren, inkludiert. Die Patientenakte wurden hinsichtlich bereits erfolgter Osteodensitometrie und laufender prophylaktischer oder therapeutischer Interventionen gegen erniedrigte Knochendichte evaluiert.
Ergebnisse
: Osteodensitometrien waren nur bei 38 Patienten (25 %) durchgeführt worden. Die Knochendichte war bei 27 der untersuchten Patienten (71 %) abnorm erniedrigt, davon wiesen 20 Patienten eine Osteopenie und 7 Patienten eine Osteoporose auf. In einer Subgruppe von Patienten mit Langzeit‐Steroidtherapie (77 Patienten) waren im Krankheitsverlauf 30 zu Osteodensitometrien zugewiesen worden, und bei 21 Patienten dieser Subgruppe war die Knochendichte erniedrigt. Präventive Maßnahmen wurden bei 12 Patienten verordnet (9 % des gesamten Studienkollektivs). Bei der Mehrheit der Patienten mit erniedrigter Knochendichte wurden Kalzium und Vitamin D als Therapie verwendet.
Schlußfolgerungen : Trotz der hohen Prävalenz der Osteopenie und Osteoporose bei Patienten mit CED wird im klinischen Routinebetrieb nur eine Minderheit dieser Patienten in ein strukturiertes Programm entsprechend den modernen Richtlinien zur Diagnose und Prävention dieser extraintestinalen Komplikation eingeschlossen.
Human IL-1 was successfully used to produce an anti-IL-1 mAb. Anti-IL-1 (IgG2a) blocked IL-1-mediated thymocyte and fibroblast proliferation, but did not interfere with the biological effects of ...other lymphokines, such as IL-2 or IL-3. The antibody immunoprecipitated biosynthetically radiolabeled 33, 17, and 4 kD IL-1. An immunoadsorbent column yielded 20% of initial activity, and upon HPLC size-exclusion chromatography, affinity-purified IL-1 had a molecular mass of approximately 4 kD. These results provide first evidence of a monoclonal anti-IL-1 that reacts with different species of IL-1 and apparently binds to an epitope close to the active site of IL-1. Thus, anti-IL-1 IgG may be very helpful for further investigations of the molecular as well as biological characteristics of IL-1 and related mediators.
Bacteriophage 434 repressor recognizes the operator sequences ACAAG and ACAAT. As the same or similar sequences occur in the enhancer region of HIV-1, 434 repressor was a potential HIV ...enhancer-binding protein. We found that the interaction of the DNA-binding domain of 434 repressor with a 57-bp HIV enhancer DNA was very weak whereas a 42-residue construct, comprising the recognition helix and four copies of a positively charged segment of the repressor, bound strongly. The results of footprint and cell-free in vitro transcription studies showed that the 42-residue peptide bound preferably to the enhancer region of HIV-1 and acted as an artificial repressor. Replacement of an essential glutamine of the recognition helix by glutamic acid resulted in a partial shift of the sequence specificity of the 42-residue peptide.
Agricultural and Rural Watersheds Farnleitner, Andreas H.; Reischer, Georg H.; Stadler, Hermann ...
Microbial Source Tracking: Methods, Applications, and Case Studies,
05/2011
Book Chapter
Identifying all relevant human and animal fecal sources is a basic requirement for target-oriented water resource management in agricultural and rural watersheds (ARW). As outlined, microbial source ...tracking (MST) is most suitably applied in concert with other methods within a broader conceptual framework of fecal pollution analysis. Two case studies – covering surface and karstic groundwater resources within ARW – are presented with the following features in common: public importance, problem formulation based on catchment-based pollution source profiling or modeling, and integrated use of several methods and parameters for fecal source characterization and identification at the water resource level. Possibilities and limitations of currently available MST tools, as well as fundamental requirements for their successful application and combination with other methods, are discussed. The use of multiple tools helps overcome specific limitations of individual methods, increases the robustness of the study, improves confidence in the results, or can help identify issues for further investigation.
Measurements of impedance spectra used for non-invasive glucose monitoring are affected by a variety of perturbing factors such as temperature and sweat/moisture fluctuations, changes in perfusion, ...and body movements. In order to quantify and compensate for these perturbing effects, a multi-sensor approach was suggested. Different sensors are used, measuring signals correlated with blood glucose and perturbing factors, respectively. Here, we investigate how the multiple sensor data can be transformed into meaningful information about changes in the concentration of blood glucose. Linear regression models and variable selection (stepwise for/back-ward and lasso) techniques are used to derive generally valid models allowing for the estimation of blood glucose concentration. We find that over-fitting is best avoided by using a special version of cross-validated prediction error as the model selection criterion. Indeed, the resulting models are reasonably small, plausible, and comprise an additive adjustment for the experimental run.
The discovery of a living coelacanth specimen in 1938 was remarkable, as this lineage of lobe-finned fish was thought to have become extinct 70 million years ago. The modern coelacanth looks ...remarkably similar to many of its ancient relatives, and its evolutionary proximity to our own fish ancestors provides a glimpse of the fish that first walked on land. Here we report the genome sequence of the African coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae. Through a phylogenomic analysis, we conclude that the lungfish, and not the coelacanth, is the closest living relative of tetrapods. Coelacanth protein-coding genes are significantly more slowly evolving than those of tetrapods, unlike other genomic features. Analyses of changes in genes and regulatory elements during the vertebrate adaptation to land highlight genes involved in immunity, nitrogen excretion and the development of fins, tail, ear, eye, brain and olfaction. Functional assays of enhancers involved in the fin-to-limb transition and in the emergence of extra-embryonic tissues show the importance of the coelacanth genome as a blueprint for understanding tetrapod evolution.
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